Addendum to Days 6 and 7

I added some stuff to the post on November 24th regarding 2nd day in Ahmedabad. We visited the Calico Museum. Re-read post for the details. Sorry... memory is not what it used to be!

Udaipur , Day 9

Udaipur, in the state of Rajasthan, is the former historical capital of the Kingdom of Mewar. Jaipur is now the State capital. Udaipur is known as the city of lakes and is called the "Venice of the East". It is known for its Rajput era palaces, many of which have been converted into luxury hotels.

We arrived at the hotel I chose....turns out it was the former hunting lodge of the current royal family of Rajasthan. The current king or Maharani, owns a ton of properties all over the area. When India became an independent country, the Maharajas of all the states didn't do much but cede power to the new government. They had to give up some of their very expansive lands but managed to keep their palaces and other very prime properties. Some of these are open to the public who are charged admission....all the revenue goes into the royal coffers. This is true for every state in India. The kings of some states are better than others and give back to help the people....others don't. There are no state or country rules that force them to share their revenues and they are taxed a very low, flat rate. Parts of many of the palaces have been turned into hotels and are considered heritage properties. This particular king is not known to be the most generous and the road to this particular property needs major repairs. It is said that his son is better.

Back to the hotel....the current king turned this property into a preserve and a working farm. There are deer, peacocks, chickens, cows, etc. He also breeds polo ponies. We got to see some week old foals and the rest of his horses.

I got a private tour! The paddocks were right by where we checked in and I had walked over to where some of the horses were. I went to befriend some of them and they could see that I knew how to handle them. ( I use to own a horse). That was when I was offered a private tour of the stables. My husband says I had this huge grin on my face. I was happy as a pig in shit!  Dinner was quite good and again the staff went out of their way to make sure I had something to eat that I would like. I have found that I totally detest cilantro. It is in almost everything so I now ask that they leave the leaves out. We slept well.

Ned and our guide

Our guide met us the next morning and a new adventure started. Udaipur is a very colorful and busy city. As usual the honking of horns is the overriding sound everywhere. You start to get used to it after a while. We had a good and knowledgeable guide who was also very friendly. We hit some of the historical forts and palaces and you cannot but stand in awe of some of the engineering feats, especially for the times. Security from warring states was always a top priority and cities were built for safety. There was usually an outer wall with gates, a moat, and an inner wall. The gates in the inner city were only 1 elephant wide. The huge wooden doors had spikes on them at man head hight sitting on an elephant. The palaces were usually built over several hundred years so additions were everywhere. There were the kings private quarters, his queens chambers, and an area for his harem. The king was only allowed one wife, although in years of Muslim rule, the Muslim rulers were allowed 3. You can see Mogul influence all over Rajasthan, but they were predominantly Hindu. Every where you go there are small and large temples dedicated to the Hindu gods. Ganesh is all over the place....he is kind of cute. Our first stop was the Sas Bahu temple. These 2 temples were constructed in the 10th century and dedicated to Lord Vishnu. There are 2 temples here and they are known as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law temples because of their close proximity to each other as they would be in a typical Indian household. These are very elaborately carved and decorated.

local corner store

The countryside is mainly agricultural and the climate is tropical. Farming is mostly done by hand here as well although the larger tracts of land are prepared with a tractor. Harvesting of sugar cane and summer crops is going on now and they are starting to replant the fields with winter crops. Until this past year, India was in a drought but they had a good monsoon season....we have been having some unusual rainy weather the past few weeks and that is both good and bad. The farmers collect the left over corn, sorghum, and sugar cane stalks to feed their cattle..they need it to dry out or it gets ruined. The women seem to do most of the work! There is very little protection from the elements. As I  mentioned earlier, living is pretty much out of doors. It is warm in the winter. It was down in the 70's and the locals were all bundled up in their blankets! I thought I was the only one who thought it was cold when the temp dropped below 80, haha.    

Our next stop was the City Palace. There has been some extensive restoration done here and you can see the opulence and beautiful inlays and painting. Please see the album at top right for a lot more pictures.  We started our minor shopping spree late this afternoon :-).  Dinner was lovely back at the lodge, again with the kitchen staff doing their best to accommodate my pain in the ass palate.

Textile Digression

One of the main reasons for my going to India was the draw of Indian textiles. So this would be a good place to introduce them. Our first stop was in Aurangabad where we were taken to a factory that made Paithani Sari's. Originally these sari's were only worn by royalty because the designs were woven using gold threads. Today, some of the gold is replaced with silver so the prices have become more reasonable. The designs are taken from the artwork found in the Ajanta caves and use of mango, peacock, and lotus are usual designs. These are all woven on handlooms and can take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years to complete. We are talking 6 yards of fabric here. Prices range from $130.00 to over $12,000.00. These become family heirlooms. I watched while one woman worked on one that would take her 18 months to complete. It was stunning. Many of the women have looms in their homes. The designs range from the very simple to the very elaborate. I did not take photos ( not allowed) so here is a link that shows some of the designs... If you click on each photo it will be enlarged. No, I did not buy one.. for which I am sure my hubby is thankful! Maybe next time .

Our next stop was to learn about the Himroo style. This was introduced by the Moghuls and it means "similar" or repetitive. The same designs are used over and over and basically copied. There is no variation. As with most hand weaving processes in India, most of the looms are in the homes of the women who work them. We did see some men weaving but for the most part, it is the women who do it. The piece is woven on a throw shuttle loom and has an extra weft. These are brocades. They can be made with a cotton warp using silk or silk type weft, or all silk. The resulting piece has a sheen to it. Designs are geometrical and floral. The designs all have to be pre-decided as the loom is set up because of the extra weft. They are mostly used for the home or shawls and large throws. This link will show you some of the typical designs..

The Salwar Kameez is a wonderful and comfortable outfit. It consists of a tunic top, either long or short, and a pair of trousers which can be baggy and nipped in at the ankle or leggings that pool at the ankle. Sometimes it comes with a matching shawl or Dupati. It can be made of just about anything... cotton, silk, linen, or any mixture of these. The Indians have an eye for mixing and matching, designs, color, texture, etc. Here is a link that shows some of the styles... they are endless.  I went to town here! I bought some with silk long tunics with hand embroidery and coordinating pants and matching Dupati. I bought cotton tunics with cotton leggings, I bought some with silk tunics and cotton pants. I bought silk tunics with silk pants and silk dupati. By U.S. prices, these were dirt cheap. For some of the 3 piece outfits in silk, I could not even buy a pair of slacks here. The photo here is a cotton one with contrasting borders sewn in with embroidery on the yoke and leggings. Scarf was mine that I already owned.  The 2 pieces were less than $25.00. I splurged on some with 3 pieces made of silk for the princely sum of $100.00. I will take some pictures in the next few days of some of the others.

Mumbai (Bombay) and Aurangabad are in the state of Maharashtra. Ahmedabad is in Gujarat... a place I want to return to as it is a large textile area. From here we are going to go to Rajasthan.

Final Day in Mumbai and Ahmedebad Days 6 and 7

I picked up some bug.. We got back to the hotel the night before and I was running a low grade fever with chills. Poor Ned...I crawled into bed and went to sleep. I was fine in the morning. Thankfully, our hotel was pretty far out of the center of Mumbai and close to the airport. Today Mr. Obama was due to arrive with entourage. We had a mid afternoon flight to Ahmedabad. We took it easy and didn't do much of anything. Jet lag had caught up with us.

We arrived in Ahmedebad and had our first taste of night driving to get to our hotel. We would have the same car and driver for the next 5 days. I can only reap high praise on our driver. He didn't speak much English but he was a real pro on the road. For the most part, I was able to relax and just had to close my eyes on occasion. Were were only spending a day and a half here and it was decided that we really did not need a guide. This was Diwali day and I forgot to mention that firecrackers were set off ALL night the previous night....turns out tonight would not be any different.

We got to the hotel about 8:30 p.m....just in time for dinner. I think we were the only non Indians in the place..this was a brand new Marriott property and everything was spanking new. The hotel staff fawned over us and the restaurant staff was unbelievably attentive. The head chef came over and cooked special dishes for me. I was learning what I liked and didn't like. Most things here are buffets...and we are not big eaters... They only charged us half the price. That would never happen in the US. Breakfasts were fairly normal and I had no problem. As backup food, we brought a jar of peanut butter and sealed packages of tuna fish. I wanted to make sure I wouldn't starve to death, but I could stand to loose a few pounds. When we finished breakfast I asked for 2 slices of bread... I was having my own sandwich for lunch. I did explain to our waiter what I wanted it for and he turned up with it nicely wrapped and a small jar of jelly.

Ahmedabad

We headed out with our driver to the old Bahdre fort....we didn't get far. There is a temple in the fort and this being Diwali, I think every Hindu was queued up to get in... Separate lines for men and women. The crowds were enormous. I have to say that the locals were very friendly and helpful.  They kept warning us to keep a tight hold on our belongings and suggested we not take pictures as the camera strap has been known to be cut off. I did put the camera away and gave Ned my wallet to stuff in his pants pocket with his. No one was getting into his pocket. The old fort is in the old city in the market area so we decided to walk around a bit. It was very hot and humid and we were both shvitzing buckets. It was Ned's turn not to feel well but I think he was suffering from dehydration with some overheating. He misplaced his hat somewhere. We found our driver and went back to the hotel to rest for a while.  Not all was lost... There was a new shopping mall about a block away so I took a walk over there later that afternoon. I found a lovely cotton outfit for peanuts. I was able to get free wifi in the lobby of our hotel so I sat down there for a bit and caught up with mail, news and Facebook. I was introduced to the only other Caucasian in the hotel..he worked for one of the pharmaceutical companies and came several times a year. He lived in N.C. and had just bought a new house. By way of the digital age, he was shopping..sending photos back to his wife. He made some suggestions were were could find some interesting things.

The chef was preparing a special meal for us for dinner. It was fantastic. I cannot ever recall such service anywhere I have travelled so Ned sent an email to Marriott commending this particular staff. We also left a very large tip. We got a response saying they were passing on our kudos to the appropriate persons.

Next morning we had tickets for the Calico Museum. They specialize in the textiles of Rajasthan primarily but have other textiles as well. This is a guided tour by the curator who is a very knowledgeable women, but she runs a very tight ship. There is no ability to tarry and examine anything closely. I suspect there might be a way around that but I will leave that for the next trip. They only allow 20 people in per appointment. There is one time slot in the morning and one in the afternoon. The museum needs a wealthy donor...their method of preservation is not up to modern standards and I fear they may be doing more harm than good.....but I am not an expert so what do I know? They have these hundreds of years old textiles mounted and wrapped in plastic. The climate is hot and humid. They do not charge anything to get into the museum but they do sell books and pamphlets with examples of embroidery. I did pick up a packet of these.

Next was the drive to Udaipur but we weren't in any rush so we stopped off at the store that was recommended to us. The overview is that I shudder to think what this guys house looks like. I did pick up yardage of lovely embroidered trim and some really cheap shawls. We also picked up some packaged munchies for the ride and the hotel packed us up our bread and jelly again. The quality of goods was not what I had in mind.

The drive was fascinating. This is harvest season. The sides of the road are filled with landless migrant workers. On the road were the Gypsies driving their ox carts laden with their belongings. I keep forgetting to mention that cows, water buffalo, goats, sheep, and dogs run free all over the road. It is more like an obstacle course. Nobody wants to hit an animal as it is someones livelihood. This was about a 6 hour drive. We were entering Rajasthan from Gujarat.

We were trying to use points for some of our hotels, and Ned's Mumbai office arranged for some. I did not like the ratings for the one suggested for Udaipur so I booked something myself online. As we were driving to it, I was starting to get very worried. We went down this single lane, potholed road that twisted and turned in the middle of nowhere. It was not till we got to the gate that I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Aurangabad Days 4 and 5

Ajanta Cave Temples

The next 2 days will be spent visiting the Ajanta and Ellora caves. These caves were carved by Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain monks between the 2nd century BC and the 7th century AD. They were carved from basalt using the local tools of the time...hammer and chisel. They were carved from the top down and the outside in. These were used as teaching centers and pilgrim sites for most of the year except during monsoon season when the monks actually lived in them. These are huge with intricate carvings, one more awesome than the next. The detail work is mind boggling
but more so is the engineering skills that where required to execute some of these. There are places where the surrounding mountain overhangs the courtyard of the temple with no support. They understood the concept of cantilever. The photos will give a better visual than any description I could come up with. Check them out from the link at the top of the right hand column.

Juee

The picture of the little girl has a story. While walking around the Ellora caves, this mother and daughter came up to us. The mother explained that her daughter wanted to talk to me but was too shy. She had been following us around for a while. She finally dragged her mother over with her. Dad took pictures of all of us and I took this one. Not sure why she was so interested, but she is adorable so it didn't matter!



Today Aurangabad is a  very large agricultural area. They grow corn, wheat, soybeans, lentils, mango, papaya, sugar cane, cotton, and just about anything else. The farming is done the old way...hard labor. Oxen pull the plows and the rest is done by the local villagers, both men and women. Landless migrant workers come from farther away during harvest season. They arrive on their oxen pulled carts laden with all their worldly possessions and pitch rudimentary shelters by the side of the road or in fields. They are pretty colorful and I would describe them as Indian gypsies.

Landless Migrant workers

The local  farmers own large herds of goats, sheep, cows, and water buffalo. To us they look poor but they are far from it. A single water buffalo cost about $2000.00. They live in tents and mud huts but there is a lot of construction going on to erect more permanent housing. Some of the huts are pretty elaborate with beautiful painted scenes on the outside. Women draw water from a pump and if it isn't in their village, they carry it on their heads in metal urns. One thing to remember is that the climate here is tropical. They only need protection from the sun and rain. The milk from the cattle is shipped back to the local cities. The women are stately and colorful. Their posture is to die for as they still carry heavy loads on their heads with little effort. They wear their wealth in the form of elaborate jewelry. Necklaces, bracelets, nose rings, ankle bracelets, and toe rings are part of their adornment. In the villages, the male children inherit so the only way to give wealth to the girls is in the form of gold. I must have looked destitute to them as I left my jewelry at home.

So far the driving has not been too bad. The roads are in decent condition and we just had to watch out for the flocks of goats,sheep, water buffalo, and cows that share the road with their herders. Roosters, chickens, and stray dogs round out the scene.  There are no such thing as lanes here and driving is sort of a free for all. It is not for the faint of heart. Everyone passes everyone else. There is no such thing as right of way and driving is a constant cacophony of horn blowing. I am learning to ignore all the hair raising passing or I would always be white knuckled. Our drivers have been superb so far. They tell us you need horns, brakes, and luck here. I believe them.

Our guide here was from a different company and he was very competent, knowledgeable, and easy to understand. He wasn't overly friendly, but I think that was just his personality. I think he was a retired professor. He obviously had done a lot of traveling, but let's just say his bedside manner left something to be desired, although by the end of the 2nd day he did start to warm up. In his defense, we learned a lot and he answered all our questions. We spent 2 days here and flew back to Mumbai the 2nd evening.

Mumbai Day 3

Victoria Station

I was on my own today.  Ned had a business meeting up in Surat. I had originally planned to go with him but a 3 hour train ride leaving at 4:00 a.m. and returning at 11p.m. was not appealing. I would have had to get a car/driver and a guide for a very long day. Next trip...Surat is known for it's textiles but I would miss it this go round. Instead, I had booked a half day tour with our previous guide Freni. We viewed some of the beautiful British architectural buildings such as the Victoria train station and what is now municipal buildings. We took a walk through the 2 hanging gardens, named because they were built over 2 of the city's reservoirs.  This is considered winter ( high 80's and just as humid), so not too many flowers were in bloom. There were butterflies galore but they never seemed to lite on anything for a photo. Mumbai is an ever expanding city and they are constantly doing reclamation of the land from the sea. Mumbai originally consisted of 7 islands that are now one large area.  In one of the more recent projects they were trying to get rid of a small inlet area that was situated between two very exclusive areas. The only problem with this was that this was the home of an old tribal fishing village (the Kolis). The current( Kolis) tribal residents still derive their livelihood from fishing and the project would have both displaced them and cut off their access to the sea. The uproar this project caused changed the plan. As in most of India, the juxtaposition of the rich and poor is just an every day occurrence, so you have a wonderfully colorful tribal village right smack in the middle of expensive high rise buildings.

Kolis Fishing Village

The Indian government has been trying to preserve the uniqueness of it's cultural history...a loosing battle as more and more people flock to the cities for both jobs and better education for their children. Parents are realizing the importance of education no matter what class they come from. While the caste system is still an integral part of life here when it comes to marriage, it seems to no longer be a barrier for job and educational opportunities.

Sha'ar Ha Rachamim

The rest of the morning was spent driving around to the different areas of Mumbai that we had not covered already. We stopped in at 2 old Synagogues as well, Sha'ar Ha Rachamim (Gate of Mercy) and Kenneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue.. There are 3 old Jewish communities in India... the Cochin Jews, the Baghdadi ( or Iraqi) Jews, and the B'nei Israel who are said to have arrived more than two thousand years ago when their ship was wrecked near the Bombay (Mumbai) coast. The Cochin Jews settled in the Kerala area of Southern India as far back as the time of King Solomon. This community grew during the 16th century with an influx of Sephardic Jews from Spain, Portugal, and Holland who were trying to escape the Inquisition. The Baghdadi Jews goes back to about 1730 when they settled in Surat. They were encouraged by the British to go to India and expand commerce after the Treaty of Nanking opened up China to the British . They first established themselves in Calcutta and then Bombay. In 1833, the community got a boost with the arrival of David Sassoon who had founded a great trading house known throughout the world, but was escaping the tyranny of the Turkish ruler of Baghdad. With the help of his sons, the Sassoon family excelled in the import and export of textiles, English piece goods, and Opium. He employed thousands of locals at the time and became a very wealthy merchant. He and his family were incredibly civic minded and generous and they built hospitals, schools, libraries, and museums.

Original Portuguese Bungalow

 Freni was wearing lovely clothes so I asked her were she shopped. She took me to her favorite store and I bought 2 lovely outfits and an extra top...3 pieces...a long top, pants, and scarf.. For less than $50 for it all. One of the outfits was silk and the others were cotton with fine embroidery. More importantly, they were comfortable. I should have just left all my clothes home! We were having fun. I was asked if I wanted to meet the owner of the tour company and have lunch with her. Of course I said yes. Deepa Krishnan is first class all the way. She apparently followed one of the links on my email and found my blog and website. She arrived with 2 large bags of Indian textiles to show me. She explained the differences between the regions and customs and told me what to look for. After lunch she asked if I would be willing to be a guinea pig for a new tour they were putting together.I would have said yes under any circumstances but the fact that only a lonely hotel room was waiting for me made my decision very easy. We laughed our way through the rest of the afternoon. We drove past the home of one of the top Bollywood actors and saw many people just waiting around to catch a glimpse of him. I got to see one of the original Portuguese forts...or the ruins of it...and then one of the original residential areas from where we have gotten the term Bungalow. They are trying to restore these lovely houses and many are still owned by the original families. The Portuguese Jesuits owned a lot of very prime land in Mumbai and their families benefited as well. To be fair, they also built lots of schools that are still in use today.Many Indians have Portuguese last names.
 English is compulsory even in the early grades. While Hindi is now official language of India, not everyone can speak it. Every state of India has it's own local dialect and even that gets broken down depending on which village your family comes from.  English will be the only common language here soon.

By the time I got back to my hotel about 7:00 p.m. I was exhausted but with a huge smile on my face. I had just spent a wonderful ladies day out.

Let's discuss food.. As much as I tried to prepare myself before I got here, American Indian food doesn't have much resemblance to real Indian food. My tummy was not thrilled...too many new spices and too hot for my liking. We came prepared..I brought a bottle of Peanut Butter and some pre-packaged pouches of Tuna fish ( I survived my trip to China in 1987 living on this!) The wait staff at the hotel was wonderful trying to get food that I could eat. This was a real learning experience. Turns out I am not really fond of Indian food but I  survived. Maybe it was the constant of it. I never hit the Tuna, but I did resort to 2 Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches on the trip). I was hoping to shed 5 pounds on this trip... didn't happen, but I didn't gain any. I managed to find things I could eat and I left without hating Indian food. It was starting to grow on me.

Link to pictures are in right side column at the top.

Day 2 Mumbai

Getting up early this morning was a non issue... I think we were up at 3:00 a.m.

Todays excursion was to Elephanta Island... about an hours boat ride from Mumbai in the protected harbour of the bay..... at least it is suppose to be an hour if the boat doesn't have engine problems! We did get there. The boats all line up just beyond the Gateway of India that was erected by the British to commemorate the the royal visit of King George V. It was completed in 1924. This same gate was used 24 years later as the exit point for the last British Regiment as India became independent. I am not sure how our guide decided which boat we should take but in order to get to the one you want, you climb across as many as you need to get where you want to be.

Elephanta Island is the home of the rock-art caves carved out of basalt and dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site that has one of the most accessible collections of rock art in India and it served as a prelude for us for our upcoming trip to the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Aurangabad. The temple caves are thought to have been carved in the 6th to 8th centuries. To say they are awe inspiring is probably a gross understatement. They are huge. These were not caves that were made into temples... these were carved out of the rock to become temples in the form of caves. The island is not inhabitable as there is no source of water or power. The Hindu priests who oversaw the construction of these temples dug cisterns in the rock to collect the water in the monsoon season. Their engineering skills in this and the construction of the temples and statue art is mind boggling considering that all they had as tools were hammer and chisel.
Monkeys are the main inhabitants of the island these days.. they are very bold and will go after you if you walk with a drink in your hand... don't ask me how I know that!

Our return boat trip was uneventful. The Gateway to India sits right in front of the Taj Hotel where President Obama will be staying in a few days. It is a beautiful building but we wanted to get out of the area early as the traffic was already starting to be diverted in anticipation of the the visit. OK, I need to vent some here... I have to wonder who was the genius who scheduled this trip during Diwali. This is the time of year when shopkeepers make a substantial amount of their yearly sales... think Christmas and New Years for us. Streets were cordoned off and it was next to impossible to move around the area.... and this was still 5 days prior to Diwali and Mr. Obama's arrival.
After running some errands and dodging traffic, we arrived back at the hotel early in the evening. It was going to be an early night for us.
Driving in India is an art form in itself.. there are unwritten rules that the rest of the world does not know. We would never survive... they also drive on the other side... holdover from British rule I suppose and of course the cars are mostly stick shifts. My brain is simply not programmed to shift with my left hand and to drive on the left instead of the right. Thankfully, I do not suffer from high blood pressure. Travel is an adventure in and of itself. Oh, did I mention the horns? They are incessant. They are used to tell someone to move over, or to say you are going to pass them they should not move over... and that is only for starters.
Besides regular taxis, Mumbai and many other cities have vehicles known as auto rickshaws. These are three wheeled "cars" with open sides and less expensive than a standard taxi. Some are metered and some you strike a deal with the driver. They are much smaller than even a compact car... a necessity to fit down some of the winding and narrow lanes that make up the old cities.

Trip to India

What I did not post before was that Ned and I were going to spend 3 weeks in India. I decided not to advertise that our house would be empty. I really had a hard time not posting but now that we are home I will share our trip. It was fantastic. I will set up a link for photos.. I took close to 2000 and still need to weed out and label them.
India is a complicated country but one that is beautiful and colorful. Cities are bursting their seams and trying to manage the influx of people from the villages who come for the jobs and the educational opportunities for their children. Side by side, poor and rich live next to each other...literally. Because of the ample manpower, most things are still done by hand rather than machine. Expensive high rises sit next to what we would consider slums. There is a symbiotic relationship between the two... one provides the needed services to the other, but the disparity is glaring. Once you get over the shock, you get to enjoy India. Color is everywhere, old mixes with new. There is a vibrancy that doesn't seem to exist anywhere else.  

Day 1 Mumbai

We arrived at the crack of dawn and were met by our car and driver..we had a bit of excitement after our 3 on time flights to get here. They couldn't find a whole cart of luggage...all the priority passengers! Everyone thought it might have gotten left back in Istanbul but while we were filling out the paperwork, it all appeared. We were taken to our hotel, were we checked in, ate some breakfast and crashed for a few hours. We had a tour planned for the afternoon. We wre going to Crawford market which is in the center of what used to be old Mumbai. It is one of the oldest markets around....think souk for those of you who have travelled to the middle east. Thousands of tiny stalls spilling out into the street selling anything you could possibly imagine. The market is divided into sections dedicated to specific goods.  So there is a section for fruits and vegetables, clothing, housewares, gold jewelry, silver, etc. Diwali is being celebrated this week and every one and their uncles and cousins are shopping. This is the time of   year when people buy new things and give gifts. We do not really know the word crowd..this sea of people is beyond anything we are used to. In narrow twisting alleys this tide of people are fighting bicycles, motor scooters, cars, and the requisite cows to get anywhere. There is a constant honking of horns. I am sure they wear out their horns before the brakes go! Add to the usual items for sale are specialty items for the holiday...sweets, garlands of marigolds,, lanterns, oil lamps, and figures of gods and goddesses. This is a time of year for renewal and blessings for prosperity. This is family time. We survived the crows but almost lost our car and driver. We met our guide at the market and did not know that the drop off point was not going to be the pickup point. Cell phone reception was not good and we could not get hold of the car. As it was starting to get dark we skipped the last part of the tour so we could find the car. I think our wonderful guide thought we were done for..haha..she didn't know we were made of sterner stuff! What should have been about an hours + drive back to the hotel turned into almost 3 hours. With Obama coming to town, security measures were already being put in place for his visit. Traffic was horrible. It is hot and muggy here and this is winter...temp in high eighties with equal percent humidity...although we were told this was unseasonably warm. I am not used to sweating and we were soaking wet by the time we reached our thankfully air-conditioned car. We finally got back to the hotel, ate something for dinner and crashed. Of course because of the 12.5 hour time difference we were going to have to acclimate to the new time. Needless to say we woke up in the middle of the night.  We booked another tour for the morning, figuring we could nap in the afternoon.

Great News!

Yep, I have been AWOL for a while... lots of things happening.. some I can share now, some have to wait another week.

Most importantly... I am going to be a grandma in May! My daughter Robin and SIL Brett are expecting their first child 3rd week of May. I am excited.

Other piece of news is that my quilt, Rock of Ages, sold and will be going to a very nice home.

Ok, I need to go back into hiding for a while... will explain when I come up for air again.

Catching up

Seems I haven't been blogging lately... no real reason why, so I will play some catching up here with photos.

I caught a double rainbow on my iphone! 

Sunrise this morning.. also on my iphone.












My daughter and son in law came for a visit this weekend and we went up to Sedona for the day and had a lovely dinner. On Sunday we went to the zoo. The visit was oh so short.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Rant

I don't generally use my blog to make political or religious posts. I don't usually go down that road. Today I am.
I have friends who have totally different views of the world than I have. I don't agree with them, but if you take away their politics and religion, we have lots in common and we have managed to stay friends. OK, so some of you are asking why I would associate myself with people with such diametrically opposite view points? Maybe because I believe that people are basically good and the weird ideas they have in their heads are put their by people with more influence. I have never been one to blindly follow just because someone else tells me to. I have always done my own thinking. I know that is not true of most people. It is so much easier to espouse a position because the people closest to you do... it takes no energy on your part and you don't have to rock the proverbial boat. I think those that follow this as a guideline and don't think for themselves are just missing out and are misguided but that is just my own opinion.


We all have beliefs... whether we believe in a god/goddess, higher being, or nothing, we all have our own personal roadmap to how we live. To further ourselves along the human highways it helps if we are all rowing together. The greatest achievements in history have come when people get together and share knowledge. The darkest moments in history have come when some decide they are the only ones who are right. The most heinous perpetration against humankind has come at these times. I am fearful we are heading into or are already in the midst of such a monumental disaster.

Political and religious extremists are dangerous. It doesn't matter what the politics are or the religion is. Wars were fought in the past and wars are being fought in the present. People get killed not just with bullets and bombs, but with words. We seem to be living in an increasingly anti world. The anti's are never ending.... anti gay, anti Jew, anti Muslim, anti Black, anti Hispanic, anti left, anti right, anti Roma, anti Irish, anti Italian... and the list goes on. Who sets the standard? We supposedly live in a democratic and free nation, yet the extremists are seem to be calling the shots. Where did the forefathers of all these people come from? Were their grandparents allowed to worship as they pleased? Were they able to own property and vote? Most of them came here for the opportunity to do just those things, but their progeny seem to have forgotten those details. Have we become so complacent that we allow the few with loud voices to dictate to the many?  I hope not. We have had more than our share of crazy people in the past who have gotten away with annihilating anyone they didn't like. There was no one to stop them. It is still going on. We have very short memories apparently.
Just because someone is different from us doesn't make them bad. The haters just show how insecure and uneducated they really are. It shows how shallow minded they are and how afraid they are. It is so much easier to hold onto that security blanket than to learn about something new. After all, anything that is new has to be bad! It is always the unknown that scares us. Frankly, I think the known these days is so much more fearsome than the unknown. We are moving into the direction of the darkness not the light. Anyone have some matches?

Finally out of my creative funk

The summer has not been good to be from a creative standpoint. I didn't feel like doing anything creative but the juices seem to be flowing again and I have been busy. Nothing big, but just having some fun to get back into the swing of things. I had this piece of paper/fabric that I got with some plant and decided to play with it. I painted it up, stitched it and put it on ugly piece of my hand dyed fabric. I added some sequins, french knots and hand stitching then quilted it all up. Here is a detail shot of what I did. Not sure what I am going to do with it, but it was fun.

SAQA 3

The last of some of my favorites:

Gerrie Congdon "Entwined Roots"

Helen Holtorf Burke "Wetlands"

Jenny Hearn "Fissures, Fragments & Fossils Glacial Flow"

I am sure some of you have other favorites. To see all of the works go to the SAQA site. Obviously, I hope mine will find a good home, and I hope some of my followers will decide to support this cause and buy some great artwork.

SAQA 2

More of my favorite pieces:

Ann Ridge
Indian Door

A.Carole Grant  "Calla"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAQA

It's getting to be that time of year again when SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) has its annual auction. Members donate a piece and the public gets to buy! To see the wonderful selection of donations for this year go HERE.
To see the piece I donated go HERE
There are several pieces I love but I suspect they are beyond my budget. I am hoping to snag at least one of them. We shall see. Some of my favorites:

Shelly Brucar
Blustery Day
                                              Jaime Fingal
                                              Exuberance



I will post a few every couple of days.

Easily amused

I was at loose ends tonight... just as I was getting out of my 3 month creative slump, my sewing machine decided it wasn't going to play nicely. I had to take it in for a fix and its annual checkup. All the projects I had lined up are back to collecting dust. Oh well. Hopefully, I will be humming along by Tuesday.

We are in the middle of monsoon season and have seen a goodly number of storms. Tonight's storm seems to have passed us by but I shot a very short video with my iphone of the light show. I have never done a video before so was pleased this came out. It is not long. I had to wait for most of the wind to die down because the wind chimes were too loud. Enjoy.

Thanks to those who voted for me

.. I came in 3rd. There were a total of 2000 votes cast. I want to thank those of you who took the time out to vote. It was a pain in the butt and I did not know till Sunday the how they were doing it. The top 15 vote recipients will be featured in a magazine to be published in November.  So far, I have not seen the totals for each. I am not sure they are publishing those numbers. Onward and upward.

Need a favor

I haven't been blogging lately... blame it on the heat. In the meantime... in a moment of insanity, I entered one of my fiber art pieces, Still Life with Blue Vase into an art show... BECA Curate This, Denver 2010. Much to my amazement, it was one of 111 pieces chosen. There is a public vote for this venue and the piece that garners the most votes wins $2,500.00. Voting starts tomorrow, August 15th -17th. If you could take a moment to vote for me, I would greatly appreciate it. You can see all the pieces here...http://www.curatethis.org/participating-artists-and-designers.php ...mine is the 5th one down, and you can vote, starting tomorrow here...http://www.curatethis.org/vote.php.

Thanks all.