Summer Things

Hello friends! That's right - we have no spring in here, but Summer right away... it has got really really hot already, up to +28! It's not a joke because now it will start getting only hotter. Nevertheless we cannot skip doing our daily deals, right?
Last weekend we as usually took a walk in the garden - a Terrace garden this time for our little A to enjoy new surroundings. He is FOND of the stairs and steps! As soon as he sees them anywhere he wants to climb up and down... We are very careful to choose places where he can do it safely. Under our supervision of course.

The garden had many most bright and cute flowers! As usual I don't know their names...

 This is the longest flower bed there... loved how it stretches further...

We stopped to take photos of this tree somewhere on the way; it has no leaves but huge red flowers! I am wondering what fruits it might give? These trees are everywhere in the city now.

Besides wandering around, I try to be productive on a crafty front. Here is what I put in my To accomplish list - a Waffle stitch dining set for little A. I am using tutorial by Kathleen of Miss Abigail's Hope Chest. Loved this stitch, and wanted to learn it after seeing on Sangeetha's post.

Also as we had bought a 3 in 1 microwave oven, I now can bake! Yey! Here are my latest oatmeal, flour, atta, ginger and turmeric muffins. I am glad that baking products and equipment became available in India in recent years. One can afford them easily as well.

This is pretty much it for today... I aim to finish pending projects in nearest future and start new ones as soon as possible. Thank you for all the comments and sharing of your experience on raising a child in many languages. Next post will try to make on what toddler activities I could incorporate in A's routine, and what didn't work for us. Still working on creating a quiet book for him and busy bags for a future trip home.

Have a wonderful day!

Holidays' Spirit Created by Yourself :)

Hello my lovely friends! West Christian Christmas is just round the corner so is the New year! I am full of holidays' spirit these days, creating the mood myself for myself and wanting to share with all of you. I will also visit your lovely blogs soon, since I absolutely LOVE all the holiday posts made by you, and I want to finally keep a pace too :)
(Maybe not related to this post, but I started reading the Thirteenth Tale by Diana Setterfield and I love it! Anyone read it too? Perfect read to divert your thoughts).
My holiday spirit started with ... baking! I tried for the first time to bake cookies in our IFB convection oven. First attempt... hmmm, too sugary and buttery and crunchy, but we ate it all :P

Second attempt - much much better! I am going to use the same recipe with different flavours for Christmas treats. In plans, let's see how it realizes itself, to make a traditional winter wine gluhwein! :) Yumm! I will find this eggless recipe among my notes and provide a link here.

Yahoo, I managed to make some tree ornaments! Which cost zero I believe. Here is a Pinterest inspiration  - a Christmas star ornament made of sticks :) I later painted it golden, and also painted pine cones my D got from Manali last year, more photos are yet to come.

 We went to buy a New year tree few days ago, and it was proudly placed in the drawing room :))) Of course I wanted to have it primary for my little A to enjoy all the celebrations related to Christmas and New Year, since we cannot go to Kazakhstan this winter. But.. I am a big child too, therefor it brings loads of joy to me as well. It is not yet fully decorated in this picture.

And at last... My little boy is now a Christmas elf! :) I don't usually post his pictures in my blog, but it's a special occasion now. How do you like his look? D's childhood sweater (more than 30 years old!), and a red hooded shirt along with a hat created an unexpectedly elf-looking costume. Little A loves wearing this Santa hat, especially that it has become really cold at home. Here are his photos to compare how much he grew since last year. I cannot believe this! :)

To conclude my post ;

Happy holidays and happy coming up Christmas, dear friends, from our family!