Re-think

Today I talked with Nicole about my book, booklet and website and as a result have had a complete re-think.  Nicole suggested that I produced even more digital material and only created a leaflet which I could sell for a very small amount of money.  She also said that I should use the website to see which recipes were popular and use them to create a recipe book.

Which means that I now have to completely re-think what I am doing with this book.  I feel its very exciting though and that what I eventually produce will be more relevant for everyone.

Deep

Today I feel I got a lot got done without my having to think too much about it.  This morning I was working on three different things simultaneously and they all got successfully completed.

While doing this I felt I was connected to something very deep.  Something that knew all these things had to get done and enabled me to do it.

The best sort of work

This is a picture of the most satisfying work I did today.  It looked so beautiful and will hopefully eventually provide us with lots of pineapple.

Attending a Farm group meeting and writing the notes made me feel as if I had gone through the wringer.  Horrible.

Water in the pond!

Last night we had an incredibly fierce thunder storm which damaged the solar system, so no electricity last night.  This morning we found that the inverter was burnt out and maybe can’t be repaired – we will find out tomorrow.  Modem also broken but this was just the charger which only costs Rs500 instead of Rs2000 for a whole modem.  Still feel a bit battered by it all.

At last there is water in the ponds – only two puddles but at least there is something.  We all had a look at the frog spawn in one of the puddles which is the dark round bit in the middle of the puddle.  Shows how the frogs waste no time in making the best of what water there is.

Work on the booklet

I sat down yesterday with very little enthusiasm for writing but as there was time to do it I did it anyway.  Amazingly several hours later I had nearly finished.  And this included descriptions of restaurants that I have sent off to the different places for their approval.

At the same time I received three different possibilities for the cover from Isabelle.  The picture is of the design I like the best because it echoes the other covers of Buddha Garden books.

Dirk's boat

This is a picture of Dirk’s boat after they drained the canal.  Apparently the canal sprung a leak and they had to drain a section of the canal so they could mend it.  And this at almost the height of the guest season.  According to Dirk it lasted three days and didn’t smell too bad.

Now that his boat is floating again and peacefully moving forward hopefully that will also be the case for me.

Healing

Amazingly Road Service came to make a proper job of mending the road today.

As I stood and watched them do it I felt the road heal and with it my hurt feelings at the way I was ignored and put on one side as if how I felt and thought didn’t matter.

Green

This is a picture I took of a bed just after we had planted it this morning.

I love the pattern of green on the bed and the satisfying feeling of planting something from which we will get food.

A Reminder

Last night Rajan came round with the above poster that he had had framed for our office.

Reading it reminded me what I am doing here and I intend to use it in the proposal where we are requesting the new land.

A new feeling

Went down to the bottom land today to find that all the stone pillars had been put up all around the land.  Tomorrow they will start putting the wire in place to make the fence.

I was amazed how different the land felt even with just the pillars around it.  

Beautiful

We have some people helping us put up a fence at the bottom of the land and they found this tortoise.  Apparently it is extra special because of the star pattern on its shell.

As the picture shows, it was not the least bit interested in coming out to see us!

View from my window

This is the view from my window at the Promenade where I went to have lunch with Ashok.

After an extremely difficult and intense week this short break was just what I needed.

Busy day

1.   Today there has been work all over Buddha Garden and a strong sense of things moving on.  The picture shows a large crew of people who came to do the new fence around a small piece of extra land along the bottom land of Buddha Garden.  They managed to get all the granite pillars in and when that land is finally enclosed it will create a very different feel for the land.

We have also had people working on the new land cutting up the eucalyptus tree roots.  This is a noisy job with a chain saw.  I am so glad that we found someone for whom the roots are useful.  They are actually going to pay us something for them.

On my bike

This picture was taken by Rajan as I was riding along on my way to see Jo.  It was a wonderful session and so helpful.

I realise that to deal with this difficult situation I have to be clear about my own values and act in alignment with them.  If necessary I have to draw a clear line about what is and is not acceptable behaviour.

I feel much better as it is about acting positively in alignment with what I want to create and express.  I do not have to waste energy trying to push away things that try to undermine what I am doing. If my light is strong they will fall away. 

Drops of Joy

Things continue to be difficult and I have the strong feeling of energies that are trying to undermine what is happening here in Buddha Garden and Auroville.

In the midst of this I had the uplifting visit of students from Udavi school who we are going to help set up a vegetable garden.  I was conscious of there being a lot of concepts for them to absorb, but I think that will start to make more sense as we do more of the practical work.

I showed them around the garden and here they are doing the last exercise which was to draw a vegetable plant that they liked.

Another argument

Had an argument with Pierre today who has just gone ahead with organising the road repair how he wants it despite the fact that I have a different view about how it should be done.  There was no attempt at all to try and come to a mutually acceptable point of view.  I actually felt a bit better afterwards as it gave me a chance to say what I wanted to say.  He also organised the JCB which came late because of battery problems.

As usual Pierre rushed off after morning work and wasn’t seen in Buddha Garden all day.  He came back wanting cash because the JCB driver wanted an advance for diesel.  Naturally Pierre hadn’t thought of this.  Road wasn’t done either because Venkat had to go to Chennai.  I hate feeling that I am running around after everyone  to get stuff done. 

Agitation

Have had a very agitating day starting with a Farm group meeting where there was little goodwill and many attempts at manipulation. After the rain we have a problem with the road outside and Pierre and Rajan have been quarrelling over the best way to fix it.  Pierre won’t listen to the Road Service solution which he says is too expensive.

Government surveyor came in and everything marked out on the new land. Pierre pushing hard to do things on the land his way and won’t listen to my concerns.  There have been eucalyptus trees on the land for nearly 20 years and I think the land needs time to recover.  While Pierre wants to start immediately growing hundreds of banana bushes and other trees providing fruit for his business.

I feel under siege. 

Lovely rain

Had some lovely rain last night that brought the temperature down a bit for a while.  Although the rain didn’t last that long it was quite heavy and I expected there to be some water in the pond.  But all we got was this damp patch.

Shows how hot and dry it has been.

Heat

First time for ages, since I moved here I think, that I did some ‘art work’.

For days now it has been really hot – up to 40C or close – most days.  I find it rather exhausting especially as I don’t sleep well.   The picture is how I feel when it gets that hot.  As if I am surrounded by heat that prickles on my skin.

It makes more work in the garden because we have to plant in the evenings when there is only Rajan and me to do it.

A day full of pictures

I have spent a lot of the day putting all the pictures together for the booklet so that Isabelle can get on with doing the graphics.  This involved going to Foodlink and taking pictures of vegetables and fruit for which I didn’t already have pictures as well as grains.

I really liked the pictures of the grains which I made into the above collage.

A new beginning

Today was the start of a new project with nearby Udavi school which is in the village but supported by Auroville.  A teacher there wants to start a vegetable garden with a class of children and Buddha Garden is going to help.

The picture shows Sudhir (the teacher) and Rajan (the Headmaster) looking at the area where we are going to make the first bed. I am very excited about it!  

Hot and dry

We are in the middle of a hot and dry spell – so dry that even the large pond has dried up for the first time since it was dug.

In the small pond there are a lot of holes made my land crabs.  I set this picture up with a dead crab that one of the volunteers found.  Maybe this one stayed out in the sun too long and didn’t get below ground before it got too hot.

This time last year

Today I feel as if I have been processing a lot related to difficult situations that have to be resolved.  It takes a lot of my energy so there was nothing left over to think of or create a suitable picture.  Not even a photograph.  So I looked at what I was doing this time last year and got this fabulous picture of Sam when we went to do early morning shopping.

Made me feel very happy. The things I have had to think about and try and resolve now don’t seem so bad.

Beautifully white

The white washing on my house is just finished and I couldn’t resist taking this picture.

I think it looks really lovely.

The mock up

This is a picture of the finished mock up with the pull out section which I finished yesterday.  Getting the pages printed took several goes because I found it hard to get my head around how to lay out the pages so they came in the right order when put together.  This is obviously much easier when you get the right software!

I really enjoyed making it and I think it will give possible collaborators a really good idea of the concept. 

Today I spent quite a lot of time working on the content and feel a deep sense of satisfaction about how it is coming together.

Cover

Today is John’s death day and I was looking at pictures of him and wondering if that was my picture for today.  Decided to use this picture instead of the cover for the print booklet I made today.  It is like the cover for the e-book but with a different supplementary title.

I spent some time working on the mock up today which I will print out.  I think it will give a better idea of what the booklet will look like and will hopefully encourage the restaurants to join in and be featured.  I will start going to see people and showing them next week.  I also need to work more on the content although I can see it is getting there.

Cards

Had a wonderful session with Jo playing with the cards.  I was checking up on my diary and am amazed that it is only three weeks ago that I moved as it feels a lot longer.

Yet it seems that it is going to take more time than I thought to properly settle down although I was surprised to see that my writing is part of that process. 

It feels right so long as I do not push anything, especially myself, but allow the energies to carry me along.

Admiring

Have had an extremely intense day with a difficult meeting this morning and writing up the notes this afternoon and into the evening.  I feel very tired.

I found time to go and admire the new cabin again though.  I hope someone comes to use it soon!

Home from home

Put the final touches to the second volunteer cabin.  Gave the place a good clean and then put up the curtains at the windows and doors.

It looks lovely and is now ready to be a home from home for a volunteer.