I belong in the Sun.

Let me tell you something.

It was a long day.

I do not plan to speak. Nor write lengthy posts about how tired I am.

I’ll give you pictures instead, taken with my husband’s tab and try to show you what the day was like for me. And for the rest of the family.

It was four in the morning when we woke up. We took the new highway to Galle before the break of dawn, from there we drove among the usual traffic scenario to Matara. The place where my late father-in-law was said to have grown up in.

But first things first.

It was a beautiful morning on the highway.

We came to Matara and hung around the courthouse , for my mother-in-law to be present for a court case. Me, hubby, sis-in-law made our selves useful by walking about and taking pictures.

We found the offices of the lawyers rather fascinating.

They of course had the best view ! I’d consider myself very lucky if I ever get to work near a beach. Sigh!

We explored the scorching hot city of Matara. A bit. Photographed below is what appeared to be a small church.

We cooled off drinking King Coconut. It tasted like Lemonade.

We parked under a Bo tree. I read a bit while the other two napped. I also took out my laptop and worked a bit.

Then I stretched my legs to find these broken Buddhas under the Bo tree.

After my mother-in-law was done , we picked her up and went to Thalalla, where my late father in law had grown up. We scattered his ashes in the beautiful turquoise sea. Isn’t it beautiful that we go back to earth, wind and the sea?

We then went to see the house where he had lived in for a while when he was younger. There was a small run down house and the land surrounding it, was full of beautiful trees . There were even Peacocks.

Photographed, the old beautiful bench out at the front.

The back of the house.

We found the old well, now overtaken by the wilderness.

The water was refreshingly cool and soothing. We found the Lovi tree bent to the ground heavy with it’s fruits.

Having said our goodbyes, we left Matara, stopped on the way to get a bite to eat.

Photographed, Darling’s lunch. Chicken Biriyani. I had fried noodles.

We stopped on the way to pick up some earthenware. Hubby snapped this picture.

Half way through the highway on our back home, we stopped at the service area for tea and I worked a bit. Tea saves my life.

Tomorrow we go back to work, but really, I belong in the Sun.

Spicy nutty chocolate slabs

I’ve been dying to make these for a long time ! Chilli chocolate has always fascinated me , can you imagine all the spices and the dark richness of chocolate mixed together with a hint of sweetness? Yum !

Today, a slow slow Saturday, while my husband napped in the evening, I turned on some music and went to work.

They turned out just as I expected them to, and it took much less time than I thought it would. Only about 20 minutes in total.

Here’s how I made them.

I used a Lindt dark chocolate my sister in law had given me for my birthday. I made a mixture of chilli powder, salt and pepper together and fried it a bit till it was fragrant.

While that was happening, I roasted the seed mix in the oven, flattened on a parchment paper. I had some seed mix left from our trip to London.

Then I melted the chocolate in the microwave, checking and stirring it every 30 seconds or so. It only took a couple of minutes.

I then mixed the salt-pepper-chilli mix into the melted chocolate , adjusting taste as I wanted it.

The roasted seed mix , I spread on a small plate with a parchment paper on it and poured the melted chocolate with spice in it over the mix. I flattened it out with a spoon, and scattered a handful of the remaining seeds and nuts on top.

I put it in the fridge to set.

Took it out after a couple of hours ,  broke them into smaller slabs , ate a couple of pieces in one go. Such sweet spicy goodness ! Darling likes it too. Yay! 🙂

Right. The pictures aren’t that great, perhaps next time, I’ll try harder to get better pics. In the mean time, enjoy the chocolate !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye

He built dreams.

For a girl who grew up with a lot of skies and space around her, sleeping near windows that opened up to greenery, dreams meant being able to gaze out at the sky and the trees from her bed. Dreams meant cosiness that was security, it meant colors that brightened up someone’s life, it meant sharing love and laughter and stories.

I spent many years stuck in a flat that was surrounded by high security and higher walls. He didn’t know. He didn’t know how I was looking for my dreams but he built it anyway. He built a dream for me. A stranger that married his son. For us. That, is destiny. Isn’t it?

I will miss him. I hope I’ll see him on those beautiful shores one day and when we do, we’ll talk about high ceilings and french windows. And The lady with the dog. We had talked about it briefly just before he got sick. I gave him my father’s copy but he got too sick to read. I remember the book lying on the table in the living room before I returned it to my father.

We’ll read it together , if we can, Thaththi. Sitting on the shore with the beautiful white sand. Till then, goodbye and we’ll miss you.

The saddest dog by Such.