More photos from the Island of Hawaii

Satish & I had the opportunity to visit the Big Island-Hawaii. What a beautiful place to visit - Maybe someday we'll call it home...

I'm back & I am swamped with work. But I will post some photos of the excursion I took last week very soon. It is one of my favorite spots on earth...

Will be unable to blog for about a week, but I will be back.
Please Stand By...

I love the Summer blooms...

The light of our lives, Vijay, lost his first tooth.

Vijay, You bring such joy to us -

Keep smiling!

As my friend Laura says, "Bad Blogger"

Me too!

Time is moving forward but my blog has slowed considerably.

Note to Self: Get back to some bloggen

Stay tuned.....

This is in response to the comment I received on my last post:
“…I don’t know what Chana dal is…”

Thank you for the comment:

Chana dal is the pale yellow split chickpea lentils that you can see in the picture I posted. It is also called “Bengal Gram/Split”, “Bele” and “Kadala Paruppu” in various Indian languages. It has a sweet and nutty flavor; it is very tasty, robust, and versatile. It is also easy to cook. We soak the lentils then boil them with salt & turmeric before adding vegetables & other spices (garlic, cumin, curry leaves and heat popped mustard seeds). Channa lentils are very nutritious, easy to digest & are a great source of protein for vegetarians. It is also praised by diabetics for its incredibly low glycemic index. (The glycemic index measures the effect of foods on blood sugar levels). We have cooked this dish for many friends & family member, most everyone goes for a second helping. You can find chana dal at any Indian or health food store.

...And this is what we made with that big squash from the garden.

We use Chana Dal with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers & the squash. Throw in a little turmeric, salt, & cumin seeds. Toss in fried mustard seeds & curry leaves. Place on top of Basmati Rice & mmmm mmmmm good - Enjoy!

Veggie Garden: Our tomatoes are looking good this year despite our having to plant them later in the season due to a cool spring

We have a few that came back from last year - Here is a Cherry Tomato plant that decided it was going to be a Colorado perennial- We'll see about next year fella... The squash is looking good!

Beans are thriving...I planted from seed but wish I would of planted a little earlier, we would be chowing down by now...

Tried cucumbers in pots this year but I think I will plant them in the ground next year.

Mom picked out these little mounds of Shasta Daisies for our flower garden last year... Now they are not so little...
...and full of blooms.WOW!

Dubai

Here are some photos from Satish's visit to Dubai.

This is Jumeriah Beach.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Arabian Peninsula.

Dubai is a City built for Tourism with excellent Hotels, Resorts, Shopping and Sports facilities available throughout the year. Dubai is similar to Vegas in that it is a man made wonder built in the middle of a dessert.

...and the building keeps growing. Satish said it was difficult to take a picture without a crane in frame.

Behind Satish is the Burj Al Arab hotel. This unique sail shaped building stands on a man-made island some 280 metres offshore, linked to the mainland by a gently curving causeway. At 321 metres high, the hotel is taller than the Eiffel Tower and only 60 metres shorter than the Empire State Building, the world's tallest hotel building. The hotel is a landmark and icon on the Dubai skyline...Whoa!

Honey, next visit to Dubai - TAKE YOUR WIFE ALONG!

This is what mom does to my hair when I need a hair cut.

Pretty slick huh?

Our clematis puts on a brilliant show for us every year

right around the 4th of July.

Beautiful.
Mother Nature's Fire Works

Satish brought pictures back from the wedding in India. Look at all those flowers & gold!

Congratulations Divya & Baijou!

Big Fish

We have been receiving questions on a picture I previously posted of Satish & a BIG FISH.

Question: What the heck kind of fish is that?

Answer: It's a Ling Cod. Satish caught it on the Bering Sea off Alaska. The guy standing next to him is the Captain who helped pull the fish onto the boat. Satish had it shipped to Colorado & it arrived home before he did. We had approximately 20 meals from it.

After a long day of questioning, I am back from Jury Duty (eventually dismissed). Will blog tomorrow.

Satish calls me the U tube queen. I liked this video on humming birds (check it out Laura).

Click HERE to see a nice story about humming birds.

My niece Shweta (we call her Chinnu) who lives in Dubai wrote this short biography for school. It just made my heart melt & so I thought I would share it. Thank you Chinnu for sharing your work with us. My favorite part is Chinnu's ambition in life: A Flight Commandant.

Shweta’s life.

Hello. My name is shweta. I am 10 years old.
I study in Our Own English High School Dubai. I study in 5th grade. I live in the country of UAE. I live in qusais Dubai. My hobbies are playing, reading, studying watching television, clay modeling, helping mother and father and painting. My best friend in school is Naela, Saeda, Sahir, Safiya and Afshan. I have 4 members in my family. They are my mother, my father, my sister and I. My mother’s name is Amutha. My father’s name is Suresh and my sister’s name is Pooja. My mother works as a doctor in Palm jumeirah in the middle of the sea. My father works as a doctor in Dubai hospital. My sister is 14yrs old. She is in 9th grade. She studies in the same school. My ambition in life is to become a flight commandant. I will achieve it by learning how to fly a plane. I should take my passengers safely to their respective country. I will not make any accidents to injure them. Example- crashing the plane without filling the petrol and without checking the tires. I like to see the beautiful white clouds near the plane and the beautiful birds flying below and above my plane. So I like to be a flight commandant. My favorite food is junk food. HAHAHAHAHA
Just kidding!!!!
I like noodles and chicken. My favorite drinks are Pepsi, Miranda, Fanta, 7 up and mountain dew. My respective country is INDIA!!!!!! I live in Cochin. Now I like to say a few words about my state Cochin. Cochin is a beautiful state with flowers, free roads and green grass. In Cochin, my building’s name is Panchavati apts. In that apts. I had so many friends that I couldn’t even count them. My best friend in that apartment was Varun. My sister’s best friend was Jerusha. So that’s my life called shweta’s life.
Thank you.

For all you do for us...Thank you!!!