Getting ready

Today I have spent doing lots of little jobs that need to get done and buying the last of the presents for my family. Feeling more relaxed but still not really sure I am going.

Took some pictures this morning for Facebook and am using my favourite for my picture of the day.  I would love to know what this volunteer found amongst the weeds.  I think she was having a good look at the grass roots which were difficult to pull out despite the soil being soft after the rain.

Starting to pack up

Spent a lot of today emptying my wardrobe and packing up the clothes I am leaving in the trunk.  Rajan and Sangita are going to stay here while I am away and they need some space for their stuff. I also packed up the presents into bags for each of the children.  I worry about the size of the some of the T-shirts as despite measuring them all in the shop the sizes don’t all seem quite correct.  All I have to do now is get jam for Emma and Rachael.

The picture shows how my wardrobe looks now – much emptier. 

Where the valves are

This afternoon I created a guide about how to do the watering. This is for those who are going to do it while I am away.  I took pictures of all the valves in the different gardens and then annotated them.  This was a very fiddly job as I ended up having to use two different pieces of software to do it.  Probably ridiculous but there were some things I could do on one but not the other and vice versa.

This I think is the best picture which also happens to be the last one I did.  Obviously I needed a lot of practice to get it right.

Green

I have been out and about a lot today and walked back home from the Town Hall that gave me a chance to experience the road in a different way.  Its been a very grey day but it seems to make the green very intense. 

I took this picture on my walk.

My nazar

This was given to me by Spiros who has come back to Buddha Garden from Greece as a long term volunteer.  I immediately loved it and love the smooth glass finish of it.  I feel good when I hold it and stroke the smooth surface.

According to Spiros there are several different Christian, Muslim and pagan versions.  All of which are very popular in Greece to avert the evil eye.

Magzhiran's birthday celebration

It was Magzhiran’s first birthday to day – an important celebration - which Rajan arranged in Buddha Garden. 

That was when the rain started……

Summer solstice

I don’t know where these colours come from given how grey I feel.  Today I was reminded of a prayer we used to say when I was at school.

‘God allow me to change the things that can be changed, accept those things that cannot, and grace to know the difference.’

Sometimes it feels like we constantly capitulate to those who use underhand methods to get what they want.  With no legal system its difficult to do anything individually. No one has time or energy to stand up to people like this.

And I came here for something different!

Parcels gone

 

Today took the parcels of papers to the Ashram Post Office to send them off.  It looks SO Indian, despite having computers and other technology.  Nevertheless my parcel charges were worked out the old fashioned way with a pen on a bit of scrap paper. Mahendran has given this post office a lot of export business so is well known there and we got very good service.

Post office worker even agreed to repack the papers to make two 11kg parcels that are cheaper to send than one 22kg parcel.  

Frozen

An extremely quiet and rather boring day.  It feels like I haven’t spoken to anyone, but I have as I met a couple of people when I went to get my lunch at Visitors Centre.

I have decided I want to write another book, but cannot think what it could be.  I would like to write something different from what I have written before.

Realized that I feel scared and frozen about moving towards something new.

Parcels to go

Rajan and Sangita are coming to live in my place while I am in the UK.  As a result I am clearing things up more than I usually do when I go away.  I decided to send the last of my papers to the UK. And here they are all bundled up and ready to go.

All I need is my computer, tablet and kindle and I have all I need to go anywhere.

The Long Goodbye

I received this beautiful picture from Edwin yesterday.  I am so glad that in the midst of very serious health problems he is still able to create pictures like this.

Beautification

One of the really nice things about having lots of volunteers this time of year is that we have time to do beautification projects.  We have already spent a lot of time in the Pryog orchard, but this morning things looked really good when we got rid of a jungle of weeds just near the entrance. 

It looks lovely.  At least as good as Kew Gardens which is where I get my inspiration for this part of the garden.

Ticket to go

Got a taxi this morning to go around Auroville and do lots of jobs, one of which was to get my ticket.  At the same time I also got a pair of earphones for my tablet to replace those eaten by the rat.  I have tried them and they are really good.  Earphone technology has obviously improved since I last bought some.

Elsie

Went and saw Auroculture today and enjoyed showing her this picture of Elsie and Emma.  I just love it.

Very pleased to find out today that there will be four long term volunteers in Buddha Garden while I am away.  As they are long term it means they will still be here when I return.  Which means that I could think of taking time off to go away.

Mark from Kodaikanal phoned out of the blue today.  It was lovely to reconnect after about six years.  I would love to go there and see him.  

Twists and turns

We planted pineapples this morning and I loved how they looked all in heap before we planted them.

Have had a lovely conversation with Rajan about the history of Buddha Garden.  Loved talking about how the place has evolved and how it used to look.  We also talked about how we wanted it to look and what buildings we need.

The shape of the pineapple tops are a good visual metaphor of how things changed, bent and twisted as we evolved.

Quiet day

This flower is called ‘golden waterfall’ and its gorgeous looking with a lovely smell.

Nothing seems to be happening and I am bored.  Yet ideas keep coming one after the other about what I do next.  At times it feels quite overwhelming as obviously I can’t do it all. Vivek has managed to get some money for the laboratory equipment to do his research so that is something else that will need thinking about. 

Morgane came to visit before she goes to France this evening.  She said that five planets have gone retrograde but are at the point of turning back. She said that’s why I have been so bored recently as planets retrograde means its difficult to do anything.  So now I know!

Starting the journey

Finally got around to buying the first presents for my trip to the UK.  Now the journey feels more real.  

I love the bright colours but have to be a bit careful of the designs. Some of the very Indian one have designs that upset the Christian members of my family.

Green oasis

This is a picture of the Pryog orchard that we cleaned up this morning.  I love sitting on the benches that we have put up and find it very healing and peaceful.

I can understand why Pierre got so attached to it and wanted to put his house there.

Snaky snake gourd

I was looking for a snake gourd to eat this evening and was amazed at how many of them actually looked like snakes.  This one was one of the best.

I loved the fantastic shapes they made as some of them were very twisted. Unfortunately most people prefer the shorter ones as they are easier to carry home and to prepare for cooking.  

Lovely smell

Yesterday, cycling through the woods to go and see Auroculture I kept smelling this lovely smell. Eventually I found it came from this unassuming flower from a very small tree.  It was really lovely.

Next time I see Auroculture I will see if she knows what it is as she is very good about flowers.

Auroculture

Went and saw Auroculture today as she is rather tied to her flat with a broken wrist.  Had a lovely conversation.

For the first time in quite a while I felt some energy inside me.  I will enjoy it while I have it and try not to worry too much about where it comes from or how long it will stay!

Flat day

Felt very uninspired today and couldn’t think of any picture that I wanted to create or even take a photo.

So I asked Emma to send me a picture.  Here is Sam getting over a day in the nursery.  Its quite hot for them at the moment so Sam is having a long drink and sitting quietly.

Going nowhere

Had a very quiet day today.  No watering needed because of the rain and few people around to talk to.

I feel like I am going nowhere.  I’m doing things and talking to people but there seems to be very little purpose to what I am doing.

Fierce rain

Had a rainy squall just after lunch that seemed to blow out of nowhere.  Which was followed a bit later by a thunderstorm. Seems like the summer rains may have arrived.

Have felt rather flat today.

Elsie

I think this is a lovely portrait of Elsie at less than one week old.  Photo taken by Uncle Dennis who with Auntie Sue visited the family yesterday and posted this picture on Facebook.

At least I didn’t delete this picture by mistake.  Which is what I did with 40 or so photos that I took this morning in Buddha Garden!  I’m still not quite sure what happened but deleted the pictures from the camera and then found that I hadn’t downloaded them. Oh I am daft as a brush……

Beautiful entrance

Selvam cut the grass in the guava patch yesterday.  So this  morning we cut the glyricidea growing around the trees.  Then we mulched the trees with green glyricidea leaves and topped them with brown leaves.

I am so pleased with how it looks!  Very tidy and cared for and the first thing you see when you come into Buddha Garden.

Hot

Another very hot day when I felt dehydrated this afternoon.  In fact I often feel I cannot drink sufficient water to hydrate myself properly!  However much I drink it never seems enough.

Today we opened our first jackfruit.  One was a bit over ripe, but the other was perfect for distribution.  We gave it to Pierre who will turn it into dried jackfruit.

This is a hot season fruit so feeling hot is all part of eating it.