And Life Goes On...

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Namaste friends. Feels good to get back to blogging. I know it has been a while. 
Thankfully, this time my absence was due to happy reasons. 

Birdie has flown the nest:

My little birdie, has flown all the way across the seven seas. Sonny boy  joined the college of his choice in the US, in the first week of September. We are so proud and thrilled. And now we are left with our empty nest.

When people tell you that their child has gone to US/Canada/Germany/Australia for higher studies, it all seems so simple. But now I know how exhausting it can be! Uff, the running around for the transcripts, visa, bank loan, followed by the shopping. Also the feeling of being emotionally drained. Being separated  from your only child is tough! Especially because sonny is my confidante, my best friend and also partner in crime when it comes to demolishing pizzas and ice cream. Not to mention wolfing down yummy vada-pavs before Dad got home from work, to escape the lecture about junk food and obesity.  ;)

My dreams about being a free bird in my "empty nest" came to nought. While I thought that I will now be crocheting and blogging to my heart's content, that was far from the real scene. For the first few weeks I lost all interest in blogging, Etsy, internet and even crochet (!!). There was a little bit of joy in the second week of September but very little.

Celebrating the Half Century Mark:

On the tenth of September I celebrated my Fiftieth Birthday. 
Yes, the big Five Oh! 
The half century mark!
I was thrilled, excited and scared at the same time, if that's even possible :)
Thrilled that I had made it so far. An achievement in itself!
Excited about  what the future might bring.
Scared, and also a bit sad that the downhill journey had begun, and that the wear and tear on the body will now begin to show.
But then again, why worry. After all Age is only a number. And Life Begins at Fifty, right!?
(What? Life begins at Forty...never heard that one....LOL)

The fact that sonny was so far away did dampen my spirit, but hubby took me to Patang - a revolving restaurant in Ahmedabad, and that did help to lift my mood. It was a lovely experience and the food was good. We took a lot of pics, unfortunately Ahmedabad does not have any spectacular views/vistas to capture from above.  A wonderful experience, nevertheless.

I got a ton of goodies as gifts, but my camera needs servicing, so I'll be sharing them with you at a later date.

A blog post without a pic is a strict no-no. So here is a collage of the mandalas I made, once I finally got over myself and picked up my hook (Thank God!). Details about the mandala will follow later.

Usually I don't share personal photos, but I cannot resist sharing this one (this pic was supposed to accompany the big Birthday post which never got written). 
So go ahead and please take a slice of my birthday cake. Don't worry its a virtual slice, so its still fresh :)

Are you shopping for Christmas gifts, or making them yourself? Do let me know.

Instant gratification and a cross-country trip

Namaste friends, did 2016 have a month called June? Well, it whizzed by so fast I couldn't catch a glimpse of it! :)

Instant gratification:

In an earlier post, I shared all the large crochet projects that I had started inspired by the CAL calender. If you have not had a look at the crochet calender, I urge you to do so as you will definitely find something you will like. Just hop down to my previous post.

While large projects are fine, sometimes you have a craving for seeing a project reach completion and that too...fast. So here is a project I managed to squeeze in, in between working on my huge blankets.

Crochet Newborn coat.

Isn't it super cute?! 

Maybe it is nature taking its course. Or, menopausal grandmotherly hormones kicking in. Or, maybe just the desire to leave some little thing for the new generation yet to come, I suddenly find myself wanting to make lots of items "for my grandchildren".

My family thinks I am crazy, but what is the harm I say. Life is unpredictable after all.

This item is one of the many I am working on and of course I will be sharing those too, upon completion. :) 

The free pattern for this coat is available at www.justcrochet.com, where you can also get dozens of more kiddie patterns.

The yarn is called Shining Star and I have used a 4mm hook.

From Mumbai to Meghalaya:

I was away from home for almost two weeks in the month of June, which may be the reason it seemed like a very short month to me. (No internet, no crochet...boohoo)

I was on a crazy errand which took me and sonny boy right from the west coast of the country to the North East! A totally unplanned and may I say a totally unnecessary trip :(

My son completed his Bachelors last year, with distinction, may I add, (feeling so proud), and expressed a desire to pursue a Masters in his subject. So we applied for a transcript and then we waited...and waited... and waited!! With the transcript showing no signs of arriving even after three months, and our phone calls to the Univ going unanswered, hubby decided that sonny boy and I should go and collect it from the University personally. Except, there was a small problem. The University was only 2500 Kms away... in Meghalaya (North East India)!   

I was unhappy about the trip as we had never visited that part of the country. Also I was worried that the University may be closed for the holidays. Fortunately, all went well and we got the transcript, phew! Silly people, if only they had sent it on time. We would have saved the ton of money spent on flight tickets and hotel rooms.

On the last day of the trip I blackmailed cajoled my son into accompanying me to the Kamakhya temple (Guwahati, Assam). This temple has great religious significance and is one of the 51 Shakti Pithas.

Here are a couple of pics from the outside of the temple. Photography is not allowed inside most Indian temples.

On my Telly: Madame Secretary and Masterchef Australia. What about you?

See you soon.