whew -we are running!

Still digesting what we saw on the Delhi trip the other day- our primary aim was to check out a Trade Fair organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, of course following Indian tradition it is known by a string of letters EPCH - it is not often you say this in India- but here goes "Boy are they efficient"...paperwork to join went smoothly , only 2 copies necessary and the invitation to attend the fari actually hit rural Rajastahn the day after we made the request....my head is still reeling simply at the efficency of that!! Truely, I can't get over it.

And then onto the Trade Fair- seems good-we want to take a stall at the next one in February, which sounds good until we start listing all we need to do to be ready [Praveen, poor baby, does not know what has hit him because to do it he has to multi task] I had to laugh yesterday as he was being his usual blokey self doing one thing at a time and I started to hit him with the list of things on his back burner that also needed to be done....at the same time. He is stepping up and boy does he sleep well of a night- conked out as soon as he has eaten dinner.
Am I mean??...I keep chuckling at him as I toss more onto his pile. It is all just too much for me at the moment.
On the to do list is a new website and shop....it is starting- have a look www.the-stitching-project.com

DON'T try and use it because we aren't there yet.

 Going to Delhi means I have a chance to read magazines, politics can be a big drama here but this was a bit of local politics I was impressed with.
The State of Haryana [it surrounds Delhi] has hit the news a few times lately due to some Old Farts on village councils trying to get permission to ban mobile phones for unmarried women [causes promiscuity] and in the same magazine as this suggesting Chow Mein should also be banned [heats the blood...leading to promiscuity- yep!] and lowering the legal marriage age to 16 to ward off the evils of the said promiscuity....ahh yes - nutters.
Well here is some more positive news in one small vollage a woman was elected Head of the Village Council a few years back and she has since decided to throw off the veil [generally village woman have a viel lowered over their face] she said it did not suit any more- too difficult to get things done with that dragging in your face....the rest of the village has followed her. This village is remarkable for having a higher ratio of female children to male [it is illegal in India to have fetal sex determination and yet in most of India male births far out strip female??] , full school attendance, sanitation and water to every home....the list of what she has acheived is remarkable, a woman who never finished school but is determined to do something...can only hope more Village Councils follow her rather than worrying about Chow Mein

 Look what came in the mail [ I have discovered online shopping for books- heaven for book-a-holics]- this guy has a TV show and is excellent, cook book is interesting and varied, good for a feeling of the many regional variations in Indian cooking and the different appraoches to working with ingredients. having used many of his recipes from the TV show I know they are authentic and tasty

 Playing with new quilt ideas....

 Daydreaming about trips .we are at the beginning of the next round- heaps of organization to look forward before we get to go play...oh well we will apppreciate the slog come May- Morocco here we come!

 After monsoon the drive out to our favourite fabric shop nearly knocked our teeth out and our old car was un-impressed....

Playing with layouts so see what looks best- sooo exciting
Happy week to you, may you feel the satisfaction of ticking things off your "To do" list as we hope to do as well :)