Tag: A-Z Blogging Challenge 2023 (Page 2 of 2)

Entomology

April 6, 2023 / / 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:

  1. 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!
  2. 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.
  3. The other hobbies starting with an E are Elephant Polo, Endurance Racing, Equestrian sports, Embroidery and Engraving.

Till the next post, ciao!

Baking is fun!

April 4, 2023 / / 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:

  1. Cooking in a Tandoor (clay) oven to make naan comes under baking.
  2. 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!

Amigurumi

April 4, 2023 / / 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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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