My Ramblings...

Happy Mother's Day - The Mom Tag

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 May 2015 17:18:00 +0000

Recently Magali and I have been taking trips together since we decided that we want to see more of India than travelling abroad.

In March we went to Tamil Nadu where we holidayed at Ooty, Coonoor and Coimbatore. We really enjoyed the trip and plan to go on more trips to see different places.

As Magali has started making YouTube videos she forced me to take the Mom tag where she would ask me 17 questions about her. I threatened her that I would be very blunt in my answers and we decided to do it whilst we were staying at Zone by the Park at Coimbatore.

I really enjoy being a Mother and enjoy the time we spend together.

Wishing all you Mothers A happy Mother's Day. Love your children irrespective of the gender so that they do not hate you when they grow up.

Be happy Always,

Sheila.

Joy of Giving

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:51:00 +0000

Everybody in this world should give something at least sometimes in their lives.

I know a lot of very selfish people who would not want to part with a small amount of money if someone was in need and even if the person promised to return the money as soon as possible. They pretend as if they do not have money or just do not care because they feel that it does not affect them in any way. But if they need help in any way then they do not mind asking the same person who they insulted before to help them.

I have been very generous all my life. But sometimes I feel that I have been taken advantage of by selfish people who ask for help when they need me otherwise they just do not care.

I love to give. I am a nurse and have been helping as a volunteer at the Home for the Aged run by the Religious for about 13 years. I go at least twice a week now but used to go even everyday when I just started volunteering and when Magali was small. I help with the dressings and dispensing of medicines and also giving injections or feeding the bedridden.

I used to go regularly to visit an Aunt who was not very well. I used to cut her hair, cut her nails and give her a bath. She had a daughter and her family living with her but no one really cared for her. Her daughter gave her a bath one day and then later told her that she had a severe backache because she bathed the Mother so she would not bathe her again. She passed away a few years ago.

I have volunteered at the church to help the poor and the sick but then the well to do people got my number and started calling me to do things for them so that they could save their money. I refused as I said that they could afford to go to the Doctor or the hospital and then later when I met them they were angry that I refused to help them. One person even wanted me to give his cat an injection. I told him to take his cat to the Vet.

I have given money and things to family and was cheated and so now am wary about helping anyone. I give but on a smaller scale and now since my husband has retired the money flow is less so I am a little careful with giving.

But the Joy of Giving is always there and I will never ever stop.

May God Bless you all in abundance for all that you do for mankind and may you be Joyful always.

Love,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

Friends Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:49:00 +0000

I am lucky to have GREAT friends.

In school I had a lot of friends but I am not in touch with most of them as I do not visit the place that I was in school.

In college we were a group of 5 friends who were close and enjoyed our college days by bunking and going to movies and sometimes going on a picnic with the permission of parents,

I had lost contact with all of them, Met one on my wedding day when I went to the beauty salon to get my make up and hair done and in a hurry did not really exchange any phone numbers.

Some years ago on a Sunday I happened to talk to all four of them and we meet sometimes as and when time permits,though we speak on the phone on birthdays and keep in touch otherwise too.

When I went to Bombay Hospital I met some girls who I became friends with and am still very close to. Even though it is more than 30 years since I first met them, we have been there to support one another in any way required.

Two of the friends are now settled in Auckland, New Zealand and my husband and I visited them for 3 weeks about 3 years ago. We really enjoyed the holiday and it was one of the best holidays that we had. We exchange gifts and know each persons likes and dislikes.

I have been going to The Home for the Aged for nearly 13 years as a volunteer and there too I was lucky to meet some nice people who I am friends with.

I love my friends and hope and pray that everyone has somebody to be there for them in times of need. I have not mentioned any names but you know who you are when you read this blog post.

May all of you be blessed always.

Love you all,

Sheila

I Love Elephants

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 10:37:00 +0000

Magali & the Elephants in Yangon Zoo, Myanmar (1994).

Elephants to me are huge, sweet and gentle animals.

Here in Mumbai we used to see them on the road along with their mahouts who used them to beg for money and food. Normally they do not harm anybody but there are some instances where they have gone on a rampage and killed people (mostly due to ill treatment) Now they are banned on the roads in Mumbai but can be seen on the outskirts of the city.

Since Magali was just one year old we had been regularly taking her to the zoo in different countries.

Here in Mumbai we are not allowed to feed the animals but I remember when we visited the zoo in Yangon, Myanmar we had to pay a certain amount of money and we were given a small plastic basket filled with sugar cane. Magali and I enjoyed feeding the elephants.

About five years ago the whole family went on a holiday to Bangkok where there are a lot of elephants at the zoo and different places we visited during our stay. Magali even sat on an elephant for a fee where the trainer was taking the elephant around the area for the ride. There too we could feed a lot of elephants with sugar cane and they would nicely take it from your hand.

Magali (above) & me in Safari World, Bangkok (2009).

Poachers should leave the elephants alone who they kill for the ivory. Ivory is banned in India and many other countries so I hope the elephants can live a longer life now.

Love to all,

Sheila

This post has been written as part of ABC Wednesday.

My Daughter, My Blessing!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 21:56:00 +0000

I remember the day very clearly when it was confirmed that I was pregnant. I had never thought about the gender of the child and was just hoping that I have a normal delivery and a normal child.

Magali with me, aged 2 months old.

My husband being in the Merchant Navy joined a ship when I was 3 months pregnant and promised me that he would be home on time for the delivery.

But our daughter had different plans. About 2 weeks before my due date she decided that she wanted to see the world and so on 9th of April around 8.40 pm after a long and painful labour she came into this world.

I say daughters are a blessing because they share everything with you. Your joys, sorrows, pain and sickness.

Magali last month, aged 22!

When I am not well she is beside me all the while trying to make me comfortable.When she is out of the house she calls me often just to say "Hi". I have taken care of her all by myself even when my husband has been away on the ship and with no full time help but I always enjoyed our time together.Even on holidays we enjoy just roaming around new places, sight seeing and shopping.

I love you Magali and hope and pray that you are blessed with good health and all the happiness in this world.

Take care,

Sheila

This post has been written as part of ABC Wednesday.

Comparisons are Not Good

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 19:01:00 +0000

I do not know why people find the need to compare their children or different people.

Last week I met a Father whose two daughters are in Australia. He was going to visit them and when I politely asked about them he told me that he was very happy with the older daughter who was doing very well for herself and was in the 'elite strata of society' (his words) whereas the younger daughter was just 'mediocre' and he had nothing to really say about her.

He bragged about the big pay check that the older daughter earned every month but did not want to say anything about the younger daughter. It looked like he was very dissatisfied with how the younger daughter was living her life.

And all this talk when I just politely asked about them.

Parents, please try not to compare your children to their siblings or to others too. I know it is difficult because I happen to do it sometimes too. Give your children all that you can and then leave it to them to build a life for themselves. Loving the children always is most important.

Take Care,

Sheila

This post has been written as part of ABC Wednesday.

B for Begging

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 15:32:00 +0000

In July 2003 I started going as a volunteer to The Home For The Aged run by The little Sisters of the Poor In Mumbai, India.

The Order was founded by St. Jeanne Jugan in the nineteenth century in France.

Now there are Homes all over the world and the Religious look after the poor and abandoned old people irrespective of religion or caste.

Since the Homes are run on charity the Religious go out at least once a week to beg for perishables and non perishable in the markets. Many people come to the homes and donate on different occasions in the family or any good happening that has happened to them. Most of the time the shopkeepers give very willingly but some make a very disgusted face at the sight of the Sisters when they are doing their rounds.

These photos have been taken by my daughter Magali & were published in her blog 'Begging with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Mangalore', you can read more about our experience there.

Most of the Sisters have a thick skin and do not mind if they are insulted but some of them are shy and hesitant and I really would not blame them.

Begging is difficult and a person has to be thick skinned when they are insulted or just ignored as if they are not visible to the person

May God give the Little Sisters the strength and courage to beg for the Residents of their Homes.

May God shower them with blessings and good health for the work that they do for the poor.

Love,

Sheila

This post has been written as part of ABC Wednesday.

A for Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 07:58:00 +0000

Today being the start of ABC Wednesday I am starting with the Alphabet A.

Appreciation: meaning recognition of the good in a person.

Many a times we take people for granted and never appreciate them.

My Father loved having me around the home doing most of the work he told me, but he never appreciated me or said a word to me.

But I got to hear from a lot of people that he always praised me as being an active and smart person and being able to do varied things right from gardening or going to Churchgate to pay his Life Insurance premium when I was just 13 years old.

I also feel that I should let people know that I have loved having them in my life.

The first person will be my husband Ezy who has given me the freedom to do what I want though I have never abused that freedom. We will be celebrating 25 Years together in a few days.

The next person is someone who came into our life more than 22 years ago.

That person is our daughter Magali. I am happy that she has grown into a smart and kind girl especially to animals. Ezy and I love her and have done all that we can to make her happy.

Next is our families and friends. Thank You all for being a part of our lives.I Thank God and appreciate you all.

Love you all,

Sheila

I am Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:25:00 +0000

The lazy me has decided to get active on my blog after a very long time.

Magali has been coaxing me to blog so much that I have planned to write something at least once a week when I am at home.

Lots of things have happened since I wrote my last post.

My husband has turned 60 and has retired from sea life and is now at home all the while. We have a decent life without me not having worked since marriage. Holidays abroad, holidays in India, we have done a lot in these years together. Magali and I spent a lot of time with Ezy on board different ships and I really enjoyed the together time we had.

Magali is busy with her work and enjoying herself. She works from home so is around most of the time. I am happy for her because Ezy and I never forced any career choices on her and gave her the liberty to choose to do whatever she would wish to do.

I have turned 51 this year and have started getting the odd aches and pains sometimes. I really wish I was as active as I was when I was younger. I am still continuing with my volunteer work at The Home For The Aged. I have completed 11 years and hope to continue going as long as I can even though my husband may sometime grumble that I am going out often during the week. He loves to have me around the home all the while.

Life is good. In a little more than a month Ezy and I are going to complete 25 years of married life. The time has passed quickly and nicely. I love my life and my small family.

Lots of love,

Sheila

Gourmet Indulgence with Four Seasons Wine at Spaghetti Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 01:43:00 +0000

A few days ago, I went with Magali to a lovely lunch at Spaghetti Kitchen, an Italian restaurant as part of the Gourmet Indulgence food & wine fiesta. It comprised of a three course meal paired with Four Season Wine. It was a set menu with quite a few choices. All of the food was not on the regular menu & was designed to go with the wine (either Sauvignon Blanc or Barrique Reserve Shiraz).

The starter - Pollo Polpettine, chicken with porcini sauce & crispy bacon.

Main course - Pan seared red snapper with baked lobster polenta on a horseradish & tomato cream.

Dessert - Flourless chocolate cake with espresso gelato & gianduja sauce.

It was a lovely meal & of course everything is better with wine! The main course was my favorite. I love seafood & the red snapper was just perfect. I also enjoyed the lovely décor & the restaurant & the presentation.

Love,

Sheila

An evening with Belvedere at Wink.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:01:00 +0000

About a month ago I acccompanied Magali to a bartending masterclass with the global Ambassador of Belvedere Vodka Allison Dedianko at Wink.

She showed us how to make cocktails and then we were asked to taste and choose the cocktail we loved the most and make the cocktail ourselves. I am not much of a cocktail person,since I prefer beer or wine.

But of all the cocktails she prepared I liked the taste of the clove sour and prepared it for myself.

Clove Sour
50 ml Belvedere Vodka
25 ml clove infused simple syrup
25 ml lemon juice
2 dashes Bitters.

Shake with ice and strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass.
Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Since the bar was dimly lit Magali could not get good photographs. But you can see all the recipes on her blog here. Hope some of you try the Cocktail recipes and enjoy yourselves with your family or friends.

Love,
Sheila

Why I hate Holi - The Festival of Colours & Hooligans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Holi, the festival of colours celebrated by Hindus all over the world.

When I was a child I loved Holi as I would get the chance to play with water balloons and colours with all my friends.

As I grew up I began to hate the festival as I found that it gave the lecherous men a chance to touch and paw the females and generally misbehave.

In 1983 when my sister, her 4 month daughter and I were walking along J.P.Road Andheri (west)

a group of rowdy children started flinging water balloons on us. I was carrying my niece and a balloon hit my hand and burst.I was thankful that nothing hit my niece as it would have hurt her.

The rowdy children were in a group aged about 12-18 years and I happened to know some of them as they were studying in the same college as I was.There were still 7 days for Holi and the children had begun their celebrations so early.

In 1989 I was in Delhi along with my 4 friends and we were guests at a family friends home. To our bad luck it happened to be during Holi .

Photo by James Khoo.

As our host knew that we would not be able to go out, we were relaxing at home.Around 9 am a group of young men known to the host knowing that there were 5 female guests were visiting from Mumbai, came over and applied colours on our face and drenched us in water and were basically very excited that they managed to mess up our faces and hair with colour. Though our host was not very happy he was not rude to them as Holi is celebrated in a big way in Delhi.

We had to wait till evening to have a bath because Delhi was having a water shortage and the water came only once a day in the evenings. There was enough water stored for cooking and any emergency requirements otherwise.

In 1992 when I was pregnant with Magali and was going to the Doctor for a check up some small boy flung a balloon on my back and ran way.I was in the 8th month of my pregnancy. The most irritating thing is this happened when there were 8 days for Holi.

Parents should teach the children not to throw anything (balloons, plastic bags filled with water) on anyone as it could hurt them.

Just this morning I happened to read of one train commuter dying & several being seriously injured after some foreign substance entered their eyes. Slum dwellers throw everything from stones to chilli powder or other harmful / toxic substances at moving trains & buses.

Have A happy and safe Holi everyone and enjoy yourselves.

Love,

Sheila

Love Marriage or Arranged Marriage : My Story

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:42:00 +0000

This is a debate that can go on forever depending on the people involved and their thoughts and views about marriage.

When I got married 22 years ago it was an arranged marriage as my parents wanted me to marry some Goan boy who belonged to the same caste that we did. Well, Ezy (my husband) proposed to me, so it was an arranged union but partly love marriage too, at least on his side.

I had two paternal Uncles who were Priests and my father did not want them to say that we had not done the right thing. He always told us from when we were young that he would have to answer for the wrong that we did and so we siblings were even frightened to talk to the opposite sex as we were worried that Dad would take it wrongly. Three of us married the partners chosen by our parents while one brother married a girl of his choice but luckily she belonged to the same community so Dad had no problem with that.

Arranged marriages are good for two people who are willing to make the marriage work even though they may not know each other very well before marriage.

Ezy and I had a lot of problems at the beginning adjusting to lot of things and all the interference from people from both the families. But we decided that we wanted our marriage to work and we sorted our problems and are still together. We have arguments now and then and Magali is the referee many a times.

Many a times I have seen arranged marriages break up because of the meddling by family members and also because the couple do not really bother to try to make a go of the marriage. When there are children involved it is difficult for them to see the parents separating and they are mentally scarred.

In my opinion I would say that even if a couple gets into an arranged marriage they should be given enough of time to go on dates and get to know each other before the D-Day. I got engaged to Ezy in June 1989 and though we went out sometimes we both were shy to ask each other questions and so there were a lot of questions left unanswered. He joined a ship soon after and there were a few letters exchanged and a few calls between us. He came home end December 1989 and we got married on 20th January 1990.

We joined a ship together in May 1990 and sailed for 13 months where we got to know each other and had time to ourselves when he was not working.The other Officers used to tease us that Ezy was spending all his time in the Cabin and not coming to the Smoke Room to watch movies or play carrom or Table Tennis.

So ending the arranged marriage debate I would say that Life is Good when you Make it Good. Marriage is between two individuals who should work together to make it a success.

In the present times I think that the children should be given a chance to find their own partner and hence Ezy and I have told Magali that she will have to find her own partner and we will not be forcing our choice on her.

The couple should always be ready to make adjustments and nor bicker about small things. There should be no name calling and no physical violence at any time during the relationship. Both the partners should make an attempt to keep each other happy by doing small things that the partner would love.

In the end I would like to say that Arranged or Love Marriage it is the Couple who have to live through it and do it with LOVE.

May God Bless all the couples with Love, Joy and Lots of Happy Years Together.

Sheila

Stayfree Indiblogger Meet

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 18:13:00 +0000

A week ago Magali and I attended the Stayfree Women's Indiblogger Meet at Trident Hotel, BKC.

This was the second meet that we attended.

Stayfree has teamed up with UNICEF to educate 5,00,000 adolescent children from two districts each of Jharkhand and Bihar.

Mr Clement, a french man from UNICEF (working in India for the past few years) spoke very well and made the bloggers understand the need to educate the children as the girl child from these areas are not given a chance to even complete their education in schools let alone going to a college. He also gave statistics that one in every two women were anaemic and that many girl children in villages were married by the time they were 16 years old.

We being born and brought up in a city like Mumbai do not really experience the hardships as these girl children but we can help by making our house help understand about hygiene and also about being clean. We should also make them understand that a woman does not become unclean when she is menstruating and that it is only a normal occurence in a female from the first time until she has her menopause.

I still remember very clearly the first time I menstruated before my fourteenth birthday and was wondering if I was sick because of the blood stain I found on my panties. I did not know exactly what was happening because though we were given a sex education class in the ninth grade by a priest during religion class no mention was made about menstruation. Though an older friend had hinted about menstruation I was completely unaware of this happening in a girl's life. Also my Mother had not explained anything to me so I was very afraid. I then told my mother who replied very casually that it is normal and that it would be happening every month from then until I would have menopause. I was so relieved that I was not sick and that menstruation was a normal occurrence.

I did not make the mistake with Magali. She was a smart and inquisitive child and I remember her asking me as how children come out from their Mothers tummies. I told her that the Doctors make a slit on the stomach and take out the baby but she very smartly replied that she could not have come out from my tummy as I did not have a scar and that her uncle had a scar even though he was operated over 8 years before she was born. I did not tell her right then but when when she was nine I explained to her about menstruation and it was good that I did that because she started menstruating quite early.

When I was young I used Carefree Sanitary napkins that were completely different from today's ones, they were 'belted' & very uncomfortable. But nowadays there are really good Stayfree napkins by Johnson and Johnson which make life more comfortable for those few days in a month in a girls/ladies life. Also they are donating a bit of the proceeds from every pack sold to the UNICEF to help make the rural Indian girl's life a bit better.

I was happy to meet some other great women bloggers too. I really enjoyed the meet. {Here is a picture of Magali & me at the meet, tweeted by the Stayfree team}

Thank You Indiblogger & Stayfree for arranging this meet.

Love to all,

Sheila

Holiday in New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Hello everybody. It has been a long time since my last blog post.

These last few months have been busy and my husband and I have had a holiday to New Zealand where we spent Christmas 2011 and New Year 2012.

My friends who are settled in Auckland since 2002 had been inviting us to visit New Zealand since a long time and last year we decided to visit them. We have known each other for over 25 years and were colleagues at Bombay Hospital.

We have had many holidays abroad to Disney World Florida in U.S.A., Penang, Mellaca, and Kuala lumpur in Malaysia and Bangkok in Thailand.

Ezy & Me.

At all these place we booked into resorts and really enjoyed ourselves. We spent a minimum of 2 weeks at each resort and all the holidays were lovely. All these holidays were as a family. Magali always accompanied us. But this time she did not want to come along because she said we were going to live in someones house and that she did not like that.

We left India on 21st December and were received at the Auckland Airport on 22nd December by my friends.

We were our mad selves all the while and the men were wondering whether we were drunk (not possible since we hardly drink) or taking drugs (also not possible since none of us does drugs).We laughed and laughed remembering our old jokes and cracking some new ones and Ezy added to the fun by telling some funny happenings on board the ship.

Almost all of us.

Ezy is normally very quiet but there in Auckland he was quite talkative and my friends were quite surprised.

We visited all the places in Auckland and went for overnight stays to Coromandel and Rotorua.

My friends have a good social group and there were lot of invitations to parties and the days just flew by.

I missed Magali a lot and was sad because this was a first holiday abroad that she had not acoompanied us but she enjoyed herself too with her parents out of her hair.

We spoke regularly over the phone, on skype and also exchanged messages on twitter. So it did not feel like she was so far away.

On 20th January 2012 Ezy and I celebrated our 22nd Wedding anniversary and it was Ezy's birthday also.

So the three of us had lunch at a mall food court followed by a lot of shopping.

Life could not be any better. I am loving it.

Love to all of you,

Sheila

Greed Overcomes All Else

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:26:00 +0000

I am quite in a serious mood today. Feeling very angry about how a son is treating his mother.

I am a volunteer at The Home for The Aged since 8 years.

There are about 130 men and women all above 65 years.

As I know most of the old people on first name basis and I go at least 3 times a week they are quite comfortable talking about their lives to me.

The person I am going to write about is a lady 0f 80+ years who was literally thrown out of her home because her husband has made a mistake of transferring the house to the son's name.

A picture taken by Magali at the Home for The Aged
at their recent hat parade event.

The old couple were happily living with the son and his family and the old lady took care of the grand children when the son & daughter in law were working. The grand children grew up and by then the daughter in law was getting restless that the "old people were not dying" and that they would never get the house to themselves.

To the good luck of the children the old couple happened to have a daughter who was living in Canada and had decided to take the parents for a holiday. Before they left the son conveniently told the Father that since he would not be around for 6 months at least it would be nice if the Father transferred the house to the son's name, for official reasons.

The Father trusted the son transferred ownership before they left for Canada.

Six months later they came back to India to a place that they knew as home which was no longer theirs.

The son, daughter in law and grandchildren found that the old couple were unwanted at home and tried everything they could do by verbally and physically abusing the old couple. When the old couple could take it no more they informed their daughter who promptly came to India and took the old couple to Mangalore where they were put in the Home for the Aged after paying more than 12,000/- Rupees ($250 which is quite a lot here) a month not including all other expenses. The old man fell sick there and passed away. Now the old lady was all alone and feeling lonely and to her good luck there was place for her at The Home for the Aged in Mumbai and the daughter came to India and brought her to Mumbai. It is now nearly 6 years that she is here in Mumbai and the son has hardly come to meet her. He calls once in a while to find out if the Mother is fine but the call is just to show the Religious Sisters that he calls and that he cares about the Mother.

The daughter visits the Mother every year from Canada and would have liked to take the Mother to live with her but the harsh winters of Canada do not agree with the Mother.Though the Home is a free Institution she contributes a good amount as Donation. I really admire her as she calls regularly and is really concerned about the Mother though she has no financial gain in the situation.

The Mother is bitter about the whole situation and blames her husband for the situation that she is in today.

She sits and talks to me almost every time I go to the Home. I love talking to her and she says that she enjoys talking to me too. Sometimes I take some home cooked food that she likes and her eyes shine when she tells me that she has enjoyed her meal.

I have seen many cases like these. In all the cases the parents have given away all the assets to the children who do not care about the parents after they have the money, gold and diamond ornaments and apartments in their names.

It is a lesson to parents that you should only give away all that you have in a will that is opened after you are dead. Be there for your children when they need you but do not be a fool and then repent later.

This is a reminder also to my husband and me that we should make a will when he is home this time so that the assets will all be given to our daughter when we are no more.

Take care everyone.
Lots of love,
Sheila

Lemonade & Family.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:22:00 +0000

me.

Just two quick photos taken by my daughter on a mom & daughter pizza date. Those are fun! My husband will be home soon & I'm quite excited about it.
She always has the lemon soda & I always have the masala lemonade.

Love,
Sheila

Almost six months...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Since I last posted. What a pity. In this time, I have been on a vacation with an old friend (which was a lot of fun), celebrated yet another birthday, & done many more things. But housework, voluntary work at the Home for the Aged & of course my favorite frontierville keeps me so busy & I am very lazy to type. So there. These are my reasons for not blogging. I hope that in the future blogging becomes an internet priority over those silly Zynga games that I enjoy so much. I think I should take part in the next round of ABC Wednesday.
Hope everyone is well.

Bye for now,
Sheila

Rebecca Bonbon helps keep my hands warm!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I was first introduced to Rebecca Bonbon through my daughter. She is a very cute French bulldog, born in Paris but now living in NYC.
A while ago I joined Chictopia, a fashion website. I love how great the community is, it's so much fun to spend time there! (You can see my ChicBlog here.
Anyway, a while ago I redeemed Rebecca Bonbon gloves from Chictopia. And they arrived within three weeks!
Here they are:

The size mentioned is 'juniors' but I am glad that they are stretchy because they fit well!

Thanks Chictopia for these super cute gloves! I really love them.

Love,

Sheila

Happy Birthday Ezy and A happy Wedding Anniversary to Us!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I have done a blog post and it is because I have been lazy to do it. I am a person who loves to talk face to face with people or over the phone with family and friends who I cannot meet regularly. My daughter Magali has been pestering me since such a long time to do a post so I decided that today is the right day that I should do it.
Today being 20th January happens to be my husband's birthday and our 21st Wedding Anniversary.
Happy Birthday Ezy and a Happy Wedding Anniversary too.
It is 21 years ago that I gave up my career since my husband who is a Captain in the Merchant Navy wanted that I should sail with him and that we would be able to spend a life together rather than being apart when he would join a ship.
Time has gone by like the seas, sometimes smooth sailing with not even a ripple on the waters and then sometimes were like the choppy seas and bad weather but basically we have managed to keep ourselves together without allowing any outside interference to break us apart.
I really do not know what life has in store for us but I hope and pray that we keep in Good Health and have a happy life together along with Magali.

I love you Ezy and wish that we have many more Wedding Anniversaries to come.

With all my love.
Sheila

I've been lucky!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:55:00 +0000

I know I have been a bad, bad blogger. My last post was two months ago! I get really caught up with work and of course those addictive Facebook games. Also, I hate typing!! So my daughter has offered to type while I dictate.
This is just going to be a happy-happy post where I tell you that I won something beautiful! A while ago, Franca over at Oranges and Apples had a giveaway on her blog. The winner got to choose from two beautiful necklaces by Marie Bee (both available in her etsy shop, The Blue Balloon.) Marie is a really talented photographer & her antique jewelry is so pretty. I don't usually enter giveaways but when my daughter showed me this I knew I had to enter. And guess what, I won!
The necklace I won is called Rainbow warrior. It is made from a crystal clear vintage chandelier prism. An antiqued copper filigree cone is fitted over the top, which makes the entire pendant about 3.5 inches tall. The brass chain is 30 inches, and slips over the head.

Rainbow Warrior Necklace

Isn't it gorgeous? Thanks, Franca & Marie. You made my day. I am sure my daughter is going to click a ton of photos & feature it on her style blog the moment it arrives.
Now I am off to spend Christmas & New Year in a beautiful resort in Goa with my husband. So happy holidays everyone. Have fun & take care.

Love,
Sheila

Nest

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 17:54:00 +0000

When I was a small child we lived in a home having trees and a lot of greenery I was used to seeing a lot of birds flying around. I also used to observe the birds building nests for the eggs that would later hatch into many more little ones flying around in a month or so.

I used to see the male/female of the tit bird and also the weaver bird building their nests that would take care of the eggs and keep them safe from the weather and other predator birds.I also saw the crows picking up all sorts of wires and all sorts of things to make a nest where the cuckoo would also lays its eggs. I always marveled at the energy that the birds had going in search of things and coming back to make the nest a cosy place for the eggs and also for themselves because it was they who sat on the eggs to give them warmth and helped in the hatching of the eggs.
In a way we too build nests for our small babies as we prepare for their arrival. Most parents will forgo the things they want so that they can give the best to their children.
Hoping and praying that we have the strength to always take care of our nests even when the young ones have flown away.
Happy nesting,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

Mafia Wars

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 10:33:00 +0000

Mafia Wars is a multiplayer browser game created by Zynga. It is available on Facebook.

Addicted to Mafia Wars

I started playing Mafia Wars after I registered on Facebook in April 2009. My daughter was playing the game and she invited me to join. When we were in Goa I played a little when we went to the cybercafe. After that we went for a three week holiday to Bangkok and when we were not sightseeing or shopping the three of us used to go to the cybercafe at the resort. With the high speed connection at the resort I played a lot and got addicted to Mafia Wars.
After our return to Mumbai in June 2009 I continued playing at home and when Ezy used to see me playing when he was at home he teased me and said that I did all the jobs in Mafia Wars New York such as Mugging, Auto Theft, collect on a loan, bank theft etc. and enjoyed myself.
Right now I am on level 955 and I really do not know when I will be bored and stop playing the game.
Till then I will have fun by robbing and looting in the game.

Take care,
Sheila.

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.

Lego

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:16:00 +0000

Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by a company in Denmark.
I remember the time when Magali and I were sailing on a ship with my husband and I purchased the first Lego bucket for her in Singapore. Some months later we were in a port in Thailand and since it was December 1994,

Some of the minifigures from Magali's lego collection.
Photograph by Magali.

Ezy told me to buy some toys for Magali for Christmas. I went to the toys department and bought lot of mini figures and different sets of Lego. Every morning when Magali woke up I used to give her one box and would love to see the excitement on her face when she opened the box. She was small (about 2 years and 8 months) and thought that Santa was giving her all those gifts.When Ezy was free all three of us would sit on the deck (floor of a ship) in the cabin and make all the sets and really love to try out different things that could be done. Magali really loved Lego and some were used and thrown out while some are still there and displayed in our show case. Magali was just clicking some photos a few days ago.
I remember those lovely days we spent as a family on a ship and made all different things with Lego.

Love to all,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday

K for Kindness.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:07:00 +0000

Kindness is the act or state of being kind.

A blind person being helped across the road by a sighted person

We should be kind to people without expecting anything in return. Everyone should make an effort to be kind to people and even animals so as to make a small little difference in their lives.
I sometimes see a blind person being led by a sighted person on the road and it really makes me glad.
When I see anybody offering a seat in the bus to an elderly person or a woman in advanced stage of pregnancy it makes me sing. When I help anyone in their time of need I really feel blessed by the Gods for being given a chance to do good to a human being.
I am also kind to all the old persons I meet when I go to The Home for the aged because most of them there have been abandoned by their children or relatives.
I have taught my daughter to be kind too and I really love it when she is so kind to the dogs and cats when we visit my Mum in Goa.
My prayer today is that we should be blessed with kindness in our lives always.
With lots of love,
Sheila

This post is part of ABC Wednesday.