My garden this week

This is my Green Thumb Sunday post for this week. My garden is really doing well and I am happy that my effort has come to fruit.

Harvested some more potatoes, the day before yesterday. Got a small bucket full of them. There are a few more plants but they are not ready yet.



We also tasted the first tomatoes from my garden. My daughter loves the small cherry size ones. They are really tasty.



I have this huge cabbage growing in my plant (at least according to the guy who sold me the seedlings). However, the leaves don't form the usual compact cluster. Not really sure what variety it is. I tried it in a soup and it tastes just like any normal cabbage.

And here are some flowers:


Lavender


Rose


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Swimming with the Dolphins

Would you like to swim with dolphins? That's one of my dreams that remains unfulfilled. Talking about dolphins, there is one movie I am looking forward to - "Eye Of The Dolphin", which opens in cinemas today. This family movie is written by three time Emmy winner, Wendell Morris from a story by the film's director Michael Sellers.



Filmed in beautiful locations in the Bahamas, Carly Schroeder plays 15 year old Alyssa, who has just lost her mother and is forced to live with her dad (played by Adrian Dunbar), after being expelled from her school. Her life suddenly changes after she forms an unexpected friendship with an orphaned wild dolphin.

You can also win free movie tickets by entering the contest on their site (before August 26).

Check out the trailer of the movie:

I am a NAFASG Certified Partner

Learnt that I have been named as a ‘NAFASG CERTIFIED PARTNER’.


Thanks a lot guys.

Happy Birthday Blogger

I just learnt that today is Blogger's 8th birthday. It was in August 1999 that Pyra Labs launched Blogger, which is today the World's most popular web based blogging tool.

Happy Birthday

Thanks a lot for giving me a place to rant, share and expand my thoughts for FREE.

Designer clothing for children at ZaraBella

We do buy a lot of designer clothing for our two children, not because we are rich or want to show off but because we don't have to worry about the quality of branded clothing. Some of the stuff we bought a year ago are as good as new. I am not saying that cheaper brands are not good and we do buy a lot of stuff from Tesco and other places as well. However when we buy branded clothes, you can sure they won't shrink after washing nor will the colours run.

Talking about designer clothes for children, do visit ZaraBella.com, an online retailer of designer clothing and accessories for children and babies. They have quite an impressive selection with brands like Mimi & Maggie, Wes & Willy, Spring Street Designs, Jade Jeans, Twelve Timbers and lots more. They are a Click and mortar company with their store located in Solvang, CA (35 miles north of Santa Barbara) and was launched in 2005. ZaraBella.com, is an extension of their store.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched

This is the big lesson I learnt today. I know I told some of you that I was in the top 5 (at 12pm EST American time). However, I later found out that the voting had continued after that and I am sorry to announce that my post iByot - the multi-tasking next generation house robot didn't make it to the top 5 on the "Blog Battle Royale" competition.

I received a total of 229 votes (6th position), which is actually a lot. However, only those in the top 5 positions will get a iRobot Roomba robot vacuum.

Thanks to all you guys who were kind enough to spare some time from your busy schedule to vote for me.

Special thanks to:
- Ramina in India who had her whole office voting for me.
- Roby in Italy, who contacted all her friends all around the World to vote for me.
- Eju who had to go to a hotel with Wifi, because the connection in her office was too slow.
- My wife who had literally the whole University of Warwick voting for me (or so she claims).

And all my family and friends in India, Malaysia, UK and all around the World, including those in Orkut, Friendster, MySpace and Facebook.

Congrats to all the iRobot First-Round Winners.

New UK music site growing fast

Contrary to what some people seem to think, the UK music scene is truly alive and kicking. Check out TourDates.co.uk, one of the fastest growing music sites in the UK. Offering free gig listings & free music downloads, this site allows unsigned artists, bands, DJs and ensembles to set up free artist profiles, upload promotional music tracks and videos, as well as sell their music online. More information on how to get your gig listed, is given in their press release below.

They have also launched a magazine called LondonTourdates as a companion to their online presence, which will be distributed for free at venues through out London. You can download an online version from the site as well.

Press Release:

The UK's fastest growing new music website, TourDates.Co.UK, has launched a magazine to compliment its online activities.

The magazine, LondonTourdates, is distributed in music venues across London free of charge.

To get listed bands simply need to signup online and add their gig dates. All gigs are displayed online at TourDates.Co.UK with those located in London also being listed in the LondonTourdates magazine which is also available to download at TourDates.Co.UK

Tourdates is an online music community providing free music downloads, news, reviews & gig listings for bands performing in the UK.