Rainbows And Paper Boats

As we have settled in yet another cantonment with renewed enthusiasm, things are taking their own course in a much satisfying way. Craft is happening, Pink Pitari is going on and Coco is growing up to become smarter and sharper, with a million questions ready in his arsenal. Amid pouring rains, the lazy woman is making her crafting time worthwhile with lemon tea, the teabags for which were carefully packed back in April when we were moving from the tea-town. It proves that I can only plan in advance if it involves tea or craft!

It rained cats and dogs on his supposedly first day of school, and he was home, playing with his toys in the veranda, when I started telling him how we used to make paper boats during rains as children. He laughed at the idea that his mother could ever have been a child. And then it struck me...isn't it better to make a couple of boats for him rather than telling him stories of a time he can hardly imagine. Out came a few sheets from his old notebooks and the boats were sailing in the temporary lake formed outside our house within next five minutes, bobbing up and down, chasing each other.

While the usual bringing up Coco is happening, I always keep pace with my craft projects, and to be true, it is becoming quite a passion for me. Though it is difficult to find good quality craft supplies in the new town, the lazy woman has resorted to online shopping of the materials and is churning out heart stealers on a regular basis. 

To sum it up, life is good wherever you want to make it good, and it is good here too. Another house shifting is coming up soon as we will move to a nice bigger house, and the stories of crafting in the garden will resume soon. Like the old, old times you know!

Peppa And Pitari

 

Although managing Pink Pitari takes most of my time, certain things are absolutely required to be done. One of them is taking Coco to little people's birthdays and other special occasions. He has learnt to bring gifts (which are already packed and he has no idea about what is in there) and other procedures typical of such events. He is most fond of the return gifts that he gets at the end of the party, so much so that he would like to end the party as soon as he reaches the venue.  

Choosing gifts for little people is a much more complicated task if someone wants to give it a thought. Well, there are not many options besides toys, and there are times when one tends to think beyond toys, especially when likes and taste of people at the receiving end are also well known. Things can also be planned well in advance for people who are enthusiastic about it so that they never let you forget such an important date. So when such a friend and a neighbor had her son's birthday coming up, I straightaway asked her if she would like to receive custom made lunch towels like these (Made for Coco when he first started going to playschool,) as a birthday gift for her little gentleman:

She replied with a chirpy yes and I set myself to work. I was planning to make a set of two linen napkins with the kid's name simply embroidered on them. But that would be simply copying, even if it is copying my own work. With every new project, I ought to bring in something new. I thought of adding his favorite cartoon character on the napkins then and asked her which character would it be. I was thinking about Doraemon or Chhota Bheem but was almost shocked to know that it was Peppa The Pig, shocked because I didn't know there was such a cartoon character. I came home and researched a little on the internet and indeedy! There is not only Peppa, there is a whole pig family which I didn't know about. I found the pattern and started making it. I was doubly shocked when Coco exclaimed, 'Mommy... it's Peppa!' Oh! So I am an oldie. Pigs are in! And all the smart little people know them.

 I overcame my shock soon because the pig came up adorably. When I sent my friend a little snapshot of the pig, she declared, 'I will get it framed. No way am I going to give this lovely thing to a four-year old to wipe his greasy hands on.' Considering this, I decided to do more embroidery to make this napkin look like a picture. Since Peppa was already done, I had the surrounding areas left, but it required me to try a lot of permutations and combinations because the pig was only meant to be an embellishment originally and hence at an odd place for a frame.

 Some more research took place and I finalized the above design, decided the fonts and stitches and completed it as soon as I could. Though, my promise of a lunch towel was still not fulfilled and only a framable piece of cloth did not make sense as a birthday gift to me. So, I also embroidered another napkin with the kid's name in red cross stitch letters. Now I had a set of napkins, one for framing, one for actual use. 

 While I was working on these, Coco kept me entertained by asking all kinds of questions about them. 'Mumma, why are you making this? Who are you making it for? Is it for me? I like George pig more, so please make George pig for me!'

'Who is this George pig now?' I wondered and Coco promptly told me everything about them. I also saw a few episodes of 'Peppa Pig' series on TV and it helped me overcome my ignorance. Mighty big pigs, driving cars and learning ballet! 

To round everything up, I made Pink Pitari's signature pompom tie and neatly stacked the two napkins, tying them with it. Packed together with a chocolate box, these made a good gift, making both mommy and her little gentleman happy. That was what I was precisely aiming for. Mission accomplished!

By the way, these ties are exclusively made by me for Swati from 'BloomingBluess' who uses these in her rainbow candles. Go, visit her page now which is a collection of colourful handmade home decor items. Feed your eyes some more candy. It is good for them!

I Like To Move It, Move It!

Hello from another corner of our incredible country!

Yes, we did it again.. I mean shifting to another station. Though, last time, we moved to a place that is famous for its scenic beauty and cool climate. This time, we are braving the scorching heat in a crowded city of North India. However, like all feisty army wives, I have made my peace with this place and already liking the fact that for the first time in so many years, I will be living in the heart of a bustling town, with markets and malls in close vicinity. You win some, you lose some.

In contemplative moments, I compare my life to a snail who carries her home on her back. The news that I just delivered in a sentence has a deep impact on all our lives. While Coco is enjoying an extended summer break, I have taken a break from my incessant crafting and Coco's father has his own gazillion things to chalk out. In the next few months, we will gradually settle in this new place, find a new school, meet new people and make new goals. But today, as I was going through my photo albums, I found images captured towards the end of our previous tenure and thought of sharing them here.

1. Missing the green views of tea gardens sprawled about us, covering the blue hills like plush quilts.

2. Remembering how the clouds tumbled down the adjoining hills to the lush green grass of the golf course, amid a pleasant drizzle.

3. Wish I could again have a window in my home that showed me the above view, of clouds surfing deep down the valley beneath the hill on which my home was, while I sipped my ultra delicious lemon-black pepper tea. Ahhh! Those were the days..

4. Also close to my heart are the many intermittent 3 day breaks during the year gone by when we explored South India. The picture above was taken at Dhanushkodi where Coco enjoyed playing in the sand and splashing in sea-water to his heart's content. Fun fact about this pic: He is standing at the land's end with his face towards Sri-Lanka. 

   

5. There is almost no chance that I can witness the sun setting beyond the hills of Ooty from my home again.

6. Holed up in a guest house during long summer days, while all my craft supplies are packed away in trunks along with the rest of my household things, all I dream of these days is how I will dance with joy when I will access them again. I can also be found watching entire seasons of  old comedy series (repeating for 10th time probably), sleeping for hours and lost in crafty dreams. 

7. A lot of those crafty daydreams include the plans of how I will make a neat and cozy space for my crafts in my new home. However these plans are highly dependent on what kind of house do we get and when. Above is a shot of the tiny corner where I sat and made some of my jewellery. Cute, isn't it?

8. One of the best things that we as a family experienced and loved here is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway aka the toy train that courses through the hills amid sprawling green tea gardens. The trips were planned to please Coco, though, it must be clear that we enjoyed it with equal joy, our hearts springing with each new wonderful view as we watched left and right.

9. While the entire tenure was about scenic beauty, picnics, outdoor barbecues and hikes, this particular bike ride-cum-hike to Pristine Valley near Ooty was a memorable one. It was fun, beautiful, adventurous, dangerous and tiresome, all at the same time, with Coco's father throwing his phone in the water for the umpteenth time, an incident that will be the told and retold for years henceforth, each time increasing in comical value.

10. Memories of blue hills can never be complete without missing each of my friends that I made here, and I made friends by dozens. A very small number considering the fact that the hills housed almost 400 of us. Here, some of them are seen pondering over deep questions that I threw at them. Don't go by this picture, each one of them is quite a fireball by herself. This morning of potluck breakfast and a mean game of Housie is etched in each of our memories. High five girls!

Obviously I am missing all this and much more, I am also looking forward to the days, months and years we are about to spend in this happening new place. A move is something that I am always okay with because this is one of the many things that I love about being an army wife. It keeps me engaged and interested, with ever changing scenes and scenarios. After all, change is the only constant in life, ain't it?!  

Picking Up Threads

Hello wonderful people,

After months of absence, I am back to blogland. No matter what I do, it never leaves my mind and always pulls me back. Whether I am mommying, crafting or holidaying, I always click pictures suitable to go on here. 

So, when Coco and his best friend (Let's call him Guru) came back from fancy dress competition in school and presented themselves for a photoshoot, I clicked a few shots to show to you. In the above picture, Coco is dressed as a pineapple and Guru as a traffic signal, because they insisted on being dressed so. Coco and Guru spend a lot of time together at school and home, eating and playing together, sometimes falling asleep in each other's home. They even exchange clothes when certain needs arise. Hence, Coco and Guru are true 'Chuddy Buddies'.

Meanwhile, life in Nilgiris is running fast paced. Dozens of things to do divide my time into such small fragments that I sometimes feel the day should be 48 hours long. So I prioritise my tasks, mostly ignoring housework, taking up the most interesting things first. As it is housework seems to be never ending, one thing leading to another, never leaving you free to pursue your own interests. Sometimes, I literally have to look for little pockets of time to do what I love most, because if I do not do it, my day seems worthless. 

And by now, you must be very well aware that I love crafts. So, after dropping Coco to school, I come back home, put evergreen hits on TV, and sit in front of it with my breakfast and my craft supplies. Then it is only me and my songs and crafts, till it is almost 12 o'clock, when I get ready, prepare lunch and bring Coco from school. In these few hours of the morning, when usually no one disturbs me, I do most of my intense work. 

Though, on days when Coco is at home, the routine is almost the same, only difference being him asking questions at the rate of  a million questions per hour or asking to 'share' some of my stuff. So much for teaching him 'sharing is caring'!   

Between all the mad rush of days, we take out time to explore the lovely hills, tea estates and picnic spots in and around the town. Though I still miss my previous 'forest resort' home in Himalayan foothills, it is apt to say that I am happy here, happy to be close to hills, happy to have a pleasant weather when North is shivering under foggy blankets, happy to see clouds descending down to enter my windows and rushing out the next moment to uncover the bright green tea gardens.  

The knowledge that the tenure at this lovely place is ending, and soon we will leave the salubrious climes to settle in some dusty industrial town, is also a reason why my affection with Nilgiris is growing, making me want to stay longer and absorb the beautiful feeling of being in the Nilgiris as much as possible.