When things go down the unplanned path ... :) ... no its not always a sad story ....;))

...these are snap shots of my lil' garden ... my lil' bittty of a paradise ... my getaway space ... where I once dreamt of green lawn and blooming Dahlias (well! those do actually come back in season ...;) ... ) but I have had to resign to the fact that grass shall never grow here.

I have finally laid gravel over the patch which gets choked due to no drainage ... in the rains and gets piddled over by my canine babes all year round ...;) It has gotten a whole new character ... things unplanned cropped up ... I even had to tile it half way to check seepage ... but when things ball roll into a whole diff. direction ... sometimes its fun what new options crop up .... :)

So while I am loving my garden space ... I do have to apologise to a lot of my customers who were looking forward to seeing some of our product lines on a certain online platform. Well ! on certain matters of principles ... I withdrew my products.
We are a very small operation when it comes to talking about our design label. And a very young one at that ... but starting from those who form the very basic foundation of our team ... to our vendors ... suppliers ... tailors ... craftsmen ...  and even the women who do our occasional needle work ... we all work with  basic ... instinctive feelings of trust ... faith... respect and love ...towards each other. Nothing unique, in other words you'd call them basic principles or human values ... and everyone loves having that sort of healthy environment around. As do we ... and as I lead my Label on to so many interesting projects and undertakings ... we love that general Happy Feel.
People come and people go ... those who share our values will always be part of us.

  For the rest ... I'd say, a  hug ... a kiss and a lovely bye-bye ... is best... :)

Getting back to the point about our products  ... well! ... last couple of weeks have been rather stretched and long hours ...

 Oh! yeah ...completely forgot to take pictures when the entire work room was flooded with fabric ... brass pendants ... threads ... lil' pom-pom's ... and all those thingies ... :) And then all the finished pieces ... :)) So now I guess since they have reached their destination ... will wait for the pictures to come in from that end ... ;) And I shall be able to share more with you all.
Beside all these ... we will try to get our online store functional again ... but please do be patient and bear with us ... :) And thanks to all of you all for understanding.

A live centrepiece ... in love with succulents ... :)

A live and green centre piece ... changing every now and then ... always got something interesting happening right there on your coffee table  ... now I really do like that kind of interesting pieces around me ... pretty sure you'd find them infectious too ... well! ... someone did ...

 

... back in Dec. of 2011 ... I did this post about a green centre piece with succulents ... you can have a peek at it here. Its around the same time of the year ... and I was super excited  getting a request to do a similar piece for a fellow Gurgaonite and a lovely blog reader of mine ...

 

... this is what the piece I did looked like just after plantation and a bit of watering ... I really hope you loved your piece, Sonia ... :))

 ... in all that looking around for the right pot for her I got bitten by the temptation bug ... :)) ... and look what happened ... ;))

 

 ... Gosh ! I really hope you got some bit of the infection too ... :)) Now who would mind being down with the green bug ... ;) in the winter ... aaahmm !well ! ... the hubbies may be ... ;))

Some green to get over the gloom ... in winters ... :)

Some of my fav. elements ... a pottery piece with that weathered patina... greens and stone ... :) ... just never know how a little time in the sun gets me all solar charged and ... ;))

 ... so there I was reading a book in the sun ,that just peeked out of the Gurgaon fog today ... and little do we know ... out come the scissors ... chop-chop ... :)) ... decided to revive my love of topiary,with these two cypress plants I picked up a little before Christmas ... and I love doing that thing with green cuttings (take them indoors) ... :) ... Oh! did I forget to tell you ... this pottery piece ... was my buy at the potter behind our conplex, while Sarah was looking for a diya for her diwali project at school ... wooohoo ... look what I dug up lying in their junk pile ...

 ... I really love the beautiful weathered patina on it. Don't ask me what is it ... hell! I have no clue ... but just liked it ... and I have a feeling you may get to see more of them if I can find them and yes ... these are sure getting used in some future photo shoots ... :))

... as each year that I grow older, there is something coming over me ... I am getting comfortable with my choices ... I don't necessarily get influenced by what others think about them ... if it makes me happy ... never mind if it looks weird or gets all myfamily and friends to go ... what's THAT ... ;))))

Its a brand new year ... I got my resolutions in order ... going to be all me ... arranging with greens and not just flowers ... I love the tarnished look so more of that elements are going to be in ... stone, yep I want to bring that architectural feel indoors with more of something in stone ... hmm ... :)) feels nice to have said that aloud... :))

How about you ... how much about your home are you thinking about making all about you ... ??? ...  drop me a line, incase you are in a mood to share your thoughts ... would sure love to hear from you... :)

A centre piece and lets warm up the indoors for winter ... :)

... its winter, .... that time of the year when plants actually are alright coming indoors at my place ... and I have been feeling sad about my coffee table looking dull and boring ... :) And yep! had a lil' experiment thingy somewhere in the back of my head ... ;)

 ... so , what do you get if you have a certain experiment itch  ... an ol' ceramic pot ( yep, see no bottom tray to hold water) ... and some new succulents you spied at the nursery ... :))))))))))

 ... looking at them all tiny lil' ones ... its not so exciting  ... no filled up looking pots ... aaaah! ... what do you do .... :) ...

... o.ky so I sweet talked my daughter into sharing her collecion of shiny stones from our recent road trip across India ... and guess what I even got a few tiny shells put in for free ... hey! these kids can be generous to mums, at times ... ;)

 ... yes , it was a concern how to save the polish of my coffee table .... well ! I just placed  this slate tile, I had lying around ... and yep! it will need to be taken out to be watered and kept there till it completely drains ... but thats cool with me ...

... ah! did get into trouble with the lil' brat falling in love with how mum, lil' project looked awesome all because she helped in with her shells and stones ... so that was not going to be it ... ''mama, now that you are so happy with that look ... I'll be real nice and go decorate the entire garden with my collections " ... NOoooooooooooooo ............. help me ... some body , ... that was not what I had bargained for ...

Tray Gardens ... catch my column in Page7 seven ...

I started this blog ... thinking more the pictures...lesser I'll need to talk ... I do admit I love to talk ... and I can get carried away ... but I am experiencing its another thing to be writting for a magazine ... :)
Rack your head honey, come up with those pages ... phew!
Never the one to miss trying out something new ... I have agreed to pen down my thoughts for Jaya... editor over at Page 7 Seven and MediaVoice Mag ... based out of Chennai.If you manage to get your hands on one of the issue ... catch up with my banter ... yeppy yeah! more of Rajee ... ;);)
 My column in the Feb. issue was about tabletap  ... well ! ahem ... I like the sound of ... the Tray Gardens ... really one hell of a fav. and absolutely fun ... thingy to try ...

... I was over at a friends place sometime back and I have to admit I loved her version ... with big river rock and seasonal flower pots ... right off the nurseries ... you'd have been immediately drawn to that corner  too ... :)
Would love to hear all your thoughts ... may be you are already hunting for a tray  ... a platter ... so what is it going to be for you  ... sand or stones ... ;)
I really love sharing my thoughts here ... and hope you enjoyed this one as well ...
Will update you about the March issue which just hits the stands ... Ah! didn't I say more of Rajee banter ... share with me your thoughts and stay tuned for tons of my banter ... ;)

Name A Chameleon Contest... ;) ... no seriously ... :)

 So we are working hard at giving the Adams family a run for their money ... things we do are getting a lil' beyond weird and whacky ...;)
He ... ah! may be ... She ... well! never mind ... the story is ... this beautiful creature (???) ... of God! entered our lives quite like the dinosaurs out of Jurassic park.Took a fancy for one of our Juniper trees and thats just where its been ,10 months and still counting...
Initially, we shared mutual fright of each other ... each time we encountered each other in the garden ... he'd change colors and dash for the fence and I'd do a mad dash across the lawn and indoors... like I just saw and survived a T-Rex.Well! the strong hearted fella has over come fear of me ... and I haven't... :(

... see how cool he is ... I was clicking away and he sat there ... and then ..click...click ... weee... all he does is check me out with crack opened ...one eye ... :)

O.ky-doky ... Sam and I have decided ... since he is going no where ... and we practicly look out for him all the while including how much weight he has lost this winter ... while hibernating on this branch.Honestly, we've even stopped spraying water on this tree ... least he catch a cold in this frosty-chilly winter  ...:)

Oh! Did I mention we were contemplating carring him with us in case we ever move home ... :):)

Soooooooooooo ... now that he is sooo part of our garden living ... we've decided to give him a name ... and not just think of him as the guy on the tree ...

And you are sure to see him in the background everytime I do a gardening post ... :)

And here goes ... suggests a name for our new entry to the brood and you get a chance at ...

1. Winning yourself a  free sponsor space on this blog  (in case you are a bussiness owner) for 1 month.

           

                                                                     OR

2. A feature post  ... incase you are a blogger.  

                                                                      OR

3. Full bragging rights to naming a Chameleon sitting on a Juniper tree in India ...  :)  ... ( could consider visitation rights ... though conditions may apply )

... you are allowed to be funny ...cutie ...  serious ... and just about anything under the sun ... as long as we mean nothing rude or hurt anyones sentiments ... remember this is a family scene ... :):)
So , go right ahead leave us a comment with your suggestion ... there's no limit to the no. of suggestions you can make ...
We pick a name ... 6th of Feb. ... you get to hear of the winner ... following day ... :):):)
So ... hope to hear from all my readers and many more ... Guys, there's a  nameless Chameleon,sitting on a juniper tree ... waiting for a nice name ... :) What do you suggest we call him ...

Ah! for the love of antique roses ... and a Happy New Year, to all abrakophiles... :)

Its a lovely feeling ... the beginning of a New Year ... loads of new thingies happening around ... ;) ... well ! how about some new collecting bug to pass around ... Now I am not talking about the viral and flu kinda bug ... but viciously infectious never the less ... :):) Hahah ... what fun ...

... In the west there are people reviving their love in the old varieties of roses ... its lovely to call them antique roses ... Me the romantic thinks its awesome... :). But here in India, its terribly fallen out of favour.Who ever thinks of the ol' fella Gulab ... your florist will think you are nuts if you ask hime if he's got stocks ... the nursery man ... aaaaah! he doesn't think its a profitable option. So you are very likely not to happen to have seen ol' fella Gulab ( Rosa moschata )... for a while now ... me too ...:)

... tell me they don't remind you of mummy's ol' garden ... may be nani's ... ??? ... :) and sure, there were oh ! soooo many flower arranging pictures from old English magazines ... that had them looking all pretty with pots of Tea and those floral embroidered tea cozies ...

... just last week in a nursery bursting with all the seasonal flowers ... I spotted these two pink Gulab rose plants ... talk about being out of favour and fashion ... thinny skinny and completely gangly looking ... but they were the prettiest shade of pink ... bringing back a flood of memories and tons of love ... Ladies and Gentlemen I have found myself a new love ... ;):) ... I've caught a bug ... a new bug for a new year ... do I get to pass it on to you ... ???

In case your nose it twitching a weeee bitty and you think the antique rose bug may be getting you ... you might enjoy these websites ... ton loads of info for people like us ...

http://www.roseinfo.com/  and http://www.rdrop.com/ 

And so , for this New Year have yourself a lovely new Gulab plant ... but which one is it giong to be ... a shrub ... a climber ... a crepper ... :) Oh! let me not get started about the color and petals ... :):) ... wooo did I hear an Aaaaaachooo ... bless you Abrakophile ... ;)

Topiary update ... lil' missy Giraffe ... :)

 If you remember my post about laying the lawn , in my garden ... you'll  probably remember this giraffe topiary I had found.
I have been  in my garden quite a bit these days ... relaxing after the crazy run upto Diwali ... enjoying the winter sun and ofcourse there is loads, the rains have left for me to do ... :)

... and just this morning I thought some of you may be curious to know what I did with the two topiaries ... well! this is it ... lil' missy the Giraffe ... stands right out side one my lil' girls room ... peekin' in ...

... we planted the plants through the legs of the topiary and have slowly trained them up towards the torso and rest of the body ...

I keep tweeking away the branches that grow out of the topiary frame and its sure exciting to watch as it turns completely green ... :)

The deer frame ... I have, suffered a rainy day tragedy and I have to start all over again with it ... but in the mean while lil' missy is getting all pretty... :)

For all the topiary lovers out there  ... heres sharing some of my topiary love with you ...;)

Everybody ...off the grass ... ;)

 

 Hey look whose in my garden ... :) ... while I was hunting around for the right grass for the lawn,I found these two ... at one of the local nurseries ... and while there was absolute chaos in my garden , yesterday ...  these two looked like two confused babies waiting for me to settle them in....

... the delivery for the grass arrived early morning yesterday ... and all hell broke loose ...I was way over excited to see my grass ... and then  ...  well ! no handymen to help the driver unload ... ??? ...  ahhha ... iron maiden to the rescue ... (o.k so I am nursing soar arms while I write) ... ;) ...

 

... have you heard the saying ...'the moment you hit the shower ... the door bell rings ' ... :)... hmmm ... that's quite how it works with my gardener ... the moment I help unload the last roll of grass ... BOOM ... Chandan Singh ... appears ... wooaa  ... where did he come from... well ! there he is ... Ladies and Gentlemen  meet ... my gardener Chandan Singh ... he's not a bad guy really ... I just have to catch up with all his tricks ... ;)

 

... o.k, so  I shooed Aimee away just as she was about to do her ... upside-down ... rolly-polly dance on the tiny patch that was just about getting carpetted  ...when the other devil made an appearence to let mom know ... the paddling pool would be out right after the lawn was laid ... EXCUSE ME !!!

Well ! ... with the kids out of the way ...we are back to rolling out the grass ... propping here and there the few pots that I plan to have  ...

and once we were done ... one end that looked like this  ...  before

 ... is now begining to look something like this ...and if you haven't already got an idea about how tiny is my little city garden  ... well ! its about 7' x 40' ... :)  ... which means, I have  to be very sure of how I plan my urban oasis ... and yes! I do work with a proper drawing layout of the area ...  it helps avoid mistakes ... helps stay focused on the design  ...to remember the feel you are looking to create ... 'cause once the entire thing gets underway ... and you are surrounded by all the beauitful plants ... your  heart says ... you'll find a place for that one  ...and that one too ... and that and yes, that lilttle one too ...  phew!  so I always need that plan ...

... and what with the rain Gods ... all happy these days ... our little landscaping has taken off at a good time to be healthy and well settled  by the end of this season ... and I still have time to continue hunting for just the right bouganvilleas ...
... I sure had to do a lot of home work before I decided which grass to pick for the lawn ... incase, you are curious ... or stuck with the decision  for your lawn ... shoot me a mail or leave me a comment ... I know how it was like ... hell! I couldn't even find the pictures on the net to relate with the local names ...  so with no luck in finding what Mexican grass looks like and  no particular liking for the 3 grades of what the nursery men call the Selection grass ... I picked the locally called Nilgiri ...
Hope to hear all your lovely comments about my new landscaping endeavour ... and all the planning and drawing part should make for some more posts in the near future , here ... :)