Native Place was abuzz with activity last weekend as everyone gathered on the terrace for a glimpse of shooting stars. And we weren’t disappointed. Friday night we saw atleast 2 stars each (and those drinking Old Monk saw a few more of course) with a cumulative total of 12 different stars seen. The Geminids continued to fall late into the night while everyone warmed themselves around the bonfire (yes, it’s finally getting cold).

Saturday night the party continued as we celebrated Uncle Rao’s birthday (Sanjay’s dad – no we’re not calling Sanjay ‘uncle’ yet). Joining the party we had whom we thought was the world’s youngest pilot, Kyra.

Meanwhile, the wildlife at Native Place seems to be blooming (we’re talking about real animals here. Spotted in the garden were a Caucal and a few green bee eaters. Meanwhile, the Red Whiskered Bulbuls are flying all over the place (the suspicion is that they have a nest somewhere around which we are still to spot). Around 8 am, when the pilots leave for the site leaving the house and garden silent, seems to be the best time to spot the birds. But we still haven’t seen the Kingfisher (the bird kind, although the bottle seems to be in abundance), even with baby fish now populating the pond.

Not just the birds, we’re being treated to fresh greens from the Native Place vegetable patch. Some spinach and bhendi was made last week and we’re waiting to see what we get next.

While this week has been about Native Place, next week we’re hoping to see some madness at the site. Chicco’s back, and along with Bastien, (both test pilots with Flying Planet) there promises to be loads of action here at Tower Hill with Nirvana. So who is joining us for Christmas and New Year’s Eve?