Castles in the air

Ok, I don't really want a castle. A medium sized cottage would be fine.

And around that medium sized, cosy, comfy cottage, I would have-

a mango tree
low branches, green leaves turning brown in the autumn, flowers strewn on the ground, kanni maanga for Vishu and for homemade pickles, and lots of ripe mangoes to pluck as well as pick.

a neem tree
a wonderfully healthy breeze all round the year, a swing for me and Sonny boy, that lovely noise of swaying, swishing leaves, and helpful armful to all those chicken poxers (!)

a jackfruit tree
ok, this one is just cos it used to be there in my Mom's ancestral house, and also because it was great fun to make spoons of their leaves and spoon kanji and chammandi. Ate with it once with gusto from a friend's place while at college and have loved that experience. So maybe one day when the husband and I are old, and I'm too lazy to wash spoons, I can go out a pluck a coupla leaves and have a meal to relish.

a banana tree
for all those fresh glistening leaves to eat your meal from, for the bunches of plantains, for the delight of cutting a straight line thru the leaf, for cutlets from the stalk, the kaambu and the koombu...

2 palm trees
I can hardly be a mallu without these around my cottage, can I? Brooms, dish scrubs, tender coconut water, coconut curries, coconut toffee...what all things to make form it.. truly a kalpavriksha! Of course I can do without the fuel for those old fireplaces.

And these flowering plants
a jasmine creeper,
a few hibiscus plants...
that orange creeper that's a feast for the eyes in B'lore during the season- dunno what its called

And these for the veggie garden
tomato, curry leaf, mint, chilli...

And a dog to run amuck around all these and make me scream in mock despair....

Sigh! Time to wake up (to realities), shut down, pack up and go home to Sonny boy.
Ciao, good people!

*popping back for a second* what's your tree wishlist??