NOEL ELLIS' GOOGLE BLOG

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   21/VIII/2025   My natural alarm bell rang quite early this morning. It was time to pick up the newspaper and get onto the morning chores.   A blast of hot and humid air hit me in the face as I opened the front door. It has been more than two weeks since this kind of weather has been prevailing. Crops are begging for rain. However, we are being served a heavy dose of clouds only. May the rain god shower his blessings.   It was time to sit and enjoy the front view of the garden with roti in my plate. My breakfast was hours away, but this was for the birds who sing with full gusto on seeing me. Their anxiety was palpable & their hunger pangs were understood. They eagerly awaited my arrival for their favourite meal. Having peeped into the grain feeder, it had enough grains, but roti they just cannot resist.   As I broke roti into tiny morsels, a small bird came and sat on the wooden support of the passion...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   17/VIII/2025   As I was admiring the blooms in the Ellis’ Garden, my attention was drawn to the birds which were feeding on the road.   The most encouraging and interesting thing was their increasing count. I remember about four years back when we decided to leave a bowl of water for the birds to start with in the summer. Initially, there were no takers.   Yes, the tailor bird and the hummingbird were the first to arrive. Probably, the space which we were occupying belonged to them while we were away for many years. Finches were also spotted loitering around. We had brought numerous pots and plants where they found their meal hiding in the foliage.   On taking a round of the colony, I noticed people were already feeding the birds. At many places bird feeders, artificial nests and water bowls had been placed. It was fun to watch the frolic around them.   An idea struck when I saw a dry and broken branch of our champa tree protrudin...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   17/VIII/2025   ‘Adeniums’ in our garden welcome us every morning with such magnificent blooms that you break into a smile without much ado. We are loving it.   My wife had a desire to bring home a ‘Sone Chafa’ plant, which we had added to the Ellis’ Garden a week back. A lone bud was showing and today it has bloomed. A yellowish flower and that is where the colour ‘sone’ or gold it derives it’s name from. The aroma is just too sweet to ignore.   Having taken a photo, my next stop was at the pink rain lily. Though one has photographed it a dozen times but today it was different. A new kind of wasp/bee was busy collecting pollen by buzzing into the centre of the flower. It came back again and again as if it had found a treasure trove.   The difference between a common honey bee and her was the bluish tinge that she had, with stripes on her body. I had seen smaller versions of her but this was as big as a bu...

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   12/VIII/2025   It was an unusual morning today. I am up quite early, but the hangover of ‘Nimbu Pani’ from last night’s party got the better of me. It was the ‘mint sprigs’ in the drink that did the job.   Actually, our “replacement maid” was home early. It is ‘Teej’ today, a big festival in Rajasthan. She called to open the door as she had to leave for the ‘rituals’. ‘Lahariya’ would be the apparel of the day. ‘Sattu’ is the sweet of this festival and my favourite.   It is a day when they say Goddess Parvati reunited with Lord Shiva. Ladies take her blessings for marital bliss.  A few idioms from the folklore for this festival: - Teej ro teehwar, chhokriyon ro adhikaar — “Teej is a festival, but a right of young women”. Saawan Teej, bhaat bharyo leej — “On Teej in the rainy season, the brother fills his sister’s lap with gifts”. Teej ri jhool, preet ro phool — “The swing of Teej is the flower of love”, sym...

ELLIS' GARDEN 11 AUGUST 25 🧡 DIL KHUSH 💙 https://youtube.com/shorts/g6x-6fEWq2I?feature=share

  A new Adenium colour joins the Ellis' Garden 💙 Dil Khush ❤

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   07/VIII/2025   These days I love to watch the ‘water birds’ going home to roost in the evening. They fly at a leisurely pace, flapping their wings just at the right speed to conserve energy for the night. They stop flapping their wings in intervals when they just hold their extended wings and glide.   The flocks are small and most of them fly solo. It is only the ‘Demoiselles cranes’ which fly in huge groups. One has counted 102 of them flying in formation. Their arrival time is fast approaching. We shall look forward to catching them in the camera as when they approach their traditional feeding grounds.   Smaller birds come in massive numbers. Sometimes your camera cannot frame them in one go. They are fast, fleety, constantly changing directions & making waves. Those ‘black clouds’ circle around for a very short duration and disappear before you realise their presence. One has to be lucky to catch them.   ...

 

💖 DIL KHUSH 💖

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   05/VIII/2025   It was a fantastic morning as the skies were absolutely clear. The sun changed its colours from crimson to pale yellow to near white. Chores in the garden and my cup of tea were about to finish. It was going to be a hot and humid day. That didn’t deter me from checking on my birdie and reptilian friends.   Before I could serve Roti, I saw a hazy outline of a bird hiding in the Bamboo clump. It was my little friend who had come calling again. “Hi, Ms Robin! I am so thrilled to see you back”, I quipped. She just bobbed her tail and flew to the fence where I could see her clearly. I thanked her for returning.   I had a volley of questions for her. Where is your family, husband in particular? The males are dark and blackish and the ladies have dark brown hues. I seemed to have touched her “dukhti rag” (pained nerve). She sat “tight beaked” without a chirp. I left it at that.   Her best friend and husband fell prey to ...

  A day in Ellis' Garden https://youtu.be/dcAOketSllM