LIFE AS IT IS

The Blue Girl rose plant in my backyard has blessed me with perhaps its last flower of the year. It is such a delight! The plant had almost died last year, but we re-planted it in a different spot where she could get more sunshine. When we almost gave up on its survival, she began to sprout new leaves. Right now, she is 2-feet tall and has already born two unbelievably beautiful lavender roses! Keep making us proud, little girl!

Women and handbags go hand in hand. Have you ever spotted a woman without one? Perhaps not. We women carry tonnes of things in our handbags on any given day. A lot of times, we do not even know what we are carrying on us. Therefore, one Tuesday morning, I wanted to find out what I carried in my handbag.  The Daily Star link I opened it, and the first thing I pulled out of it was a makeup bag. And I am sure I am not the only one to carry a makeup bag. Most women carry some basic makeup items, even if it’s just a compact powder, a lipstick, or an eyeliner. I personally thought I was carrying too many lipsticks, though, as there were five tubes in total. Besides lip colours, I had a compact powder, a compact cosmetic mirror, a lip liner, an eyeliner, a travel-size perfume, blush stick, vitamin E moisturiser stick, and a mini hairbrush. I think it’s a good idea to keep your makeup items in a cosmetic bag instead of just throwing them in your handbag. I used to do this before, and i...

Summer crawls into autumn, a slow but poised walk into a natural world different not solely in terms of weather. Mother Nature lays out the differences the season brings about in the colours of the sky, leaves, flowers, and even in the coats of wild birds and animals. Summer evenings change to autumnal nights. The sun sets early, so you can no longer take a walk in the park at 7 o'clock in the evening. In autumn, by that hour of the day, the western sky begins to clothe in indigo. A curtain begins to draw on the world. The outside temperatures also start to dip rather quickly. And the bedroom windows, which you kept open on warm July evenings, need to be shut tight. You wish you could squeeze more hours into the day, but because that cannot be done, you try to spend evenings at home, reading or listening to music over a cup of steaming caffeinated drink. On a cosy autumn evening, you tell yourself that life is not too bad, even though days would soon be all gusty and slushy...

Many of us donate money, time, and belongings to good causes every year, and it is the least we can do for those who are less fortunate. However, acts of giving should not only be performed by adults, our children, too, should be taught about the importance of giving. It was only after my daughter started going to school that I realised how important it is to ingrain in a child the significance of helping those in need. The Daily Star link My three-year-old daughter goes to a pre-school in the United States, where they teach children about giving from the tender age of two. In her very first semester, my daughter's class teachers asked her and other students to bring loose change from home to donate. Every day, for two weeks, the children dropped coins, brought from home, into a jar that was placed outside their classroom. My daughter's school is relatively small but together they collected $386 last year, which they used to purchase treadle pumps, tree saplings, a g...

It started out of curiosity, but soon turned into a rule of my grocery shopping -- I read the nutrition labels on foods before buying them . Ten years ago, I did not care to decode Nutrition Facts labels. I would just pile up my shopping cart with whatever I wanted to eat -- bread, jam, peanut butter, cereals, cookies, chips, candy, fruit juices, ice cream, frozen dinners-- you name it; I did not care to find out if these were wholesome or not. I ate what I wanted to eat! Living in a country where grocery stores are giant, food options unlimited and portion sizes huge, overeating is not uncommon. I gained weight in the first few months of my life in the U.S. It was after I put on weight that I began to wonder if I was overeating like many others or, if it was my diet that was unhealthy. It was during this time that I became curious about the hundreds of words in small font that are printed on any packaged edible item in this country. I learned from those easy-to-understand labe...

Watercolor and petals from my California Dreaming roses.

Is life stressing you out? Aren’t there times when you want to escape, go somewhere or do something to relax your nerves? While it is not possible to go on holidays frequently to get away from the mundane 21st century life, it is very much possible to give yourself a short break every day, even it is just for 5 minutes. To enjoy this 5-minute vacation, the first thing you need to do is disconnect yourself from the outside world. Not completely, of course, just switch off or silence your cell phone for 5 minutes, so that a ping or a flash on the screen does not distract you. Sit in your balcony Sit in your balcony early in the morning or at the end of a long and tedious day to treat yourself to a hot cup of your choice of drink— creamy coffee or thick steaming tea... Gaze at the blue sky or whatever bits of blue sky that peek out from behind 10-storey residential properties. Enjoy your tea, enjoy these 5 minutes. And when you do, try to put aside all the worldly worrie...

Humans go back to the sea again and again, but do not grow weary of it. #paintingdiaries 

Standing on the beach, I always ponder how much the sea can teach us with her vastness, waves, sands and sounds. We feel insignificant in front of the invincible sea, yet we have learned to tame her - we sail ships and explore her every day... coast to coast.

Things look different under a grey sky.

"When you draw or paint a tree, you do not imitate the tree; you do not copy it exactly as it is, which would be mere photography. To be free to paint a tree or a flower or a sunset, you have to feel what it conveys to you: the significance, the meaning of it."  # paintingdiaries