Back after a hiatus

Winter has come to an end and it is time for me and my blog to come out of hibernation. The moving and settling in into my new home was time consuming and back breaking. You would think that I would be used to it by now as we have moved ten times in the 22 years of our marriage. Yes that is right 10 times, but each time it has been for something better or bigger. And this time we have moved from a rented place to our own house.

There was a lot of unpacking to be done, decluttering, arranging stuff, buying new furniture, followed by a visit from my mother-in-law, so the blog was the last thing on my mind. Okay, actually I am lying! The blog was always on my mind and I was feeling guilty about neglecting it because I have realised that I really love blogging.

Now that everything is in its place (sort of) I finally got the time to have a good look at my surroundings. Here are a few photos I clicked of the new housing complex:

This huge metal ant is the first thing that will catch your eye when you enter the complex. While creepy crawlies really freak me out I like this giant ant. Can you see the last building behind those trees? Well, that is where we stay and it takes a good 7-8 minutes just to reach the gate!!

As you move along there are more of these ginormous ants, like this one near the badminton court,

  A splash pool for the kiddies,

A place to play cricket for the youngsters, covered with nets on all five sides. So no fear of broken window panes!

The platform you see in the foreground, covered with glass bricks actually provides sunlight to the underground parking area plus it is used in the evening as a seating area by children and adults alike.

One more ant near the kids play area,

The kids-only sections,

The Club which has a gymnasium, library and swimming pool,

And now saving the best for last...huh! While my bloggy friends out there are sharing pictures of lovely verdant green rolling English countrysides and white snow covered mountains, I have this - a concrete jungle. I guess it is one of the perks(!) of living in a big city. :)

So, how do you like the view from my bedroom window?!
 
I hope you liked the pics.

I have finally managed to do a bit of de-cluttering on my blog. Does it look a little bit better?

In all this chaos, I did manage to crochet a bit and I will be back with some crochet Ta-Dahs soon. Would you guys like some free crochet patterns? Do let me know. Happy crafting.

 

A New Year and a New Home

Namaste friends. Wishing you a very

~*~ HAPPY NEW YEAR ~*~

 A Big Thank You to my regular readers for not giving up on me and coming to visit me again in spite of my prolonged absence. A warm welcome if you are visiting my blog for the very first time. 

As you can guess from the title we have moved to a new home. No, not back to Mumbai which is the logical guess with me constantly harping on the virtues of life in Mumbai. We have moved from one part of Ahmedabad city to another part which could be considered as the old city. While this move has been mainly to help my hubby cut down on his commuting time it has taken me away from the few friends I had made near our old home. Pity!

But our new home is in a large housing complex consisting of fifteen 12 storied buildings with well maintained premises, a kids play area, a gym and a swimming pool so it is not such a bad deal after all. Of course I am yet to enjoy any of these facilities as moving and settling in is taking much longer than anticipated. Also with hubby away at work, doing everything on my own has been back breaking and boring too. I will share photos of my new home soon.

During this move I realised that over a period of time I have accumulated a ridiculous (shameful) amount of yarn. I think this condition is known as SABLE - Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy which in this case just might be true. Add to this the fact that we have moved from a huge house to a much smaller one....making it impossible to hide my yarn inventory....haha. I am having a really tough time. My husband keeps looking at the cartons of yarn and my 1000 odd books overflowing all over the place and just keeps shaking his head. But of course he cannot actually voice his displeasure...LOL. I guess I will just have to crochet more and faster too.

But this post is not about crochet. In fact I was supposed to write this just after Diwali but an unexpected trip to Mumbai really upset my blogging plans. Last year Diwali was a very quiet affair for us as it was only the two of us with sonny boy now settled in Mumbai. So instead of doing the usual  splurging and gorging on sweetmeats, I decided to something different. Something that I wanted to do ever since we moved to Ahmedabad. And that was to visit the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram.

Gandhi Ashram at Sabarmati

The visit to the Gandhi Ashram was  wonderful, almost like stepping back in time. You feel a sense of peace and tranquility as soon as you enter the gates, which is amazing as the Ashram is within the city. As you move around the pictures and artifacts you are transported to another era. 

Here are a few pics from our visit:

 The Ashram looks so calm and that is exactly the feeling that envelopes you once you enter inside.

Gandhiji and his wife Kasturba in 1918.

Gandhiji's handwriting in various Indian languages.

Gandhiji's room in the ashram. A peek into this room makes you realise that to do great things you do not need the great trappings of modern life or huge offices or fancy stationery. A really humbling thought.
 

Gandhiji with his Charkha or Spinning Wheel which became a symbol of revolution and ultimately gave birth to Khadi. Khadi is hand spun and hand woven cloth mostly made of cotton. Sometimes silk or wool may be added to khadi. Khadi was promoted as a movement to make Indians self reliant  on cotton and not depend on high priced foreign goods.

 This gentleman would show visitors how the charkha works.

A multi dimensional representation of the Dandi March also known as the Salt March or Salt Satyagraha. Gandhiji undertook a 24 day march from Sabarmati to Dandi as a non-violent protest against the British salt monopoly in colonial India.

Gandhiji picking up salt at Dandi. (So lifelike)

A view of the Sabarmati River from the Ashram.

Mahatma Gandhi - The Father of our Nation.

I hoped you enjoyed these photos. I will be back soon with a crochet post.

My resolution for 2015 is to Beat Procrastination (which I think will solve all other problems). What is your resolution for this year?

On my telly: Monk and Downton Abbey.

Ciao,