Garden grown

 My mother is a keen gardener. When we used to live in rented houses in our childhood, she used to always have pots of plants adorning our balcony and veranda. 

Once we moved into a government quarters it gave her the opportunity and space to add some more greenlings to the house As my father got transferred and we moved houses, so did most of the plants.🪴

When we finally owned a house, my mother could officially go crazy. She had place all around the house, the balcony, the terrace - the world was her oyster. She would invest in kitchen scraps, maintain a steady deposit of water from washing grains and vegetables in the kitchen and trade in seeds, saplings and cuttings. 🍅🫑🥕

This disease to see things grow is quite infectious. My sister and I are both sufferers 🙈😁. The kitchen scraps we put in the garden give a good output of potatoes and tomatoes. It's very enjoyable to see the cycle of plants ❤️💚

I have enjoyed the fruits of, well I wouldnt say labour, but repotting many times. I have been too lazy or forgetful to ever take a click. But this time  I  managed one ! 

The Tours - IV

 The last day in Iceland was the most relaxed day. The start was at 1030 in the morning which gave us 2 additional hours to relax in the hotel. All our earlier days had started around the 0830 mark.On this day we had to visit quite popular and close by places. The first stop was the Thingvellier National Park which is a valley that lies in the middle of the Eurasian and American continental plates. It was amazing to walk in the midst of the valley. Our next stop was the Gulfoss water fall. It was beautiful, but nothing matched the beauty of Hraunfossar which we had viewed the previous day. After a few more waterfalls and scenic locations, we made our way to the creme de la creme. The geothermal pool called Secret Lagoon! Icelanders are avid swimmers. And all swimming pools in Iceland are open, open air and heated by the geothermal sources! Apparently it is quite easy to find little pools of perfectly heated water across the country and anyone can have a swim. But we are not the adventurous kind, so we had to book in a few hours at the pool. 

The pool was a unique experience. People take a shower before they step into the pool. They do not want to chlorinate the water too much and make it loose its natural goodness, so rather they make clean people get into the pool. It is imperative for people to shower properly with soap in their birthday suits and not the swim suits. It was something I felt might be a bit too weird for me, but didn't turn out to be so because everyone just went about their business quite mechanically and methodically. Showers done, we had to just put one foot in the water to feel the luxurious warmth of it! It was an amazing experience to soak in the warm, tending towards hot water. The hot springs that heated this water bubbled nearby. The sun was shining and nearly roasting us. It was amazing letting out bodies soak away the tiredness of the previous 3 days.

It was difficult to relinquish the warm hug of the swimming pool. But all good things come to an end don't they.  We had to give it up to an evening of packing. We bid adieu to Iceland through a very scenic drive to the airport in Keflavik. 

It was an amazing 4 days and 5 nights. An amazing time that left me very tired. I had enjoyed to the fullest. And I am definitely going back for more. Some day! 

The Tours - III

Our third day in Iceland was some more parts of the South Iceland. We saw a splendid waterfall called Hraunfoss. This waterfall has no river. It is an underground stream of water which suddenly comes up to a. gorge and falls down creating the most spectacular view. Nature is the best artist. And the creations of nature are just mind boggling and so awe inspiring. The water that tumbles down through the layers of lava is pristine and blue. Our guide informed us that the water is pure enough to be had straight off. We saw a few more water falls before heading off to a lava cave. 

The guide took us through a lot of details. It was marvellous to learn about the formation of the cave. It was also amazing to learn how one day, the cave might not remain any more because of natural erosion! Again the glory of nature, the creator and destroyer was humbling. At the end of the tour, the guide asked us hold the hand of a person next to us. Then he requested us to switch off the lights on our helmets. Following this he turned off the lights within the cave. He then asked us to listen to the cave. We heard the dripping of water from the ceiling, we felt the chill in the air a bit more and I of course felt the proximity of my family a bit more. It was such a deep meditative state. It was my first encounter with total darkness. I felt as if I could touch, hear and feel a bit more with one sensation removed. 

After that amazing experience it was time to head back to the hotel. That night we felt mild tremors in our hotel room. At first when K said he felt the tremors, I dismissed them to be the wind. But I felt the rattle again! It was as if a train went over a really bumpy track. It was an experience we had not signed up for. Iceland was making everything well worth it!