Indian inspiration .....

.... I finally got into my craft room - somewhat later than planned, but I've had fun!  I've made my card for this week's Less is More challenge - White on White - but I'm going to post that tomorrow.  I need daylight to try and get a good photo.  So you'll have to wait and see :))

In the meantime I've made a card which has been inspired by my recent trip to Mumbai.  One of the things that we constantly saw while we walked around the city, were stalls selling flowers - marigolds to be precise.  These were made to be placed on shrines and as good luck symbols on shops and homes. 

One of the many stalls selling marigold garlands - so beautiful!!

 I decided to use the marigolds as the focus for my card.  I bought some stunning handmade paper while in Mumbai - bright turquoise covered with gold Hindi writing and I used a piece of it as the base layer of my card (I still have lots left to play with).  For the main image I stamped a pretty flower stamp that I got from Elusive Images ages ago.  I stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with gold detail powder.  I coloured the image with distress inks and an aqua painter.  And I finished off the card with a simple greeting as I'm sending this to one of my friends.

Stamps:  Elusive Image - Flower Stamp
Inks: Versamark; Distress - Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw
Accessories:  Card from stash; Handmade paper from Mumbai; Greeting from Craftwork Cards

These colours are almost exactly the colours for last week's Colour Q challenge - but sadly I've missed the deadline for that challenge.


Craft class today was lots of fun - I spent most of the morning chatting and catching up on all the gossip!!  Actually, I didn't to much crafting!!  But I did get to see what the rest of the girls have been up to - and they made some fantastic cards.  Barbara, brought all her birthday cards into the group to share them with us - we made some stunning cards!!   Betty has completed her cross-stitch picture of Menai Bridge which joins North Wales to Anglesey - it's absolutely superb.  And it reminds me that I started a cross-stitch picture of a dragon on a castle about four years ago, and it's in the bottom of my sewing basket.  I think I need to finish it!!

We had a lot more rain today and now that my garden is looking really green and lush, I'd like it to stop!!  I did managed to get some washing dry between down pours!!  I want the sun to come out again. 

That's all for today.  But do pop back tomorrow as I have my LIM card to share with you.  See you soon.

It's today ....

... just a very brief post as today we fly home.  We had a fantastic last evening.  Jonathan, Kathryn and I went to our favourite local restaurant with some of Jonathan's colleagues.  And we had a really tasty dinner - Indian meals were always one of my favourite in the UK, but I'm really going to find it difficult when I get home.  UK Indian meals are so, so different from the meals we've had here in Mumbai.  Still good, but lots different :)

Along with the colourful clothes, the beeping horns, the various smells - one of my other enduring images of Mumbai are the plants - they're everywhere.  They are grown in whatever type of pot that people can get their hands on - empty milk containers, tins, old buckets - anything.  And along side the roads are all types of flowering trees - some just pretty, and some fragrant.  The white blossom in the photo below is fragrant - it is simply gorgeous.

And I finally got onto the Roof Garden Terrace at the hotel.  It took a while, but was so worth it.  I got some photos that are really super.  I'm particularly pleased with the one below.  Old and new Mumbai side by side - the mill chimney from an old cotton factory, and the domed seating area on the garden.  It's a really lovely place.

And now we're off to breakfast.  We're all packed and, in truth, Kathryn is more than ready to be home.  Her comment to her Daddy this morning was "I'm happy and sad; happy to be going home and sad to be leaving you.  But happier to be going home!!"  Don't you love kids?

Thanks for sharing this journey with me.  Will be back soon.

Last full day ....

.... in Mumbai - and I can't believe it's almost time to go back to Wales.  I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely comments that have been left on my India blogs - I've read them all and appreciate you taking the time to leave them.  I can honestly say that it's been wonderful.  Mumbai is a city of enormous contrasts, but without exception, the people are polite, friendly and helpful.

You saw from my brief post on Saturday, that the hotel staff had arranged a lovely birthday party for Jonathan - it was fantastic!!  And we continued the good day by having dinner in the hotel - a superb Indian buffet.  We all wore our new Indian style clothes - Kathryn looked particularly lovely!


Yesterday, which was Maharashtra Day, we went to the zoo!  Yes, strange as it may sound we decided to visit the local zoo in Byculla - it's now called Jijamata Udyan (formerly Victoria Gardens) - it's different!  There aren't many animals (by UK) zoo standards, which may be fortunate, as the animals there are in the zoo are not the happiest I've ever seen.  However, we spent a lot of our time watching the visitors - and taking lots of photos.  To be fair, we featured in just as many photos.  The zoo grounds are beautiful, full of long walks and lovely plants - and it's obviously extremely popular with everyone in the area.

 

I could show you lots more, but actually, Jonathan has much better photos on his Flickr site - so if you want to see more photos of our days out - check here.

Yesterday evening we decided to try and get some photos of sunset at the sea.  So we headed to Worli seafront.  There's a really long promenade and it's hugely popular with everyone - particularly young couples.  It seems that everyone likes to be there in the evening.  So a few more pictures to share with you - including some taken by Kathryn.

For our final morning - I decided to drag (Kathryn didn't want to go out this morning) take Kathryn out for a quick walk around the local area.  I wanted to look in some of the shops and try to get a few more candid shots of the people.  Everything is so bright and colourful here - it was a great walk and I'm pleased that we went out.

Tonight we're all going out to dinner in the local restaurant - cheap, rustic food that tastes absolutely fabulous.  And then when we get back I have to pack!!!

Before I go though, I must welcome a couple of new followers - Joanne and Ioanna Maria - welcome Ladies!!  And that's really all for now.  Sorry it's such a long post - but there's so much to share :)

Birthday celebrations ....

... this is a very brief note to say that we have all had a superb day.  In the morning we all walked (yes, I know that's daft in this heat) to Phoenix Shopping Mall - and I'll up date you on that later.  This is to share with you the wonderful tea that the hotel organised for Jonathan.  I had mentioned to the girls earlier in the week that Jonathan had his birthday today.  They suggested a special tea and we have been spoilt!!

We had tea in the Points of View lounge at the top of the hotel.  The views from here are simply magnificent and I'll share a few.  But I must say how wonderful all the staff have been to us - a delicious cream fruitcake and canapes - all on the house!!  We have been treated so well.

Jonathan was even given a present - so thoughtful!!  And useful - a new tie.

You don't often get a chance to see us all together - it was such a lovely birthday tea!

Just before we left the lounge we went back out onto the terrace - the sun was setting and both Jonathan and I took the opportunity to take some more photos - and I'm really pleased with my sunset over Mumbai!

And it's not over yet.  Tonight we're having dinner in the hotel - we are all going in our lovely new Indian style clothes - and with luck I'll get some more photos of us all later and will share them soon.   I can't believe how quickly our time in Mumbai has gone past - only two more full days.  And we're going to make the most of them.

That's all for now.  Don't forget that tomorrow sees the new St Luke's Charity Card Challenge and CR84FN challenge - both are really fun!!

Got a cold ....

... strange as that might sound.  I started with a sore throat about four days ago, and at first it wasn't much of anything.  But yesterday I felt truly awful - and there's nothing worse than being ill away from home comforts.  And it's why I didn't post anything apart from my scheduled blog yesterday.

I had a long lie in and went for a late breakfast.  Then I did a bit of blogging and finally took Kathryn to the pool for her daily play - she had such a good time.  I spent a bit of time in the water and out in the sun, but had to give up and go back to bed for the afternoon.  I slept and Kathryn played on the Internet - thank goodness for Stardoll!!!

And today's been pretty well more of the same.  I still feel a bit rough, but I think things are improving now.  I'm sure I've got the cold because it's so hot and humid outside, yet deliciously cool inside!!!  Also air-conditioning really does make the atmosphere really dry.  Still all things being equal - I should be out and about tomorrow.  I can't believe how quickly our time here has gone by - we've only got four more full days in Mumbai.

While Kathryn was swimming today I took some photos of the views from the pool balcony.  From here we can see across to the hotel's Roof Terrace Garden - which we've not yet explored.  We did try when we first arrived, but were told that it was locked up for now.  Strange, as it's really lovely.

We can also see a new fly-over that's being built by the hotel.  Apparently it was started in 2009 but it doesn't look anywhere near finished.  It's the Lalbaug Flyover; it starts in Byculla and finishes at Bharatmata Junction - just by the hotel.  I'm told that normally these flyover projects are finished quite quickly.  I don't think the hotel will be too keen for this one to be finished - it passes by exactly at the level of the Roof Terrace Garden!!

There is a huge amount of construction taking place in Mumbai - it's amazing to see the men at work - they don't have the same safety regulations that we have in the UK.  Much of the scaffolding is made from bamboo!!!  It can be quite scary to watch!!

I'm going to have a restful afternoon reading my book - I've started another Stephen King novel - Desperation - and it's looking good.

Tomorrow I fully intend to get out of the hotel and do a bit more sight-seeing - I want to take some photos of the Victoria Terminus - another UNESCO World Heritage Site.  See you soon.

Shopping ....

... that's what Kathryn and I have done today - to be fair most of it was window shopping!!!  We started off early - always best to be out before it gets too hot.

I took Kathryn to the cinema to see Rio (in 3D) at the local PVR cinema at High Street Phoenix.  It was so cheap - 100 Rupees each - that's about £1.50 each - and we were in an air-conditioned cinema with the most amazing soft and comfortable seats.  I highly recommend the movie - it's bright, vibrant, funny, sad and happy - typical kids' movie - but good.   The one thing that is really strange about movies in India is that we don't have trailer before the main feature starts - no!!  About halfway through the movie it suddenly stops and we have adverts and a break to get popcorn and drinks!  Different strokes :)

After the film we decided to explore High Street Phoenix - it's a huge shopping centre with lots of very expensive European designer shops - Hugo Boss, Clarins, Chanel, Burberry - to name only a few, along side other slightly less expensive shops - Lush, Hamley's, The Body Shop, M & S - and some super local shops - Fabindia, Ashmina and Eco Corner.

I went into two very exclusive Indian dress shops, I can't remember the name of one, but it was just beautiful - the most magnificent saris and dresses. The other was Satya Paul - a big designer in India - check out his website - there are some stunning saris there.  I've linked directly to the women's wear section - I could spend hours looking at them!!  In the shop was a pink jewel encrusted wedding outfit - no picture on the web as it's exclusive to the shop - and it was stunning!!   It made me wish I that I was slim and rich :)))

I went into Ashmina and got myself a beautiful navy top - for wearing over trousers.  It's most plain, but has the most wonderful jewelled and embroidered detail at the neck.  And after that I went into a local stationery shop and bought some hand-made papers for making cards - they're lovely and you'll have to wait and see what I make with them.

And this afternoon has been great - Kathryn has been in the pool messing around and I've read my book - bliss!!

Out of order ...

... I've managed to get our India adventures out of order - but it doesn't really matter.  I told you yesterday about our Saturday outing to Chor Bazaar and the Hanging Gardens.

So today I'll tell you about Good Friday, which was our 10th wedding anniversary (and I showed you the card that I made for Jonathan).  Now I happened to mention to one of the young ladies at Reception on Thursday 21st that Friday was a special day for us.  She remembered it.  And on Friday morning at breakfast we were given a super cake.  All the staff gathered round, lit a candle on the cake and wished us a very happy day - and many more happy years to come!  It was such a lovely surprise and it tasted wonderful :)

Good Friday is a Bank holiday in Mumbai (not sure about the rest of India, it seems that regions pick their own holidays), anyway, as a result, it meant that Jonathan was able to spend the day with us.  So Jonathan took us out to Bandra.

We left the hotel reasonably early and headed towards the railway station.  Jonathan thought that we'd get a better understanding and feel for India by using the train.  He was absolutely right - it's quite an experience, but it's been done now.  No need to do it again!!



After we left Bandra station we headed up some stairs to an overhead walkway.   A great idea - superb views - but mostly it meant we didn't have to try and cross the roads!!  Always a bit hairy!  Jonathan thought we were heading towards one of the main shopping roads, but we took a wrong turn and ended up a bit lost.  So we took a "put-put" - a tiny three-wheeled taxi - and decided to have a look at some churches in the area.

St Andrew's Church (left) was built in 1575 by Portuguese Jesuits - it's an amazingly beautiful church.  And, at the time of our visit, was in use for Easter services, so we were unable to go inside.  However, we were able to walk around the Church grounds and look at the graveyard.  On the gravestones the names were a mixture of Indian and Portuguese.  It was really strange.




Next we walked along the promenade.  We took a number of photos on the way.  At first the shore line was rather nice (still lots of rubbish about, but relatively tidy).  There were boats in the sea and some people were walking about on the rocks.

However, further down the walk we reached an area of slum housing (which you can see in the photo).  By this time, it also became quite obvious that the water pools were not just water.  In fact in many places they were open toilets.  I think this is the first time that we really became aware of the serious poverty here in India.  These people have nothing.  They made their homes out of what they found on the shoreline and, like the men in this photo, they bathed in the sea.  There were people washing their clothes in the sea too - and leaving them to dry on the rocks.  We all found it quite shocking.

Finally, we walked up quite a steep hill (remember it was really, really hot) to reach the magnificent Mount Mary Church (left).  Again, there had been a morning service and it looked like it was going to be busy all day.  In front of the Church are a number of stalls from which local people buy candles to burn.  The Church that stands on the site is relatively new, but there has been a church in the area for hundreds of years.








In front of the Church there is a Statue of Mary which has been housed in a special shrine.  We climbed to the top - the views from here would once have been quite spectacular and, in many ways, they still are.

Many people had already been to the Shrine and placed candles there to burn and prayed to the Statue.  The place had a calm, quiet feeling to it.

After spending some time here, we walked further into Bandra - a really lovely place.  There were many very nice apartment blocks in the area and some houses too.  Bandra has become very popular with the rich and upcoming people - apparently Bandra is the place to be seen!

On the main shopping road there were some wonderful jewellery and fashion shops, but sadly (for me) by that time we were in a taxi on our way back to the hotel.   I think Jonathan was quite pleased that we were in the taxi.  It was a fascinating visit and an eye-opening one too.  I think after this visit we are all very aware of just how lucky we are in the West.

Here's Kathryn just after we got back to the hotel.  The ladies on reception (Customer Services) are always dressed in the most gorgeous clothes.  And on Friday they were in red and looked stunning, so I had to take a photo.

That's all for now.  I think I've brought us up to date.  Yesterday was a very lazy day - spent in the hotel.  Not sure what we're going to do today - but I'll be back soon.

Adventures continue ....

...  yesterday morning I told you, very briefly, that we'd been to Chor Bazaar on Saturday!  We set off quite early in the day, to try and avoid the worst of the heat and humidity.  We were dropped off in an area that is much poorer than the one we're staying in.  I know that there are some slums very near the hotel, but we don't see them too much. However, going to the market meant that we were in an area of considerable poverty.

There's an amazing and somewhat eclectic selection of goods obtainable at the Bazaar.  In one area there's furniture; in another bits of old cars - tyres, bumpers, all sorts; fabric; vegetables; spices; meat - living and dead; just about anything you could desire.  I got some fabulous shots of different types of stalls - here's a few to try and convey the sense of noise, colour and excitement.

One of the many bangle stalls on the market - so bright and cheerful!

We spent a couple of hours walking around taking photos and talking to the local people.  Some, as can be seen above, were happy for us to take their photos, but others were really not keen.  By 11.00am it was really very hot and the market smells were becoming extremely pungent!  Kathryn was beginning to find it rather difficult to cope with.  While we were approached a couple of times by people asking for money, it wasn't that common, but Kathryn didn't like it at all.  So we decided to head back to the hotel and some cool air.

After a restful time at the pool, we decided to go out again.  It was cooler and Jonathan decided he wanted to get some sunset shots over the beach.  We got a taxi to the Hanging Gardens - a park at the top of Malabar Hill.  I think the taxi driver took us by a somewhat circular route, but we got there eventually.  It's an amazing place - so much greenery in such a hot and dry place!  We had a lovely time walking around and taking photos of the flowers - some familiar like Bizzy Lizzies and other less so.

We crossed the road to Kamala Nehru Park - which is a super place where lots of people go to play.  It's very popular with families, and we spoke to lots of different people.  Many of them wanted to take photos of us (although I can't see why anyone would want a photo of me!) and they were more than happy to have us take photos of them too.  

We found the kids playground - swings, slides, climbing frames - it was such fun!!  We didn't get to the beach for Jonathan to take any photos - but we did have a super day!  After a much quicker return taxi trip to the hotel, we went out to a local restaurant, which we've nick-named "The Tornado" - the fans go at full blast, for a super tea.  A lovely vegetarian meal which was tasty, filling and reasonably cheap.

That's all for now.  It's now 10.30am (Mumbai time) and Kathryn is keen to visit the pool.  Today I've decided not to swim or sunbathe.  I'm simply going to take my book down with me and read while Kathryn swims.  I'll post again later today - with some pictures of our trip to Colaba on Sunday.