12-07-2022
In the first three weeks of June, we felt as if the rain was making special appearances 😊. In the last week it started raining . Today it has taken a break and we are seeing the sun 😊. My husband has put out trousers and thick clothes out to dry in the sun. Till yesterday it was pouring and I thought of Sadje’s photo of the waterfall when I saw water falling from the roof. It is good that it is raining. But there are so many minus points too. Rivers are overflowing and the homes pf many have gone underwater. There have been landslides. Rain is needed for paddy cultivation but if there is too much rain the seeds get washed away or they rot. I feel guilty when I think that so many of us are secure in our houses.
Radhika comes in the afternoon to broom and wipe the house. She works in five houses. She is very calm and quiet in spite of not getting much help from her husband. He elder daughter has completed high school and has joined Nursing undergraduate course. Her second daughter is in 8th std. Radhika was feeling sad that we could not pluck the jackfruits. On Saturday she decided to try her luck and plucked five. Two of them had started to tear open and gum was oozing out. Sunday afternoon she came to cut two of them. One of the signs that we are growing older 😊, earlier we cut them ourselves but now we find the fruits very heavy. They are big!!
Radhika made eight pieces of them. I told her to take some, she took only one piece. I sent two pieces to Rekha, my neighbour. We neighbours share what is grown in our gardens. Rekha gave us breadfruit. We make sambhar and other dishes from them. We too have a breadfruit tree but the fruits kept falling before they had grown fully. Maybe it was due to the heat. Rekha said theirs too had fallen. They too got just a few.
We were shocked to learn that the owner of the vegetable shop nearby passed away due to heart attack on Saturday. He was in his fifties and seemed to be in good health. I had read somewhere Death is certain but what is not certain is where and when it will happen.
Two evenings we went for a walk near home. It was good to be out after watching the rain pouring down. But it started pouring, we were a little away from home, we walked on. We enjoyed ourselves 😊. The raindrops look beautiful when touch the road and bounce back. That was something to smile about.
Aravind wanted to share something to eat with his colleagues. We made plum cake. I make cakes with whole wheat flour and without eggs. It came out very well and we were pleased 😊.
Sunday evening Todd, Rupali , Katherine and I met online. We talked about so many things. It was fun.
Sitting among the branches, chattering of birds at break of dawn.
Busy discussing and planning the activities of the day.
Then they work hard from dawn to dusk, caring for their families.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Jackfruit
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Breadfruit
Plum Cake Recipe – Kerala Style (No Eggs, No Alcohol, …
https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com › eggless-fruit-cake-recipe
Plum cake – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Plum_cake
Mukhamani 
Breadfruit and jackfruit! I miss them.
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It is sad that our strength and stamina decreases as we age, but we have to be thankful for our continuing health, even though that may be diminished. It is said that only two things are certain in our lives, taxes, and death!
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I read about the fruits and cake with the links you provided. The jackfruit sounds delicious and the bread fruit sounds amazing because so many parts of the plant can be used -especially the outside being able to be used for timber blows my mind. Plum cake sounds like our fruit cake. I love fruitcake, but in the states, it’s joked about as if it’s the most reviled cake that it’s passed around the family in the same tin, year after year.
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I have heard of jackfruit, but I had to look it up (thanks for the links). They are big! I can understand why you’d let someone else deal with them. It sounds like over all it was a good week, though I am sorry about the owner of the local vegetable shop. We do not have a monsoon season here, but it seems there is either too much or too little rain – we were in a drought for a few years, and then there was too much rain. Have a great week!
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Thanks for sharing your days activities with us. I feel for these hard working ladies who take on so much to support their families. But it’s so heartening to know that their kids are getting educated and will break this cycle of being domestics. Rain in our regions is often a mixed blessing. Thanks for linking it to WDYS.
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It is hard when we think we can do things but our bodies tell us otherwise. A walk in the rain can be relaxing. It is wonderful that you and your neighbors share the fruits of your gardens.
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Rain is rejuvenating but also threatening when it lingers. I miss the mangosteens since moving away from the tropics. It is also difficult to sell others on durian, which I think offers hints of coffee among its unique flavors.
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A plum cake is unusual but it sounds wonderful! With the jackfruits is it possible that the jackfruits themselves are getting bigger and heavier because the tree is older and bigger? It may not be because you are getting older and less strong. And finally, you are absolutely right. Walking in the rain can be really great fun!!
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I read that plum cake is fruit cake. Long back plums were used. The size of the jackfruits is not connected with the age of the tree. Some trees have really big jackfruits. One tree in our neighbourhood has small fruits, they look so ideal 🙂 We cannot cut jackfruits with a knife, a type of sickle is used. I could never cut one. My husband always cut and I helped him. Radhika cuts with such ease 🙂
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For me all of what you relate is new . Thanks to help us to discover life in India.
Love ❤
Michel
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Tour descriptions are so vivid, I feel as if I am right there with you. Cheers, Muriel
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