Awesome Supermoon

I too had the luck to watch the recent supermoon,yes-the one that happened this month which is the closest supermoon in history since 1948.To say I was mesmerized at seeing the moon that big was an understatement.I was downright seduced by that orange disc that was sparkling in the sky, appearing bigger than any full moon sighting I could ever recall(scientifically right too :o).I longed to stay in the terrace watching it for hours but I blame only those damn bugging mosquitoes that chased me inside. So for the short hour I was on the terrace I was able to take a few clicks.

The sky was very cloudy until the afternoon and I had almost decided that my plan to see the supermoon was a goner but luckily it all cleared by evening and a clear sky emerged just for a few hours. After giving such a dazzling view,the moon soon disappeared into the smoky clouds.

The moon will not come this closest again until 2038, so I am pretty chuffed it all worked out fine for atleast a short while. Three cheers you, Supermoon!

Not so common around here

I earlier said in a post that my nephews and niece are good spotters of birds and it was proved again. One day my niece called me out to the frontyard with a hurried at the same time hushed tone. I knew it could mean only one thing and so off I ran with the camera and saw this beautiful creature..I would not have seen it myself!Kids do have a keen eye..

The pretty bird was not bothered by us watching, honestly never noticed we were there and kept plucking the grass out.Initially I mistook it for a woodpecker but woodpeckers do not go out digging soil,do they? So after a little research found out that this is Common Hoopoe known as கொண்டலாத்தி/Kondalathi in Tamil.Its tamil name sound very charming. Then I recalled I have seen this bird in the recent Jungle book movie.I also found out a good site that had interesting facts about Kondalathi with astounding pictures. Strongly recommend it for a read.Who knew this is the national bird of Israel?

Catching up with the celebrations

Suddenly its been over 15 days since I was here but I could not fathom how time flew by.Our Deepavali went euphoric as we celebrated every minute of the great weekend..

Wish I could describe each and every of those minutes of fun but it would not suffice a single post. So I will resort to sharing some pictures of the delicious snacks that is the main part of Deepavali celebrations.

We made two kinds of Murukku which  is the the signature dish of Deepavali, One using our traditional kongu region recipe and the other the trichy way,although I am very fond of only the former. I made laddoo for the first time in my life(with help from mom) and the outcome was flawless although I was very doubtful whether the shape will hold well but thankfully it did and tasted awesome.

Vadai is always my mom's signature Deepavali dish which she made on the D day morning. It takes a huge effort to make fresh vadai on that busy morning but my mom never fails to make sure it is made no matter how pressing the morning goes.Kudos to her!There were a few plateful of Somas involved too.. made with the entire ffamily's combined effort. Mixer,mysore pa,coconut delish,gulab jamoon,adhirasam were in the menu too..
There was a Bday celebration on the Deepavali Eve day.. I was very happy to join the Bday boy in his celebration.I agree I was eyeing for the rose left in the cake decoration :). 

And then what ....

the entire day was spent munching and lighting fires..we did have a photo session as usual we do on Deepavali but I could not share them here.. So let me end with showing the 'sangu chakram' we lighted..

I am amused how this turned out to be a foodie post ;o)..So I will leave the food aside and talk about birds in my next post..