December Vacation 2014

And here we as another year rolls by, we find our self much more content and happy with the way 2014 turned out. A big contributor to that has been that we were able to reestablish a circle of friends who are like minded and in the same phase of life that we find ourselves in, a general level of better health of the family members and watching the kids evolve and mature as they transition from the kid phase to teenagers. Blessed we are to be in the midst of our parents and the elderly, life is about balance and this may be a good concoction of scarifies and perks.

The Christmas vacation seemed rather long this time as the kids received a full 2 weeks off. We took a week off from work and headed to Kannur. Just as we drove out we realized that the camera bag was safely tucked away at home and so we had to make-do with the remaining electronic devices.

 Spent the initial few days feasting on fish and good food, watched the movie PK. Coincidentally we were at the same theater last year to watch another Amir Khan movie and the trip last year was with Arjun and Vichu. We also visited the snake park.

 

We made a day trip to the back waters and spent the day in a resort @ Thrikaripur, Kerala. We did some Canoeing, swimming and spent some time at the beach. The resort was beautiful but just an so-so place in terms of service. Some pictures below.

 

We had to postpone the drive back to Blore by a day due to some kind of a nerve pinch that I had and my left leg hurt like no tomorrow.

We left at around 5 AM from Kannur and were in Mysore by 9 AM were we met our friends Naresh and family. After a breakfast buffet at the Quorom Hotel where Naresh stayed we spent the day at the Zoo. It is a very well maintained facility despite the herd of people, the company of friends made it a memorable visit and all of us had a good time.

 After a long day at the Zoo we walked to Mylari Dosa after it was recommended by our friends. The walk turned out to be longer than anticipated and the Dosa below expectations.

On returning home we were welcomed to bountiful harvest of long beans.. !

Vegetable Garden 2010

This summer our vegetable garden was full of kumbalanga as it is known in Malayalam or Winter Melon in English. The number of them that grew were so abundant that Veena at one point felt guilty offering it to friends at every encounter. We have a couple of them stashed in the basement and hoping it will hold up for a few months.
The freezer is already full of it in its frozen form.




Some of the other things that were grown were the Long beans the brown variety. That is a staple every summer since we moved here. Tomatoes are a plenty along with green Chili or pepper as it is known here, we also managed to harvest two cucumbers the variety that we use for Vishu Kani. And a couple of beetroots.




Nishanth got hold of a sprouting Chembu (colocasia) (gui potato to my kids) from the pantry and planted it and his patience was rewarded when he harvested a single plant to find enough potatoes for a couple of meals. With Nishanth I sometimes wonder if I should be investing in a farm to secure his future.