Why this blog is called "Gallimaufry".

gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun.

Originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," "gallimaufry" comes from French galimafrée; in Old French, from the word galer, "to rejoice, to make merry"; in old English: gala + mafrer: "to eat much," and from Medieval Dutch maffelen: "to open one's mouth wide."

It's also a dish made by hashing up odds and ends of food; a heterogeneous mixture; a hodge-podge; a ragout; a confused jumble; a ridiculous medley; a promiscuous (!) assemblage of persons.

Those of you who know me, will, I’m sure, understand how well some of these phrases (barring the "promiscuous" bit!) fit me.

More importantly, this blog is an ode to my love for Shimla. I hope to show you this little town through my eyes. If you don't see too many people in it, forgive me, because I'm a little chary of turning this into a human zoo.

Stop by for a spell, look at my pictures, ask me questions about Shimla, if you wish. I shall try and answer them as best as I can. Let's be friends for a while....

22 March 2010

Just living is not enough, one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Antirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed (thus the 'snap'). As a child, I loved to pinch the tiny individual blossoms and make the "dragon mouth" open and close.


Snapdragons are perennial plants that do best in full or partial sun. They are available in a range of heights: dwarf (6 to 8 inches), medium (15 to 30 inches) and tall (30 to 48 inches). They uniformly bear a whorl of leaves atop slender stalks. Their large, blossom-laden flower heads are faintly fragrant and come in in a wide assortment of bright colours, white, yellow, pink and burgundy.


For the detail-minded among my gentle readers:

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus:
Antirrhinum

3 comments:

varsha said...

oh I envy you so much sipping in the perfumed air and feasting your senses while we face duststorms and relentless heat.Snapdragons along with larkspurs(little rabbit faces) and pansies used to be my favourite childhood flower creatures.

Geetali said...

Varsha, I'm going to try and capture pictures of larkspur for you when they're in season :)
Yes, spring has sprung on Shimla. You should head the deafening birdsong in the morning - it's virtually impossible to sleep after dawn!

Geetali said...

The following comment was left by Sunil:
Hi there,
I happened to visit your amazing blog & I'm literally in love with it. Specially because we share the same passions, ie. Photography, Himachal & Shimla.
I'm impressed by the great collection you've shared over here and shall eventually go through all your articles.
I too have a similar blog where I share similar things, but it's still a baby blog.


Sunil, the reason why I'm not publishing your comment in toto is because I am rather paranoid about revealing personal details (names, email IDs). Hopefully, you will understand.
Thank you very much for your kind words and for adding mine to your blogroll.
Sunil's site: http://www.suparstudio.com/

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