New blooms this spring - cactus Orchid

This post is picture heavy.

I have had this plant for 3 years which was green and healthy and no bloom.   I told my husband that I have run out of patience and this plant needs to GO.

Surprise surprise.......   Come spring it put on a show like it was no ones business.

Morning sun rays in living room

Just loved the way living room was looking this this morning with morning light entering through front windows.  Windows are east facing and sun rays play a different game depending on the season we are in.

New to my garden this summer.

Life through a curve ball yet again and I had to prioritize.   We learn from our experiences and move on and make the best of it.   Apart from my blog my garden also suffered every now and then but it was kind to me,  though it didn't get periodic fertilizers and care it normally used to get.

Here are some beauties from my garden.

snail flower

Lastly, take a look at newly launched page and tell me what you think about it.

"Spring" into action

I had been missing from blogging for quite sometime now  Life took some unexpected twists and turns and that kept me extremely busy.

Planters

DIY: Recycled Planter

I hail from south India.  We use a lot of fresh coconut in our south Indian cuisine,  So there is no dearth for coconut shells in my house hold.  LOL

DIY - Plain wooden tray modification





Here is a easy DIY. 

 Imagination is all you need.  I bought a couple of these plain wooden trays.

Back after a long hiatus

I am back after a long break.  This one was not planned.  I went to India during summer.  I thought I will take a couple of weeks break and be back on the blog......

Summer 2014 was not what me or my family had planned for ourselves.   Have you ever heard of a saying "Man proposes and God disposes"......   We as a family still tried to make best out of what we could do.

Soon after returning from India, first Gowri and Ganesha festival.   Gowri and Ganesha is a big festival for those of us who come from Bangalore.  Soon after Navaratri snuck up on me and so did Deepavali.  Things have been crazy on the work front too.  When it rains, it pours right?

Enough of that.  Here are a few pictures from my Navaratri and Deepavali.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

 

Partying with these good folks:

• Making The World Cuter Monday 

Guest Post: Bottle painting

Today I am bringing to you another tutorial about Bottle painting.  My talented SIL R had earlier done a post about Glass painting.    Here is the tutorial

 



From my garden - Jasmine

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.

~Beverly Nichols

 
What comes to your mind when you think of childhood?  Every one has a few favorite things which they associate with happy times.  For me it is monsoon rains, Jasmine flowers, spicy peanuts to name a few. 

I love Jasmine flowers.  I  am collecting different types of them.  Here are a few of them from my garden.

 

Summer has begun





Summer has begun at home. You know it has started paint, canvas and the brushes appear in the girls bedrooms. Today I am bringing to you my older daughter's paintings.

My epidendrum collection

 It all started 2 years ago in our local farmers market.  Regular orchid vendor in the farmers market was ready to pack up for the day.  I was the last customer for the day.  I told her I wanted an orchid which wasn't a Phalaenopsis.  

Post card from Novice Decorator

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's day.  We did have a quite and enjoyable father's day at home.  Work and other activities have been keeping me so busy that I am unable to post anything.  I will be back next week.

Wishing you all a good rest of the week.   I will be back next week. Until then .........

Spring has Sprung - Part III

I hope you are all having a good week.  I have been having a pretty hectic week myself.  I am hoping it will ease in next couple of days.

Here is what is blooming in my garden this week.

My Dahlias have started to come back this year and this is the season's first bloom.

Etsy Store find - The Second Life

Last night I was browsing through the Facebook group page of Second to None.  I have had some good luck with this group which gently used items.  I will post details a little later.

In one such browsing session  I landed on a photograph  for a block print wrapping paper.   It belonged to a store called "The Second Life".  

Visit to Flower Fields - A garden tour

I hope your week got started on a good note.  I had a very productive weekend.  As the weather was good, I cleaned up both front and the back yard. They were screaming for attention as I had not paid much attention as we had really weird warm weather.

Today I am taking you on a tour of the Flower Fields of Carlsbad, CA. 

Spring has sprung - Part II

I hope you all enjoyed the artist feature.  Don't forget to enter the Giveaway.

We have been having very harsh weather these days.  Temperatures are very high.  We have had no winter or spring this year.  

Here is what is blooming in the back yard.

Athena Hues - Artist Feature and a giveaway

I am extremely happy and excited to be doing this feature on my blog and hosting the very first giveaway here at Novice Decorator.

Couple years ago I reconnected with my engineering school classmates thanks to Facebook.  Creator of Athena Hues, Malathy Kumaran is my classmate’s wife.  We both connected over Facebook as well and have been in touch for a couple of years now.   When we chatted last time, we talked about featuring her work on my blog and she agreed readily.

I am pleased to present an interview with Malathy along with a photo essay of her work.  

Athena Hues

Exclusive handmade jewelry for today's woman...for price details, send in a message to Athena Hues...

Happy Mother's day

Wishing all the moms out there a very Happy Mother's day.

Back in action - Spring flowers

I had disappeared for a while.   I apologize for that.   I hope you all have had a good month.  April is a month I struggle through some times as we had our son is April 2001 and he became an angel for us during the same month.  Some years are better than other but this year was a hard one but it is getting better each year.

Sping has sprung - part I

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”
― Pablo Neruda