Garden after rains

 Keeping a watch on the passion fruit. Waiting for them to turn yellow so that I can pluck them before they fall off 

These vines last for about seven years. They require strong trellis as the fruit tends to be slightly heavy. Plucked these tomatoes which went into the tomato soup. These are not the regular variety and they have that extra tanginess. No wonder the soup tasted yummy.  

The unusual rains kept most of the plants green and the mint leaves look good enough to go into a curry. Maybe we may make pudina chutney (mint chutney) one of these days.  

The sun does shine bright when there is a respite from the rains, and the butterfly thinks it is better to bask on the turmeric plant.  (I wonder if that yellow guy is a butterfly or a moth)

Got a good crop of Tendli (Ivy Gourd) and it was enough for one curry. 

It is said that Tendli has been used by Ayurveda to treat diabetes due to its ability to increase glucose tolerance and lower blood sugar levels. 

For my photography gear, I had made a light stand with 3/4" PVC pipe which was lightweight and portable. Later I realised that it was not sturdy enough to hold the weight of the light especially when I increased the height to six feet and above. So I decided to make a new one with 1" pipe (which I hope should be sturdy)

Instead of throwing away the old stand, I redesigned it to make it into a stand to hold our orchid baskets. 

Talking of flowers, last month these Brahmakamal (Star of Bethlehem) decided to bloom at midnight as they stay bloomed for only one night. 

What a sight. There were four of them 

Pants and cuffs

 Making things from leftover parts gives you a sense of satisfaction, like this apron. It is made from the top part of an old pant 

I loved those yesteryear's pants with cuffs which were in vogue in the fifties. It seems that the functional reason for the cuffs was to add weight at the bottom of the leg so that it draped the pant well. The scarcity of fabric after WW-II led the way to do away with the cuffs.

Coming back to the project, we had an old pant which was very tight, so the bottom part was cut and made into a small pant for our granddaughter.  

We added some elastic to make it a perfect fit at her waist. 

The top part with the belt loops was pretty good and wifey came up with the idea of making an apron. She made it a little colourful by using some leftover cloth pieces to make the tie and the frills. All in all a satisfying experience. My contribution to the whole project was helping with the machine stitching. 

Now waiting for the next project.