Carrot Care

I don’t claim to have green fingers, and I am least confident in a kitchen. But then I chanced upon a carrot sprouting tiny shoots. I thought, why not give it a chance? I was also curious to see how carrot leaves appear!

This is how carrot leaves look

As a kid, watching plants sprout from apparently dead-looking seeds would leave me awestruck. At times it was an onion sprouting roots and slender long shoots atop a beer bottle, or a small row of peas with tiny broomsticks stuck in the soil as supports for the tender tendrils. Growing carrots, though, is something I am trying for the first time.

The progress is that the carrot shoot has sprouted a few leaves and looks quite pretty in the little pot I found for it. Wish me luck!

Carrots, Onions, Potatoes - all can be grown!

Weekend by Candlelight

The beach called ‘Ozrean’ has always fascinated me. The walk down the hill to the little cove-like beach, the freshwater spring that meets the sea and the rock carving at one end of the sea shore. There is so much in such a tiny place.

Where the stream meets the sea...

And this time, Ozrean offered much more.

Yes, that is the moon up there

A closer look at the moon

After a fruitful time of photography on the beach at dusk, a nearby shack beckoned us to a meal of prawns and squid.

Candlelight...

... dinner

The ambience at the shack was an out-of-this-world experience.

Feeling blue 😉

I guess I will be frequenting this place again and again.

Looking around from above (click for pano)

Birthdays ARE meant to be celebrated Pt 2

I began this blog with the same theme… and one year later, I am still of the same opinion. Birthdays ARE meant to be celebrated!

Pineapple and Cream

Be it in terms of a cake (make that a pineapple-cream) or flowers, a gift or a dinner…

Flowers Flowers

A birthday is a time when we look back and say thanks… and then look ahead and say, yes.

Disco Ants

Disco Ants

This is a season where there are flowers… everywhere.
Happened to spot a rare flower when I went to visit my sister. And when I went to take a closer look, there were two ants doing a very odd dance all over one of the ‘petals’. I couldn’t say if that was some kind of message/sign, but it did look a lot like ‘ant disco’ 😉

The Last Beach – Polem

The place is ‘Polem’. The last beach on the southernmost tip of Goa and the drive promised to be an adventure.

Yes, it is

Took off from Mapusa at 7:00 am and with just one halt at a very scenic place for black tea and bhaji – pav, reached Polem precisely at 10:15 am.

Chai Time on the way

Polem beach is just off the main highway NH17 which proceeds to Karwar.

Beach Panorama

The first sight of the short expanse of sand, almost a tiny alcove felt so welcoming!
For the entire morning there was no one at the beach… save a few dogs and water birds.

Scouting bird

This one was a treat to follow around and watch it scouting for tiny crabs.

Where is my food?

The 'food' scuttles for safety

It was time for some sea-food!

Sea food shack

It was from a shack like this that food arrived! An extremely spicy plate of squids!

It's alive!

What followed was a long walk on the beach, collecting some really shiny shells and generally taking in the sights

Timing is everything

Did I mention, that Polem is just 15 kms from Karwar (Karnataka), and we decided to make a quick foray into the neighbouring state…

Besides the surprisingly cheap vegetables and fish we got out there, there were two stops:

Rabindranath Tagore Beach

It always surprises me that beaches in places other than Goa need to have so many other distractions for visitors. This one boasted of a children’s park, a walkway and a warship museum… is the beach not enough…?

This is the Museum 😉

Evening tea at Karmal Ghat, and we were back in Goa.

I got just what i was looking for – a long drive and an enriching experience… the journey was important, not the destination!

Bye Bye Karwar