A Point of Return?

 Simply overwhelmed by visiting my blog after more than 2 years!!! Scrolling, revisiting my pages, full of so much! I feel ..well... like I met my best friend again! I don't know whether I would be able to coop with the posts' frequency again, or should I change the name, or what all the life might bring yet again! BUT..I am so happy to be here and see everyone of you who didn't go for whatsoever reason (you simply didn't notice my blog since I was gone for so long!lol). I know that many of you must have had changes in life, went different paths, met various people, etc. etc. I am not an exception my friends.

I suppose I would be telling my new story in further posts which I hope oh! so much would follow! Our family is doing well just to let you know. It's just we started a new chapter in a book of our life in another country.

I will leave it at this as of now, in anticipation of winter holidays and some magical events and moments!

Love to all!!! Blessed be!

Our New Christmas Tree, adorned with mostly handmade ornaments.

                                                

We Are Doing Fine

Hello dears! The time has gone so fast. Life is just way too fast too, many things happened, work, home, deals... We as well had really bad news about the demise of our family's (in Kazakhstan) best friend  in the early February. I was extremely saddened by this news, as so many childhood memories were linked to him and his family. I pray his soul rests in peace.
Just like everyone of you I suppose, I sometimes want to just stop and take a deep breath and reassure myself that everything is going to be just fine.
Well, let's see what we have been up to these days. Actually, nothing remarkable:) All the more enjoyable as little A is having vacations now and spending more time at home. So I have to invent various activities for him to keep him entertained (and busy too).
Here we did some yarn pasting, which in the end turned to a fun "yarn-spreading-all-over-the-drawing-room" activity, lol. Little A LOVES crafting a lot!

A couple of weeks ago we visited a garden and were surprised by the presence of the owls! Can you see its' round head and body? They were 2 or 3 of them, really cute, and little A was delighted to see real owls at last. So was I! Moreover, I never thought they lived in our hot climate here.

On weekends I usually take A out to the park. There we are free to do whatever comes in mind (after swings and slides of course).

Here is Little A's rainbow as he called when I asked what he drew on the sand :) Some school kids joined us for a spontaneous stone activity last weekend. The right most picture is what one of the boys made: sun and a flower. What made me especially happy is that the boys themselves came to us and started participating , gathering more pebbles, I could see they were very interested and curious.

When I get cravings of some homemade baked goodness, I start ... baking! So easy, nah? :)) I once again made the small apple crust pies.

 And just yesterday tried my hand on baked Indian samosas! All vegetarian :) They turned out really great this time, soft and tasty. Baked samosa recipe is from here.

I suppose that's all for today.. and oh yea! Forgot to say that we watched the Beauty and the Beast movie... I am still under its' spell! Such a beautiful movie, dynamic yet romantic... :) I can watch it again.

Things to Cherish and Value

I know I have been sounding rather upset and sad in my previous posts. But I know that you all understand and share the same feelings as I. However, after discussing the same with D several times over the last weekend, I had to go on and carry on to take of my little boy, because he is the one who needs our care and love right here right now, and thank god we are able to give these and more to him.
I kept myself busy last weekend completing the old projects and making new ones. Here is a glimpse of our New Year tree in all its spontaneity and  variety of ornaments and decor.

This little Gnome is sitting joyfully on the branches - a gift from my parents.

You must have seen these all over the internet. I fell in love with the idea of making my own gnome or a nisse. This was a half an hour project - made of a sock, felt and yarn. I want to make one for my parents as well.

I have at last finished this felt Russian doll (Matryoshka). She is not perfect but I am glad I attempted this  felt ornament.

It is time to display my latest cross stitch - a Santa carrying a little new year tree. Perhaps, I will leave it in this loop only, not framing this time. The cross stitch required a black outlining -  I don't have time to do this and, to tell the truth, I like it the way it is.

Stars, stars everywhere! By the way, I used little A's play dough cutters to make these cookies (after thorough washing of course) :)) since I am yet to buy steel cookie cutters. The recipe I used is this Shortbread Cookies with addition of some milk and ginger to the dough. They came out very tasty and crispy.

So that's all about how I am trying to get into a better mood. I wish that all of you dear friends had peaceful, joyful, cozy holidays and spent all the great moments with your loved ones. Cherish each and every such moment!

Things to Love

Hello my dear friends! I have read your blogs recently and found out that I am not alone in my tiredness and constant want to simply do nothing for a while. I don't really address it to being lazy, and not that there is any health issue as such (touch wood), but rather a mental exhaustion, probably it is the end of year which is usually more hectic. I officially declare that I need a break with change in my surroundings.
Getting in the mood for Christmas and New year in India is a little difficult due to the +25 outside, no snow, no major city decorations. The affect of all the sad recent news leaves me guilty of thinking about happy holidays and all when so many suffer and cannot even dream of sleeping in cozy beds...
However my holiday spirit prevails indoors, a quiet one. I have put up a tree together with little A last weekend, he enjoyed, oh so much, bringing me those little ornaments and is so excited about the lights! I am so glad that we were able to ignite that holiday cheer in him. His school also installed a tall Christmas tree in the lobby and decorated beautifully the premises.
My crochet mood in its turn has been rather high. I confessed to my D that I was bitten by a "crochet bug", he understood what I meant. Whenever I am crocheting in front of him, he then asks me : "Why do you make such a serious (= concentrated?) face ?" :P

The first thing to show is an up-cycled purse. Everything is hand stitched. The handle is crocheted with a t-shirt yarn.

It closes with a help of two buttons and loops made of crocheted cotton threads. (Thank you Preeti for the buttons!:))

I was in need of a new cap for little A he can wear daily on the way to school. My A looks adorable in it! I cannot find the pattern I used for this cap (not in my Pinterest), but it's a basic cap pattern, and semi-circles attached for bear ears effect :)

I have been keeping in my mind that I need to make another, a more beautiful and better fitting sweater for A. So I found this really simple and easy to make Toddler Striped Sweater. As usual it asked for yarn weight I don't have, so I started crocheting with two strands of sport weight yarn, hoping it would help but needed to buy two more colors. Last weekend me and D went to our (note, OUR) favourite yarn market, expecting to buy two skeins and go. When I saw the yarn stalls after a long time .. I got dizzy! The first thing my eyes fell on were various, multicolored skeins of a BULKY weight yarn!!! I have been searching such among Indian brands but never found in the Internet ...and here they are, waiting for me. LOL. D could not help but say ok, buy it if you need... Think if you really need it... I said I needed it very much and can now work so many projects!:)))

 Here is a sweater cum jacket in progress. I want to finish it as soon as possible so Little A has opportunity to wear it THIS winter (not the next one :~)). I plan to make it a little longer like a cardi. The yarn is acrylic, very soft and not prickly at all, works up very smoothly, no knots, and color is just great for this type of garment.

AND... I got this one , a sock weight yarn to try! It seems to be very good too. Overall I was really impressed by the range of yarn  Indian manufacturers offer now. There were many  other ones which I would like to try to work with, but maybe next time.

So that's all for now friends. Wishing you a happy week whenever you are! Happy coming up holidays!

Winter Mood

Hello my dears... The past week was rather tiring for me on the job side - more translation work started coming in which resulted in me being completely drained by the end of the day. As soon as I work half day from home, it might seem like an easy task, but it isn't. In fact, my day is endless. Some days I simply feel like curling up on a bed and doing nothing at all. It doesn't happen, almost never. My sleep timings also depend on little A's preference, however one good thing is that he finally started sleeping through the night. Before that I couldn't get a proper night's rest for more than 2 years :O Hence I am very happy for both of us.
Thank you everyone for your wishes for my mom's recovery. She is already at home and doing well, though would need to be more careful from now on and still requires to support her arm. Life seems to be getting on its' usual track.
That winter mood always visits me as Christmas and New year approach. It's time for cozy evenings and hot chai, for warm socks and crocheting. As our house gets colder, I feel the need to keep warm whenever and however possible.
Yesterday I had a crocheting "onset" and accomplished a sweater for little A. I still need to work on to weaving the ends and probably blocking it. The pattern is "from my head". The yarn I used is like 15 years old! I got it from home last year. First, I had doubts about the colour, but then, why boys should wear only all dark and blue and green?  I am planning on adding some applique to it.

Updated - sweater pictures! :) Its a little bulky and tacky, but Ok to wear at home. I have a pattern for another crochet sweater, so hopefully the second attempt will be better. My model though refused me taking his pictures in a new attire :)

 Recently I tried making something new - baked samosas. They are a totally healthy vegan version of a popular Indian snack. I am going to make more... when I feel like :P

Have a happy day my friends whenever you are! Blessed be!