things to do while waiting for cake

drool

citrus glow

My first ever trial in the art of candle making - the humble orange peel candle. Inspired from pinterest.

The steps are really simple.

Step 1: Find an orange.

Step 2: Cut it neatly along its diameter. Take out the pulp. It comes out really easily.

Step 3: Level out the bottom of one of the halves, so that it stands steadily. This would be your base.

Step 4: Hollow the roof of the other half. Save the disc that comes out.

Step 5: Make a small incision in the center of the disc. Push the wick through it so that it will hold. Place the disc in the center of the base half. Now the wick shall stay in place.

Step 6: Pour molten wax in the bottom half. Be careful.

Step 7: To add some extra zing, you may add tiny bits of orange peel in the wax.

Step 8: Wait for the wax to set. Have some orange juice :). And viola, your candle is ready.

Step 9 : Light the candle and place the roof on the bottom half.

Step 10: Enjoy a lovely aromatic evening.

Note: Alternatively, you could also just put one of those small candles inside a hollowed out oranges. But its just not so much fun.

Warning: People with an aversion to my weird sense of humour should stop reading after the beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeep.....
An alternate name of this candle could be "the somewhat democratic orange" since it is "orange, in the orange, for the orange". (Ok fine, thats absurd. In my defense, i did give a warning.)

knocking down walls

Recently they broke a wall near the driveway at my office. As usual, the work took about two days. Imagine two days of having to drive through rubble and dust. And that too to work !! It was natural that I grumbled :|

The work got finished today. They replaced the wall with a pretty low fence kind of thing. And suddenly I was able to see a rose garden. It is sooooo beautiful. Especially at this time of the year. All this time, it was hidden behind that stupid white wall. 

Roses as big as my face. In every colour imaginable. 

Ha.. Finally an incentive to come to work everyday..

For a change, I could also marvel at another meaning of this episode. All these years I had been looking at that wall almost everyday. And never really wondered what was behind it. That stupid wall was not really significant for me in any way. It was a part of my everyday just by the virtue of being there.

And yet, it bothered me when they started breaking it. I got perturbed by the dust and rubble. Unable to imagine that this change could bring anything good.

And this is what keeps happening with us in life. We get attached to useless things just because they have been there for so long. We grumble when we to adjust to the slightest of discomfort brought about in the course of change. 

And more often than not, after all the rubble and dust has settled, we find a beautiful rose garden.

Thought of the day

Faith rewards beyond logic.