The beaver next to the house

The kids have holidays. There comes a break in their routine when you need to figure out how to keep them occupied .

I got my kids some new paints and color pencils. I also got them some coloring books as well as drawing pads for free hand drawing .

Sometimes i draw pictures for my daughter which she dedicatedly fills up with paint . Today I decided to draw a picture i loved drawing as a kid . A house with a bright sun above , a tree nearby and a girl standing next to it . I have drawn many versions of the same picture .

Here comes a twist in the story. My daughter wanted a beaver there . How on earth am i supposed to draw a beaver ?? God bless Google for it immediately fetched some cartoon images of a beaver .

I drew a picture and the end result was a four legged creature that was born to a cat and a dog with a beaver somewhere in the DNA ancestory.

It reminded me of the picture of a frog i had drawn in class X. My biology sir said that it looked more like a lizard that had devored a nice juicy cockroach for its lunch.

My daughter looked at my beaver and exclaimed " its so beautiful mama ."  So many lessons in there . Making people feel beautiful, appreciation and feeling happy about little things in life .

I am glad that i drew that beaver today and thanks again Google . 

Coffee

The cafe that i saw from my bus window gave me something to write a post on. Thanks to all the cafe s on planet earth.

Coffee. Its the first tick box in the morning routine of many a person all over the globe.

Of course it has culturally been adapted in different ways as well. Black , white , brown , filter kaapi , hazelnut coffee , latte , cappuccino  etc etc 

My children take milk but my daughter loves dipping her biscuit in my beverage and taking a bite into it. I am not sure if its the taste or the activity that fascinates her . 

We Tamilians love indulging in what we call "tiffin plus coffee " . Some salty and spicy and of course tasty savoury items like idly , vada , dosa , puri etc make its way down our digestive system. While the tongue is soaking in the myriad of tastes each of these items provide , the highlight of the experience comes when a sip of hot filter coffee hits the taste buds .  Its akin to splashing some chill water on your face after a good workout . Or doing a strenuous activity and taking a gulp of sweet cold water . Or going out into the sun and entering a room chilled by an air conditioner . 

We use the "dabara tumbler" for coffee. For some hard core fans the same coffee served in a porcelain mug can never give the satisfaction these two utensils provide.

If you ask my mother or mother in law or aunts or the other reigning queens of Tamil kitchens they could write a big book on the ways to get that one cup of coffee perfect . In fact its the drink thats offered to guests and the only breakfast item on some days when we decide to advance the lunch time by a couple of hours . 

I first came across Hazelnut coffee when i went to the US . I loved it so much that every time i taste it i kind of get transported to the cool winter mornings there and my creamy cup of the beverage . 

I am not a big fan of cold coffee. With or without icecream . But recently i had coffee flavored cake and it seemed ok . 

When i went to Coorg a couple of years ago we got to see coffee plants. Its a fun thing exploring the origins of things we use everyday . 

By the way do u know what luwak coffee is ?  ( hi hi hi hi ) 

Family Game - The Relationship Game

There is a game I have been playing with my kids of late. A family game sorts.

Does not need any equipment. Its called "The relationship game"

I really don't remember who taught me this or where I came across this for the first time. But i taught it to my kids and they love it.

• The first person begins by saying a word ...any word....its his choice.

• The next person needs to say whatever he can think of in relation to that.
• This goes on in circles for a few rounds.

For example

Player1	Player2	Player 3
car	road	black
night	moon	white
milk	butter	cake
birthday	presents	games
olympics	athletics	running
track	lines	geometry
maths	school	classroom
charts	colors	rainbow
sky	cloud	rain
water	sea	waves
beach	sand	castle
princess	tiara	jewellery
gold	mine	tunnel
dark	torch	switch

• After say 7 to 8 rounds the fun starts...We need to go in reverse. The last person will start recollecting what the person before him had said.

• For instance after torch in the above example, the last person finishes with switch. Then he starts the reverse process. He has to say what the person before him had said, i.e torch,.

• The person before him has to recollect what the one before him had said before that a.k.a dark.

• We try recollecting till we reach where we started.

Player3	Player2	Player 1
torch	dark	tunnel
mine	gold	jewellery
tiara	princess	waves
sea	water	rain
cloud	sky	rainbow
colors	charts	classroom
school	maths	geometry
lines	track	running
athletics	olympics	games
presents	birthday	cake
butter	milk	white
moon	night	black
road	car!

Try it....It keeps you hooked.

Its also a nice exercise to improve focus and memory.