The delights of Bath and body works in the US

The nicest gift for Christmas! “ I have a coupon,” said Annika my DIL. “ Lets go to your favourite Bath and Body works and pick up whatever you want.” I had only just landed in Tennessee and that’s a typical warm and generous Annika who know what I love. So we jumped into the car after bundling up and went off to the Foothills mall to check out what I wanted in Bath and Body Works which is a specialty of the US and not the UK. Ofcourse it is available across the world but the discount coupon system is more prevalent in the West.

The Bath and Body Works store all done up for Christmas She had a coupon where I could get anything for under 14$ for free and others for 20% discount. My DIL absolutely loves Bath and Body Works and I remember how she even ordered heaps of candles for the babies christening to give away as going away gifts to the guests. We walked into this beautiful store smelling divinely of all their wonderful merchandise. I always look at the new stuff but usually head to the perfumes that I really enjoy. There were heaps of Rose products which is a weakness that I have but I said “ No!” to myself and wandered along to look at other perfumes. Finally I bought a Forever Red which has a sharp perfume rather than the old fashioned floral.

The Blackberry and Basil fragrance which I love My friend from Dubai had bought me a Blackberry and Basil perfume from the Dubai Bath and Body Works and I loved it. Barely down to an inch of it left, I looked for it in the storie but sadly it was not there. Probably more opur Eastern world fragrance. One can shop online at Bath and Body Works and when you checkout, enter your information, and then choose to create an account after you checkout. With the account, Bath and Body Works will have your address and email address to send you coupons. That’s how year after year she gets coupons but does not really use them unless I arrive. Sometimes the coupons have expired before I come and they are useless. But all coupons have a three-day grace period, meaning you can use them for up to three days after they expire. You can even stack multiple coupons on Black Friday prices.

A breath taking array of goods I am amazed that if at any time you're not completely satisfied with the quality of their products, you may return them to any of the Bath & Body Works stores. Even if you don't have your receipt they'll still take back the item but give you the lowest selling price on record. Also, items purchased from BathandBodyWorks.com can be returned only to Bath & Body Works stores in the United States, or by mail. If you have received a damaged, defective or wrong item, one can email them or call them for the mode of return. At Bath & Body Works, you can return anything you buy, at anytime, for any reason. If you have your receipt, you may get a refund. An expired lotion doesn't hurt or damage skin, but the product won't lock in moisture or hydrate as thoroughly. Sealed and unopened bottles should be good for three years. If, however, you notice changes in your moisturizer's smell or texture before the two- or three-year mark, toss it. I have had to do that for half bottles.

Something for everyone in the store! “Our moisturizers, face creams and eye creams last for six months to one year. The danger with expired creams isn't just possible less effectiveness, but also irritation and possible bacterial infection,” explained the girl at the counter as I purchased my bottle. “Ones that are in a pump are less likely to introduce bacteria, while creams in jars should be tossed after six to nine months.” For my dry skin in India I use Vaseline, which can sit on the shelf for years without significantly changing in form. As long as it is kept at or below room temperature, it should be just as effective. Its main use is to act as a “moisture barrier” - to hold moisture in the skin and works for 5 - 10 years after buying it. Yes, perfume and cologne do go bad. ... Many perfumes don't have a hard-and-fast expiration date. Some will begin to expire in less than a year and others will last upwards of 10 years. However, three to five years is the average shelf life of a fragrance.

Not just the early bird catches the worm in Tennessee

Robins and worms -- the iconic image! I am in Tennessee, it’s the end of November and the cold has set in. One evening there was a smattering of rain for about an hour and I just happened to look out the front door to find the neighbours lawns covered with birds pecking away and eating something. I could not see what species of bird they were till they flew onto our lawn. I was pretty shocked to realise that they were robins, the American robin which is much larger than the cute British Robin. When they flew onto our lawn I realised this was a strange phenomenon I was witnessing. I asked my son later what they were eating and he explained that they are quite starved during the winter as robins eat earthworms. The ground gets hard as rock with the cold and dry and the grass turns brown and goes dormant in the winter. So, they find it hard to get insects and worms to eat.

Amazing sight which can be enjoyed especially when it rains When it rains heavily, though, the worms have little choice. Earthworms get their oxygen from the soil in which they live in. When the soil gets soaked with water rather than air, they come to the surface to "breathe" just like we do when we're swimming. And that exposes them to predators: It’s a feast and a field day for the robins. It is one of the most common of all sights in spring and summer across most of the U.S.: the familiar American robin (Turdus migratorius) bobbing across a grass lawn or garden, cocking its head and pausing frequently, then pulling a long earthworm right out of the soil. While robins also devour beetles, caterpillars, fruits, and berries, it is the sight of that robin tugging at a worm that has been made iconic by cartoonists.

The American Robin is bigger in size than it's British cousin The robin I read up online, is the state bird of 3 states: Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The American Robin is a song bird and is one of the first birds to sing at dawn. Apparently they are migratory and a member of the thrush family. Worms are the ideal food for omnivorous birds such as robins and other thrushes. While birds will eat just about any type of worm they can catch, earthworms and insect larvae are the most common food. American robins ignore earthworm vibrations and any noise that they may make, but rather use their eyesight to detect earthworms, and other invertebrates, especially in spring and summer.

Robin and earthworm in the garden I really enjoy watching a robin on the lawn, it first cocks its head from side to side, so that it can better scan the ground searching for an earthworm. Having monocular vision, they don't see by looking forward as we and owls do. Experiments have shown that a dead earthworm in a hole will be seen and eaten by a hungry robin. "The early bird gets the worm" is true in the case of the American Robin, except following rain, as my story goes, as when the dry season sets in, with little or no precipitation, as the sun warms the ground and dries the morning mist, earthworms and night- crawlers retreat to cooler and moister soil out of reach of the hungry robin.

The Buddy Holly Show in London.

The Buddy Holly Show, worth every penny! My last week in London really perked up when I met up with my old Bangalore pals. Winter is a depressing time, as I cant spend enough time in my sons award winning garden. I always think of the love of plants inculcated in the boys, by my father and can see how much joy the garden gives him, like it gave my Dad. This time with winter in full blast, all we did was jet spray the patio and take off the stains left by the compost bags he had piled up there. Twenty bags of compost which he got at 2 quid a bag which he will use in the spring. Plus the bags of spring bulbs which we put down to flower in the spring. Cleaning up the garden too like raking up the leaves and fallen apples took several days of work. Every time I am visiting the UK, my dearest friend Averil Cutinho plans a show for us to go to and if the others can they join in. This time she decided on the famous Buddy Holly Show, which had come to the Fairfield Hall in EastCroydon. Usually we have to spend a huge figure to go to the West End theatres which are the mainstream professional theatres in and near the West End of London.

The father of Rock and Roll who died tragically at 22. Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, the West End s usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. London's theatrical heartland, often referred to as Theaterland or West End, it is roughly bounded by Piccadilly Circus to the west, Trafalgar Square to south, Tottenham Court Road to the north and Covent Garden to the east. All iconic names and touristy to visit, which I dont cause I studied in the UK and all that is old hat. So my son put me on the train from Woking to Clapham Junction and my friend Averil was waiting for me on the station. It was so exciting all bundled up against the cold and off we went to catch the train to East Croydon. There at the exit gate stood Coreen Moulton, another Bangalore friend who was not able to come with us as her father was greviously ill with pneumonia in the hospital. But we went out of the station and had lunch together at Box Park. A great little place just outside the station. “The whole park is made up of shipping containers,” explained my friend Averil. “ And every container was a little restaurant of different cuisines. " Go with Corrine and get yourself a meal while I sit here and keep our seats, " she said. The place was very popular judging by the crowds filling the place in the central seating area. Corrine and me went off to get ourselves a pizza each. Actually we preferred ordering a slice each and then sharing the massive slice.I took my favourite cheese and mushroom while Coreen took a ham and pepperoni and we shared our slices! Averil ofcourse wanted rice and so collected some Thai food with generous helpings of yellow Thai curry. The smell of the Kafir lime leaves in her curry was delicious.

Enjoying ourselves at Box Park with a pizza lunch After our meal and chatting for an hour, with my arms getting heavier with my gifts, Averil and I wandered down to the Fairfield Halls.It was 10 minutes from the station and I was glad I had my posh leather jacket on which had been just made for me in India by friend Coreen Fareed whose brand is called Gould. Ofcourse I had to wear Rashme’s blouses inside as layers to keep myself warm. Soon we landed in Fairfield hall and it was very enjoyable to get sucked into the ambience of a wonderful London theatre. The hall was packed to overflowing. London is always packed with tourists and theatre lovers any time of the year. And I dont feel I have done justice to my visit if I have not taken in a show. And what a show! The Buddy Holly Story is a musical in two acts written by Alan Janes, and featuring the music of Buddy Holly. It opened at London's Victoria Palace Theatre on 12 October 1989. Called the jukebox musical, Buddy ran in London's West End for over 12 years, playing 5,140 performances. Now the show is coming to lesser known halls and more people are able to enjoy it.

Three of us in Fairfiled Hall during the Intermission The Buddy Holly story tells the true story of Buddy’s meteoric rise to fame, from the moment in 1957 when ‘That’ll be the day’ hit the airwaves until his tragic death less than two years later on “The day the music died”. the show features over 20 of Buddy Holly’s greatest hits including ‘That’ll be the day’, ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Everyday’, ‘Oh boy’, ‘Not fade away’, ‘Rave on’ and ‘Raining in my heart’, plus Ritchie Valens’ ‘La Bamba’ and the big bopper’s ‘Chantilly Lace’. The incredible legacy of the young man with glasses, whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief period during the golden days of rock & roll, continues to live on in the hearts of Buddy Lovers. I am familiar with the music cause Mum and Dad sang his songs and Dad played Radio Ceylon for us as we dressed to go to school. “The day the music died,” and ‘Raining in my heart’, were two songs along with Ritchie Valens’ ‘La Bamba’ which we sing even today. When the artists on stage asked us all to dance with them,Padma and I stood up and l shook our booties as the rest of the crowd did too! I love London and I love the shows. Then we headed back for the Box Park as Padma needed to eat and we sat down while she polished off some Thai food while we had our Lattes. Then Averil dropped me off at Clapham Junction and David collected me once I landed in Woking. It was a great evening and I look forward to the summer when I plan to hit London again.

Berries in the garden over winter in the UK

A fabulous crop of Cotoneaster (Cornubia) berries. This time I am in the UK during the winter, which can be horribly cold and grey and ofcourse rainy most of the time. The air is full of falling leaves swirling around my head and floating to the ground. Piles of fallen brown and yellow leaves lie scattered all over the ground, under the trees which are rapidly turning bare and leafless. My son and I spend hours raking and filling the garden waste bins with clippings and fallen leaves and apples. The garden which was a vibrant palette of colour in June and August, is now looking depleted of it’s summer vigour and flowers and the last of the apples are being pecked off the trees by the hungry birds. The rose bush which was a burst of colour in June is devoid of roses but is covered with rose hips. Something quite rare in India. But as I hoe down the beds to remove any left over weeds, what I have noticed are that winter berries bring a splash of colour to stark and frosty gardens, when a lot of trees are otherwise bare. They are a vital food source for wildlife during the coldest months in the UK and can be foraged to make some delicious seasonal treats for humans too.

Beautiful Christmas holly already out On my morning walks I see the hedges of some homes covered with berries of different kinds. So,what is a berry? The botanical definition of a berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower, fleshy throughout except for the seeds. The common definition of a berry: a small fleshy fruit found on plants. Shrubs with autumn berries bring colour both from the berries themselves, and the birds they attract. On my walk as I turn the corner to walk through the park I go past a cottage which has a tall holly hedge. Hollies (Pyracantha) have constant beauty despite lacking conspicuous blossom. One can clip them to any shape or size. The Pyracantha produces buckets of fruit and brightens up the garden size or shape. They grow as hedging or like one garden has let one become a stately tree. All varieties are good, but interestingly only females bear berries. Holly berries are not just for Christmas – they’re good for the birds in your garden in January when there’s not much else for them to eat. If the glossy green leaves of the Holly are not to your taste, this useful shrub can be found with variegated foliage caled the ‘Golden King’ – which despite its name, is a female plant. Holly, which is traditionally used to decorate homes at Christmas, is on the increase in the UK, because of warming temperatures. Along my walk a whole hedge is of the Cotoneaster (Cornubia. Many Cotoneasters carry a generous crop of red berries and it’s quite a large cultivar, with fruits which are carried in such huge clusters that they weigh down the branches. The beauty of the plant stopped me in my tracks to snap a picture. Partially evergreen, the foliage makes an attractive background to the fruits without hiding them. In the depths of winter when food is hard to find, they’re almost as beneficial as feeding tables for the birds. And berries can look as pretty as bigger flowers — prettier, sometimes. They bring autumnal colour and winter cheer when there isn’t much else to enjoy in the garden. So to increase berry power in your garden,check out the berry fruiting shrubs in a garden centre. Crab apples have lovely blossoms and showy fruits as well. As I walk past an old quaint house called the Old Oak Cottage, which has a crab apple fruiting right up infront, I whip out my camera to get a picture. Sadly the house looks all forlorn and empty with a big ‘For Sale’ board up in front. I think to myself the old owner must have passed. Every time I walked past I enjoyed taking pictures of its beautifully maintained garden. Now the birds were eating the fruit which looked so inviting in the cold. Another hedge made entirely of Dog rose (Rosa canina) a British native, has soft pink flowers in summer. Now the shrubs were covered with bright scarlet vitamin rich rose-hips over the winter. They can be bought as a bare rooted specimens and planted over the winter, as part of a native hedge. These shrubs provide cover for nesting birds, as well as in winter a food source for the birds.

The Sunday Park Run in the UK

The kids take off at the start of the race The weather here is amazing now in November. Just chilly enough to be called winter and yet not that cold which I hate and sit morosely indoors nursing endless cups of tea. So come Sunday and my son and family set off to the park to enjoy a Park Run. It’s a run that everyone participates in the UK on a Sunday morning. Hundreds of families with kids come out and are all at the starting line at the exact 9am as planned. “ Come on Mum!” said my son David. “ You too can run with Natalie and help her on.” Everyone seems to be health concious, judging by the numbers who had showed up.

The four of us @ the run Ofcourse I could but we had Arthur in his pram who would have slowed us all down, so I decided to stand and watch. We had reached just in time and David and Nat ran towards the start with barely a minute to go. If it’s 9am in the UK the start is at 9am. Not like us in India, where the start is supposed to be at 6am and we are still waiting for others at 6:10am, start our warm ups at 6:15 maybe and then take off for the 5k or the 7 k as charted out. As I stood at a corner a pair of grandparents came upto me with concern and said --” Better pull the pram up on the grass ‘cause they are going to come running here like bats out of hell and knock you down.” Glad I took their advice and dragged Arthurs pram up with their help because in seconds the runners had come towards me full pelt.

David and Natalie at the 500 metre mark Little ones, big ones, the crowd was mixed and ofcourse like David and Nat -- a parent running with a child. Once they passed us the grandparents advised me to walk across with them and stand at the 500 metre mark where they would run past and we could yell out encouragement. So Arthur and me raced across and stood watching till David and Nat came racing by. Nats lovely shiny hair was slipping so she was trying to tighten her top knot. Arthur and I yelled “‘ Come on Nat, come on Dave” and they ran past with huge smiles across their faces.

Volunteers cheering on the participants Then as they ran past we about- turned and went back to the point where the race first began. Parents whipped out cams like me taking pictures and the little ones did not seem to be tired at all. The weather was wonderful, I would feel the same running in such great weather. At the third point Nat wanted a sip of water, so they had to stop and grab the water from under the pram. That definitely slowed her down and I tried to explain later to her that a water stop was not an option if she wanted to cut on her timing.

Arthur all bundled up against the cold in his pram The final run was upto the pavilion in the centre of the lawns where their timing was recorded and they all got to know if they had cut on last Sundays run timing. Nat was so excited as she had --” I got my personal best, my personal best,” she chortled with joy with her Dad. I had promised her a dosa breakfast if she ran well and so we all jumped into the car and headed home. In minutes she had her shower and she and Arthur and her Dad were at the dining table waiting for their hot and crispy dosas which I made from the MTR mix I brought from Bangalore.

The final finish was a run up to the pavilion Arthur ate his with Tennessee honey that I had brought the previous time I had come and Natalie and David ate theirs with channa that I had cooked the previous day. How excited she was that she had done her ‘personal best’ in her timing while I was secretly thrilled that my son who had been a champion when younger is back to running and turning healthier and losing all his excess fat.

The drink of water that cut her timing Natalie too is thrilled to come from a back ground where her Great grandfather was Mysore State champion and her Grand mother a Delhi State Champion and her Dad an Asian level and Karnataka State champion. “ It’s in your DNA Nat,” I said. “ You can easily run and do much better next time.”

Danes are 100% the happiest people in the world

Brunch at the Ritz Carlton which we all enjoyed Two and a half years ago my sister’s flat had to be tenanted. So we put up our board on the gate to invite tenants interested in the beautiful three bedroom flat. The board was made and the carpenter called to fix it on the front gate. Then whoever passed the board and were genuinely interested, would either call to see it, or call to ask the rental we wanted. An American came from NASDAQ which is on St Mark’s road. He came with a retinue of brokers, hovering around him like flies. He wanted a place where he could see his favourite evening hangout -- Bang in the Ritz Carlton. I did not even know the name, just that it disturbed us with its booming music.

I'll take one said the waiter and we posed He seemed slightly weird and entitled and that’s not what I want in a tenant. Several others came and went. Either the vaastu was not what they wanted or I was unhappy with the number of family members. Indians always have extended family and a retinue of servants and we were not looking for more disturbance. Then came a young engineer from Siemens, who went around the apartment taking pictures. He was not too bothered about the parking, but wanted to look out of the windows to see the view. Lucky for us he loved the plants in the garden and our crab claws or heliconias were in full bloom when he came. Plus we are really lucky to have a huge house next door with a tree filled garden. That clinched his deal and inspite of looking at 21 houses which he said were superior to ours, he agreed and took it.

Posing infront of the pool “At least put up curtains for me,” he said, “As I have to furnish the place now.” He was thrilled to find Pepper Fry online and in a few weeks furnished the entire house. Simple clean lines and he was so house proud. Best part he was Danish who are apparently the happiest people in the world. He was and the three of us loved him and he loved us back in return.

The delicious rugbrod that I enjoyed @ my cousins in Denmark! Since I studied in Denmark I was familiar with Rugbrod. A wonderful rye bread which my cousin in Denmark, introduced me to, when I spent weekends with them. It’s black and Mari Ann taught me to eat it with goose pate. I love pate but had never tasted the goose variety. The wind engineer baked his loaf of bread and cut it neatly in half and brought me half, every single time! The door bell would ring and there he was, holding half a pound of warm and delicious, just-out-of-the-oven, rugbrod. Whenever he went back to Denmark on work, he would bring tins of pate for me, without my even asking. And when he travelled, Pushpa the help and me would look after his wonderful tomato ‘farm’ on the balcony. He grew the most delicious cherry tomatoes and harvested a large crop, every once in a while, ripe off the plants.

The pool at the Ritz Carlton is impeccably maintained The house was impeccably maintained. So much so my husband would take friends to see it and say -- look at how he keeps the house. Clutter free, minimalistic and spotless. I think it’s in their DNA to keep the place clean. Infact even after my help would clean his home, he would spend the weekends cleaning even more with his vacuum cleaner. A three bedroom house for one man, you ask? He lived in the kids room because the view from there was the greenest in the flat. The Master bedroom held his gym equipment which he hardly used, as he went to the Ritz Gym every single day. All the bedrooms were well furnished as throughout his stay he had relatives come down to visit.

His tomato farm on the balcony How he loved India and he wanted to show off all the parts of the country to his rellies. Agra, Jaipur, Goa, Mahaballipuram, he travelled everywhere and enjoyed the experience. But ofcourse it was not all hunky dory for him in Bangalore. He went through four drivers and finally got one that could understand English. He laughed and told us, the cost of hiring an English speaking driver is much more than a regular local. But he preferred a hired car to owning one which we have realised is the most sensible option if one does not live in the country. Plus all the Indian engineers he hired were book smart, not hands on and that he found to be a huge difficulty. I teach journalism and I can see the same problem with young journalists to be -- they are fine academically, but useless hands on. The young guy enjoyed the gym in the Ritz Carlton. “ Come you must see where I went every single day for two years,” he said. The gym was top -of- the- line and membership really expensive, but he loved the place and enjoyed the ambience of the pool as well. “I swam a lot too,” he said, “ there is a kiddy area upfront and the 25 metre pool is at the back. “ All around sat foreigners on the sun beds reading and sunning themselves. “Look at us, we want your brown colour and I have seen shelves of stuff, to help you guys get ‘white’.” Such a paradox really, but the world over, we brown skins hunger for skin whitening, while they want the warm tan that we sport.

Genuine affection among us all. The three of us were treated to a wonderful brunch by the young guy at the restaurant which was surprisingly packed to capacity. He is going to leave us in December and he wanted us to hav e one last meal together. We went in to eat at around 11:30 and I think left only by 4pm! There was nothing that we did not try and nothing we did not talk about! And ofcourse I asked for fruit instead of the huge selection of desserts. Lovely to see a firang enjoying our spicy food. Infact he laughed and said he ate more spice than me. Sometimes you are destined to get a genuinely nice person who comes and lives in your flat and enjoys his stay. While there are others who grumble at the slightest issue. Lucky for me all my tenants and my sister’s too, who are mine by default, have been lovely people. Infact we had a HC lawyer trained in Cambridge who has moved into his own home now, but, will always come out and completely support us, for free, should we have a problem with any- one else. These are the sons we have in the country, since our own elder sons have left for greener shores. And that makes us very confident and comfortable.