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| New Year Brunch |
"What? Happy New Year?"
"Bless has lost her marbles! Staying home has got to her!"
"Hello! It's the middle of April, Bless!"
සුභ අලුත් අවුරුදක් වේවා! (Suba Aluth Awuruddak Wewa!)
Happy Sri Lankan cultural New Year! May it be a happy, prosperous, and healthy year for us all!
It is traditionally celebrated on the 13th and 14th of April. It is believed to have originally started out as a harvest festival to celebrate the year's first harvest of rice. Over the years, it evolved to be the start of the cultural new year that was celebrated by the country's Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic groups. It is still known as the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, although I prefer to refer to it as the Sri Lankan New Year. Traditionally, it is a festive time, marked with auspicious times for various rituals, paying respect to our parents by offering them betel leaves and receiving blessings from them, of visiting family members, new clothes in auspicious colors, lots of traditional games and special festive food. It is a time I used to look forward to, when I was a child and the New Years I remember are those from my childhood.
Today, I celebrated it by myself, and made the traditional milkrice and a spicy onion sambol (seeni sambol). I didn't make any of the traditional sweet treats, however - no kavum (oil cakes) or kokis (like Swedish rosettes) or athirasa (a different type of oil cake). But, I set the table with the traditional brass oil lamp, which is usually lit with with cotton wicks and coconut oil at an auspicious time, before the meal is eaten.
The meal was delayed, however, because I got dehydrated (again; when will I learn to drink enough water?), my pressure dropped, and I felt faint. After I drank a glass of water, ate an orange, and rested, I felt better, and was able to finish the cooking. I checked my pressure after I rested and it was 105/51, which was still low, but, better than before. I ate some of the milkrice and onion sambol, after I took the photo.
Later, I brought in the trash cans, checked the mail (all grocery ads, which I tossed into the recycle bin, right away) and texted M. I had planned to dust the family room and my bedroom, today, and water the indoor plants; I might do that a bit later. Need to do the dishes, too.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to celebrate the New Year
- Recognizing the signs of dehydration and being able to remedy it before it gets too bad!
- Happy memories
- A sunny and warm day
- Chatting with my daughter
How was your Tuesday?
සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා !!!
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure if you can read Sinhala font, if not, happy New Year! 😊
I didn’t do anything special. Normally it’s another work day for me, and even now I’m busier than usual with this ‘working from home’ stuff.
Mom doesn’t celebrate either without Dad. However my youngest sister had made kokis, she has started her own traditions now. 😊
Esema wewa!
DeleteI can read, write, and speak Sinhala (I studied in Sinhala at Visakha), although, after being out of the country for more than 46 years, my Sinhala is a bit rusty! :)
When I was working, I used to make milkrice and celebrate on the weekend after! That's good that your sister is starting her own traditions and made kokis. I have the mold to make kokis, but, I haven't made them, lately. I tried to make konde kavum, one year, but they turned out hard as rock! I never tried after that! :)
... and a Happy New Year to you too- I love your descriptions of traditions that are unfamiliar to me-how appropriate it seems to celebrate as a new crop is coming in and people are free to have time to enjoy themselves after the hard work of growing and harvesting-
ReplyDeleteIt's good you recognized your symptoms and were able to avoid a more serious issue- drink, drink, drink! I have always been an avid 'guzzler' and live with bottles of water all over the house ...I should slosh when I walk-
Rest and be good to yourself- I wish I could do something to help you, but please know you are in my thoughts and prayers-
As always, fondest wishes-
Barb
Thank you, Barb. I'm glad you enjoy the descriptions of my cultural traditions. :)
DeleteI keep forgetting to drink enough water! But, yes, I'm glad I recognized the symptoms - I do not want to faint in the bathroom and knock my head on the edge of the bathtub, like I did a few years ago! I have a permanent dent on my forehead (right temple), where the edge of the shower door track hit That was a bit scary! I was alone, back then, too. I shall have to go back to writing down how many cups of water I drink each day!
Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers! Hope all is well with you, Whitney, and everyone else. :)
That sounds like a good holiday to celebrate, and I am glad you quickly drank water and ate an orange. I try to drink plenty of water each day. I stayed home today except for 2 walks in our neighborhood with my dog. Isn't it surprising how busy we are at home when we need to stay inside?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terra. It is a good holiday to celebrate, even in a limited way. A New Year signifies a new beginning and we surely could do with a new beginning to this current year, couldn't we? Sounds like you had a very good day and I'm sure your dog enjoyed going for walks. Yes, plenty to keep us busy at home, except, I don't seem to get much of it done! :D
DeleteAww Happy New Year Bless!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Sinhala font is cute.
Here’s to a better year.
Thank you, Akasha. Wish you all the best! :)
DeleteHappy New Year! Your table looks lovely. Take care of yourself.💖
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. Hope all is well with you, too. :)
DeleteHappy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. :)
DeleteHappy New Year Bless, your table is lovely, love that tablecloth!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing and reading about the customs of different cultures. I am glad that you realized you needed water in time. You remind me I need to make an effort to drink more water to.
Stay well
Thank you, Sharon. The table cloth is one that my mother crocheted. :) Glad I reminded you to drink more water! Stay hydrated!
DeleteHappy New Year to you.
ReplyDeleteYour table and rice look so nice. I like how you did a cross hatch pattern on the rice.
Is that from a certain dish you put it in and then flip it?
Drink more water, Bless! Yes I am scolding you
lol
Or make several more cups of tea during the day then you usually would maybe?
It all adds up and will keep you from getting ill.
I am glad you were able to remedy things and feel better.
Take care,
Debra
Thank you, Debra. I just drew a knife through the rice to cut it into diamonds. That seems to be the traditional way of serving milkrice. I am not sure if there is a significance behind it or not! Occasionally, they cut it into squares, but the diamond shape seems to be the more prevalent shape.
DeleteScold away! The sad thing is I was aware of the fact that I wasn't drinking enough water, and still, it didn't prompt me to increase my intake! Sigh.
Happy New Year. Today might be a perfect day for a new beginning. It is also Tax Day (even though it's been delayed) so I'm for celebrating anything else.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susanne. Every day is an opportunity for a new beginning, isn't it? I filed my taxes back in March, but, I am glad the deadline has been postponed. :)
DeleteHappy New Year! Drink your water!! (I tend to not remember to drink water much either.) Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. I drank a cup of water this morning and a cup of tea. I need to drink another cup before this hour is over!
DeleteOh wow, that was sooo interesting to read, cos I love getting to know more about food around the world! Everything sounds so yum! So Happy New Year☺☺
ReplyDeleteThank you, Natalia; glad you found it interesting. :)
DeleteHappy New Year to you and your family. Does your daughter celebrate in the same way?
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends struggled with drinking enough water. She just forgot so started filling bottles with a day's worth of water and leaving them out on the counter so they were visible. The bottles were small enough that it didn't take long to drink one and it was easy to see the progress. She started with half what she really needed and increased by one extra bottle every week until she was in the habit of drinking enough. Is this something that would work for you maybe?
Thank you, Eileen. No, my daughter doesn't observe the old holidays. They don't hold the same significance for her. :)
DeleteI generally leave my glass out on the counter as a reminder to drink more water, but, maybe the bottles might work! Or, I should leave several glasses of water out on the counter!
Happy New Year. May you enjoy the joys & blessings of the year. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patio Postcards! :)
DeleteThe Sri Lankin New Year's celebration sounds really fun. I'm glad you made an effort to celebrate. It's easy to let everything go these days among the uncertainty worry, but we need to keep living the best way we know how.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Live and Learn. Yes, it is important to make the effort, isn't it? Just a small token of acknowledgement that it is a special day.
DeleteHappy News Year, Bless!
ReplyDeleteStart every day of this new time with a huge glass of water! Followed by several other huge glasses throughout the day.
Thank you, Anne. I have a glass that holds two cups of water. I filled it up, this morning and drank half. Then, I had my cup of tea. I need to finish the other half of the glass and refill it!
DeleteHappy New Year, Bless! It is good to keep up traditions even during a pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI lost what I commented yesterday on your previous post as the page suddenly turned into a white one with some "page not found" message on it and I hadn't had the sense to copy as I wrote. I wasn't quite sure if my comment was lost or not at the time.
We woke up to snow again but just a wee bit and it has gone. Much of the winter snow has retreated now. We had some really high winds on Monday night.
I did my grocery run this morning and lined up at 8.30 am. I learned from the attendant wiping cart handles that some people were coming in every day! Well, if they were in a city it wouldn't work. DH went in yesterday to the hardware store as we had an order that had come in 3 weeks ago, and he went to the post office. Now it is back to isolation for a while again. It seems to me that every person who stays home is one less person to be a potential problem.
Thank you, Bushlady. I almost didn't do anything to celebrate, but, decided I should make the effort. At least make the milkrice.
DeleteI'm sorry you lost the earlier comment, but, I am another person who doesn't make a copy of what I write when I comment!
Well, at least the snow is not lingering and, soon, hopefully, the snow will be gone until the end of the year! I'm sure you are waiting eagerly for spring and summer.
I'm glad you were able to get your grocery shopping done. I am not sure just how advisable it is to grocery shop every day, because, each time we venture out, we are risking increasing the spread of the virus, but, I suppose the risks vary from place to place. There were over 10,000 confirmed cases in my county, as of noon, yesterday, and 360 deaths due to the virus.
Happy Belated New Year Bless. I have been MIA for a few days, but I'm doing alright. I have also heard stories of people going into grocery stores almost every day as though it is entertainment for them. I guess since everything else is closed down, they figure they will just go shopping for groceries. Do they not realise they are putting all those store employees at risk? It just seems so selfish. Ok, I will get off my soapbox now. I think I am just a little anxious and unsettled. I wish we could all start our New Year over again. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. Glad to know that you are doing alright. I imagine you are anxious for your sister and this is a very unsettling time, anyway, isn't it? I don't quite understand the mentality of people who go to the stores more frequently than they absolutely have to, but, I guess they don't believe that they might be putting themselves and others at risk.
Delete