Men at Work!

Come Autumn and we decided to infuse some fresh energy into the gardens at Ibaadat!

It began with the simple task of adhering to my half-yearly ritual of putting manures in my potted and on-the-ground plants.

But then, I found a clutch of my plants talking to me. Many of them had become big boys now and were outgrowing their potted homes. From Money plants and Philodendrons to Monsteras and Sansevierias - they all were asking for a bigger space to live in. So we went on a pots-buying and re-potting spree.

Then we thought of getting the pots a new coat of Ibaadat's Santorinian Blue. 

After a week of potting, repotting, typing up or down, scrubbing, cleaning, painting, putting new moss sticks - we have a refreshed garden space that promises to bring us much joy and satisfaction for a few seasons to come.

Now, these are the kind of makeovers I love!!!

The strangeness of Love!

On the Shepherd Daughter's Watch!

She watches all. 

She sees everything! 

Difficult to escape the gaze of our Shepherd Daughter!

Oriental Magpie Robin makes an appearance at Ibaadat!

Information source - Wikipedia

The oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously. Occurring across most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cage birds. 

It is mostly seen close to the ground, hopping along branches or foraging in leaf-litter on the ground with a cocked tail. Males sing loudly from the top of trees or other high perches during the breeding season.

Studies of the birdsong show dialects with neighbours varying in their songs. The calls of many other species may be imitated as part of their song. This may indicate that birds disperse and are not philopatric. Females may sing briefly in the presence of a male. Apart from their song, they use a range of calls including territorial calls, emergence and roosting calls, threat calls, submissive calls, begging calls and distress calls. The typical mobbing calls is a harsh hissing krshhh.

The diet of magpie robins includes mainly insects and other invertebrates. Although mainly insectivorous, they are known to occasionally take flower nectar, geckos, leeches, centipedes and even fish.

They are often active late at dusk. They sometimes bathe in rainwater collected on the leaves of a tree.

Magpie robins were widely kept as cage birds for their singing abilities and for fighting in India in the past. They continue to be in the pet trade in parts of Southeast Asia.

The magpie robin is the national bird of Bangladesh, where it is common and known as the doyel or doel. It is a widely used symbol in Bangladesh, appearing on currency notes, and a landmark in the city of Dhaka is named as the Doyel Chatwar (meaning: Doyel Square).

In Sri Lanka this bird is called Polkichcha.

Why are Non-vegetarians so belligerent?

In a veg./ non-veg. debate, please tell me why do the meat eaters get despicably belligerent and offensively rude.

The Vegetarians get their hackles raised too, but they are nowhere near so vindictive and raging red.

In some case, the vegetarians (perhaps the self-proclaimed cow vigilantes for instance) have gone berserk too. But I am talking more of the norm and amongst common folks like us.

We have read about sattvic and tamasic foods and their effects on us...Could it be that?

This is not to make a judgement or try and be righteous. I just want to understand the whys because I always see it happening.

Can someone explain?

Picture courtesy - Google Images

When Nature entertains!

I really do not need to watch a play or go clubbing or entertain myself in other ways.

All the entertaining happens in the gardens of Ibaadat!

Here, see the proof! 

Karma IS a Bitch and a Grammar Nazi!

How about Karma being a bitch and siding with the Grammar Police with this not so sweet justice.

Joanna Feldman, twenty-two

Misquoted E. E. Cummings in her rib-cage tattoo.

Courtesy - The New Yorker

For more such epic errors in judgement and decisions read here - 

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/a-selection-of-the-30-most-disappointing-under-30

Picture courtesy - Google Images

Kill! An Argument!

When the Shikra feasts!

The brave, majestic, fearsome Shikra feasts on its meal, while two crows look on from the sidelines!

Shikrayat

Troubled Minds!

Learning body language from our Avian/Animal Friends!

One of the most integral etiquettes in communication and body language basics is to establish eye contact.

Yet so many humans fail to do so when communicating with another.

Perhaps we are being insecure or evasive or telling a lie or feeling less confident or being influenced by cultural diktats, whatever be our reason, we do not know how to make a civil, sizeable, propah eye contact.

Watch a motley crew of birds make that perfect eye contact, without flinching, shifting base or dithering away.

A master class, indeed, on a crucial aspect of body language!