Then and now

Have worked with a lot of pictures today. For a talk I am doing tomorrow and for posters for the Udavi school project.

I really like these two – one taken at the beginning of Buddha Garden in 2000 and one this afternoon.  So much has happened in between!

Website went live!

I feel SO pleased as today, at last, the Earth to Eating website went live.  I feel I have been working on it for so long and suddenly it is out there in the world.

And it is my eldest daughter’s birthday which is also the anniversary of the day I arrived in Auroville to live over 20 years ago.  None of which was planned when I started setting up the website!

Dancing again

With my foot feeling rather sore and still prone to swelling I haven’t felt like going to ballet classes.  I don’t think my foot could manage it.  So I went to Nia class instead which doesn’t have to be so hard on my feet – first time this year.

I really, really enjoyed it and will try to go at least once a week while Phillippe and Sabine are here.  I feel much better.

Pictures of food

Have been working on the new website all day.  Mostly with pictures of food.

This is a picture of what Sivakala cooked at the course on Wednesday.  Feeling generally better, I hope because I am learning not to fight all the time.

From the inside

Have been thinking a lot of what Jo and I talked about.  This is a picture of how my feet feel from the inside.  I think that on my left ankle the infinity symbol is reminding me not to get into ways of being – like fighting – where I just go round and round.

Went to yoga and not sure whether I feel better or not.  I certainly feel more relaxed.

Card

This is a card I received today from a Val and her daughter Ivy who left today.  I will miss them.

Felt really bad as have a bad cold and didn’t sleep for having a blocked nose and coughing last night.  Have had some acupuncture and feel better now.

Very pleased with what I was able to do on the new website.  Hopefully it will go live this weekend.

I will not fight

I saw Jo today and has some very profound insights.  It is not good for me to fight for what I want.  It uses a lot of my energy and is rarely successful.

Much better to work from the heart and create something positive with other people.

Unsure

Had a difficult night last night with a sore throat and sinuses.  It feels as if I have a cold coming.  Rather upset given that I am just getting over the infected foot.  I don’t understand why I need to keep on being ill! I am doing my best to look after myself.

Despite that got a huge amount done today.  Collected the new leaflets which are fine and talked with Mohan about the website which should go live at the weekend.  Took the above picture of ragi dosa at Sivakala’s course today.

I feel all this happened without me having to push too hard.  So why do I need to be sick?

Lovely colours

These are flowers that Susheela arranged in the kitchen yesterday.  There seems to be something in the light this time of year which makes these colours glow.

Just what I need after a very busy day with a Farm Group meeting.  Followed by writing up all the notes and draft letters. Me sitting up in bed doing it so my foot has the best chance to heal.  It is much better but still hurts if I put too much strain on it.

Success!

Went to look at the vegetable garden in Udavi school this afternoon.  First time for some weeks.  I was very pleased to see everything looking green and healthy.  Plus there were quite a lot of beans growing, which they picked and then ate raw.

Have had some thoughts about how the project could be carried on.  So next job is to write a proposal for it.  Have also got to make some posters for their parents’ evening.

How it is and how it feels

Yesterday I got a compression sock for my swollen foot.  This is how it looks.

This is how it feels – still rather delicate despite the fact with the sock it feels more comfortable for walking around.

How it was

I wrote an article today about the development of what we now call Jala bhoomi or land of water.  I came across this picture of the field completely flooded in 2009.  As a consequence all the casuarinas died.  I remember feeling so depressed about it and wondering what on earth would grow in this place.

The key was to see what the land wants – in this case water.  Realising this led to the construction of the ponds and the planting of trees and the development of what is a very beautiful part of Buddha Garden.

Soooooooooooooo busy

I am SO busy being full up with volunteers and so much other work to do.  Despite this am very pleased with myself that I managed to spend every afternoon this week sitting up in bed with my leg up.

This picture is early morning in Pryog orchard where there was stillness despite all the people around.

Lights in the dark

I received this picture from one of our long term volunteers.  He left recently and this picture was of the lights he had in the stone circle together with a bonfire.

I like it so much its now the wallpaper on my computer.

I love our tomatoes!

This is a picture of our first crop of tomatoes.  As always there aren’t very many and they don’t look anything like the ones that you get in a supermarket.

They taste delicious though and I love them!

Not an interesting picture

Am having a lot of problems getting enough photos to illustrate the recipes on my new website.  I tried taking a picture of this morning’s breakfast of upama.

Hopeless! It doesn’t look at all interesting or tasty.  Will have to hope that those that use the website are willing to upload something better.

Needed

Yesterday when I saw my dance teacher she suggested that I soak my swollen foot in water with bicarbonate of soda in it. I asked whether there was any in the communal kitchen and was given this huge box full.  Amazing! Just what I needed has turned up.

I took it as sign and soaked my foot this morning.  It feels much, much better although it is still quite swollen.

Nilamba

Got a parcel yesterday with this lovely birthday present in it from Sam who had done the painting.  She sits on my window sill and seems to be watching out for me.

I have called her Nilamba which was a name that just came to me while I was looking at her.  

1000 mistakes

We looked at the printed leaflets today and found a mistake in the title.  Instead of ‘Eating with the Seasons’ it says ‘Eating With Seasons’.  On all 1000 of them.

When I told my friend Martina, who I think has to do quite a lot of printing for her labels etc, she said ‘it could have been worse!’  Ah well.

A night out

Managed to get my postponed birthday night out with Pieter and Michael last night.  Very enjoyable apart from having a lot of trouble trying to get a taxi back afterwards.  When I wanted to book the taxi earlier I was told to phone when I was ready.  I did that and there wasn’t a taxi available!

So Pieter phoned up various people he knew and managed to find me one.  We are going to repeat the experience soon!

Beautiful shape

Spent some time talking to a volunteer who has been with us some time.  He gave me his photographs and this is one of them which I think is really beautiful.  I have put as wallpaper on my computer.

It is a wonderfully positive antidote to the negative things that I had to cope with yesterday.  Someone is trying to be obstructive about my website proposal.  For no other reason except that he doesn’t want me to get the money to do it.

Still swollen

This is a picture of my feet after I went to get the dressing renewed.  They didn’t do quite such a neat job as last time.

I think it is going to take a while for this to be completely resolved.  It is certainly giving me time to think and talk with Vivek about how we move forward.

What happened

Ill

Am writing this after a weekend when I have been in bed with a fever and an excruciatingly painful very swollen foot. No question of pictures or writing as I have not been able to sit at the computer.

Went to see the Doctor today and have been put on antibiotics. He was insistent and the alternatives were very long drawn out. Foot is more swollen but I feel better!

Have got to take better care of myself.  Am starting by getting someone to help with housework, at least in these really busy months.  Then must find a way of getting more time away and properly off.  Am also going to reschedule what I do.  I have to prioritise things better and not feel I have to do everything myself.

A momentary lapse and....

This is what I woke up to this morning.  I went out last night and walking back in the dark stepped on a thorn twig.  I just pulled it off and there is a very small cut on the third toe of my left foot.  Which has obviously got infected because I did not clean it as soon as I got home.

Feeling hot and cold and not very well at all.  Don’t think I will be able to go out as planned tonight.

Me at 70

I was looking at some pictures given to me by a volunteer.  This is me in Buddha Garden directing some activity or other.  Me at 70 years old.  Amazed that I have got this old and still bossing everyone around!

Haven’t felt very special today, but got lots of things lined up for my birthday week.  Saw Sam on Skype and he sang Happy Birthday.  Which was lovely.

A mad mad day

The alarm woke me up at the usual time.  I thought I got up about two minutes later.  In fact I had been asleep for about 30 minutes! Consequently I was late and it seemed to put me out for the rest of the day.  It is only now that I feel I have caught up – sort of.  I feel I have been talking to people all day, starting with compost making which is what is happening in the picture.

So many things have happened, the best being a really good idea of Vivek’s for doing next year as part of the Auroville birthday celebrations.  It is very exciting – bit too exciting if I’m honest.  What with everything else that is going on.

Must make sure I do my yoga before I go to bed.

Back then

Had a day off today as it was Republic Day.  Bala managed to get the website working so have spent a lot of time working on it.  It is much less clunky than the last one.  I came across this picture of some women from the Rajiv Gandhi home for disabled girls.  This is a picture of their roof top garden which they made after coming to Buddha Garden to learn how to do it.

I was reminded of how much I enjoyed this project.  How bad I felt when the woman who set it up died unexpectedly and it was taken over by her family.  They saw it as no more than a money making venture. It was so sad and showed the necessity of making sure projects like this are properly set up financially.  I often wonder what happened to the women who, when I knew them, were developing very positively.

Learning in the garden

We had a group come into the garden today which included this little girl and her mother.

I love this picture of her learning about pumpkins and how heavy they can be.

Family map

Have been working at my computer all day.  A usual thing it seems for a Sunday.  This being the only day of the week when I seem to have time to do it.

Bala came and showed me the new website he has set up for Buddha Garden.  I asked if he could get everything ready so I can work on it on Tuesday which is a day off.  But it doesn’t look like he will be able to do it.

He is feeling the pressure of family responsibilities and doesn’t have time.  He went on to talk about his family land problems, drawing the above map in the process.  There are plots of land and houses all over the place and no agreement on how they should be shared out.  The map seems to express his situation which I think is shared by many local families here.