Of Friends, Birthdays and Good times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ricky has gone back home and the house is suddenly so quiet we are wondering if it was as quiet before he came a week back.

October is nearly over. After two super hectic weeks, we are trying to get back to routine work, blogging and everything. Typical of this time of the year in Delhi, there is a pleasant chill in the morning air. We have decided to snuggle on the blanket that Ricky used during his stay. It hasn’t been to the cleaners yet and it still smells of him.

18th of October was his Dad’s birthday. We are so proud that he learned everything that we tried to teach him – pottery painting & cursive writing among other things – and had his own gift for his Dad ready on time. And hey! He even composed his first blog post.

Well, he doesn’t really understand yet what blogging means but he was interested to write his story when we told him a number of people would read and appreciate it. We are hoping this will inculcate in him a habit of journal keeping which we think is one of the best things a child can learn. Not only does it encourage you to improve your handwriting but it also makes you dream, which is so important if you want to really achieve something big in life. Besides, your diary can be your best friend in times of need when you are all grown up and need to vent your feelings without telling the whole world. It really helps.

 

So, starting today, we shall be hosting a few blog posts from our guest blogger Ricky. Hope you enjoy these posts as much as we did putting them together.

 

 

Have a great week ahead,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: Ricky,Dog Blog,Photography,Birthday Cake,Ricky's first post,Journal keeping

It wasn’t my fault

It certainly could’t have been. After all the workers took a long long time and then Mummy took some more to clean up after them.

Oh Alrighty! Let me tell this better.

We had to stay in the bedroom the whole time the workers fixed the shade over our balcony the other day. Something to do with them coming and going carrying heavy stuff and the weilding work being too dangerous for us to snoopervise. We did get to snack on our favorite stuff from time to time but no dog likes to be scooped up inside while there is so much going on outside, snacks or no snacks.

So after much deliberation I decided to amuse myself with some chewing exercise. Apparently my new stuffy wasn’t the right chewy. Well then, where was the right chewy toy when a dog needed it?

Mummy freaked out because I had swallowed both eyes, both ears and a paw off Mr. Stuffy.

 

 

 

She was worried it would all line my stomach and cause a blockage and I will need to go see the vet. (she is reading a little too much about intestinal obstruction in dogs ,I’m sure!)But nothing of that sort happened. I have as good an appetite as earlier, my tummy isn’t bloated and my stool is well formed and just right. I guess I AM a champion chewer!

 

 

Our garden is almost 70% done. Some pots are meant to be hung from the suspenders on the rim and a few lamps are to adorn the ceiling. Mummy is working on growing some plants in bottles that she means to style up!

It’s really nice that we can now sit outside for breakfast and enjoy the lovely weather. It rained yesterday. We sat outside listening to the pitter patter of the rain-drops on the roof, smelt the beautiful earthy smell, read a new book and munched on snacks. BLISS!

 

Our friend Ricky is visiting! We love it when he is here. He is a fine human pup and we always look forward to his visits as much as he does. This holiday our mission is to teach him to brush our teeth, brush our fur, feed the strays, paint earthen pots, read a dictionary and cursive writing. Last time he visited us, we taught him how to bathe us without getting water into our ears and he remembers his lesson perfectly well.

 

 

Will soon get back to you with the latest pup-date of our progress.

Till then, be good, keep wagging and feed the strays.

 

Wags,

Buddy

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Dog Blog,Photography,Dog Behaviour,Labrador Retriever

Exciting Projects!

 

A lot has been happening in our corner of the world in the last few days.

Mummy is between changing jobs so she has been home for longer hours than earlier which we are really enjoying. We would have loved to have her stay home with us permanently and we suspect she would quite enjoy that too.

But looks like that isn’t gonna happen, at least not for now.She has been trying hard to stop working full time on a nine to five  ( most times no time-limit) job and start something more entrepreneural. Till that happens or she gets into a less demanding job, we are concentrating on enjoying this little sabbatical that she’s on!

In the meanwhile, we all have been trying to get a number of things done. Like finishing a few pottery painting projects that were pending since time immemorial!

 

 

Guess what came in those earthen pots? Our favorite desserts – Kulfi and Mishti Doi and Ras Malai.

( For the un-initiated – Kulfi is a type of Indian ice-cream that comes in a variety of flavours. Our favourite is coconut Kulfi. There are some special joints in Delhi that sells coconut kulfi which is not just flavoured but has real grated coconut in it! Ras Malai is a kind of sweet that is made of refined flour and is shaped like small little balls in thick creamy sweetened milk. Mishti means sweet and Doi means Curd. The sweetness comes from a mixture  of sugar and jaggery mixed with cream.)

The desserts, of course, are mouth watering. We do not like to throw the pots away afterwards – they have that handmade earthy look that we find so appealing. Once cleaned and dried, they are ready to be a part of the décor of your house. Of course one can go buy such pots which have been manufactured for this express purpose but somehow we like the look of these ‘not so perfectly shaped’ pots. Besides they also remind us of the lovely long nightly drives we went on to get these desserts from a special joint at the far corner of our city!

Mummy is in the process of prettying them up and we mean to put them on our new bed-stand.

 

Oh! That reminds me!

We got this nice new bed last week. It’s much bigger (Hopefully it will fit us all better – three dogs and 2 humans- and we need no longer to sleep in a tangled mess!!) and comes with an exquisite new comfy mattress. Ever since it got into our bedroom, Shadow has been monopolizing it! I think he believes the bed has been bought explicitly to cater to his lounging needs!! Paah!

The weather is just perfect at this time of the year in New Delhi. Not too hot, not too cold, a fresh breeze blows at almost all times of the day and the fragrance of the pretty autumn flowers wafting along makes you happy for no reason at all…

 

 

For some time now, we have been contemplating on doing up our little garden on the balcony. The pigeons have been messing up our plans (literally!) and we need to get the better of them. Much as it hurts us to think we will be chasing them off from their homes on our window shades, we have decided to construct a shade, sort of a fibre-glass ceiling to keep them off but allow the light in.

The workers are at work right now and we are all are very excited!

 

 

It will be lovely to sit out there, feel the nice fresh air on our faces, admire the flowers, read, dream and compose our posts.

If only Mummy could stay home permanently!

 

Sigh!

Buddy

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Do it yourself Projects,Dog Blog,Pottery Painting,Art of living,DIY

 

 

Living the Good Life

 

“……and the leaves were telling secrets to the wind.”
― Peter Mulvey

 

…..Oh! To stick out your head and feel the wind rushing past, to breathe in the fresh morning air and to taste the raindrops, to take home with you the lovely fragrance of the early winter flowers….

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Quotes on wind,Shadow,Photography,Delhi,Rescue dog

Kindness

 

There are these little pockets in various corners in our city. Peaceful, happy places where you find flocks of pigeons that have made there homes in those public places so permanently that they serve as a landmark.

You could easily say, Oh! Take a right at the intersection where you see this large flock of pigeons!’

 

 

 

I love these places. I feel they are perfect examples of little bits of sanity left in our otherwise frantic city lives. And of kindness.

The birds are there because people come and feed them. Different people from different walks of life. If you stop and watch you’d find the humble street vendor sharing a bit of his food with them, a student busily walking past munching on a snack stopping to drop some for the birds even while busy on the cellphone; or a well-dressed person in a fancy car generously feeding them a large bag of grains!

 

 

Honestly I have never fed these birds. I don’t know why, nothing against them. I suppose it is just that I am too much of a dog person. I always carry biscuits in my car for the strays and an empty bowl in summer to give them a drink of water or milk but I have never fed the birds.

Oh! The more I think about it, the more I feel I should.

 

 

This post is an entry for ‘ABC Wednesday’. K is for KINDNESS. Please run over HERE for more ‘K’s

 

P. S.:  Note from Ginger, Buddy and Shadow – Honestly woofing, we are on a love hate relationship with pigeons. As long as they stay away from OUR balcony and are perched on other people’s, we love watching them. But we hate it when they come and mess up ours! You’d understand what we mean if you just go check out this post HERE!

 

 

Technorati Tags: ABC Wednesday,Photography,Delhi Tourism,Kindness

‘THE SECRET GAMES OF CHILDHOOD’

 

 

 

 

 

“How dreadful...to be caught up in a game and have no idea of the rules.”

― Caroline Stevermer, Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot 

 

Enjoy more monochrome wonders at  The Weekend in Black and White.

 

P.S: Precious moments captured forever. Memories of a precious holiday in the Himalayas with our friends. Featured here is Mummy and Ricky, her friend’s 6 year old son. Ricky is our best human-puppy friend. Kind, wiser than his years, extremely sensitive, helpful and intelligent, we are all so proud of him. He sure will grow up to be a great human being. ..Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

Technorati Tags: Black and White Photography,Photography,Love and Relationships,Quotations

Page 52, Sentence no. 5!!

 

 

Did you know? It is International Books Week!

Our friends Bookerman and Asa’s Mom has started an intriguing game.

You need to grab the nearest book, turn to Page 52 and post the 5th sentence. Do not reveal the name of the book !!

 

Our offering….’ The skin on her face is all loose and wrinkly like a Shar Pei’

So, what have you been reading this week?

 

 

Here’s something more from what we have been reading that we really liked. From another book, of course!

 

‘ Positive Imaging’ is positive thinking carried one step further. If you consistently picture the best – not the worst- happening to you, powerful forces will work to bring it about.

 

Never doubt it. What is imaged in your minds tends to actualize itself. The pyramids of Egypt, the Pantheon, Saint Peter’s in Rome, the great soaring bridges in New York, once existed only as an idea in somebody’s mind – and that is when their real existence began. Somebody imaged them – and then those images took on form and substance.

 

That is the sequence : first the germ of the idea, then the image of the idea, then the energy and determination to clothe it with reality, and finally the triumphant reality.

 

Put imaging to work, and your self image will expand and grow.

- Norman Vincent Peale: ‘ Positive Imaging - The Powerful Way to Change your Life.’

 

 

A must read , if you are at that point in life where you want to change it’s course. Like if you want to give up your job and follow your dreams or feel you need at least to cut down on work to devote more time to do those things that make you happy.

May be painting, writing, cooking or working for animals. Join an NGO may be.

Or if you think things aren’t going the way they should for quite sometime in spite of your best efforts. May be you need to put in more positive energy, more visuals of success in your plans, even if they mean a daily to do list.

With more visuals of a successful day, you do tend to have a successful day. Somehow, somewhere forces in nature conspire – they say- to make it all happen for you!!

 

Positively imaging stuff,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Positive thinking,Book Week,Photography

Senior Dog ?

 

 

Buddy turned eight last Thursday, that is on the 12th. That makes him a senior dog, or so they say. 

That’s supposed to make him a wiser, quieter dog. A dog that who knows the rustling of leaves outside means just that..the wind rustling the leaves and not a squirrel. The door-bell ringing doesn’t mean the door will open itself instantly. One needn’t throw oneself at it and one can wait till someone else takes the trouble to check.

A walk means a slow, casual stroll enjoying the smells, the air and the company of your human. An older dog who has lived his youth and now likes to snooze away his time.

But whoever sets the rules for senior dogs to live by certainly has given Buddy the miss! Or may be he just doesn’t want to live by the ‘Senior Dog Rules’.

Not yet!!

 

Agreed. Buddy does love a good snooze but he is never lazy about getting up and checking on the important things in life. Like, for example, delicious smells that are wafting from the kitchen!!

 

 

 

Though I, Shadow have willingly taken over the responsibility of checking on the rustling leaves, the noisy night-guard with his whistle, the birds on our balcony and the door bell, Buddy always double checks. Just in case!

Only he is now wise enough to know he needn’t always break his neck doing it!

He was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism some six months back. But after the initial set-back he hasn’t let that interfere with his life. He still is the most enthusiastic trekker and believes in the merits of an active life-style.  High places or thick vegetation, Buddy never lets any smell go unexplored or any squirrel un-chased!

 

 

 

 

He believes in warming his belly in the sun, dreaming of the good things in life, enjoying the soft grass, the smell of the earth or the plush cushions, whichever may be the case!!

 

 

 

And at the end of it all, one does notice that wise, quiet, all knowing softness in his eyes….

 

 

 

Wishing for a lot more fun and happy times ahead with you.

We love you.

Ginger and Shadow

 

 

Pee ess : ( Don’t blame us for not coming up with a post on Buddy’s birthday. Didn’t we tell you our editor needs to be fired? Can’t imagine why we haven’t got round to doing it!!)

 

 

Technorati Tags: Buddy,Birthday,Photography,Dog Pictures,Dog Blog,Senior Dog

Befuddled?

 

What a week and what a day!And there’s still one more day to go before it’s weekend at my end.

I still cannot decide if I should be mulling over all the things that needed to be done in the past week but are nowhere near being even started or just be glad of that one thing that I got done that really really needed doing for the last couple of weeks. Be mourning the ‘death of humanity’ as I experienced it, should lose my sleep over someone so obviously obnoxious or be proud I ‘successfully tolerated him’ for a friend’s sake. Be anxious about my long ‘to do list’ for tomorrow or just appreciate the little joys I found along the way….

And if I have managed to sound ever so confused and befuddled, it would be because my brain says it’s ‘Out Cold’ and my heart wouldn’t let me sleep in peace till I have vented it out.

Well, come hale or hell-fire, I know one thing for sure…..I can never be thankful enough for the three wet noses and the three eagerly wagging tails that invariably are at the door every single time I return home, making light every burden that I might have brought back-packing!!

 

 

‘Touch Wood’

 

 

Technorati Tags: Photography,Joy of living,Dogs,Man's best friend

A lovely bit of theater…

 

 



 

 



 

 

Finally, last weekend we made it to this magnificent play ‘Lal Quile ki Aakhri Mushaira’.

 

( Lal Quila – Red Fort in Old Delhi.

Aakhri – last

Mushaiera - Pronunciation: /mʊˈʃʌɪərə/

noun. An evening social gathering at which Urdu poetry is read, typically taking the form of a contest.)

 



 

 

I say magnificent because the first thing that strikes you, right from scene one, is the simple yet regal costumes. The set and aura of the performers added to the beauty.

’Lal Quile ki Aakhri Mushaira’ is a beautifully witty depiction on stage of the last ‘mushaiera in the last Moghul emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar’s court before the Sepoy Mutiny of 1847 happened.

(Sepoy Mutiny, also considered the first fight in the long struggle for India’s independence saw over 300 soldiers marching down to the Red Fort from Meerut to declare independence from the British East India Company- the small trading company that had managed to colonize India taking advantage of the constant internal rifts between numerous small kingdoms that the vast sub-continent was by now divided into.

The Sepoys (soldiers) declared Bahadur Shah Zafar the Sovereign of India and rallied under his banner. This was also accompanied by uprisings at many other places all over India.

The East India company however managed to squash the uprising, exiled the 82 year old emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to Burma and thus brought the illustrious Moghul rule in India to an end. His sons were ruthlessly killed at a gate now a monument of tourist attraction in old Delhi called ‘Khuni Darwaja’ or the Bloodied gate. The administration of India was thereafter directly transferred to the throne of England. 

 

The illustrious Moghul empire in India was already weakened by a series of incompetent rulers by the time Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar inherited it. The British East India Company had taken over substantial administration of Delhi and allowed Bahadur Shah Zafar to maintain a small army within the confines of the Red Fort. His rule did not extend much beyond the ramparts of the fort.

 



An ardent Urdu poet, the emperor wrote under the Nom-de-plume ‘Zafar’. His court offered every encouragement necessary to nourish Urdu poetry and often hosted poetic congregations comprising of some of the most treasured names in Urdu poetry – Zauq, Daagh, Mirza Ghalib, Momin and Munshi Tishna.

This play was a delight to watch as it brought to life the witty interactions and inter-personal relationships of these great poets in addition to presenting some beautiful poetry. Even for someone like me who is not fluently proficient in Urdu, the play proved mesmerizing  due to the wit and aura (that kept kept effortlessly changing from funny to witty to soulful to melancholy) on stage.

 



 

( Delhi based Pierrot’s Troupe is often termed the least pronounceable yet most pronounced theatre group in Delhi! Tom Alter, who plays Bahadur Shah Zafar is the star performer and chief attraction along with the witty and charming playwright and director Dr. M. Sayeed Alam )

 

 

Technorati Tags: Lal Quile ki Aakhri Mushaiera,Tom Alter,Pierrot's troupe,Theatre,Delhi,Epicentre,Gurgaon,Momin,Daagh,Mirza Ghalib,Urdu poetry,Sepoy Mutiny,Bahadur Shah Zafar,East india Company

Sort of Philosophizing….

Post Independence day blues…
It was all very nice to feel glorious on D day, flaunt the flag, eat, sing, be merry, shop, dance and generally be joyous but when you read the monochrome newsprint in between the vibrant greetings in national colours and the huge bold print advertisements of tempting sales in a myriad stores, you are once again reminded of how much India still has to achieve after 66 years of independence…
Scams in both politics and sports, unbelievable news of racial discrimination in a secular republic ( a shopping mall in Ahmedabad apparently collected entry fees from Muslim patrons on Eid!) , gender discrimination that even an IAS officer can’t seem to escape, almost non-existent animal protection law, relentless border tensions with Pakistan,  and even as we celebrated our freedom yesterday 18 Navy men remained missing while rescue personnel failed to enter the sunken submarine in Colaba naval dock.
Generally speaking, I am politically aware but not politically inclined. I take the effort to read the papers but choose to linger and think more about the life-style and living supplements. Somehow, I believe there is nothing that can be resolved by positive thinking. An outright ‘half full glass’ person!
Which is why I am assuming it is the weather that is getting to me. I’m at home today and normally this would be reason enough for me to be happy! But the world outside has been a gloomy shade of grey since morning like those end of the world movies and the newspaper seemed to make it all the more ominous!
Must go do something to get a hang of things. There’s this painting I‘d stopped working on a long time ago. If I could get myself to get the paint and brushes out and sorted, I’d like to work on it again. But since I do not have a magic wand like everyone in Harry Potter’s world, I will need to get the things out myself, dust and set them and it just seems too much of an effort right now. Then again, there’s this cushion cover I was stitching which remains half done. But the same magic wand theory applies here!!
Somehow picking up a book and drifting off to sleep seems much more appealing!!! After all I will need to do justice to all those marvelous books I picked up last week in yet another season clearance sale. Besides the fact that if you want to snap out of the gloom engulfing you, you need to follow your therapist’s advice and right now my three therapists are…errr…recharging!!

The book that I’ve chosen? ‘BUDDHISM for SHEEP’ by Chris Riddell.This one is seriously set to make you ponder.....

P.S.: It was lying on my bed-stand so I could manage without the wand!

Technorati Tags: 15 August 2013,India,Buddhism for Sheep,Books,Hobbies,Life

Happy Barkday, daddy!

 

Today was Daddy’s birthday and much as we would have loved for him to stay at home, he couldn’t get an off from work.

But guess what’s the best thing about daddy’s birthday? Even if he can’t get an off from work, the whole country gears up to celebrate it the next day! And we even get a National Holiday to go celebrate as we wish to!

Tomorrow is Independence day! And though Daddy spent his birthday at work today we are planning to do some of his favorite things tomorrow.

We are glad that he enjoyed whatever we arranged for him today so he would have something special on his special day….a basket full of flowers that we could all eat ( he is like the HUGEST foodie we know!), a special dinner from his favorite restaurant and two designer ties.

And no, the ties aren’t edible!!! But he liked them anyway!

 

 

 

 

HAPPY BARKDAY, Daddy.

One last Barkday wag n lick from each of us once again before we sign off for the night,

We LOVE you heaps,

 

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Daddy's birthday,Cake,Slice of Italy,Designer cakes,Delhi

‘Smiley Smile’ with Joy…

 

“Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. It’s a feeling inside that can hardly be contained.”

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

 

 

 

Another picture from the time Ricky had come visiting. We especially like how Ricky smiles a pawfect  ‘Smiley smile ‘ !!!

Hope you all have a great start to the week ahead. Loads of excitement is in store for us this week with Daddy’s birthday and Independence day coming up. Shall try and keep you posted.

Gotta go now. It’s past midnight and if we want to see off Mum n Dad to work on time tomorrow morning, we need to go sleep.

 

 

Goody nite,

Ginger, Buddy and Shadow

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Ricky,Delhi,Friends,Family,Photography,Smiley smile

 

Taking a leaf out of….

 

…..Mooch’s book.

 

 

For all intents and purposes, felines are simply not our type. But in Mooch’s case, we make an exception. He seems like a good kid  - silly sometimes but good.  ( If u don’t know Mooch you can read about him and his friend Earl – a dog!!- at Mutt Comics)

And today he was really bang on!

Looking up at the sky you would think we lived in the Scottish highlands, the way it has been persistently raining for the last three days!! However, the scenery around here isn’t as appealing….there are far too many buildings and noisy cars and busy people here in Delhi instead of the lovely Scottish castles and hills and greenery.

Only the rain pours down as heavily and persistently, and the skies are dark and overcast!!

 

Ginger went off to sleep even while she was waiting to be dried after her bath (of course she had to get up and re-sleep later)  and Buddy immediately after breakfast, even before we saw Mummy and Daddy off to work!!

 

 

 

It was entirely upon me to make sure the perimeter was secure - the pigeons cooing outside shooed away, the noisy maid at the next door neighbor’s scared away with a sharp rebuke, the fluttering curtains and the open windows checked, just in case.

Once satisfied, I settled down for yet another conversation with Mr. Lizard who likes to hang out high up on the ceiling. His half hearted attempts at getting down to the floor doesn’t amuse me at all. I wish he would muster up the courage and come play with me. I mean, I am not some lizard slayer or something.

But like always, he persisted in his antics tirelessly. Sometimes I suspect he likes teasing me.

Anyway, enough was enough!

It was too good a day to waste. So I thought of Mooch and finally fell asleep.

 

 

 

ZZZZZzzzz,

Shadow

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Shadow,Mutt Comics,Mooch,Cartoon strip,Rains,Delhi,Monsoon

Left to imagination…..

 

 

‘But unlike the passivity of dreams it demands the active participation of the individual. The images which arise may be elaborated  through artistic and self expressive mediums such as painting….’

Or photography…my preferred medium these days.

 

Ginger is a particularly difficult subject to photograph!!

She had decided very early on in life that she hates the camera. There she’d be all animated and happy and sprightly, and the moment the camera is out, she’d clamp up and withdraw. She knows exactly where I keep my camera and irrespective of why I happen to open that particular drawer, she’d immediately start sulking!

 

My precious girl - so beautiful, so expressive with her speaking eyes, wrinkles on her face changing from perpendicular to horizontal with changing emotions I’ve long learned to recognize, the significant tilts of her head…I always struggle to capture these without much success. Thousands of Ginger’s pictures that I have on my computer are those of a sad, sulking pup shying away from the lenses.

But I’m learning! Learning to trick her out of her shyness and get a shot of her lovely adorable expressions!

I had tricked her into posing for this shot too! We had only just come back from a long walk in the park. There she was – bathed, brushed and dried- just settling in for dinner and I subtly focused the camera, all the time telling her we were going for a drive. She immediately sat up intrigued forgetting all about the camera pointing at her, unsure she’d heard right, trying to judge if I was actually seriously contemplating going for a drive once again!!

And I got my shot! HA!!

I know for sure this same trick isn’t going to work again so I might as well think start of something equally intriguing (for Ginger) next time!

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Photography,Ginger,India,Animal photography