Home sweet home and more rain

• I like India,
• I like the moral tone the newspapers adopt sometimes- there has been a number of articles lately about inflation- food has gone up on average 10% a month, eggplant are 43% more than this time last year....if you can read the newspaper I get which is in English, you probably have no immediate threat of starving to death, almost a majority of our 1 billion peolpe are not so lucky- they are really close to that mark. It is generally woven in to articles about think of the common man[aam admi- mango man, I think is the phrase here] , we need to be sure to help all Indians have a chance to improve their lot in life...
• TV is running a series of ads- look after tourists, stop hassling then, they are visitors in our country. Treat them with the same politeness you would treat family.
• the horrible local poiceman who always has he hand out for a 'gift' has started a school in a small village [Ok his] and has a huge amount of kids now in school. However they get it, everyday of schooling a kid gets is good for everyone's future...
• we have more poor people than the whole of Africa, we loose more children to infant malnutrition than the rest of the developing world....things are getting better too, govt work programmes do bring the opportunity of income to people who need it....
• slowly, slowly, slowly things are improving and considering the situation when this country got independence and what they had 60 years ago it is truly amazing where they have come

A lot of these thoughts have been sparked by recent newspaper articles- I am sure many millions of other people reading those papers have had their awareness sparked as well for what we yet need to acheive for this remarkable place,
Talking to an American tourist who comes to India every year for a few weeks ysterday, he like me, can only feel admiration for this place and its people, they have so much we can learn from even though so many have absolutley 'nothing' at all -not even sure where the next meal is coming from- and yes the place drives him absolutley nuts too, sometimes and he wonders why, why, why is he here?

Things on the home front- new hotel Our Pukka Place 2 at New Paradise Inn is starting to polish up, we have new plants lining our swimming pool, I have ordered colourful hand loomed mats for all the rooms, block print for the tablecloths...we are just waiting for sunshime to photograph and get brochures printed and get it on our website- another 'little' job

Mung beans are in the back paddock- they are quick growing and will be ready to harvest in just 60 days...

Ikea has hit India, my mates who live just around the corner from the biggest Ikea shop in the world in Gutenberg, Sweden made a home delivery for our new house- a magnetic knife rack and it is up and waiting for me in the kitchen..

I do miss Ikea- they are so useful in their products...strange what you miss?

A little bit of my best friend's garden here in India, I brought a whole heap of cuttings with me last August and some of them have actually survived....they were in pots at the hotel and had a lot to contend with. Staff try, but they are doing a job, not passionite gardeners so things have suffered too much water, too little water, cow attacks when they got into the front yard- all in all nerve wracking for me...now they are HOME  I can care from them....

The gentleman on the right is Mystry-ji, at one time I thought many of our tradesmen had the same name- then realised it is a title and saves you having to remember every one's name. It means master tradesman, well Mystry-ji and his assistant wanted me to take their picture- they have done a fabulous job on the bathrooms and kitchen....ssssssssoooooo almost there now

Lots of shephards in the area at the moment moving along with their flocks...they completely blocked the main road, this is just around the corner from our current house in the Old Vegie market...

Oh India!