3 days after Christmas

The razzmatazz is over, the food is disappearing from the fridge and one’s mind turns to carbohydrate guilt and delight at the same time. We eat things that are not supposed to be good for us, however, the delight at eating the forbidden manifests in a quiet smile. We know it’s not going to stay…

Leaving home is hard.

I have 100’s of people with great expectations resting on my shoulders relying on me and if I leave just one thing out of the list it could be a disaster. On the other hand, once I’m in the plane and in the process of travel, it all fades into the background and I just get on with the journey. Sometimes it’s a week journey, sometimes a month and often 3 months with multiple projects to juggle.

3 ladies on a journey. – Capture and create. Mt Everest.

Our early morning start was for a 6.30 am flight around Mt Everest, what a way to spend your 70th birthday.!!!! well it will be in a few days.
After that flight we were catching another flight to a small city at the base of Everest called Pokhara and it meant a 5.15 am start to the airport in a taxi no bigger than a golf cart. He had to go slow or else our small cases would have decapitated us at a sudden stop. There were few people out on the streets but a few hardy souls, were walking with purpose to an unknown destination joined by a few dogs and the lone cow.

Lost in Delhi – or something like that.

I actually visited there before and I enjoyed the experience. You travel through the narrow lanes on rickshaws, vehicles are unable to go down the narrow lanes. The poor rickshaw driver strains under the heavy load as he negotiates his way through the throng. Overhead the electricity wires have thousands of wires entwined and hanging from very precarious positions like electronic lace. I’m almost afraid to look up, the imagination goes wild.

Mixed emotions, sadness and sheer joy. A textile journey.

We began the tour with a visit to the historic India gate. Whilst photographing the landmark itself, we noticed 50 or more women working in the gardens close by. They carried long hand-made brooms and their brightly colored clothing was obscured at times by a small cloud of dust as they swept the ground. Some ladies were crouched pulling weeds. The temperature and the humidity was in the 90’s, I just can’t imagine how hard that is.

Fabric to make you heart skip a beat – sharing how I’m going to use it.

Yesterday, with a roll of quilts under my arm and a package of teaching supplies I was waiting for my driver in the lobby. Suddenly the quilts were whisked out of my arms and onto the counter of the porter…. In alarm I kept an eye on them as they began to wrap my quilts very neatly in Newspaper!!!!!! Ohhhh. They then presented the parcel with a small handle tie and and expression of complete happiness. “Please don’t rub the newsprint off on my precious quilts “I thought, and the end of the story was that they were just fine. I gave a small class to some friends here in Delhi and we had a wonderful day talking, eating, listening and sharing ideas on quilting as they completed a small project.