December 27, 2013

Christmas is over.  This week has gone by do quickly I can hardly believe it.  The lunch on Christmas Eve went very well.  Here is the table laid for Christmas lunch.

Perfect Christmas flowers from the garden

Jayanthi has arrived from Colombo on Christmas Eve and will stay for 2 or 3 weeks.  It is not only Christmas but kolom season again.  Here is Jayanthi doing the kolom.  It turned out beautifully.

We are back to fighting the bandicoots.  Now one is digging up the back yard.  So I had to pull up a cement flagstone and some interlocking bricks.  There is some water erosion along with the bandicoot tunnel, so it ate up a lot of sand.  I managed to crush my pinky finger while replacing the flagstone.

Christmas Day we went to Gunfire to celebrate Manil's 84th birthday.  I hope I look that good at her age.  She looked like a movie star.  Shanti prepared a sumptuous tea for about a dozen guests.  So we gave her a good party even though Amal is away.  There was a man named Mohan at the birthday party who is the chairman for the committee that is building a new cancer hospital in Kandy.  I am off to meet with him today to see if can be of some help with the marketing and fund raising.  They have to raise US$4.5 million for the building.  

Another of the guests at the tea party was Indira, who heads up the veterinary department at Peradeniya University where my little Dharma died.  She had not heard about Dharma's death.  Yesterday she called me to say she had spoken to the pathologist who conducted the post mortem on Dharma.  Apparently she died as a result of severe diarrhea which caused her intestine to collapse into itself like an internal telescope.  Poor little thing!  It was very nice of Indira to look into it.

My morning exercise routine continues to be rewarded.  The other day it was a black headed oriole and two beautiful green parakeets with bright red beaks.    Of course, the babblers, magpies, mynas, morning doves and pigeons continue to sing and flit around.  A squirrel seems to building a nest in one of my gutters, not a good thing, but he came to the roof edge and gave me an impertinent look the other morning before hurrying off to finish his business.

This morning's flowers were a perfect match to the kolom making Buddha very happy.  Jayanthi and Veenitha gave a little worship  to add to the happiness.

We spent last night playing gin rummy which is something I have not done in a very long time.  It was a fun way to pass the time and just chat.  Breakfast this morning was rava dosa, one of my favourites along green coconut chutney. 

So now I am off to meet with Mohan and do the weekly grocery shopping.  I hope everyone has a very happy new year and a healthy and prosperous 2014.