Photowalk 2010

It’s that time of the year when I cast a quick glance at the months gone by. 12 months captured in 12 significant moments!

January

2010 began with a bang! This was the month I got engaged… and the celebrations flowed!

February

A rare moment captured while a little boy looked longingly at his mother. This picture titled “Hope” featured in a Photography Contest on World Photography Day.

March

Delving deeper into the realm of macro photography. This was a tiny flower picked up as “memorabilia” on a long road trip to Karwar

April

Attended a nuptial service at the beautiful church on an equally beautiful island.

May

While my niece sharpened her skills at playdough, I saw another opportunity at Photography. This is one of the pictures from her entire collection titled Farmville

June

From the engagement to the most important month for me this year… the day I got married!

July

A weekend getaway to Mumbai had this pleasant surprise for me. This is the first time I tried a bit of HDR in post processing.

August

A long drive with very good friends and fantastic scenery rolling out all along the Anmod Ghats.

September

A camping trip after years! This buffalo scene is created in the Dandeli wildlife sanctuary.  (Look closely, they are not real buffaloes!)

October

This picture was created for the assignment “Treasure” on DPS. (In this case, the pearls are real!)

November

Clicked this image for another DPS assignment submission, “breaking the rule of thirds”

December

Christmas preparations and while testing the lights, our pets had their own explorations!

Happy New Year 2011!!!

Chocolate Man

Melt and pour. Melt and pour. It sounded simple. That was all I needed to remember to make chocolate

Chocolate-making is something I would not have dreamt of venturing into if not for a very supportive better half, and lots of valuable suggestions from colleagues at work!

We bought the chocolate compound, searched high and low for the molds, kept the cats out of the kitchen (who found the chocolate aroma even more irresistible than fish!)

And then I realized…. Chocolate-making is a messy affair! The recipe was simple, but for me the simplest situation can turn into an emergency! But I stood the test! And after an hour of messy fingers, messy microwave and messy kitchen top, there were some yummy looking chocolate bonbons!

You are all invited!!!

Christmas time once more!

Times change, feelings remain the same… And even if this is a digital greeting, I hope the warmth of Christmas reaches all of you through this little Christmas wish!

Playdough Christmas

What’s so unique about this Christmas tree? Take a closer look before scrolling down… 😉

The title of this post might have given the surprise away but yes, the deco on the tree is majorly playdough!

From Holly leaves to candy canes…

… and Frosty the Snowman thrown in for good luck!

Not forgetting Santa Claus, wishing everyone a “Creative” Christmas!!!

Megan has done it again!

Here are her earlier masterpieces:

1. Farmville
2. The Play Dough Story

Christmas – A time to get closer

There’s something about Christmas time
that makes you wish it was Christmas every day
~ Bryan Adams (Christmas Time)

It always fascinates me that around Christmas time what makes news are people making their way to loved ones and stranded because of snow-storms or hiked airline tickets!

We long to be around those we love at this time of the year. As a kid, I remember spending the Christmas holidays with my grandparents.

While cleaning up our ancestral home, I found this tiny crib.

Its only a few centimeters in height, but the detail is accurate. I can’t say how old it is, but I guess this moment is timeless in itself.

The crib was a prized possession of my grandad, who had quite an array of collectibles in a tiny glass cupboard. I clearly remember this crib being one of them.

I stared at it for a long time, and my dad said: “Keep it. It will remind you that Christmas is about the little things in life… “

Mother of Pearl Christmas

In the world of digital communication, sending and or even receiving, a “real” Christmas card is a rarity! So this Christmas we decided to get back to the drawing board… and make our own “cards”!

It was a spur of the moment decision that my wife and I headed for the Bambolim beach for a quiet evening. And there we made a chance discovery. In a tiny stream opening out into the sea were numerous of these shells tossing along. We challenged each other into collecting the most, little knowing that they would end up as our Christmas cards.

These “shells” are called Mother-of-Pearl. They were once a common site on the windows of Portuguese villa houses (and today adorn a number of resorts!)

Mother of Pearls are considered an organic mineral and created by mollusks, either oysters or abalones.  These mollusks secrete fine proteins whose chemical compound is calcium carbonate, the same that is found in marble and aragonite. This substance is primarily secreted to protect itself from parasitic organisms. The substance of Mother of Pearl is the same substance created when an oyster forms a pearl! While Mother Pearls are usually a glossy or very shiny white, they can also be a slight gray or iridescent color.

Mother of pearl finds itself chopped up as part of tiles for flooring, it is also used for coating sinks and was once used extensively for buttons on jackets, coats and shirts.

On a mystical front, the white iridescent color of the Mother of Pearl can make one feel very peaceful and less stressful and calm!

An appropriate way to wish everyone the peace and warmth of Christmas!

Cat Light

One of those interesting moments that come your way when there are pets around.

We decided to light up the Christmas tree a little in advance, but first thought it best to get Sno-Brow accustomed to the light. And so I plug the series lights in and their reactions were worth capturing!

At first they both looked tentatively at the flickering light bulbs, keeping a safe distance. Snowy then edged close and tapped the lowest bulbs and jumped back when the lights swung in her face! Brownie on the other hand sat transfixed gazing at the light patterns on the wall.

All in all, I guess putting up the lights on the tree might not be a very good idea this year… because in a few minutes Sno-Brow teamed up to attack the vicious “glowing insects” and the whole pilot test had to be called off 😉

Every tongue tells a story

Snowy is in the news again… and this time for another rare personality trait!

Over the past few days we noticed her sleeping with her tongue out. And there were two views. While I thought she was being cutely arrogant (and an excellent photo opportunity), my better half got a bit worried and wanted to know if this is a symptom of something to be worried about.

So here is my research!

Many cats do this and it is nothing to worry about. Cats most often leave their tongue sticking out when they are grooming themselves. Sometimes they will lick their fur and then stop for a moment. At this point their tongue is sticking out a little bit (time to make a grab for the camera!)

However, you may need to be concerned if your cat’s mouth stays open all the time. If this is happening, your cat may have injured his mouth, and it may be time to see a veterinarian.

Serious issues connected with tongues sticking out:

1. Tooth problems
2. Gingivitis (tongue sores)
3. Pharyngeal problems (accompanied with discomfort while eating and difficult swallowing)
4. Diseases affecting the central nervous system can cause the tongue to stick out (Toxoplasmosis, feline infectious peritonitis and feline immunodeficiency virus are possible diseases that can cause neurologic signs in cats)
5. Acromegaly (a hormonal disease) makes the tongue enlarge and it may stick out slightly when this occurs. This is disease in which there is too much production of growth hormone and it causes increased drinking and urination, increased appetite, enlargement of the head, separation of the teeth (they move apart as the jaw grows), heart disease and other symptoms.

And here is the verdict:

Snowy has nothing to worry. Other than sticking her tongue out while sleeping, she is perfectly fine! (and doesn’t mind us being privy to her daftness) 😉 … let the camera roll!

Sunshine is Good

In the storm of hectic sessions, articles for newspapers, managing two blogs and home-related work came a distraction I would never have expected would keep me gripped… Plants vs Zombies! What I initially claimed to be a “completely brainless game”, kept me occupied for hours in the evening and sometimes even late at night!

PvZ is about killing zombies using various strategies, your defences being plants of varying powers and skill sets!

But I was in for a bigger surprise! My better half gifted me this toy to remind me that life is more than Plants vs Zombies 😉

Its a common site on most car dashboards (and now adorns my own). This “Solar Flip Flap Dancing Flower” is supposed to give you positive energy… I think it does! Everytime I look at it I can’t help but smile!