Clearing the Camera

Well, long time no see! I hope you are all keeping well. It's been a couple of months since I last popped up here. I think it has taken me this long to recover from the week I spent with Covid, writing numerous posts about our holiday in India - it all seems like such a long time ago now. Not a huge amount has happened since. There has been a bit of DIY - a new front door and glass side panel, and a new fence - but mostly life has just plodded along with lots of gardening and the odd day out. My brain was beginning to itch though at the thought of my camera silting up with photos, so I thought I'd drop by quickly to do an update. 

Here we go then. In no particular order:

A new 'Fury' vest, made with yarn bought at Unravel back in February. It looks a little creased as I hauled it out of the cupboard to take a photo and it's too hot today to put it on!

Finally finishing my Christmas Socks:

Art on the Park, where local artists display their work on the park railings. There didn't seem to be many participants this year and, apart from a couple, those that were there seemed either a little amateurish or eye-wateringly expensive for what they were. I bought a few cards for birthdays coming up next month.

A trip into London to see L ( I also had a lovely day out in Bristol with E but annoyingly forgot to take my camera!). We took along her bike and, as she has acquired more shelf space, 2 big supermarket bags of books. I had to take photos of her shelves at home, so she could pick the ones that she wanted! R also did a bit of DIY for her, fitting a bathroom door lock, mending a music stand and sorting out a kitchen socket; he's very handy at times. We then went for a walk and had a yummy lunch at Rosa's:

A trip to an Open Studios Exhibition at The Base in Greenham Common:

I took photos of my 2 favourite pieces:

A walk at Peasemore and Leckhamstead. We did this one, merely because as I drove back from Bristol I was admiring the beautiful yellow Rape in the fields and remembered that this walk had you follow a path through one such field. Sadly, and rather predictably if we'd bothered to think it through, the farmer had rotated his crops and the Rape was conspicuous by its absence. It was still a nice walk though:

I love this house:

A trip to the Watermill Theatre to see this. I booked because, although I hadn't watched it, I recalled that they had made a TV programme about this, so assumed that it would be good. If I'm honest, it was a trifle disappointing.

Starting my 'Homestead' Shawl by Melody Hoffmann; yarn again bought at Unravel. I'm hoping that it turns out big enough to be my 'reading shawl', so it can live on the sofa and come in handy when it's a bit nippy in the evenings. Reading that bit back, it makes me sound like an old granny! :O)

This year's first batch of rhubarb and ginger jam:

A magic show at the Corn Exchange. There were a couple of tricks where, unless there was a plant in the audience, we were flummoxed as to how he did them:

A walk in the bluebell woods:

R doing his annual Dick Van Dyke impression:

Wild garlic pesto. I also made pea and wild garlic soup which was very yummy:

Making a new batch of kimchi:

Lastly, a return trip to Gilbert White's House. The tickets are valid for a year and ours was about to expire. I love the garden and there is a sheltered warm spot next to a brick wall amongst the herbs that's just perfect for a picnic:

My camera is now clear and so is my headspace, so all is well! Anything exciting happening at your end?

Toodle pip for now. x

India #9 Home

March 20 

The home stretch is in sight! Today was Mothering Sunday. I received a beautiful card with sunflowers and a date for a 'build your own terrarium' workshop in London next month. We had left most of the gift shopping for our final day in Delhi. J and B had looked after the house for us whilst we were away and we always like to take a little something home for them as a thank you. R, however, quite fancied buying some chillies, so we took the first tuktuk that we found outside the hotel and headed back to the old city in search of spices.

Being Sunday, a lot of the stalls were closed, which surprised us a little. Rather than the stalls we had passed before in our explorations, the driver insisted on taking us to a different area and waiting with us while we browsed. Having secured a customer, we found drivers remarkably difficult to shake off. In this instance, it turned out to be a big mistake. Feeling the old abdominal cramps again, I decided to sit down for a while but encouraged the others to keep on browsing. R was hesitant but the driver reassured him that he would stay and look after me. I really didn't want this; I just wanted to rest and didn't feel up to making conversation.  He sat very close, smoking and coughing. I put his cough down to the cigarettes and tried to resist the urge to move further away or make wafting motions with my hand. Counting back from when my Covid symptoms started, Sunday was the day that I probably caught it and our tuktuk driver was the obvious culprit. 

The others returned, having bought some jaggery, and we then pottered briefly round the flower market. One of the vendors gave me a flower which I pressed in our guide to India book.

We then checked out and took our final car ride back to the Jaypee Vasant Continental Hotel in Delhi. It seemed good to be back in what we found to be the most comfortable hotel of our trip. On an after dinner walk around the neighbourhood, L bought a wooden flute from a vendor. 

March 20th

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off to find the statue of Hanuman, the Monkey God, at the Chhataphur Temple complex. R remembered this fondly from one of his trips but, to be honest, it all seemed a little bizarre to me. A bit like some strange theme park:

R also recalled several Government run shops near Connaught Place, that he thought might be a suitable spot for last minute gifts. Here began a strange, frustrating period when we were caught between R trying to get us to these shops and a variety of tuktuk drivers and other 'helpful citizens' who, for 20 Rupees, were insistent on taking us to an expensive tourist market called the 'India Looms'. R became increasingly frustrated and shouty, and the whole experience took on an almost nightmare-like quality where we kept trying to escape, only to find ourselves back at the wretched India Looms. :O)

Eventually, enough was enough. I needed the loo anyway, so marched us into a branch of Starbucks to use the facilities, have a chai latte and allow R to calm down!

With his blood pressure back to normal, R found his Government shops and we bought gifts for the neighbours. I also bought 2 cheap bead necklaces from a woman street vendor. I had admired the adorned statues of Ganesh at our previous hotel and wanted to decorate the wooden Ganesh that we picked up in Sri Lanka years ago.

The cherry on the cake was when we set off for a cafe, 'Greener', recommended on Happy Cow, only to find it had closed down. The heavens opened and biblical rain began descending. The locals were very pleased as it hadn't rained properly for months. Our last dinner in India, therefore, was a mirror of our first: plant-based burgers and fries at KFC. I was quite enjoying it until L pointed out the paneer!

Back at the hotel, after what had been a disappointing and frustrating final day, we were cheered up by the fact that the hotel staff had arranged one of our towels into the shape of an elephant. It's the little things! :O)

March 21st

We took the 11.30 Virgin Atlantic flight from Delhi to London Heathrow, arriving at 4.30 in the afternoon. Thankfully, the banana masala wrap didn't make a further appearance, but L had developed an upset stomach and felt sick anyway.

2 days after arriving home, I realised after lunch on Thursday that I had a bit of a runny nose. As the afternoon progressed, I had, without really noticing that I was doing it, put on multiple layers of knitwear. So much so, that when I realised that I was feeling a bit grotty and looked in the mirror, I was practically spherical. Something didn't feel right and I took a Covid test and, yes, it was positive. One more souvenir than was strictly desirable!

One week later and I have more or less recovered (R tested positive 3 days after me). It was basically a bad cold with a few other weird symptoms thrown in. A  pulsating nose one day (very annoying), a mild bout of glossitis the next. My smell and taste aren't back to normal yet but I'm hoping that's temporary.

Despite Covid and despite the upset tummy that plagued most of our second week, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It is a fascinating country, with the most beautiful, friendly people (a little selfie obsessed but hey!) and, as Joanna Lumley said in her India programme, 'you'd be mad to miss it'.

If nothing else, the next time we go to an Indian restaurant and see a picture of the Taj Mahal, I too can say 'I've seen that'!

Toodle pip for now. x

India #8 Block Printing

 March 19th

Apart from the cookery lesson, the only other item that I booked before coming to India was a tour of a block printing factory. The tour itself was fascinating. We got to hear about how the wooden blocks were made and then talked through the whole process of fabric printing from start to finish.

The cotton is pinned out on tables covered  in a layer of wadding. This ensures that there is a little give when the blocks are pressed down, resulting in a better coverage. The border is done first and, depending on the design, there can be many colours and different blocks involved. First the outline, then a different block for every colour used. Once the border is complete, the rest of the design is added using the same process. 

The dye is spread thinly onto a piece of fabric in a paint tray and the block pressed gently into the colour. It is then positioned carefully (with a very steady hand!), placed onto the cotton and then thumped twice before removal. The tray is on a table with castors and moves along the fabric with the worker.

The initial colours that you see are not always the final result. After washing and drying, the dye is fixed by dipping the printed fabric in sulphuric acid and nitrates. At this point the colours may change, revealing the final effect. A further washing and drying and the fabric is ready for use. 

2 thumps:

The border half coloured in:

Then came the fun part ........ our turn! We got to make our own scarves to take home as a souvenir. Lining up the blocks is obviously harder than the workers made it seem! :O)

Drying our scarves after the initial printing:

Into the sulphuric acid and nitrates to fix the dye:

Another wash and dry. The once yellow border is now red and what initially looked red/brown turned green :

The workers making quilts with some of the fabric. I wish that my machine quilting was as good!

Even R proudly wore his scarf for the rest of the holiday.  Leaving the factory, we drove by the Birla Mandir Temple, a beautiful Hindu Temple made of white marble:

Then on to the Albert Hall Museum:

The museum was quite interesting, although we arrived at the same time as a large school party, so decided to start at the top floor and work down to avoid them as much as possible.

Having exhausted the delights of the museum, we set off in search of lunch. Our first port of call was unexpectedly full - there appeared to be a prebooked party. Our second choice, 'Anokhi' was a fine replacement. We shared a plate of pitta bread and falafel, which was absolutely delicious and made a nice change. Ditto the vegan coffee cake to follow! In the queue to wash my hands, I fell into a conversation with a lady after I admired her block printed dress. I felt very knowledgeable about the process involved in its making! :O)

In the same building as the cafe was a brilliant bookshop called 'Crosswords'. Amazingly, all the books were in English and we spent a while happily browsing. I sat in a comfy chair by the window, watching the tuktuks outside as the sun got lower. It was remarkably peaceful and I could have stayed for hours. R bought a deck of cards - we normally remember to take one on holiday for the evenings but had forgotten this time - and L bought a copy of  'Bhagavad Gita'.

Then it was back to the hotel for a Planter's Punch ( rum, orange, pineapple, lemon, Angostura bitters). Not my favourite and a score of 2.5. This was our final cocktail of the holiday, so the winner was definitely the Gimlet!

Toodle pip for now. x