Trek

The trek in the Himalayas inspired this scarf. We were advised to put one foot in front of the other and take small steps, a bit like the embroidery on this scarf - one small stitch at a time.   

The cotton silk is soft and fine and this is what I saw while folding up the scarf so I had to have R hold it up with the light shining in from the back so I could photograph it. 

Its amazing what blogging has given me in terms of interactions and learning in all these years I've had this blog.I have to thank all those who choose to stop here and all those who follow Million Little Stitches to read/view what I have to say. Its led to many collaborations and exchanges which have enriched me. Recently there's been a group ( you know who you are) who have reached out with an exciting idea which is still gestating but I'm happy  and excited to have been invited. It's much too early to say anything about this venture but I hope I'll be able to tell you all in the very near future. Small steps I guess can get  you to exciting places.

The Little House I made for this project has reached Japan. :)
Its going to be a hectic couple of days but I hope to have the CQJP pages for February ready to show sometime next week.
Have a great weekend.  

The Little Houses Project

The Little Houses project is the brainchild of  Jo Ebisujima who felt it would be a wonderful gesture to send the survivors of the Tohoku Disaster a little gift of a handmade house and notes of encouragement to let them know they haven't been forgotten a year after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Jo is hoping to have a 100 houses by February 21. I want to encourage you to participate. I took less than a day to make the little house in the picture and it was fun to decorate it. I wrote a little note and put it in a little origami heart box, the instructions for which I found here. 

Click here to get all the details for the Little Houses Project. Jo has created step by step illustrated instructions and here's an update with pictures of some Little Houses which people have sent in.

           

Capturing Craigmore in Watercolours

Its February and I haven't got around to the post about the two weeks spent in Craigmore in the Nilgiris painting watercolours. This was the second part of the assignment, this is part 1 and here is what was done.  

I developed a horrible dry cough just before leaving on this trip but the weather was fabulous in January and the sun kept me warm and comfortable while I sat and painted. 

There are a number of bungalows on the estate and this one is Bear's Hill Bungalow. There must be bears on that hill though we didn't see any. There's an ongoing project to record the wildlife on the property  using camera traps in collaboration with WWF, India.    

This is the Woodland Small bungalow, the Assistant Manager for Woodland Estate gets to live here.

Here too the occupant of the bungalow was away on annual leave so we didn't get in the way and we still got to use the rest room because his butler was there. Its only on the estates that one finds butlers, cooks and bungalow boys, its like living in a different period altogether but things are changing and the butlers and a good cook is difficult to find.   

Little temples are dotted about the estate and are an integral part of the workers lives .

Close by were houses for the estate workers a number of whom have come all the way from Jharkhand.

The Chairman's bungalow.This bungalow has the most amazing garden with some very unusual plants and shrubs and some fantastic specimens of the monkey puzzle tree, weeping willow and jacaranda. Four or five gardeners toil daily to maintain it. This is where we were put up for the duration of our stay. 

Most of the estate roads are lined with poinsettias which were still in bloom in January, its such a pretty sight.  The Jacaranda trees were just beginning to bloom, in another month it will be an awesome sight to see hillsides clothed in a purple haze and roads carpeted in violet blooms.

Trees are bursting into bloom in Bangalore too, right now its the pink of the tabebuia rosea next it will be the turn of the tabebuia aurea  which is yellow. Spring is here and summer is fast approaching because the days are hot. Hot enough to go for a swim in the afternoon.  

Have a great weekend.