Starbucks and the 3 Cs

This afternoon we ate lunch out and later went to Starbucks for Latte Coffee. Guess what I saw there? 3 Cs in a tin! Coffee, Cookies, and Cocoa. How fun is life with them- the shades of brown. Wish I could wear brown and not blend into it totally. My colors are mostly bright and in shades of pink and salmon. Maybe I should use brown on my dolls. Oh...That's a good idea!

Banana Tree

Here is a picture of a banana tree from my parents' backyard in India. Do you see the young green bananas? Yummmmmy (in a few days when they ripen)! I posted the picture for my brother. How about the banana tree in all its glory? and not just as a background?

PS: Did you know that the banana tree yields fruit only once in its lifetime?

Doll Club Dolls

These are the dolls I made as part of our yearly charity event for my doll club, Gals and Dolls. I enjoyed making them and hope some little kid will play with them.

"Little Tyke Angel" is Elinor Peace Bailey Pattern. I made him for silent auction at the doll club this month. He is so adorable and cute. I plan to make a few more of him and give them to friends with little boys. You know, boys can be angels too (sometimes!).

Henna in the Park

Check it out! Isn't it beautiful? We took the kids to a near by park while I was in Hyderabad, India and was thrilled to see a small group of women putting henna. I got henna only on one hand and took it off after about 3 hours. The henna got really dark on the second day but I do not have a picture of it. I like the light orange color of henna before it gets really dark(red). The first picture is with the henna on (in the evening) and the second one was taken on the next morning. If I were to put the same design I would take about an hour but the woman took only 3 minutes to put the entire design. Amazing, isn't it?

Bag and no Baggage!

Here is the doll I entered for the Bag and Baggage challenge through Lisa's Heaven. She was in my head for a long time and took charge when I saw the beautiful trim which came in the kit. I attached the "Bag" later and so her hand is empty in the pictures. The doll is named :ILA- The Banjaran (Gypsy).

All That Yoga...

Half an hour walk to the yoga class in the park and 30 minutes walk back and that's after one and a half hour yoga (while I was in Hyderabad, India) and still...I am 4lbs heavier!!! That's how GOOOOD my mom's cooking is! Or is it retained water?? Who am I kidding? It is all that food and sweets I ate there in India. Diwali Sweets! mmm mmm good! And the mmms -M&Ms from the kids' Halloween loot. Is there salvation for me or just salivation?? Will I ever get rid of this extra stuff that's on me?

I Miss the Sounds of India

I am still in India- don't be mistaken. All I am saying now is that I was a lazy butt today and skipped the yoga class. My dad went alone and felt sad that I did not go with him. But there is no use regretting it at 5.05 when it is too late.

The early morning sounds of India are beautiful. We hear a lot of roosters sing in the morning which are mostly drowned by the noise of hurrying vehicles later in the day. And then there are these stray dogs having street fights. We always reach a particular house around 5.15 in the morning when a car backs out of the gates. The car has a very popular pop song (from Dhoom- a Hindi movie) which turns on (and is very loud) when the car is on reverse and that always makes me laugh.

We hear lot of early morning prayers from the mosques along the way and as we reach the park, we hear the early morning devotional songs from a nearby temple. After a while everything seems to come to a stop and then there is a calm and serene sounds of OM breathing/ chanting in the yoga class.

I missed my early morning India songs today. But there is always tomorrow. I won't be so lucky (?) tomorrow because my dad will drag me (In a very gentle way- or should I say "guide"? )to the class tomorrow! :-) Well, I am happy I could at least finish writing my blog for the day. I had another post which was sitting on the "draft bench" for the longest time and I am glad I could post that one too.

Yoga Class in India

It was more of a crusade actually! My dad woke up at 4.30am which he has been doing ever since he joined yoga class 7 months ago. He looks much younger than he did 2 years ago when I last visited my parents in India. I woke up at 4.40am and got ready to go for a 30 min walk to yoga class. It was pretty dark at that time and just a few people walking about. We must have seen about 20 people on the road on our way there and atleast 200 on the way back!

Talk about the topic! I know ....I should atleast talk a little bit about the yoga class. About 25 people attend the class everyday. There is even a Telugu movie star who attends the class with us. All the people who attend the class take their own towels/blankets to spread over the semi wet newly watered grass. There is nothing as beautiful as a sunrise in a very clam park. And the experience of doing a Sun Salutation in the early hours watching the sun rise is unparalleled.

Dad and I talked about stuff....life...people which was really nice. I am glad to get this dad-and me time which I seldom do- grandkids take over when we reach home. Dad is very busy running errands and doing things around the house most of the day and so this is a good time to catch up.

Blogging from Singapore

The airport here is so beautiful and huge! Such beautiful orchids everywhere. Also saw several koi in a koi pond. It feels funny...or maybe it is because of almost 20 hours of flying and 8hours of waiting. We are boarding in 2 hours and I am looking forward to landing in India. I can't believe I am almost there......

Flying today After Midnight

Yeah!! The day has finally arrived. Everything is going as planned. Its 6.30 pm (flight is at 1.30am) and the kids are in the tub taking a bath and there are only a few jobs to be done. 1. Put the plants in the front porch so my neighbor's daughter can earn some pocket money by watering them. 2. Change water in the aquarium. 3. Pack. -Just kidding! Actually, I am almost done.