TUSAL

 Wow, we are at the end of another year! Can't believe that I am posting the last TUSAL of the year already

I am making steady progress with Mandala Lotus

Isn't it nice and colorful! 

The jar has all orts YTD

V's board exams have begun. This year CBSE decided to split the exams into 2 - first will be in December with only MCQs and the second will be in March. The kids prefer this method as they do not have to study the complete portions in one go all through the year

That's my update today dear friends. Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. stay safe.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Milestones & TUSAL

Hiya friends, dropped by for a quick update

Celebrations

October was a milestone month for us. First the hubby celebrated his milestone birthday (half century) and we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! 

The festival that we all wait for from the 1st day of a year, Diwali, just finished. This time our get-together was at our place. We had a whole lot of fun - family, food and of course crackers! 

This year I made thenkuzhal

and boondi laddoos for Diwali

This was the first time that I made laddoos on my own. The last two times have always been under 

Amma's guidance. For the first time, I am quite happy with the outcome 😃

Stitchy Update

Amongst all the festivities and work, I managed to work some on Mandala lotus

Am just loving the colours. I have just the outer most petals and the leaves to finish

These are the ORTS (YTD) from all the stitching this year so far

So, dear friends, that's the update from me today. Till next time.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!

Framed & TUSAL

It's festival season and the air is filled with positive energy and love! I will share pictures of our Navarathri in my next post

V and I had stitched a few projects during the last year. We got them framed this week

This is my favourite and very close to my heart. I had asked the framer to give a beautifully carved teak wood frame, but he was extremely reluctant and would not give me the frame! 

These 2 cute stitches are Vs. The shoe was a gift from our dear friend Meari

I somehow forgot to mention to the framer to add boards. So, am not that happy with the framing. I will probably get these reframed after some time

It's time for the month's ORTS

Not much progress as I would have liked last month. Here are ORTS from the month's progress

This is a view of YTD ORTS

This is my story for the month dear friends. Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir! 

Vacation Time

Every year in August, we go on a vacation or have a get-together, when our cousins come down for their holidays. Our last vacation was in 2018! We could not go in 2019 due to V's board exams and then 2020 happened. So, it was a really good break and a change to be able to get away for a couple of days to Kodaikanal. 

All tourist spots, except the lake, were closed. So we relaxed in the resort and made use of all the great amenities that they offered. 

Some pictures from the trip

First thing that I noticed was this poinsettia tree. I always thought that they only grew outside India, so was pleasantly surprised to find them here

I was totally in love with these potted beauties that were placed all around the resort. 

Another really pretty wonder of nature

A friend told me later that these were succulents. So beautiful they are

A complete view of the lake from a specific view-point

We stopped over for lunch at a place where these I saw these stone sculptures. Don't they remind you of the dementors in Harry Potter 😁

Now for some stitchy update. 

A quick look at my mandala lotus. ORTS from last month's progress are on the bottom right

These are the YTD ORTS collection

 So, that's the update from me today dear friends. Till next time, stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

It has been a pretty quiet month, with not much baking or beading. The onset of tamil month aadi is the start of our festive season. So, baking will take a backseat and it's going to be more of traditional cooking for some time now

I have been able to stitch this month fortunately. After a busy day's work, I find that stitching really calms me down. So, I try my best to put in atleast a few stitches daily

Here's a picture of my ORTS for the month. The lose threads are from working on mandala lotus and the jar has YTD

 

Here's a closer look at the progress. I am loving the colours and how this is taking shape

So, dear friends, this is my update for the day. Till next time.. take care.. stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!! 

TUSAL & some Beading

Dear friends, we continue working from home.. online school continues.. we continue to order our groceries online.. and so life goes on

 I have been making some necklaces and my stash, which was quite huge I should admit, has reduced considerably

Here's a picture of some of  the necklaces that I made recently

During the last month, I have been able to stitch for about an hour atleast 2-3 days a week on my mandala lotus

Here's the progress. I love the colours and can't wait for it to finish. ORTS from the progress are on the right

So, dear friends, that's my story tonight. Till next time.. stay safe.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

TUSAL & a new start

 Time to share my June Orts 

The lose ones are from this month's stitching and the ones in the jar are YTD

This, my dear friends, is my next start - mandala lotus. I saw this pattern on Pinterest and fell in love with it. So, purchased the pattern from Etsy. The first picture shows the first few stitches 

I am using aida that I received from my dear friend recently and all skeins from my stash. I forgot to take a full picture of the 'kit' I put together 

That's the update from me today dear friends. Till next time, stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Christmas in June

My first proper finish in 2021. Isn't he a cutie pie 

 

I stitched this up on brown perforated paper and the pattern is from Pinterest. Used all supplies from my stash. The threads are a mix of DMC and Anchor. I did not use the same shades as recommended, but tried to match to the nearest shade that was available

To finish it off, I used red felt as backing and green ribbon that my dear friend just sent recently

Here's the final ornament. This is my first ever Christmas ornament. Hope I can make more 

I have not yet decided what to stitch next. I am going through all my saved patterns - hard and soft copies to try and decide 

That's it from me today dear friends. Hope you all are safe and healthy. Till next time.. Stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!

May TUSAL

A quick post to show you my progress on gingerman 

You can also see my ORTS from the last 2 months - yeah, progress has been slow but am getting there :) The jar has YTD and the lose ones are for the last 2 months. I missed posting last month

And a closer shot of the progress

That's about it today friends. Till next time.. stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir! 

Gifts and Stash!

Guess what.. our parcel finally arrived after being stuck with the Bangalore customs for more than 2 months!! We had almost given hope that it would arrive

So, let me show you allllll the goodies that came in the parcel

Look what all my dear friend Meari sent

Crafty pens, Nail art, eye shimmer, stickers, cross stitch kit, aida fabric, variegated threads and ribbons!! It's really amazing how we connect with people we have never met. There are a few people who I know through the blogging world, still feel some connect. And only here I have seen so much love, where we give without any expectations

And look what all I ordered

Some stash from 123stitch - fabric and threads required for my next big project, 2 kits selected by V. The needlepoint book is something that I had been eyeing for very long and finally ordered on amazon

Salt water Taffies!! Do you remember the episode in friends where Ross devours these. Never knew these are so yummy. There's something very different in these from other candies

 So, dear friends, that's the update from me today. Stay indoors, stay safe!! Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

JABBED!!

Number of cases are on the rise in many states in India too now. While some states have already started imposing another phase of lockdown, there is talk that our state is not very behind one too. 

Vaccination drive has started in earnest and since last week, a few hospitals have also started giving the jabs for people over 45.  

We took the first chance that we got to get our first jab. 

Cooking:

Chakka Varatti is a childhood favorite of mine, probably everyone who has a link to Kerala will love it. This is basically a preserve made out of jackfruit

Some dishes have a story/incident/memory associated with them. For me chakka varatti is one such dish, that I always associate with my athais.

We had gone to Coimbatore to my athai’s house for a summer vacation. Athai was going to make chakka varatti and peeling the jackfruit is a task on its own. We were all part of the army who were assigned the task. Then athai got down to the making which was a laborious task. Even more laborious than the making was waiting for the dish, while the whole house was filled with the aroma of chakka, Vellam and ghee. The end result was very well worth the wait

Knowing how much I love it, another athai would always make sure to buy some for me every time she went to palakkad.

I have been wanting to try this for years and finally got down to it

We are a foodie family and love trying various cuisines. I suddenly realized that I have never cooked any Chinese dish till now. I quickly listed down the ingredients I needed to buy and ordered them online

Veg fried rice and Veg manchurian - my first ever Chinese dishes. It was a satisfactory meal, yet not to heavy in the tummy

Stitchy Update:

Here's a picture of my WIP - a gingerbread cookie pattern

I am working on perforated paper and the skeins are a mix of DMC and Anchor, from my stash. 

The lose ORTs are from this month and the ones in the jar are YTD

So, that's about it from me today friends. Till next time.. take care.. stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

New Project - Getting Ready

 The Covid vaccine drive is gathering speed here in India. Today, they have opened up the vaccine at private hospitals for senior citizens and people above 45 years of age with comorbidities. With the number of hospitals that are participating, we hope that our chance comes soon

Due to the pandemic, as with everybody, my brother and family had to cancel their trip to India in 2020. V and I had ordered some cross stitch supplies for them to bring with them. So, brother shipped them through a private courier service in January. The parcel arrived in Bangalore sometime in the end of January and is stuck with customs for clearance. We have provided all evidence that they have asked for, but still waiting for them to clear our package!! Hoping that they clear it out soon and we get our parcel

I have the supplies for a very special and big project in that parcel. While I wait for that to arrive, I am starting a smaller one - a gingerbread cookies pattern. 

I am stitching this on perforated paper and using skeins from my stash for this - it's a mix of both DMC and anchor threads

That's the update from me today dear friends Till next time.. take care.. stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!

First Post of the Year

We stepped into a 2021 on a very holy note with a visit to our Kula deivam temple and our Guru. For the last 4 years, every time we planned a visit to our Kula deivam temple, something would come up and the trip never happened. Finally, all graces worked to make it happen. 

Work suddenly picked up pace too all of a sudden after almost a year's lull. Schools are gradually beginning off-line classes. Vs classes will be beginning on Monday, thrice a week. Offices have not opened yet, but I did visit office once this month to pick up my laptop

Front line workers slot for Covaxin will come to an end by end of February and people over 50 years of age will get their chance. Probably rest of us will get our chance around May, fingers crossed 🙏 

Baking

I wanted to bake these cookies around Christmas, but it's never too late for these 

Peppermint cookies. I could not wait to find the traditional striped candy canes, so used Andes mint chips instead. Here's the link to the recipe

 V and I have been watching The Crown on Netflix, because of which we get a lot of suggested videos and facts about the royal family. One that caught our attention was about the royal family's favorite food. 

One of those is this super easy, no-bake dessert. It is so rich and chocolate overload. V made a white chocolate topping to add to it. Here's the recipe link

Stitchy Update

I already have my first finish of the year!! Unfortunately, it is a secret project and I cannot share pictures in any social media till I am able to give it to the recipient

But here are the ORTS from my first finish. It is going to be a gift to a very special person 

So dear friends, that's the update from me today. Till next time, take care.. stay safe.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!