2023 - A ReCap

Is it already time to bid goodbye to 2023??!!  This year has been a mixed bag - slow sometimes and fast sometimes. Overall it has been an average year in all aspects

So, let's see the highlights from 2023

First and foremost, I completed 15 years of blogging!! That's right, isn't that amazing. When I started the blog, I had no clue that I will keep this going for so long. I have made many friends through the blog and learnt so much from this platform. So, here's to more blogging and more crafting

Travels:

We were blessed with 3 trips to Amritapuri this year! 

We had our annual get2gether with the cousins at Pollachi this year. It was a great one, though only for 2 days, as cousins from all over the world were able to come. Some of us were meeting after almost 5 years

Hobbies:

Beading

Some of the necklaces I mad this year. Hope to bead some more jewellery this upcoming year

Bakes

Snapshot of some of the bakes this year. Our favourite are the poornam muffin and the baklava cheesecake

Reading

..aaannd these are the books I read. My favourite was the entire Ponniyin Selvan series, absolutely brilliant

Cross Stitch

This is where I was in the beginning of 2023. I was 5 pages down

..this is where I am now currently. I have completed 11 pages and moving onto the 12th page now. I have about 40% more left. Hoping to finish this the upcoming year

So friends, that is the roundup of 2023 from my end. How has your year been? 

Wishing you and your family a very happy, very joyous and a brilliant year ahead. Wishing that the year brings the best of everything for all of us

Here's signing off for the year.. till next time.. Have a great rest of your holidays.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!!

About Cyclones, floods and some more

Hola dear friends! It's the last month of the year and time for the final ORTS post of the year!! 

Meanwhile, earlier this month we faced a very bad cyclone, and our city was flooded. There was no power for 4 days and no network too. We were travelling during the 3 days and our return flight was cancelled due to the floods in our city. Finally, we got a flight for a day later. Thankfully, most of the water had drained, but power and network was still patchy. 

Finally, I took the metro to return home from the airport due to poor and flooded roads. Took me back to our Singapore days. Life is now back to normal and we are trying to overcome the trauma and not panic at the slightest mention of rains. We still have some more monsoon left

Moving to stitchy news.. 

..here's a view of the month's ORTs. Lose threads are from the month's stitching and the jar is YTD

..a closer look at the year's ORTs 

..this is the progress on Amma last month. I am loving the progress here

 I am working on a cross stitch journal, trying to capture all the projects I have worked on till date. Hope to make a detailed post on that soon. Till then.. take care friends.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Of festivals, sweets & stitching

Hope you all had a great Deepavali dear friends!! Ours was a quiet but a good one this. We had our get-together in the evening and burst some crackers. Crackers have become so expensive now though 

This is me in my new Deepavali saree, which is a hand painted kalamkari in tussar silk

This year I went light on the sweets. Usually I prepare all sweets myself. But this year I ordered sweets and savouries 

The only 'sweet' that I made was this Baklava cheesecake to take to our get-together and everyone just loved it. This was a perfect fusion of baking and ethnic 

Stitching has been slightly slower this month owing to a bout of viral fever 

So, here's the progress from the month of stitching Amma

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

Of Birthdays and stitching

Hola friends. It's festive season here and we are well into Navratri (which literally means 9 nights) where we worship the divine Goddess for 9 days. This year we have kept the golu and we have loads of golu hopping invites to do, which in turn mean loads of dressing up and loads of yummy food :). Will post pictures from all the festivities in my next post

We celebrated the man's 52nd birthday earlier this month..

..and he chose a coffee flavor cake. We decided to skip the frosting and go for a coffee glaze instead

On the stitchy side, I completed page 11 and into page 12 now

Here's the pic of when I moved the QSnap. Am totally thrilled with how Amma is coming up. 

Here's the ORTS from all of last month's stitching

..and this is where I am right now

So, that's the quick update from me today. Until next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!

Of Families, vacations, birthdays and stitching

Hola dear stitchy, bakey, crafty friends!! Am back after being MIA, from the blogger world, for 2 months. That's because life has been crazy busy in a good way. July/August is always like that when cousins and families, brother and family all come from several parts of the World and hence the busiest months of the year for us. By the end of August, they all return to their worlds and we to ours hungover from the holidays holding on to the energy till the next year

This year we all went on a very short trip and almost all of us cousins were there, making it even more special. We travelled to Pollachi, a short drive from Coimbatore. The resort where we stayed was a quaint little one and we had the resort almost to ourselves, so we could make all the noise without fear of disturbing other guests. 

There was beautiful river flowing right behind the resort and we had full access to it. A very scenic place and so many peacocks around

It was a very nostalgic trip - recollecting childhood memories, catching up with the new members in the family, getting to know them all better. Our kids enjoyed themselves too, with so much open space to run around and no fear of traffic etc

We celebrated a few birthdays too in August and September

August is V's birthday. I baked a pinacolada cake this time with fresh cream frosting

Dad turned 76 last week. As his birthday coincided with Ganesh Chathurthi this year, we decided to bake a Kozhakattai cake

Amidst all this I did manage to stitch some the last 2 months

That's the progress on project Amma. I have progressed 2 more pages since my last post and can say that I am a little more than half way through

..and here's the ORTS for the last 2 months

That's all that's been happening in my part of the world the last 2 months dear friends. Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!

Of Bakes and Stitches

I did not even realize that I missed last month's post, till it was time to post progress this month! That's how fast time seems to be flying

It's vacations everywhere but India, and many of my cousins and families are here for vacations. So, a lot of activities and get-togethers happening here

V's college re-opened in the 2nd week of June and she's in her 2nd year now. Amidst all this, we have been baking quite a bit

Here's a mango crumb bar that V baked 

Chocolate Zucchini bread has been on my to-bake list for a long time and ticked that off. I added lemon extract and some spice and topped with walnuts and blueberries. The flavours worked very well together. Here's the recipe link 

Time for a stitchy update

Here's the ORTS from last 2 month's progress. The jar has YTD progress

..and a full view before I move the qsnap. I am done 50% and am really excited how project Amma is coming up

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

Crafty May.. ORTs

Hola dear friends, how's everyone doing

My crafting mojo has been on an all time high last month. 

Beading: It all started with making a birthday gift for one of Vs friends. Seeing all the beauties triggered something and there was no stopping me

 

This is a pretty baby pink crystal necklace for which V called dibs even before it was finished. I bought the center portion from Michael's when I went to the US in 2016

 

Another multi color crystal one, for which V called dibs again

This is a turquoise beads necklace. Bought the turquoise beads from Michael's 

Tried a new pattern with this one and love the way this turned out

A multicolor crystal necklace. This is a gift for one of Vs friends

A maroon crystal bracelet and earring set. This also was a gift for Vs friend. Whoaa am impressed with myself 😊

Project Amma

The complete view taken before changing the QSnap

Here's the progress since changing. ORTS from last month's progress on the right

I started using my floor stand actively now. I am much more comfortable using this now than I used to be earlier. Except for the fact that I have to keep taking out the QSnap from the stand each time I start or finish a line, this is much easier. Also, big relief for my wrist and neck

That's the update from me today dear friends. Till next time.. take care.. be happy.. Keep Stitching.. Au Revoir

Stitchy Update

Hola dear friends! Amazing how the months just fly by - we are already at the end of April 

So, here is what has happened the past month since my last post. My parents are getting ready to shift into their new home by the end of April. So, most of the month has gone in helping them with their packing and work

Amidst that, very little crafting has happened. As many of you know, I love fridge magnets and sarees

I found this beautiful addition to my collection. This is a magnet that is made after the Madurai Sungudi saree. Look at how beautiful it is, even the folds look real

Some amount of stitching happened the past month on project Amma

So, this is where I am. I have completed page 8 and onto page 9 now. I cannot believe how this is coming up and can't wait to finish 

So, dear friends, that's from me today. Till next month take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

A sweet post

Hola dear friends. It's time for our monthly catch-up. The month started off with a much-awaited visit to see my Guru, my most beloved Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi)

Re-discovering one of my favorite sweets - Churuttu!! This is a sweet from Kottayam, Kerala. Our family friend, who's home town is Kottayam, used to get this for us every time she visited her hometown. Ever since we moved to Chennai (in 1996), I have not been able to have this. We do not get this, even in any other part of Kerala. 

Have you ever heard/realised that if we crave for something with all our heart, we somehow get it. Well, this is exactly that. 

A few weeks back, there was a small news snippet in the paper about a store called Little Kerala. And guess what - they actually had Churuttu!!

I ordered right away - and here it is. It has sweet filling made of Sooji, wrapped in rice pastry, deep fried and soaked in sugar syrup. Sounds sinful right - it totally is

There happened a G20 meet in Chennai on 25 & 26 March at ITC. Yesterday when I went to ITC to meet my cousin, I saw this beautiful display for the event

Over the weekend, I got to do some beading after a long time. Made one necklace for myself (the one in the picture) and one for my friend's sister (could not take a picture unfortunately), who recently celebrated her 50th birthday

And here's where I am with my mystery project. As you can see, the face is clear now - I am stitching a portrait of my beloved Guru - Mata Amritanandamayi. As it takes shape, I cannot wait for it to finish - am that excited. Am loving it every moment. 

You can see all ORTS from all the stitching last month

So, dear friends, that has been quite an active month!! With this I finish the post and we also say bye to March '23 and get ready to welcome April '23!! Till next time friends - take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir!!

 

Monthly Progress

Hello dear friends.. can you believe that February is almost over! Another new moon is gone and it's time for our monthly catch up

I am on a mission to clear up my pantry of existing baking supplies before buying new ones. First to be used up is coconut flour that's been lying in the freezer.  

 

First one in the series is coconut flour shortbread. I added mint extract and mint chips. Coconut and mint flavours work so well together. Here's the original recipe link - https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/coconut-flour-shortbread-recipe

On the stitchy front, the last month has been a great stitchy one. 

Here are ORTS from the month's progress

This is where my mystery project is. I have finished 6th page and half way through the 7th page. I guess you might have guessed by now that it's a picture to pattern that I am working on. I am thoroughly enjoying working on this

So, dear friends that's the updates from my side of the world today. Until next time.. take care.. be happy.. keep stitching.. Au Revoir

Book Haul & ORTS

 Hola dear friends! Beginning the account for the year with this happy happy post. After almost 4 years V and I visited the annual international book fair this year. 

Can you see rows and rows of books behind me. My agenda was quite clear - I only wanted to buy the English translations of Ponniyin Selvan - if possible the ones by Pavithra Srinivasan

..guess what, I got just that!! Aren't I thrilled

This is our complete haul

On the stitchy front

.. here's where I am on Mystery project. I have completed page 6 and half of page 7. I love the way it's coming along

That's the ORTS from all of mystery project

That's all the updates from me today dear friends. Until next time.. take care.. be happy.. Keep stitching and reading.. Au Revoir