Of Travels, Festivals and Stitching

Hola dear friends, I have been MIA for 2 months now thanks to more travels and crazier work! So, here are some of the key things that I think are worth mentioning here 

During my last travel to Bangalore (the 2nd one), I visited the Indian Music Experience museum, which was a very different experience. It gave us a picture of the evolution of Indian music, various types of Indian music, types of instruments and so much more

 

A picture at the entrance of the museum

A video of the various kinds of musical instruments 

Then we went to Amritapuri to be with our beloved Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) for Vijayadasami

Had to take a picture with this life size cutout of Amma

Then last week, I went to Kolkata for a very short 2 days trip

 

I was blessed to visit Kali Ghaat and get Maa Kaali's darshan, which was totally unplanned

This is a picture of a beautiful skyline that I took in Kolkata while driving down in the cab

I managed to put in a few stitches on project Amma

Here's where I am at now..

..and this is all ORTS YTD. I have only one more page to finish Her!! Am hoping to finish it by end of the year

Amidst all the travels, Navarathri and Deepavali came and went. Both were pretty low key this time as I did not have enough time to setup a big golu for Navarathri and no time to make sweets for Deepavali. We managed with store bought sweets this time, but we enjoyed both festivals a lot in a simple way

So, friends that's all that has happened on my end. Until next time.. Be Happy.. 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!!

Diwali..and TUSAL

Wow, time sure has flown by and Diwali's gone, the most awaited festival of the year. Now all the festivals are over with that.

As new moon fell on Diwali day, I missed out on posting my Tusal for the month (well, I do have a valid excuse this month, hehe)

As I have hardly been stitching, all the inputs are from July Cottage.

As always, lot of preparation and planning went into Diwali celebrations.. what sweets/savories to make, what clothes to buy, what crackers to buy and for how much...
My MIL usually spends diwali with us every year and she takes pleasure in preparing some sweets for all of us. But then, I have to make a contribution as well right?? So, I wanted to try my hands at something(s) new this year. Well, all of them are new.

I made Mawa Kachori and jalebi for sweets and cornflakes chiwda for savory.

The only flop side was with the chiwda, which was a bit too salty. I had to then fry some more cornflakes, raisins etc and toss them in. This really balanced out the taste and turned out quite well.

The hubby and I decided to not buy any new clothes for ourselves and wisely use up one of the new ones from the stash. So, we just bought dresses for V.

We also bought a good amount of crackers, but decided to stick to the "fancy fireworks" kind and not the noisy ones.


In the evening of diwali, we all gathered at my aunt's house to burst the remaining crackers and share more stories. It was absolute fun

On the crafty side:
I made this necklace for my cousin for the upcoming wedding

The beads are all my cousin's, I just helped with the idea and the putting together.

I did some baking as well. Baked this yummy dates and walnut bread for breakfast

and served it warm with a littllee dollop of butter. Boy was it yumm... The recipe is from here. The only variation I made was use flax seed instead of the egg. It turned out very moist and fluffy. I also skipped the prunes as I did not have any.

And guess what V received all the way from the US..

..more stickers from aunty Meari. Isn't it sweet of her. Thank you soo very much Meari. V send you her hugs and a whole lot of thanks. She counted all her sticker to a total of 998 (individual stickers) :d :d

I do have some progress on July as well. But I have decided that I would post a picture of it only after I finish it.
That my friends is all the update from me for today. Till the next one.. Take care.. Be happy.. Keep stitching.. Au Revoir