A bone of contention...now resolved..

this was what it looked like a few months ago....before i and the summer together committed serial plant murders

K and I have a bone of contention…my potted plants…about 75 in assorted sizes from small to really big…..when we moved into our current apartment, we decided that we’d each have a breathing zone in the balconies….the only ‘open’ area the spiraling cost of real estate could afford us…all was fine till I began accumulating plants….very soon, before K could realize the number and the magnitude, they spilled over into his zone as well, apart from a few being put out on the corridor….we’d have endless ‘discussions’ over flouting of space rules, how the marble was being ruined by the potting soil, that there were far too many plants for the place that we had and ultimately (my favourite) that a bird would decide to build a nest someday soon….i was beginning to lose it and so I decided to put an extension onto the balcony parapet, a place that would take the offending pots off his precious white marble floors….a couple of weeks ago we caught hold of a guy who makes gates and grilles and explained what we wanted….he delivered the end product a few days ago…and K has been smiling ever since…..we were concerned about safety, hence made sure the boxes were welded securely and reinforced….all that was left after shifting the pots to their loft was to scrub the floor………K of course as usual pitched in…armed with scourers, brushes, washing powder and buckets of water, we washed and scrubbed till he was sufficiently satisfied!! That I am relieved is an understatement…..and K has turned volte face, he claims that the plants now actually look good!!

two rows of potted plants...courtesy of the new window boxes...

The result is that he now needn’t be concerned that his outstretched legs would topple over some pot!! I’m just sad that I didn’t think of this earlier….would’ve saved me much agony!! We now have a choice of place to enjoy our morning and evening cuppas……

I have gotten quite a few congratulatory calls from family on Escapades….my mother was very excited and proud….with about 175 hits in 4 days, I don’t think I am doing too badly…..bee of jugalbandi has very graciously added me to her sites blogroll and I was so thrilled….there’s a weekend breakfast blogging event that I will participate in that I am excited about…..this is something that I am enjoying so much that it seems unreal….infact quite a few friends / relatives reverted with a ‘didn’t know you could write’ expression!! Its nice to surprise yourself once in a while…..

The weekend has been wonderful so far….on Saturday we went grocery shopping to stock up for the week and I tried my hand at cooking palak paneer for the first time with jeera rice and raitha….I didn’t get down to taking any pictures or blogging about it because we were so hungry having skipped breakfast………we then ventured out to buy K his book shelf…the current two are overflowing and I was afraid would topple over with the weight of the books…and not being able to actually see them all since they were stacked in two piles made things worse….that done we watched ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’ the much talked about movie based on ‘true rumours’ as the tagline declares…the one that is supposed to resurrect Vivek Oberoi…..he’s one actor I like….unlike the other pretenders, this guy makes an honest attempt at his craft and comes off very convincingly ….its just that he has made the news rounds for the wrong reasons….anyways, coming to the movie….it was good, but since we chose a very average theatre (the only way out of the weekend rush) it kind of seemed like there was a light that needed to be switched on somewhere near the screen………..bad enough there was loads of blood and gore, the dimmed screen robbed the movie of its experience….. ….racy and realistic…especially the shootout scenes….Vivek oberoi convincingly holds his own against Sanjay Dutt….that’s quite a feat considering the latter’s screen presence….its obvious that Suneil shetty and Tushar Kapoor are the producers….they have quite meaty roles…ekta Kapoor sure played protector and provider to Tushar cos he’s the only one with a heroine…..Amrita Singh badly needed to comb her hair and Amithab bachchan’s tongue in cheek one liners were lost on most occasions….. Diya Mirza has nothing much to do but was perfectly cast….she looks confused throughout her small part….. all in all I’d say it’s one of the better made gangster flicks….it doesn’t let you relax for a moment….i am convince that Sanjay gupta should let someone else direct movies for him…..

Dinner was a Rajasthani Thali complete with ghee rotis…there’s a small joint near home….thankfully I felt guilty enough to finish my 40 min walk……we watched another movie, then some sports, half of jerry Maguire and realized that we were hungry and it was almost 4 a.m…..coffee and pasta later, we hit the sack….K slept till almost midday today but I had no such luck…when the maid rang the doorbell at 8.30, I felt like I was being forced out of unconsciousness…..

Since we have been gorging over food the whole of yesterday, I decided to go easy with it today…we had a light upma for breakfast (at 12.30 p.m) and a simple lunch at 3.30…..its been drizzling on and off ….promises to be a lovely evening….i just wish the humidity would go away…..K is hooked onto the French open and I have been left to my own devices……

Breaking news!! Exciting too.......Escapades has just been added to Mahanandi's food blog list ....for all those who are new, Mahanandi is THE indian food blog, written by the very innovative Indira ....this food blog is the one click stop and inspiration behind many food newbie's like yours truly...i have to quickly go over to finish writing a post for the weekend....am very excited.....