Vanilla Pods

It is a good sight to see the vanilla pods hanging in the garden where fifty percent of the flowers were successfully pollinated. Now we wait for them to dry so that we can use them to extract the vanilla.

Here is another picture, clicked more than a month ago where you can see the flowers blooming, ready to be pollinated. The dry flowers still clinging on, shows that they have been successfully pollinated.

The bottle you see is from nuttie artzz. It looks better at night when the lights come up inside the bottle.  This season the yield of drumstick was pretty good. One of the regular visitors is the purple sunbird who goes in for the nectar from the Moringa (drumstick) flower.

The Ashy Prinia prefers to hang around or maybe even hang on the Moringa. No threat to my Moringas as the bird weighs only about 7 to 10 gms.  (Google facts)

Instead of throwing away the Mosami (sweet lime) seeds, I tried germinating them.  Most of the seeds sprouted which I planted in this pot.

As they grew I saw some designer leaves and found out who was responsible for it.

Clicking flowers against the sunlight makes the picture pop up.

I think the sunflowers also wait for the sun to rise.

As I was clicking the Begonia, this bee wanted to make a guest appearance.

The tomatoes came at the right time considering the upward trend of the price.

Nothing like some homegrown spices. Uprooted this lot from the 1ft x 2ft rectangular pot and got 1.4 kg turmeric. Now to dry and grind them for some organic turmeric powder.

The bulbs (roots) are saved for replanting in the next season.

The chiilies are just growing and hope to get a good yield after repotting.

The brinjals (aubergine) that came up this time is of a different variety.

Squashed rat

I was at the comp typing out my new blog post when wifey casually said “There is a new man in my life”

I turned and looked at her, trying to comprehend what she said.

She said “meet Mr Cute” and dangled this little guy in front of me. 

I knew that she was into crochet of late, but this little guy took me by surprise and brought a smile on my face.

In December she was busy making angels of different sizes and shapes.

I asked her “They are so colourful, aren’t  angels supposed to be all white?” 

She said “These are for kids and they enjoy colourful things”

Last week I got a shock when I saw this head lying on the cot. 

When I asked her she said “Oh that is just the head, wait till you see the rest of the body”

I love the small things that she makes, like these key chain Owls 

Or the little book marks. This cow with a big head.

I photographed this squished mice book mark on a Spice book and inside the book titled "Sholay" that I was reading

Some of the things that she has crocheted has reached different parts of the world, like this pillow case which has reached Canada 

This scarf and cap has reached Australia (waiting for the cold season to set in) 

These frocks and skirt has reached California 

I wonder how the Australian immigration allowed a squished rat to enter their country. 

Frogies are her favourite, whether it be a simple one or a book mark. 

Her work table where she was working on a doll as well as a rattle. 

Finally she finished her work on the doll and asked me “Can you pack this and courier it to Chennai?” 

Now that put me in a fix as I had to ensure that it was properly packed and more important was the fact that it should reach the recipient at Chennai.

My anxiety reached new heights when there was no news from Chennai even after six days !!   I consoled myself that maybe they were sorting out the squabble between Sasikala and Paneerselvam and delivery of a crocheted doll is last on their priority list.

It was only when I  got a photograph on WhatsApp on the seventh day saying that it was safely delivered, did I leave a sigh of relief.  

Even the dolls looked tired after all the travelling they did.

So I decided to take one more picture of our Mr Cute in our garden happily sitting next to the onion sprigs.      

Talking of the garden, this is the last flower of the season (Vanilla) There are eleven beans holding on which means about 30% success in pollination. The longest bean is 9 inches. 

Now for the next step – Vanilla  extraction. 

PS: addition on 11th March - Little Mrs Mousy gingerly standing at the edge of the Ikea table. 

PS: 12th March - The Hedgehog came creeping in today.  

PS: 13th March - The Koala refused to look at the camera

PS: 24th March - This doll took some time and some say that the previous one was better. 

PS: 24th June - The Angel sisters are pretty happy and don't mind standing on the "nut case"  

PS: 28th Sept - The shoes are also ready

Update 29 January 2019 : Out of the three Santa, only one is left and the calf is the latest addition.