Part 3 completed

Free design by Papillon Creations

I'm putting this down for a while and going to start stitching on Peacock Tapestry again. I anticipate getting back to this when part 5 has been released.

Back at work

After an almost weeklong vacation (minus monday), I'm now back at work. The weather could not have been more gorgeous last week. It was in 70s although one day it did hit 80s. I did a lot of yardwork. Laid down the sod by the steps we've recently had someone build, planted the shrubs, and tidied up the yard. I've planted roses, pink hydrangeas, Clemantis, Jasmine, Butterfly bush, and atleast 2 more shrubs I'm forgetting. I've put a lot of bulbs as well - Gladiolus, gayfeather, and Dahlias. We'll see if all the hard work was worth it in a few months. I need more hydrangeas for the front yard. And I am looking for a nice tree for the front as well.
It's been raining since yesterday. It's good for the sod and the grass seed.

Stitching - I've completed parts 1 and 2 of the Papillion Creations mystery - How does your garden grow. I forgot to give the design info. in the previous post. It's available if you sign up for their newsletter. I am almost done with the part 3 now and received the 4th installment yesterday. There will be a total of 13. I'm really happy with all the flower colors I chose, though the light green could be a little lighter. Oh well. I haven't decided if I'm going to add the beads as recommended, and if so, what color.

I took some pictures on saturday but they're stuck in the camera. I wish I was home today too. It's hard to come back to work-mode after a vacation.

How does your garden grow - Part 1

I planted the roses yesterday. The original plan was to put them on the east side of the house but later I thought they might be better in the back, which gets sun the whole day, so that's where they've gone. I am still deciding on where to plant the climbing rose. For the east side, I have gotten some more flowering perennials - spinea, and another one with blue blooms. I also got some clematis. That will go in the back next to the roses. I can't wait for bloom time! I need to get the hydrangeas from the nursery. They'll go on the east as well. I put a few ferns in the front in big planters. I am a fern-lover. If I could, I would have a garden full of ferns. The front of our house gets very little sun (North) so that should be good for them.


The wind was blowing so they look a bit weird.

So apart from gardening, I've been stitching a lot the past 2 days. Not much else going on. I'll share the garden pictures once it looks reasonable. Right now everything's such a mess.

One more picture before I go - how cute would this photo be for the goofball's room?

Angel of Love

It's finished at last.

Copyright - MLI
Fabric - Days Gone By Jazlyn by Silkweaver
Started - December 2003, Finished - April 2008

Charlie's Angels are back...

That's a nick-name we have for our little group at work - me and 2 other girls. One of the girls had visa issues last year and had to go back to school full-time to keep her visa status. Now she's back here as part time. Meanwhile the other girl went on maternity. She's back this week as well! The party is on!!

I'm off all next week! Not going anywhere just taking a little break at home. I need to plant some bushes and do some work around the house. I got someone to dig out a new bed on the side of the house for me yesterday. I just have to fill it with soil, plant the bushes and then mulch. Other that this, I'll be stitching..

Angel of Love is almost complete. I have around 3 hours worth of work left on it. Look for a HD hopefully by this weekend. I'm looking for a small project to start to celebrate this finish. This has been in progress for 4 years! I have too many big projects in progress and not enough smalls. I'm trying to reduce the overall # of WIPs. An ornament or biscornu will do. I'm very interested in learning the various finishing techniques everyone has been doing.

Sue asked about the Holi. Yes, we did go there and had a great time. Mehul loved playing with the colors. It was a bit cold though. We didn't stay for 'Holika Dahan' which was supposed to happen at 8 Pm, we left around 7:30. We met a friend and a girl from Mehul's class there as well. The temple had planned 'Matki Tod' among other things. It is the breaking of the sweets-filled clay pots which have been hung high above the ground. All those years of living in Delhi, I NEVER saw that custom happening anywhere. We're only familiar with this through the movies and the scripture. It was so fun to watch little kids break the pots and collect the sweets. Mehul was trying to dive along with them but I was worried to let go of his hand. He was fine and came out with 2 laddus LOL! A fun first holi for him.

We have put Mehul in soccer and this weekend is his first game! I'll be sure to take the camera. Hubby has training on saturday so he won't be able to attend this one. Too bad but atleast he'll have pictures to look at.

Well I'm off. Thanks for visiting this neglected blog :) I promise to do better.

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Holi

Holi - The Festival of Colors is right around the corner. It is a festival for the kids, and those who are kids at heart. As a kid, I used to love to play Holi. Oh, the dry and wet colors, the water balloons, and the pichkaris (Water guns). The fun never ends. We used to get up on the roof in the morning and start generating a *good* supply of water balloons (gubbara). Sometimes we'd put colored water in the gubbaras, but mostly, it was just plain water directly out of the tap on the roof. So after having an ammunition of atleast 50 or so balloons, we'd hide and be on the lookout for unsuspecting passer-bys down in the street. Spot a target, aim and shoot. If you miss, there is no second chance as the victim would know where it came from! The aunties used to be our favorite targets because they'd get so irritated sometimes...Heee And then we'd say the favorite slogan of Holi - 'Bura na mano; Holi hai' or just "Holi hai!" ("Don't mind; It's Holi!") Sometimes we'd just be pouring buckets of colored water down at people. SO much fun!

Ah, the good old days. And to be a kid again. Sometimes, we'd be so busy preparing balloon or finding targets, we'd be hit by someone else on a roof or from behind the door. After being on the roof for quite a while, we'd venture outside when the coast was clear. We HAD to get to friend's houses and get them and their parents, ofcourse! This is where we'd usually be caught because the neighborhood guys were always hiding in the streets. They'd sneak up on us and we'd freak out! It was their chance to get back at us. And this is why we went in groups. Never alone!

The uncles and aunties of the neighborhood always played boring holi - just with Gulal (dry colors) which is easily washed off. The real fun is in the water. I guess I have become the Auntie now as I'm only going to play with Gulal this time LOL! My brother used to come home after playing with his friends and he was unrecognizable. All the guys were indistinguishable by face.

Holi is always at the beginning of spring and it's comfortably warm in Delhi now. It's a nice way to transition from winter to spring. Here it's still a bit cold to play with water.

It is this Saturday. Since coming to the US, this is the one festival which is completely lost for me. I like to put a little bit of gulal on DH's and Mehul's foreheads, but that's the extent these days. HOWEVER, this weekend we're going to the Temple to celebrate it. There are great many people who celebrate at the temple, so this time we're going. We'll wear something we don't mind ruining and will just have a great time. I'm so excited!! This will be Mehul's first 'proper' Holi. I hope to have a little bit of my childhood back :)

Some Holi pictures from Flickr They're not mine but hope you have fun looking at them.