For a healthy hair..

Trying out the conditioners, shampoos, dandruff lotions for a thick, long, dandruff free silky hair? Ultimately, all efforts going in vain? Fed up with such expensive products? No worries from here on!

Natural remedy:

1. Just dry the gooseberry(amla), the leaves and petals of Hibiscus, rose petals(optional) , Neem leaves and curry leaves. All ingredients are taken in preferred proportions.
2. Once they all are dried thoroughly, grind them to powder.
3. Once in two weeks, in a cup of of curd mix 3 tsp. of this powder and apply on your hair.
4. Keep them for 20 - 30 minutes and rinse it thoroughly.
5. After repeated usage, you can feel the healthy glow of your hair! Even it prevents hair from greying and also effective in treating dandruff and hair fall. The powder is ready made and can be purchased individually in cosmetic shops. I have tried this and found good results.

Note: Gooseberry, Neem, Hibiscus and Curry leaves have their own medicinal value and provides various health benefits.

Beanie caps crocheted so far...

Wonderful! The beanie caps are looking simply superb in these pleasant color combinations. I have presented these all to my relatives' new borns and my lovable sister. Looking for new color threads to crochet more!

Pipal tree Vinayagar wall hanging!

Great to see Vinayagar wall hanging especially done in pipal tree (அரச மரம்) leaves itself.

It took quite a long number of days to dry the leaves and pasting. Once that was done, it was fun to color and decorate with ornaments. A very simple and auspicious gift to your friends or relatives.

Items required:

1. A thick cardboard (12 inches side)
2. Poster or Acrylic colours (red,yellow,green,white,black)
3. Golden thermacoal balls
4. Woollen threads (red,white, green)
5. Glue & gloss / a transparent plastic sheet
6. White adhesive
7. Glitters

8.Various sizes of pipal tree leaves (dried)

How to do the wall hanger:

1. The square cardboard of 12 inch side is taken.

2. A white sheet is pasted above it. the pipal tree leaves are allowed to dry and then pasted in the shape of Lord Vinayagar.

3. Suitable poster or acrylic colors are used to paint the picture.

4. The ornaments are given with various color glitters. Allow it to dry.

5. The complete cardboard is finally coated with glue & gloss or a transparent plastic sheet is cut to the needed size and pasted for lasting longer.

6. A bunch of red, green and white color woollen threads are tied to the three corners of the cardboard with some golden thermacoals in it. In the fourth corner left out, a thick thread is tied as a loop so that it could be hung to the wall.

Palak(spinach) Gosht!

Remember Popeye eating spinach and gaining super energy? Yes, because Palak (Spinach) is an excellent source of many vitamins like K, A, B, E and C, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium. Also, it is a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorus and zinc. Additionally it is known to be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium. And mutton is a great source of protein, niacin, vitamin B, and iron. Shall we get ready to prepare a mouth watering dish - Palak Gosht with these nutritious resources?

Ingredients:

1/4 kg of mutton
6 bunches of spinach(palak)
2 tomatoes
2 onions
Ginger (grated)
Fresh coriander leaves
2 black peppercorns
1 tsp. of coriander powder
1 tsp. of red chilli powder
1 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp. garlic paste
4 tsp. cooking oil
salt to taste

How to prepare:

1. Add 2 - 3 tsp. of oil in a pressure pan and heat. Add the grated ginger, black peppercorns and a small part of chopped onions to the oil and fry the onions for a few seconds.
2. Add the meat, a little salt and enough water. Close the pressure pan and allow the meat to cook until soft.
3. Once meat is cooked, drain out the water and keep aside as stock.
4. In another pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the remaining chopped onions and fry till light brown.
5. Add salt, coriander powder, red chilli powder, ginger paste, garlic paste and chopped coriander. Fry this mix thoroughly till oil leaves the sides of the pan.
6. Add tomatoes and spinach and a little of the meat-stock that you had kept aside. Cook until the tomatoes and spinach is done and the water has dried up. If necessary, add more of the stock to get a gravy.
7. Add the cooked meat to this mixture and stir fry till oil leaves the sides of the pan. Simmer for a while and garnish with chopped coriander.

Hmm....yummy! you will hear when it is served hot with chapati or rice. I tried this and had a great lunch!

Little hearts bookmark

These three little hearts in different colors (pink, yellow,green) with white picot border when joined together has come out as a bookmark! An yellow satin ribbon is tied at the bottom. This can be given as a memorable gift to your lovable ones...

Pattern Reference: http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2008/01/solid-heart.html

Ice blue beanie cap with flowers

This beanie cap which I finished today is so colorful and charming! It suits a women's head. Warm up yourselves in the winter season with this cap on your head!

Pattern Reference: cap - http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2008/11/stripe-crochet-beanie-cap.html ; flowers - http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post_22.html ; leaves -http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2008/03/blog-post_05.html

Our little buddies..

The monsoon season has started and it is pouring rain then and there. The flowers have started blooming and they are dancing to the tune of warm sunlight and to this pleasant climate! I spend my leisure time sitting in the balcony and admiring the beauty of nature.

This a view from our balcony and here you can see the cheerful red வாகை மலர் (which in olden days a conqueror wear a chaplet of sirissa flowers and celebrate his victory over royal enemies).