In Philip's absence (only three days to go!), I've had a productive Saturday although I'm afraid that my list of activities completed sounds decidedly British-middle-aged. Today I have being to the gym, filled in my tax return, had a lunchtime tea and cake treat in fancy cafe, had a trip to the garden centre, been to the supermarket and prepared fruit and food for dinner. It's now 1730 and I'm sitting down for a rest.
Whilst most of this is really quite dull, the garden centre experience deserves a mention on the blog.
We are lucky to have a big balcony which is rather quirky in that it has flower beds built into it. Having your own private outdoor space is such a privilege in Mumbai that we would like to make good use of it, and can see how nice other balconies look with some foliage. My gardening knowledge is close to zero and I did not excel at our house in Cambridge - all gardening felt like taming a jungle rather than furnishing it with attractive plants - but I am determined to do better. Now that the monsoon is coming to an end, it is a perfect time to spruce up the balcony.
The term "garden centre" is misleading - I'm not sure that India does these - but the place to go for plants seems to be a stretch of road in Santa Cruz, just off the main highway leading from Bandra to the airport. Here, plant sellers line the road for several 100m and seem to have everything from small bedding plants to trees that would definitely not fit in my car, however tempting they look.
After a lot of discussion with several plant sellers (with Sagar helpfully translating and aiding the negotiation process), we finally selected a range of plants and flowers to get us started. I've no idea what these plants are, or how well they will grow, but this will be a process of trial and error and I'm sure we'll be back for some more soon if necessary.
Big frondy plants carefully tied with string to ensure left wing mirror not obstructed (high priority for Sagar!)
Bandra is likely to be very busy and chaotic for the next few days owing to the Mount Mary festival (one million visitors to Bandra per year for Catholic celebration) and the Ganesh festival on Monday (famous Hindu festival where lots of huge Ganesh elephant statues are carried into the sea). I've been warned that big crowds can be a bad idea, so I'll try to see these from a safe distance (maybe when Phil gets back next week) and enjoy potting my plants in the meantime.
Sagar was very keen to help with the plant potting, but after he tried to attach a hanging basket to an electrical fitting in his enthusiasm, I decided it was best to give him the rest of the afternoon off. We both agreed that it had been a very productive day.
Whilst most of this is really quite dull, the garden centre experience deserves a mention on the blog.
We are lucky to have a big balcony which is rather quirky in that it has flower beds built into it. Having your own private outdoor space is such a privilege in Mumbai that we would like to make good use of it, and can see how nice other balconies look with some foliage. My gardening knowledge is close to zero and I did not excel at our house in Cambridge - all gardening felt like taming a jungle rather than furnishing it with attractive plants - but I am determined to do better. Now that the monsoon is coming to an end, it is a perfect time to spruce up the balcony.
The term "garden centre" is misleading - I'm not sure that India does these - but the place to go for plants seems to be a stretch of road in Santa Cruz, just off the main highway leading from Bandra to the airport. Here, plant sellers line the road for several 100m and seem to have everything from small bedding plants to trees that would definitely not fit in my car, however tempting they look.
Santa Cruz Garden Centre - Note the post-monsoon blue sky!
Lots of options
After a lot of discussion with several plant sellers (with Sagar helpfully translating and aiding the negotiation process), we finally selected a range of plants and flowers to get us started. I've no idea what these plants are, or how well they will grow, but this will be a process of trial and error and I'm sure we'll be back for some more soon if necessary.
Sagar supervising plant loading process
Stash outside our front door. Final tally was two tall frondy plants, two medium leafy plants, eight small plants with flowers (two orange, two yellow, two light pink, two dark pink) and three mini plants with pretty red leaves (techincal plant names not known)
...and finally on the balcony
Bandra is likely to be very busy and chaotic for the next few days owing to the Mount Mary festival (one million visitors to Bandra per year for Catholic celebration) and the Ganesh festival on Monday (famous Hindu festival where lots of huge Ganesh elephant statues are carried into the sea). I've been warned that big crowds can be a bad idea, so I'll try to see these from a safe distance (maybe when Phil gets back next week) and enjoy potting my plants in the meantime.
Sagar was very keen to help with the plant potting, but after he tried to attach a hanging basket to an electrical fitting in his enthusiasm, I decided it was best to give him the rest of the afternoon off. We both agreed that it had been a very productive day.
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