life...

these days...

* a big fat green barbet starts it's musical duet with the cuckoos in the summer afternoons.

* a lovely cold glass of fruit smoothie, when I get home from the sun.

* the cool morning breeze caresses me while I cut and prune in my balcony.

* melons, strawberries, grapes.

* tabebuias and jacarandas. pinks and purples paint the skies and the roads.

* countdown for summer vacations begin.

* ice-creams are devoured just minutes after breakfast.

Before I leave here is some amazing eye-candy from Love Made Visible.

The beautiful Lakshmi Menon appears in the Hermes Campaign - Hermes Orange, Indian Pink.

Inspired by the painted elephants of Rajasthan. ( India sure is rocking!)

( images via Nirali Magazine, Love Made Visible)

Red, Blue & White...

Let me get over my 'Nilgiri Hills' hangover once and for all (for a while) with this post on 'Fernhill Palace'.* The name that brings to mind the colours Red, Blue & White.

* Chilly mountain breeze.

* Sunlight making my eyes squint.

* Mallika's excitement, my excitement.

* Forms, patterns, shadows.
* Shadows, patterns & forms.
* Ornate 'bulbless' lamp posts.
* Never seen blue like this before.
* A former hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore but now a Welcome Group Hotel.

Calm...

Sunset at Cauvery Fishing Camp, Bheemeshwari.

Have loads to share with you all...
Wait for me while I drag my thoughts back from our very relaxing and close to nature trip.

Meanwhile do check out my Flickr for uploads from the trip:-)

Kantha Work

I just can't get over these absolutely beautiful handbags & pouches with exquisite Kantha Embroidery on them.

You can buy it online here.

Beulah Farm - A Sweet Memory.

We had heard about homemade fruit wines made in a place called 'Beulah Farm'...so one day while we were holidaying in Kurumba Village, we decided to explore the hills and drove down to Kotagiri.'We saw a narrow turquoise blue iron gate with Beulah Farm written on it. As we rang the bell, a lady came and welcomed us inside.

* An elderly gentleman was feeding beautiful white pigeons.
* Exotic looking flowers & plants lined the place.
* The windows & doors were painted in lovely turquoise blue colour.
* Yellow marigolds on planters near the windows. We introduced ourselves & he welcomed us inside his cute little cottage.* Then came a tray filled with bowls of homemade jams- Rhubarb, Pepino
* Yummy delicious jams & preserves.
* Homemade fruit wines or nectar as he calls them- dry rose, plum, pears, fig, strawberry, mulberry, peach and list goes on.
* A small tour of his lovely herb garden & small sprigs of the herbs were given to us while he explained the various species of herbs...fennel, lemongrass, basil, chives, oregano, lemon balm, rosemary, peppermint, spearmint (phew!)
* All the jams & wines are from his garden..he showed us his fig tree, pear, kiwi...
* Apart from that we entered a rose garden with amazing roses, black rose, green rose...
* Felt transported to a Neverland. Amazing.
Mr Eapen Jacob- an octogenarian, engineer turned agriculturist( says his card!)Fan-tailed pigeons.
Exotic Black Rose at Beulah Farm.
The delicious Strawberry Preserve we picked up at Beulah Farm.

All Saints Church, Bedford, Coonoor.

The minute I reached the old iron gate of All Saints Church, I felt the scene get transformed into sepia-tone and me being taken back a century.

* The sky was a beautiful shade of blue.

* Pine trees seem to frame the church into a memorable picture.

* Tombstones of many young martyrs who served the British army lay scattered around.

* A sense of peace & calm prevailed.

* A solitary bench at the entrance.

* A dog laying at the steps, looked up at us with disinterest and went back to sleep.

* The church caretaker opened the church door and welcomed us inside.

* I stepped in and a strange feeling of serenity & love for the almighty encompassed me.

* The caretaker's son & his friend were placing copies of the holy bible on the prayer benches for the evening.

* How beautiful. How touching. How memorable.

Erin Villa, Coonoor.

*Sigh*
I am completely at a loss for words.
Erin Villa is located in Upper Coonoor. Nestled in the lush green tea estates of the Nilgiris.We entered the place through an old wrought iron gate and were immediately transported to another world. Never in my life have I seen so many colours together in one place. *Sigh*
*Sigh*
*Sigh* *Sigh*

We were in ..'our dream'. A dream where...

* Pink bougainvilleas were drooping down to talk to their neighbour the white pansies.

* Lovely butterflies fluttered in the garden.

* Red, Orange & Peach hibiscus framed the doorway.

* Beautiful green benches lined the garden.

* At a distance the clouds were descending on green hills.

* My husband & me also became Mallika, and three kids wandered around the garden in excitement.

Needlecraft in Erin Villa is a place where the very nice lady Naaz sources & sells beautiful lace, embroidery & cross-stich bedspreads, doilies, tablecloths, towels, handkerchiefs and many gorgeous things from convents around the place.

To sum it all we came back with memories filled with colours, flowers & lace...:-))

Kurumba Village Resort.

'In the lap of nature...' said the tagline of this resort. I was a bit apprehensive about the place since we decided on the place purely based on reviews online and our passion for trying out a road less travelled.Once we took the narrow lane down one of the valleys I knew this was going to be one great holiday in the 'lap of mother nature..'

* with a canopy of trees as far as the eyes could see.
* a symphony of music played by cuckoos, oreoles, barbets, hill mynas and many different birds.
* monkeys playing peek-a-boo in the balconies
* sipping refreshing nilgiris tea while watching the full moon rise in the eastern night sky.
* sitting around the bonfire on a cool summer night.
* reading 'Rain in the mountain' by Ruskin Bond by the poolside.
* the excitement of spotting fireflies in the dense dark mountain night.
* Life couldn't get any better.

You can check out their website here:http://www.kurumbavillageresort.com

...hilly holiday.

We decided to take a quick holiday before our daughter's school session resumes and we get sucked into the daily routine of city life.
After much research we zeroed in on the Nilgiri Hills. Our destination was a resort nestled in the Coonoor valley...but the journey was as breathtaking if not better than the destination.

* Lush green hills covered with tea plantations.
* Quaint little roadside shops.
* The fragrance of eucalyptus & wintergreen trees.
* A nip in the air as we started the ascend on the 36 hairpin bends on the hilly road.
* White-washed churches.
* Narrow lanes leading upto old British style bunglows.
* An old world charm just enveloped us as we passed by many tiled houses.
* Trucks carrying fresh vegetables from the farms on the hills.
* Grey clouds threatening to rain.
* The mountain railway tracks appearing now and then at various bends of the hilly road.

...left us completely enthralled and in a state between a sweet dream & reality.Little did we realise that the reality waiting at the end of the road nestled in the lap of nature was no less than a dream.