NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

  AVON, a new Rain Lily joins the Ellis' Garden. 💖DIL KHUSH ❤

  बर्बाद गुलिस्ताँ करने को तो ,एक ही उल्लू काफी था , यहां हर शाख पे उल्लू 🦉 बैठा है ,अंजाम -ए -गुलिस्ताँ क्या होगा।

  UNFORESEEN EMERGENCIES   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 27/VI/2024   The pre monsoon showers have knocked the doors of the Sun City. Though the mood was building up for a couple of days, the clouds were not giving in. They came hovering over the city, churned in and out, changed colours from white to dark grey, and let out an occasional flash of lightning to remind us that they were there, but won’t open their flood gates. Here, the atmosphere builds up as if it would rain anytime. High speed winds, dark clouds, followed by snapping branches and falling trees is a common phenomenon. Then the whole thing subsides, giving people of the Suncity a dodge. But that day, it appeared that rain won’t give us a miss was what my ‘eleventh sense’ told me. It just so happened that the curtains of the drawing room were drawn. I was sifting through the day's photos sitting on the table when I heard the pitter patter of rain. These were the warning shots I suppose. The barrage had yet to be fired. Dark cloud

  FRESH ANTI TERRORIST OPERATION LAUNCHED   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 26/VI/2024   Pakistan is on a cusp of disaster. This is being said by their own elected/selected representatives in parliament and openly. They have so little money to spend and too much to ‘defend’ figuratively. Both China and the IMF have given out their plan of action. Increase taxes, says IMF to repay loans. Provide fool proof security for our projects, says China or else forget it. Their electricity crisis has reached another extreme where the ‘honest’ common man cannot pay his bills. The dishonest are stealing electricity and the privileged are getting it free. What an irony! Be that as it may. In this financial crisis they have increased their Military Budget by almost 4.5%. To justify their existence Pak Army have started a new Anti Terrorist Op called “Asm-i-Istekam”. Asm-i-Istekam means “Rejection of Strife” or “Elimination of Strife”. What a bombastic name! they do not realise what “strife” actua

  Birds 🐦 and the Bees 🐝 make my ❤ DIL KHUSH

  KAIZEN   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 24/VI/2024   In one of the companies I worked in the civil, we used to believe in maintaining world class standards of manufacturing. In which, we used to follow the five principals of KAIZEN, a Japanese way of doing things, which I shall discuss today. Let me share those five bullet points of KAIZEN system in brief with you: - 1.       Sort - Remove the unwanted and keep only the wanted. 2.       Set in Order - Arrange things for easy access. 3.       Shine - Keep things neat and tidy, no trash, no dirt at the workplace. 4.       Standardise - Have SOPs for everything. 5.       Sustain - Make ‘5S’ a habit and adhere to them. That philosophy was ingrained in us while we were in the Army. We kept things clean and neat, spic and span, geru choonaed, spit and polished, organised and sorted, basically keeping things in order. But over the years, I found that things were not that sorted. I am not sure of the present situation. Let me gi

  Water Liles @Ellis' Garden ❤ DIL KHUSH 🧡

  DESCENT AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 21/VI/2024   Pakistan presented its budget in their Parliament a couple of days back of some “cahubees arab or kharab crore’. My ears are still ringing hearing that figure. Can the Pakis count? I doubt. Their health care budget has been slashed, so has the education budget. However, their developmental budget got a booster shot. That is where the ‘moola’ is. It was no surprise that their ‘Military budget’ has been increased by almost 4.5 %. Obviously, they call the shots, though they lost all wars, including half their country. Now, the terrorists they trained are playing merry hell with them. Serves them right. Both our countries became independent together. Where are they and where are we? The five A’s (Allah, Army, Amreeka, Afghanistan and Arab) and one C (Cheen) have consumed them so badly that they cannot surface again, economically, politically, and militarily. Add to the woes the 2xTs, who are now engaging

  NATURE'S GAME   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 22/VI/2024   The weather in Sun City has eased out a little bit. The torturous 50°s have reduced by 10° giving some relief. Monsoon, which is hardly a monsoon here, makes a deadly combination of heat and humidity. Sweat and more sweat would be in store in the coming weeks. Be that as it may. Heat has brought about new activity in and around the Ellis’ Garden. Neem is flowering and fruiting and so are the Almond trees. Suddenly, bird and insect activity has intensified to a different level. The ‘grain eaters’ are on their own trip. The nectar seekers aren’t bothered for the rest. The insect killers are on a feeding frenzy and so are the ‘maukatarians’ who enjoy both. Chameleons which hang around the champa tree are also having a ball. They slither down quietly and lay an ambush for whatever insect comes their way. It is none other than our Mr TikTok and family. The other day, I was settling my grow bags with fresh saplings when I

 💙 Dil Khush 💛

PARROTS

  CUSP OF DISASTER   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 19/VI/2024   There was a news item which showed people in America thronging to the beaches to cool down. Even in India, roads to every hill station are having traffic jams snaking for miles. Everyone wants to chill but no one wants to put in their bit to bring ‘temperatures’ down. The ‘weatherman’ has bad news, the ‘waterman’ has bad news and the government has news which is even worse. Delhi is requesting Haryana, Haryana is requesting UK, but Yamuna flows as a stinky, froth filled, chemical infested ‘Ganda Nala’. The state in the southern states is well known. Where does the water suddenly disappear? During winters no one bothered. Come summer, water conservation, wasting water, polluting water, planting trees become topics for ‘YOU’ to implement, not ME. I can waste it, throw it, I won’t plug leaks and let it flow down the drain. I can afford Bisleri, who cares! Government is doing everything to provide ‘har ghar nal’ but sans t

  The  Indian pied myna/starling   ( Gracupica contra )

  OPERATION KAACHA BADAM   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 17/VI/2024   A lot has been said about the environmental degradation and its ill effects. How could we contribute to it has been on our minds always? We can proudly claim that our family has not only produced enough oxygen for ourselves but for many neighbours by planting trees every year for many years. Three years back when we moved into our colony in the Sun City. We found that though the area was green, there was scope to plant many more trees. Storms & vagaries of weather had left a lot of gaps. Our small goal that year was to plant ten trees. The variety mattered. It had to be one which needed minimum water as we live in an arid zone. Besides, it should need least maintenance and looking after, almost like ‘plant it’ and ‘forget it’. We came up with an idea suggested by nature itself. Neem being the state tree of Rajasthan and can grow in the toughest and harshest of conditions. During the first monsoon we saw neem

  BEE EATERS   LT COL NOEL ELLIS 16/VI/2024   It is fun to watch the birds around the house. They live in their own world. For them, it is food, shade, favourite place to perch, mingle with a partner, raise their chicks, and live a carefree life. Being alert and raising an alarm on spotting a cat or a predatory bird becomes second nature to them. Our contribution is minimal. A few grains, little water and of course trees around are enough for them to live a happy and carefree life. If they are happy, we feel happy. Trees bring flowers, flowers bring bees and insects which become food for the birds, branches become places for bees to make hives and birds to perch, and bees in these hives attract ‘Bee Eaters’. All these days the ‘Bee Eaters’ were missing from action. Since yesterday, they have come on the scene. These birds came exactly around the same time last year. How do they know the time/date? And how do they know which place to return to? That is a mystery of nature. These birds h