Tie-Dye

As many of you may know that I come from Gujarat and one of the many things it is famous for is “Bandhani” which is a kind of tie-dye textile. I have loved the bandhani since forever. I never knew that one of its version could be done at home until last summer when we went on a camping trip which was very child friendly and had a lot of child-centric activities. One of the activities was tie-dye and I loved it more than Angel. And recently, I did it at home along with Angel.  So I got a tie dye kit and a couple of white t-shirts for her as well as for myself. We had a blast and the results are gorgeous. We are already longing to do more tie-dye projects!

So the kit I got had basically all the materials that we needed. It has the dye bottles with powdered dye, some elastic bands and disposable gloves.

We had to fill the bottle with water and shake it up so that it mixes properly and gives an even color.

The wired rack with a tray underneath made it easier for us to work.

We soaked our t-shirts in water for around 15-20 minutes before we started. We made a couple of patters and even matched 2 as Angel wanted J

We were having so much fun with the project that I forgot to click step wise pics, however they are fairly simple and easily available online.

Pattern # 1 – Stripes

        1.    Pleat and fold fabric vertically

        2.    Use elastic bands to secure the fabric and make as many sections as you wish

        3.    Apply dye to each section. Flip it and repeat on the other side. We alternated  between blue and red, you can use as many colors or any pattern that you wish!

Pattern # 2 – Swirl

        1.    Pinch the t-shirt at the center and twist it until it gets spiral shape

        2.    Bind 3-4 elastic bands overlapping each other, to create 6-8 wedges

        3.    Apply the dye to each section making a pattern if you desire. Flip it and         repeat on the other side

We matched :)

Pattern # 3 – Bull’s Eye

       1.    Pinch the t-shirt at the center and pull it upwards in a conical shape

       2.    Tie the first elastic 2 inches below the center and then continue to tie as many  as you wish in a downward direction. We used 2

       3.    Dye each section in the desired color

Pattern # 4 – Sunburst

       1.    Pinch the t-shirt and pull it upwards about 1-2 inches to tie the elastic.

       2.    Create as many sunbursts as you want

       3.    Apply dye to tips and apply another color to the rest of the t-shirt. I used my   grey t-shirt so I just mixed all the colors on the tips

Pattern # 5 – Crumpled

      1.    Crumple the t-shirt

      2.    Randomly secure it with elastic bands

      3.    Dye it. We had a lot of yellow left so we did it just with yellow. You can use your creativity and use multiple shades if you want!

Pattern # 6 – Random

This is just that – random. So we had some dye left and I handed Angel a t-shits which had a white background to tie dye as she pleased. She was thrilled. She randomly tied the elastic bands wherever she wished and randomly used the color whichever she liked. She had the most fun doing this and the result is still beautiful!

Now comes the difficult part of waiting. Wrap the fabrics in a cling film or use a zip lock bag and let them sit for 6-8 hours. Unwrap it, remove the elastics and unleash the magic. Hold it under running water until the water runs clear. Wash and dry it in the washing machine or hang them to dry!

Wizard's Brew

We did an easy yet beautiful activity last evening. I picked it from The Usborn Big Book of Science Things to Make & Do. Check it out for yourself.

All you need:

Baking Soda

Food Colors

Vinegar

Glitter (optional)

Dish Soap

Tray

Jar/Tall Glass

Small bowls & spoons

Instructions:

Cover the work surface with newspapers

Fill the jar halfway with vinegar

Add some drops of one color of food coloring and some glitter

Squeeze in some dish soap, give it a mix and place the jar on a tray

                                                

Now add a heaping spoon of baking soda, stir again and watch the foaming begin

                                   

The soap is the secret ingredient which makes it foam rather than fizz

When the reaction slows down, continue adding baking soda

To change colors, add a tablespoon of vinegar mixed with food color and dump it right in the center of the jar

Did you hear the screams of delight (from both of us) in the video?

Gulkand/Rose Petal Jam

We moved to a house this winter which has a lot of plants and trees. Since it was winter all of them were bare making it difficult to guess the types. Come spring and all the flora came to life. I got to know that I have a beautiful rose plant in my yard. It had 50-60 roses at a time. Don’t believe me? Take a peek.

It was difficult for me to believe it too until I saw it. I didn’t want all the roses to go waste so my dad suggested to make Gulkand or rose petal jam. This is the easiest jam ever.

All you need is rose petals (duh!) and sugar.

Just take out the petal from the flowers, wash and dry them thoroughly ensuring that there are no damaged/dried petals or bugs. 

Take a glass jar, layer the petals followed by the layer of sugar (I used brown sugar) again followed by petals and so on until the jar is full and place it in sunlight. Bring in the jar during the evening, give it a mix with a clean spoon and place it in the sun again the next day.

I noticed that the petals settled making more space in the jar and since I had no shortage of the roses, I kept filling it as and when I found some space.

It should be ready in about a month. I guess it took more time for me since this summer here included many rainy days as well.

Angel loved gulkand even before I did this as she had tried the Patanjali gulkand.

Not to forget the immense health benefits of gulkand.

Gulkand is an extraordinary home remedy for the treatment of acidity, used as a tonic in order to relieve lethargy, muscle ache, itching, fatigue and overexposure to heat and considered to be very efficient in purifying the blood and improving eyesight and memory.

The 100 Books Pact - 70/100

61/100 Let Them Eat Dirt by B. Brett Finlay & Marie-Claire Arreita

For the most part I enjoyed this book and found it interesting. Personally for me I found that my mind wandered a bit as they seem to repeat themselves in parts. Much of this book covers microbiota, the connection between the pathogenic microorganisms and how they share our body space. It begins prior to conception to birth and beyond. This book is an all-encompassing, from dirt, to germs, breastfeeding, vaccinations, ADHD, and diet. So maybe we will now pass on that hand sanitizer and get some dirt on our sleeves!

62/100 Hopeless – Hopeless Book 1 by Colleen Hoover  

I am not a kind of person who enjoys all the romances. I usually find them very cheesy or unrealistic. However this book is not one of them. I was on the verge of discarding this book after reading the first few pages (I am on a discarding spree these days, I discard books left, right and center). Glad that I didn’t. It’s an emotional roller coaster. Simply put, this is a beautiful story about love and survival. About hope and healing. About life and death. About coping with tragedy and finding forgiveness and peace. About being strong. About being a victim, but also a survivor.

63/100 The Twentieth Wife – Taj Mahal Trilogy Book 1 by Indu Sundaresan

I had never read any book based on History dating the 15oos. However I always liked History as a subject in my school and was fascinated by the Mughal Empire. I don’t remember what/who prompted me to place a hold on this book, but I am so glad I did. When I started reading this, I was almost sure that I won’t like this book and I was so wrong. I loved this book and finished it in two days which speaks volumes looking at my schedules. This is a book based on the life of Nur Jahan or Meherunissa, the twentieth wife of Jahangir who was formerly known as Prince Salim. The story unravels from the day Mehrunnisa was born to the day she would conquer one man’s heart, hence bearing all the consequences that came with it. Mehrunnisa saw Jahangir at his first wedding and at the tender age of eight, was determined that she will one day become his wife. Even though she only became his twentieth -and last- wife, it is said that she was the one he loved the most. The story is about knowing what you want and making sure you have enough faith and courage to achieve your goal. What an amazing woman she was and full points to the king for standing by her and her unusual ways. It also goes to prove that feminism is nothing new!

64/100 How to talk so kids will listen and Listen so Kids will talk

It is one of the good books I have read on parenting. It was definitely worth a read for me. It’s full of practical and common sense advice for parents. My favorite sentence from the book has to be – “The whole world will tell them what’s wrong with them – loud and often. Our job is to let our children know what’s right about them”

65/100 Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

It’s a love story, it’s a thriller, and it’s a science fiction book. It’s thought-provoking, gripping, action-filled. It makes you think about life and family and what matters most. There is no way to close this book and not ponder tiny, big things in your life. No way to not question some things or not smile at others. I won’t summarize the story, because I read this having no prior knowledge of what it would contain, and the reading turned out amazing for me. You won’t see a thing coming. Even the ending is not what you’ll expect at the beginning. But it’s good. It’s very good.

66, 67 and 68/100 The Room on the Roof, Vagrants in the Valley and Delhi is not far by Ruskin Bond

I read Ruskin Bond after a long time, after a dear friend reminded me of him. The second is the sequel to the first and the third is a standalone book. The Room on the Roof was written by the author when he was just seventeen. It describes in great detail the town of Dehra – its hills, lakes, people and has an old world charm which made me nostalgic. It makes you rethink about your life and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. This is a story about Rusty who runs away from his guardian, who hates Indians and considered them to be inferior, to live with his Indian friends. Great books, loved the feeling of freedom that is portrayed.

69/100 The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

I read this book again and it never fails to amaze me. I always make notes while reading this book (I never refer to them, that’s another matter). It might be strange, but some of the best things have happened to me while I am reading this book at various points since the time I’ve discovered this. Or maybe it’s just that I got to know “The Secret”. It requires many reads though to practice what it says. This was one of those readings and I am sure I will read it again.

70/100 A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto

This is the first book I read of a Japanese author. It belongs to the genre of mystery. For me it was too plain. Maybe the writing was lost in translation. It was a little slow but the Japanese aspects were interesting. Not so much of a mystery but it was more like an account of the murderer’s mistake which led to his downfall eventually. It was not to my taste.

Conversations

Angel(lost in her own world): Mama, I feel like we are in a dream, but that's not true, we are real.

Me (to humour her): What if we are actually in a dream?

Angel: What if somebody is dreaming about daddy, daddy is dreaming about us, you are dreaming about me and I am dreaming this!

I wonder if the idea of nested dreams in 'Inception' came from a child! :D

*********

I love the song "Chanda re, chanda re" from the movie Sapney and sometime last year, it was stuck in my head and I was singing it on a loop. That's when Angel picked it up and surprised me by singing the first two lines!

A few days back I was singing the song after a long time and she exclaimed it's a space song (because moon, I had to ask for an explanation)

When I explained the meaning of the first few lines she started laughing hard.

The song is -                          "Chanda re Chanda re, 
                                               kabhi to zameen par aa

                                               Baithenge, Battein karenge

                                               Tujhko aate idhar, laaj aaye agar

                                               Odh k aaja tu baadal ghane"

(A very) Rough Translation - "Oh Moon, Oh Moon, 
                                                come to Earth some day, 
                                                we will sit and chat

                                                If you feel shy while coming here, 
                                                wrap around some dense clouds and come"

She said it's so funny it doesn't make any sense!!!

I will never be able to sign the song without laughing again because when I think about it, it actually doesn't make sense! 

********

Yesterday, she reminded me of the same song and asked me to sing the next lines, I did and explained the meaning to her.

It goes like this       "Chanda se puchhenge 
                                hum saare sawal nirale

                                Jharne kyon gaate hai, 
                                panchhi kyon matwale?"

Rough Translation: "We will ask the moon 
                                all kinds of questions.

                                Why do the waterfalls sing, 
                                why are the birds so merry?"

Angel: Moon doesn't have a mouth, whoever has written this song is not very smart!

Angel turns FIVE!

Dear Angel,

[if you are like your father, you will groan at another letter from me, but if you are anything like me, you are grabbing each word greedily!

You can look like him, but please love the words like me :)]

You are FIVE. Five.

Can you believe it!

It seems like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital, and now you are five.

It took a while for me to come to terms with the fact that I was a mother and was going to be one forever. But today after five years of looking back, I cannot help but smile. It is a feeling of fulfillment beyond words.

Although I am still not sure if I am a great mother, I feel that I have done some justice to the role.

And in this journey of motherhood, I have learnt so much from you. Here are the five things on the top of my mind - how to love unconditionally, how to enjoy small things, how to observe more, how to be more inventive, how to be a better listener and I am sure I will continue learning more from you for the years to come. You have a far better imagination than I can ever have! You listen to my blabber about my day with such rapt attention and you retain things, I think I share about my day with you more than I do with J* ;) and in turn tell me about your day. Your ‘I love yous’, hugs and kisses make my days.

I am proud to have you my dear baby. I am not going to wish you happiness and success, I want you to get it by your own.

Fly as high as you wish to, claim the mountain peaks. I have your back.

I will always have your back!

Happy birthday!

Love,

Ma.

PS - You had your party at the circus academy. All your friends from school were there and all of you had so much fun! On the actual day, you celebrated it in school and I baked this for you since you are fascinated ‘Outer Space’ these days.

                    It’s a white chocolate-laced, checkered, solar system cake!

The cake cutting was followed by the dinner in a Mexican restaurant. We also planted an apple tree to keep the tradition going J

PPS – The accounts of her previous birthdays can be read here!

Giant Bubbles!

I usually club the activities I do with Angel in a single post like I have done here and here. And these are spread over some weeks, but this time I am making an exception as this one is a typical spring/summer activity and we had so much fun doing it that I had to document it and I don't want to do it once summer is gone. Also, you can use the same for your little ones, nieces or nephews making the most of the season!

We made the biggest bubbles ever using the home made solution and the home made bubble wands with the ingredients which are readily available in homes/markets (This goes true for most of the activities I plan).

Honestly, I was not very sure looking at the bizarre list of ingredients. I needn’t have worried!

Here goes the method:

6 cups of water – distilled works best, tap water is good too

½ cup of dishwashing liquid – I used Dawn Non Concentrated

½ cup of corn flour or corn starch

1 tbsp of glycerin

1 tbsp of baking powder

Step 1 – Mix corn starch and water until most of the corn starch is dissolved. Some of it will settle down at the bottom and that’s okay

Step 2 – Add the remaining ingredients and mix while ensuring that you don’t create a lot of froth

Step 3 – Let the mixture sit for about an hour giving it a mix once in a while and the biggest bubbles’ making solution is ready!

For the bubble wand, you can buy the one like this or make it at home. This is what we did, we took two drinking straws and the yarn thread around 6 to 8 times the length of the straw. Thread the yarn in the straws and tie a knot. The wand is ready!

The initial bubbles will pop immediately, but don’t be disheartened. The more you work with the solution, the silkier the mixture will become and in no time you will be making the giant bubbles!

Angel had so much fun doing it and I am sure we will be doing it again J

Bahubali 2

The nation (and other nations) has finally got the answer to the ultimate question – Katappa ne Bahubali ko kyon maara?

I had never watched any dubbed South Indian movies until Bahubali 1. You can’t blame me as my exposure to them was thanks to Set Max. So I never got interested in Bahubali 1 until all the memes and jokes came flooding my Facebook wall and inbox. (Some of them were actually good, btw) By the time, I was ready to take the plunge (of watching the movie), it was not running in cinema halls anymore. So I watched it online with J* and halfway through the movie he was snoring away to glory. My problem is I can’t leave any movie which is reasonably good midway, I have to finish it. And surprisingly and because I started watching it with minimal expectations, I really liked most of Bahubali 1. I cringed at the song where the hero makes the heroine beautiful, and how she left her life’s mission in the hands of the hero whom she had met like 5 minutes before, because love. I was really curious about the ending too like the many many more, so Bahubali 2 was eagerly awaited.

In Toronto, it was playing in only 2 cinema halls which was really surprising because it’s usually more than 10 for any other Indian movie. So we went on Saturday April 28^th to the first cinema hall (CH1) and only the front row seats were available. The guy there advised us to go to CH2 which is a good 25 kms away and we went only to find the same scenario there. We booked the tickets of the next day there which is 50+ kms away from home. J* had not seen the first part and didn’t remember whatever little he had seen and he also thought it was unnecessarily hyped, so he was not very excited. BUT, we are glad we went.

We absolutely loved the movie and I didn’t want it to end. It was truly a cinematic experience and here is my random review of the same.

-Last I heard, it has done a business of 1500 crores worldwide. A couple of years back 100 crore used to be a big thing, but this is something else and this record is here to stay, considering the quality of movies Bollywood is churning every Friday.

-I have a new found respect for the South Indian movie industry. Owing to which I watched another movie named Magadheera by the same director and I cringed at the movie and the respect lowered a few levels.

-The sexism complaint from part 1 was addressed to some extent in this one. Anushka Shetty as Devasena is a treat to watch.

-I loved how Amrendra Bahubali dared to tell Sivagami that she is wrong to fix the alliance without asking the girl. Her husband got up and recited all the sacrifices she has done to raise Bahubali. If it was a Bollywood movie, at this point the hero would fall at the mother’s feet and say bye to his love interest, because sanskaar. I loved how he supported Devasena when she used to raise her voice against Sivagami because he knew she was right, without disrespecting his mother.

-Thankfully, Sridevi refused the role of Sivagami, because money not enough. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing any of the characters. The casting is perfect and Prabhas is my new favorite now J I have watched some of his interviews and it’s refreshing to see that he is so incredibly shy and humble in real life!

 -Though I would have liked to see Devasena do more when they were banished from the kingdom and Bahubali was applying all his mechanical engineering skills to make the lives of villagers better.

-Similarly, Avantika did nothing when the hero was in picture, it was HER life’s mission in the first place.

-I could not forgive Katappa for killing Bahubali for the reason given. I discussed this with J* and another dear friend NSA. One of the argument was it was Satyug and they really meant what they said. Another chain was maybe he should have told him and killed himself.

-Thankfully Sivagami had declared Mahendra Bahubali as the king when he was born otherwise Katappa would have killed him too when Bhallalldev’s father asked him to. Phew!

-The stunts were amazing, despite some of them being physics-defying. The only illogical thing in the movie was the plan to enter the palace. It was hilarious.

-I like the songs too, even though they are not original, I mean the originals would be the Telegu ones right?! Angel likes them too. In fact, we listened to the songs of Bahubali 2 as nap time music last night J

-I think this would be the end to the magnificent Bahubali series. Will there be a Bollywood Bahubali? I hope not!

Spring is here!

You know when (Canadian) Spring is here when

- You get to see your toes more often as you are walking around without socks

- You get to hear and see a lot of birds and squirrels

- We even saw a rabbit across the street and a raccoon in the backyard

- The flowers start blooming, love the beautiful tulips

- The garden centers of various stores open up

- And the trees are no longer bare

So I decided to record and document the changes in two trees and here goes the amazing transformation

Tree # 1

Day 1

Day 5

Day 11

Day 22

Day 28

Day 30

Similarly, here goes tree # 2. I didn't click the bare body of this one

Day 1

Day 6

Day 12

Day 20

Day 27

Signing off with the beautiful dandelion flower head and seed head, couldn't resist this one!