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Entomology

April 6, 2023 / queenbee / 3 Comments

I hope you have read the Hound of Baskervilles, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? If not, go ahead and read. If you have, you may know what entomology means! The prime suspect and the villain from the Hound of Baskervilles is an entomologist, Jack Stapleton, who collects butterflies in the novel!

Let’s learn more about E for Entomology!

Entomology is the study of insects. It is a branch of the more popular Zoology. (Zoology is not going to be the topic for Z, I have something else planned out.)

Although Entomology is listed as a hobby here, it can be taken up as a serious profession because, entomologists also solve crimes! (Only see the video below if you are not disgusted by insects.)

The most common way to pursue this as a hobby is participating in insect identification.

Mr.Bee and I had visited the American Museum of Natural History, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and walked till my feet were sore on the way back to our hotel. It is one of my best memories of our stay at USA. Even in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., United States there is also an Insect Zoo. Both are worth a visit.

Many might not know, but entomology frames are also sold, for people who like collecting insects, like butterflies. (Don’t roll your eyes. Different people have different interests)

Entomology frame of real butterflies, preserved through taxidermy

In the broader sense, entomology is also related to bee keeping, to study the bees and how they act as pollinators. Now with the near extinction of bees, this has become an important part of entomology studies.

Although looking at insects and studying them for long may not be everyone’s cup of tea, studying insects does help a lot. Have you ever wondered where the scientists get ideas from? Doesn’t a centipede remind you the functioning of a train? Doesn’t a dragon fly show you the similarity between it and the planes during the initial days of aircraft invention?

A fast flying dragon fly inspired Aircraft design

Go ahead and study the insects, if deducing the secrets of nature is your point of interest!

P.S:

The first time I ever saw an entomology frame of butterflies was in a game called Seeker’s Note, where we need to search for some objects before the time runs out. Even simple games teach us new stuff, you just need the eye for observation!
Since this is a post about insects, I didn’t want to gross out the readers who are sensitive. So I have refrained from posting any questionable pics, except for the video, for which I have already given a fair warning! By the way, the opinions and deductions in the post are mine alone.
The other hobbies starting with an E are Elephant Polo, Endurance Racing, Equestrian sports, Embroidery and Engraving.

Till the next post, ciao!

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Charming Decoupage!

April 6, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

If you really really really really love anything that looks remotely vintage and classy, then the French sounding Decoupage is the art for you.

Let’s go ahead and get acquainted with D for Decoupage!

Decoupage, is the art of decorating any boring and plain object or furniture, with paper and applying layers of varnish, (more than the thick makeup some actresses apply!) to make the layers of paper seem like it has been painted on!

An example will explain it better….

Design transfer

Do you have old steel boxes or wooden boxes ? They can look something like this, after decoupage!

Old boxes look like heirloom after decoupage – Done by S

Since my post is only about A-Z hobbies, I don’t go too deep into the topic, but leave it for specialists. So if you want to learn the art, check out this website for more ideas.

If you are sick of old glass jars or even mason jars, go ahead, decoupage and reclaim them as pieces of art worth showcasing!

Mason jar decoupage

All you need are some beautiful designed rice papers, old objects and some mod podge. Get ready for decoupage!

P.S:

If you would like a little more challenge in your life, go ahead, combine Candle making and Decoupage to make beautiful decoupage candles. They look something like this…

2. All the images that have my logo on are the ones I got from my sister, who is into decoupage too! (She has all her fingers and toes in number of pies. Its a given thing, to most creative and artistic people!)

Decoupage on old glass jars – Done by S

All the images which don’t have beeafteryou written on them have been freely lifted from different websites and they are not my own.

3. In pottery too, we have a technique called design transfer which is similar to decoupage. We can transfer beautiful designs onto freshly made pottery, before sending them in for firing. I have never tried this though!

4. The other hobby ideas starting with a D are Doodling, Dancing and DJing.

Till the next post…cheerio!

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The Art of Candle Making

April 6, 2023 / queenbee / 1 Comment

The life span of a candle is less than a day, in spite of that, candle making is a time taking and painful art form (if you are into handmade stuff, with unique shapes).

So, C for Candle Making.

The process is quite easy if you are making a plain candle. The wax (is sold either like chunks or granules) is melted on a stove through double boil technique, wax crayons of different colours are added for the required colour, moulds are well greased, wick is placed and molten wax is filled into the moulds. Voila, you have a candle!

Pillar candles and a flip flop floating candle made by my sis.

Proper precautions need to be taken while boiling the wax, as it is a safety hazard. Even breathing the fumes can be dangerous for people with delicate constituency, so proper precautions are required.

Chunk candle – Made with chunks of coloured wax

The art of candle making is vast and it depends on ones creativity.

Rose shaped floating candles – handmade

So, the next time you want to gift, why not try some aroma candles? Your friends will thank you.

Scented and coloured gel candle

P.S:

In olden days, Candelabra was used to hold candles. Even now they are used, but for special occasions.

2. Candle Making and Carpentry are the two hobbies starting with a C and even though I tried my hand at carpentry thanks to my Engineering background, I am blogging about Candle Making, thanks to my sis S, who learnt it in her college and is still pretty serious about making candles.

3. The other hobbies starting with a C are Calligraphy(one of my favourites) , Canoeing and Cheese Making. Until the next post, ciao!

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Baking is fun!

April 4, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake baker’s man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can,

Pat it and roll it and mark it with a ‘B’,

Put it in the oven for baby and me!

so goes the rhyme….that is how much fun baking can be, if you put your mind into it!

B for Baking….

If you search the net for the definition of baking, you will know that, baking is a process in which cooking is done using dry heat, like that in an oven or cooking on hot stones or even hot sand. (I remember when my mom used to make yummy Osmania biscuits, which she baked on hot sand and fed us poor souls! She loves to cook, so I have tasted many varieties of dishes and that has made a picky eater like me into a complete foodie. Thank you Amma.)

Thankfully, baking doesn’t only mean cooking in oven or on hot stones and sand, it can also be done through steam, called steam baking and our own pressure cookers are the perfect examples of that. You can even buy Steam Oven if you are invested in cooking healthy!

But it is difficult to talk about baking and not to mention French Bakers and their breads. While we lived in Charlotte, NC, USA, Mr.Bee and I used to visit a French Bakery Amelie, which always had a heavy inflow of customers, coming for their chocolate eclairs and croissants. Although I didn’t mind eating there, I still missed the curry puffs from our Desi bakeries, back home! I love their bread, though. Never seen so many different shapes of bread and I found heaven on earth. (Bread makes me salivate!)

Anyway, baking is a good hobby. I managed to bake a cake on GBee‘s third birthday, during peak COVID lock-down, with the help of Mr.Bee. I decorated it with crushed Gems, because GBee loves them, like a lot!!

The cake may not look like it, but it was yummy. We made it with bourbon biscuits, thanks to my friend K. (Even Marie biscuits can be used to bake a cake. They are Indian alternate to Graham Crackers) Even though the cake had a wonderful taste and vanished into our mouths an hour after our baking, GBee hardly had a spoonful. He hates cakes. Even now, he only eats the chocolate flowers or balls which are used on top of a cake for decoration, but leaves out the main cake!

Now that I think about it, Mr.Bee baked me a cake, a year into our marriage. He made it from scratch, moulds, multi purpose flour, whisking, baking in oven etc etc. (we were in USA then) I think it was a chocolate lava cake or something. Thank you Mr.Bee, once again!

Mr.Bee made the cake, topping it with my favourite fruit, strawberry.

So, have you even tried baking as a hobby yet?

P.S:

Cooking in a Tandoor (clay) oven to make naan comes under baking.
The French bread that I love is the Wheat Stalk bread, which I had at the Venetian, Las Vegas. (That might be because I loved the place as well!)

3. I love watching MasterChef Australia. It taught me so much. Although I don’t cook most of what is shown in the series, I enjoy watching chefs exhibit their creativity.

I also love a webtoon, Gourmet Hound, which taught me so much about French Baking!

Let me add Li Ziqi in the mix! She is a Chinese vlogger, whose videos I watch, which promote healthy traditional way of living.

4. The other hobbies starting with a B are Barbecuing , Badminton and Body Building. I have a long list of hobbies to post, so there will be a windfall of posts this month. Till the next hobby post, cheerio. Oh, do check out all the links in the post, if you want to go deeper into the topic. Au revoir my French bread loving friends!

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Amigurumi

April 4, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Foreword:

April is the month, where bloggers participate in A-Z blogging event. I had been a part of this for a couple or more years, but ‘missing’ older data and the gap years in my blogging activity, pushed this event out off the window. So this year I am participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge again and the theme is going to be A-Z Hobbies! That brings us to A for Amigurumi.

Amigurumi

Firstly, crocheting and knitting are two techniques, where yarn is used to make sweaters, doilies, scarfs, winter wear and the likes. In crocheting, one hook needle is used to create art, using yarn, whereas in knitting, two needles are used. (So basically, only the one needle is the difference between crochet and knitting!)

Doilies are decorative mats mostly used as coasters

Amigurumi is the extension of crocheting and knitting. It is the Japanese art of making cute stuffed dolls using crocheting/knitting techniques.

Queen Bee and bee Amigurumi dolls

Like you can see in the image, in the Amigurumi dolls yarn is crocheted/ knit for the outer covering and stuffed inside.

If you want to start Amigurumi, the crocheting patterns for each shape is available online, which makes replicating the dolls comparatively easy. There are also Amigurumi clubs where enthusiasts can join and learn together.

Check out the link for Amigurumi related stuff.

Go ahead and watch the video if you are interested to learn some basics.

P.S:

For all the people who have abundance of patience and who don’t mind repeating the same pattern, Amigurumi is for you. Go ahead, get the needles moving! I am already a little late on my A-Z Blogging Challenge schedule, thanks to GBee and his summer holidays leaving me with little time on hands. I plan to complete the challenge and post about other stuff too.
I do have an Amigurumi keychain of my own, gifted by Mr.Bee. I also tried my hand at crocheting very briefly and managed to make a dozen bangles for myself.

3. The other hobbies starting with an A are Astrology, Astronomy, Art Collection , Acting and Animation. Till the next post, Sayonara!

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Rowdy Baby!

March 21, 2023 / queenbee / 2 Comments

Thanks to the energetic and graceful dancer Sai Pallavi and Rajnikanth’s Mapillai (son in law) Dhanush, Rowdy Baby is a popular chart buster in South India. The song is beautifully pictured and choreographed and is a foot tapping number, which doesn’t bore us, even if we have seen it more than a couple of times in one sitting!

The context in which I am going to use the said catch phrase of Rowdy Baby is completely different though. This one literally means a baby who is a rowdy, i.e. KBee!

Two years ago, when the little baby KBee was born, I and Mr.Bee were alone in the hospital thanks to COVID restrictions, we had everyone of our family near us but no one was allowed inside! (So near yet so far!) We had to fend for ourselves, leaving GBee at maternal grandparents’ house and ya, it felt lonely!

Since we were managing everything by ourselves, we had little to, no sleep. Mr.Bee and I took turns to sleep when the tiny KBee was awake and when he was asleep, both of us would sleep.

On the day of his birth, by evening, the duty pediatrician had arrived, to check the progress of KBee.

Queen Bee in a post partum daze, standing with her hand on imaginary wall!

The pediatrician was so good as to warn us before hand, that the baby is going to be one hell of a rowdy fellow! I laughed it off, poor Queen Bee!

One and half years later…one evening…

1.5 years later, KBee, kicking the books, like there is no tomorrow!

KBee enjoys throwing all the books from their shelves on to the ground and stamping and kicking them, like they owe him an apology for some reason! I am yet to come up with a reasonable explanation, except that boys will be boys and they tend to ‘rough-house’! I pity all those books, which have lost their covers or miss their pages and which are forever imperfect, thanks to the rough housing! Suddenly I am thankful that they have managed to survive these many years, without all the abuse, so that is a plus.

Some other times, KBee tends to bring his shoes, wear them and plead me to take him outside to play. If I ever tell him NO, then all the hell breaks loose.

A ‘no’ from me gets, flying flip flops as a reply!

I once told KBee that the Moon was already out and it is not the time to wear his ‘shoos’ and go to play outside. The next second, I saw flying flip flops and a tantrum throwing baby on the ground and I knew he will surely shine in soccer or football or whatever it is Lionel Messi is good at! (Soccer = Football, but these people love to confuse us with two different terms for the same sport.)

With incidents like these happening in quick succession, a memory suddenly flashed before my eyes…The one, where the duty pediatrician had commented about KBee being a Rowdy Baby!

The prophecy comes true ; Rowdy Baby indeed!

What else can I do now, except play Rowdy Baby in a loop!

P.S:

Disclaimer : I am in no way trying to demean Dhanush by saying he is just a son in law of popular superstar and nothing else! I wanted to use the little Tamil that I know in the post and that is the only reason for such a usage. No offense intended.

By the way, I prefer the Rowdy Baby song in Tamil, than in Telugu. Which one do you like? Do drop in comments.

Till the next post…cheerio!

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The Elephant Whisperers

March 14, 2023 / queenbee / 1 Comment

Like how every situation has a positive and negative angle, being a person who watches movies or documentaries, if and only if the review is good has a drawback. It means we have to depend on others good review or opinion. We may sometimes miss out on a gem, if there was no review or if someone didn’t understand the said movie or documentary at all!

I would have missed out on watching The Elephant Whisperers, had they not won an Oscar! There are also other documentaries on elephants and the elephant whisperers, but I have never watched them. I think this is the time to get into watching the new genre that is the documentaries!

Belli and Raghu – The Elephant Whisperers

Title : The Elephant Whisperers

Director : Karthiki Gonsalves

Made and Released in: December 2022

QB watched on: March 2023

Streamed on Netflix

Review:

Firstly, I remember watching many a news about how elephants in South India, mostly in Kerala region, would enter villages and towns, destroy property and in one incident, which I will forever remember, an elephant was captured killing its Mahut, almost like how Hulk beats up Loki in the Avenger movie.

In The Elephant Whisperers, however, we get to see the beautiful bond between an Elephant Whisperer (can be a Mahut or the trainer, but who uses soft language/body language to train the animal) and the elephant Raghu.

When the forest officials of Mudumalai National Park rescue a baby elephant, Raghu, who has its tail bitten off by stray dogs and has skin infested with maggots, they entrust the responsibility to Belli, a local tribal man, whose forefathers have also been involved in raising elephants. To assist him, they also assign Bomman, who is the lone woman elephant whisperer in South India and also probably in India!

Through the documentary I understood that, raising an elephant is similar to having an overweight baby! Difficult as well as dangerous and injuries happen! Also, by raising Raghu, Bomman is able to overcome her personal tragedies of losing both her husband and daughter.

The beautiful scenery of the Mudumalai National Park forms the perfect backdrop to the touching tale of how two individuals come together to raise an elephant and later end up marrying each other! Their family becomes complete once Ammu, a baby girl elephant joins them.

It is indeed interesting to know that Raghu and Ammu fight for their parents’ affection just like any human siblings! (Sibling rivalry!)

Although I never expected it, I managed to shed a tear or two after watching the documentary. It is worth a watch and it is really difficult to write at length about all the emotions one feels watching it.

The best scene which stole my heart and made me smile was when Bomman and Belli comb her hair and tie two pigtails for baby Ammu! She is a 3 year girl after-all, albeit an elephant!

P.S:

Have you ever heard about the world famous South Africa born, Wildlife conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, the original Elephant Whisperer ? It is said that after his untimely death, number of elephants visited his home, to mourn his death, treating him as one of their own. I think I watched his program during my childhood on National Geographic Channel.
Interestingly, even before this documentary was released, we had planned on visiting the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve during November 2022, but due to unforeseen circumstances, our trip had been shelved indefinitely!
I have been trying to write a post for more than a week, but thanks to Mr.Bee, it was a no-show from my side. Normally, after he is back from work, he takes care of the kiddos, while I write away. But thanks to his busy schedule from past 10 days, he couldn’t spare a minute and I ended up having little time on my hands. Even if I start writing, KBee is always behind my chair, breathing down my back, playing peek-a-boo and I can hardly shoo him away! GBee doesn’t disturb me when I am writing, I think he understands I am working.
Stray dogs can be a menace even for baby elephants! GHMC has given guidelines to follow in Hyderabad, on how to behave when under attack by stray dogs, such is the menace. I am already scared of dogs and stray dogs don’t help improve my opinion at all!
By the way, congratulations to team The Elephant Whisperers and team RRR for their respective Oscar wins.

Till the next post, cheerio dear friends!

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Fighting the Writer’s Block!

March 9, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

Writer’s Block is a phenomenon in which a writer’s brain freezes temporarily and it is unable to come up with any new exciting ideas to write! Every writer, blogger, amateur story teller and the likes face this, once in a while, when they are stuck thinking about what to write next. There is always a solution for this. Personally, hot water bath helps or after singing my favourite songs, inspiration comes to me, each time. So ya, writer’s block is manageable!

This is an old post from 2018, when I had a severe case of writer’s block, unable to write at all. That’s when I wrote this letter addressing writer’s block itself, telling ‘him’, he is not welcome at all!

Read ahead….. (This was how I used to write then..)

—————-***—————–

Dear writer’s block,

It is not you, it is me, who is breaking up with you.

Just when I started taking baby steps towards becoming a writer, you show up and I fell for you!

All the stories I started to write, I had left them unfinished, just because you demanded more of my time, but then you said I lacked quality….

When I tried to drive away the spiders weaving cobwebs of inactivity in my brain, you asked me not to bother writing again….

Many times I would talk to people, to get more ideas, to get a new perspective and you would say…’you lack inspiration’!

I loved you , but you had always been selfish and insensitive. You knew how much I wanted to write and you have always stopped me by saying, the more popular I become the less I would have time for you.

If I managed to write something in spite of your admonitions, your criticisms brought me down like a pack of lifeless cards…

It’s been a year and I feel miserable, for you crushed my hopes, like a dying cigarette is!

Enough…break up it is!( Should I say Talak- Talak- Talak?)

Go away and let me write in peace…

Wait!

Let me return all your gifts, the lazy ring, the ‘No-time-to write‘ watch and the bland ‘No-Inspiration‘ dress you gifted me.

As you may ask for any last words, here they are, NEVER RETURN!

Yours,

Not- so – in – love,

now- Ex.Girl Friend,

Queen Bee.

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Holi Ke Din….

March 6, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

As usual, at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I was eagerly waiting for the return of GBee from his school. Just as he put his foot inside the hall, I saw his face. It was covered partially with green colour on his cheeks and forehead. That was when it hit me that tomorrow is Holi!

The rectangular thing in my hand is supposed to be a cell!

Looking at GBee in colours reminded me that, gone are the days when I would look forward to Holi!

I remember the days when we used to return to school with traces of gulaal (pink colour) in our hair, faces and hands. The more pink one appeared, the more proud we would feel. Being pink meant, we had played and enjoyed the festival!

QB with pink highlights in hair and some random classmates talking about Holi

There used to be this gang of rowdy boys, who would come to our apartment every year on Holi, They would catch hold of the guys in our apartment and brush their teeth with gulaal and blue colours! (Yuk!Who would want dirty colours in their mouth and teeth? Beats me!) They would also throw eggs at us kids. Phew, who would want smelly eggs on their heads, mixed with bunch of colours? Double yuk! If you are being chased by someone with an egg in hand, suddenly sit down on the floor and you probably would avoid being hit!

Trying to avoid an egg on the head? Just sit down suddenly!

Those were the days, we would drench each other in buckets of gulaal water and begin to shiver. To stop the shiver, we would stand under the Sun, in the middle of the road! (Who even does that now?)

Even the uncles in the apartment would play Holi. I remember one particular incident when someone brought silver colour to play and the next day, my father and I had severe rashes on our faces. (Silver is danger!)

The ladies in the apartment would play with the good old kumkum and haldi. We even had fun scaring away the domestic helps, who would come to their respective flats to work. We would sneak attack! If we sneak attack now, we may get beatings, people are less forgiving these days.

During one Holi celebrations in my schooling days, I had taken an egg in my hair, from K, who was younger to me. (How dare he mess up with a senior!) I waited in the verandah, till my mom had hot water ready for my bath . Meanwhile, I was fed lunch, by my dad. What fun!

I pity the generation of kids who have no idea how to spend time away from a t.v. or cell. They have no idea of how safe our world was and how carefree we were, while we played on the streets, away from deranged people who lay hands on innocent kids or the violent stray dogs or the lack of traffic and vehicles on streets. Those days can never come back!

P.S:

Before going out to play Holi, it is better to apply oil on your face and hands. This way, you won’t look like a pink alien in office. This is for all those who hate looking like they drank gulaal!
My favourite Holi song is Arey Jaa re Hatt from Navrang, a very old Hindi movie, directed by Shantaram. Not everyone likes it, but check it out. The dancer Sandhya acts as both boy and girl in the song. It was a sensation in those days. (Let me be your DJ for Holi and suggest grooving to these songs…)

and also this…from Sholay, hence the title of the post!

Lastly, I would like to mention Balam Pichkari from Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani….

Did I miss any popular Holi song? Do drop a comment and let me know. Till the next post, cheerio!

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The Loudest of all

March 2, 2023 / queenbee / 0 Comments

While on most days, the kiddos manage to entertain themselves with some games and a little bit of rough housing, some times, they have, who is the loudest matches!

Almost always, the one to initiate these matches is GBee. He loves to shout and scream at the top of his lungs. It is such a regular occurrence that, once in a while, if he manages to stay quiet, our neighbours are worried! Why is there little or no noise? Is GBee sleeping? These are the questions I get from them.

One fine day, I was busy being the bookworm, reading and dwelling in the imaginary world. That’s when GBee starts to shout! He hates it when my attention is elsewhere!

GBee, shouting and scaring QB in the process.

Before I could get back to my book, I heard the baby KBee, reciprocating GBee’s shout!

KBee imitates GBee, while continuing to play.

KBee is like a Koel. Koel never run away from competition. Have you ever tried imitating a koel? I did. I used to imitate the cry it made during the onset of monsoons. That’s when Koel begin to sing along. It is like our own Pitch Perfect competition! Koel don’t like to lose. That’s for sure.

Anyway…

Feeling Proud, listening to KBee

While I was busy admiring KBee and got pulled into the shouting contest, I was worried about the dogs in my locality! KBee was able to shout in ultrasonic frequency!

Meanwhile, the stray dogs in my area, visibly whimpering at their daily meeting!

Ultrasonic sounds scare the dogs, even if the one making them is hardly 2 years old!

P.S:

Our neighbours have their hands full with 3 dogs. The dogs are so noisy, always barking at perfectly calm people walking on the street. In-spite of all this, the owners manage to hear the noise GBee and KBee make! (Or even observe, when my kids are silent)
The next time you hear a koel singing, do imitate it and sing loudly, The koel changes the tempo of its beautiful song – like cry, to beat us. The early monsoon is the best time for a singing competition with Koel!
The one who shouts the loudest is GBee. But the one who shouts at ultrasonic levels is KBee.
GBee’s class teacher once complained to me that he has the habit of shouting suddenly during the class. One particular day, he scared his teacher and got beaten! He is 5 years old. He can be childish sometimes!

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