Friday again!!

Can't believe it is Friday again and still the same old rush to get work organized for my Stitching Ladies...I was going rather well when the elctricity decided not to come on....so now sitting on a heap of pieces cut and ready to be assemebled and waiting to get a good run  at them...Got in the mode of getting up at 4.00am to get a little done before lights out but after a few days becomes a bit counter productive as I get sleep deprived...keep meaning to make it up by a Nana Nap in the afternoon but run out of time....whew- what a whinger I am today.
Did skive off for a day in Delhi, Praveen and I had to sort some supplies and it gave us a chance to have an outing with his kids....they are keen on sightseeing and museums and etc so we have years of fun ahead of us checking out Delhi....would you believe the least enthusiastic is Praveen? Years of taking oturists around and hanging around outside...gonna have to give him a good talking to, it is one very easy and fun way of working on the kids education and good to hang out together.

 Can't believe some of the changes in Delhi, this Arakashan Rd where our nephew has his ofice, admittedly it is over a year since I have been there but still so much polishing and renovations that have happened to buildings make some look positively flash, the road is almost all tared and flat now...

 Some things in Delhi never change and yet they do...always the washing is drying along the road on one of the Railway fly overs....but now it is only on the Left hand side only....down the middle of the road is no longer more barriers but trees [looks good] which leave little room for hanging washing...

 Crossing the Yumna River to Seeelampur for fabric supplies, washing drying on the river banks

 and market gardens along the river banks, provision of fresh food to Delhi is starting to become a big headache for Government....until just the last 5 or 10 nyears it was all produced a short truck drive from the city or along the river banks of the river. Now with the spread of housing, farmlands have all gone and food has to be trucked in much further....in the newspaper there was talk of the necessity of building refrigeration terminals so food could be shipped from far, far away. Hey guys that is the begiining of the end for the freshness Indian people expect in the vegatables, and the secret behind the tastiest Veg dishes....

 Not sure what to say about this...that is a slum across the road [unauthorised housing] but prosperity must be increasing when most of the homes are fairly substantially built - bricks and cement rather than plastic sheeting....I do hope public hosing projects mean they will soon be in something even more substantial and it will be actaully all there own.
Just read a fabulous book- a real must read "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry, a great story and sheds so much light on shanty housing, The Emergency and Indira Ghandi in the 70's....gives in idea of where India was at and how far it has come all wrapped in a beautiful and humbling story...well worth searching out.

 Into the bowels of the cloth market sssssosooooooooooo busy as usual and we were running late we had an afternoon's enterainment planned with Praveen's kids ahead of us.

 First visit was the Indira Gandhi museum- can you see the scrum we were in? It was like that all the way through- a real crush...

 Truely the crowds all the way through the museum...hard to read things and discuss history.

 Everyone- what a crowd, we are sitting on the roof of a 600 year old Hunting Lodge we discovered in the grounds of the Planetarium...cool

 Here are the girls with us and the  boys following in the boat behind- lovely kids.

 Pani puri -the best snacks- little crispy puffs, that they guy breaks open and puts bean sprouts and cooked potato inside, and then tangy watery chutney- you pop it all in you mouth and crunch. t is the most amazing sensation of crisp crunch, spicy water all at the same time. Delicious and he keeps serving at lightning spped until you say BUUS!! [Hindi for enough]....it does take a while to reach that point as they are the best!Home again and Minku the tortoise is finally awake and cruising around- he gets rather active for an hour or two then finds a plant to burrom next to and snuggles up to go back to sleep....
I love my garden and home. Glad to be back.....
ohh now I have to stitch a few more scarves for my Stitching Ladies, it is Saturday and iI meet with more in Pushkar today....whew going well.
PS more Delhi photos on Facebook