It Was Yesterday

It was yesterday but I couldn't upload pictures on time. Hope you don't mind me showing just few snaps of yesterday morning. It was indeed unusual as it was cloudy, it rained in some places in the city and snowed in the mountains! Yes, it became significantly colder now so I am wearing warm socks and jackets at home (and outside:)) The sun though is still piercing the layer of clouds. It is Sunny India after all! :)

Yesterday I also took the picture of gladioli my husband gifted me on my b'day which was on 26th of November, just next to my Dad's :) The flowers now cheering up my room's gloomy look at this time of the year.

I am sorry for being so disorganized in this post (have I ever been organized?) as I seem not having any particular idea to blog about at the moment.The crochet project I started didn't come out well... yet. So I couldn't present it. I finished the ripple baby blanket and now weaving the ends and then "Ta-dah!" hopefully. I have two finished crochet gifts: first one I can't show here as someone might see (just like Charlotte said in her blog), and I need to find time for another one to take pictures. 

So for now - "Baba Yaga's Hut in the Woods" drawing I made some time back, inspired by the Russian fairy tales and my Summer visit to parents. Didn't expect it to be so bright. I am thinking of another drawing "Baba Yaga's hut during Christmas time" perhaps? Hehe. Have a great day ahead and be happy, my friends!

Last Weekend of November

The days when we can relax, sleep as mush as we want, do whatever we want and eat what we want are called weekend!We had a great last weekend of November. I shall confess that I don't pamper my D with loads of delicious cooking, but I try to, at least when I have mood. Yesterday evening we had some chicken prepared in an electric oven. It was tasty and the curd marinate was great!

Today is a special day for me as it is my Dad's birthday, so  I baked this apple pie. My Mum likes to cook it and obviously, I got the recipe from her. Happy Birthday, Dad! :) I love you and miss you a lot!

 A Sunday morning was fruitful, literally. My husband noticed some citruses hanging on the tree, they were ripened and so tempting... he plugged them with a special metal stick with a wire hook and did as especially for photo shoot - with few leaves attached :) I couldn't resist taking the photos!

There was one more...  We tried one -  it was so sweet and smelled fantastic! Wish I could share with you.

Feeling a little bored at home, we went to the city's carnival which takes place every year. There are many things to see, to taste, however none of the events in the city is complete without the large number of people and for me this makes it a little not that enjoyable. Me and my D were surprised to see a performance by Polish society on the stage. The young boys and girls were dancing polka in traditional Polish costumes. It was amazing to see this in India :) Among the things which took our attention was this model of Punjab village's house, which represents women at daily work like spinning, cooking etc. A very nice view, isn't it?

Just to make the weekend post even more diverse - the picture of one of the carts (actually, rickshaws) in Christmas theme! Jingle bells...:)  

Later, after visiting carnival, we went to check out some store an stumbled upon a nice cozy cafe, where we had some coffee and then went back home. 

We and my parents-in-law congratulated my Dad again in Skype by lifting up a glass of wine, he was touched...

I am simply grateful to have spent such time with my D today... 

Have a great week ahead and let's see what the first weekend of December brings us!

 P.S. I am giving a link to the Linda's Snowflake Potholder Ravelry Pattern here. You shall really give it a try :)

United Summer and Winter

Winter has come.. oh really? Not in my city! At least, not such, that everyone has an imagine of... This season in the North India (I am not talking about Himalayas, as it is -16 in some places there already) is like some of the Summer days in Kazakhstan. The trees are green, some are blooming, it is above 20 in day time...and yea, my garden is still producing vegetables. There has been a significant change since my last garden update - now you can see the pods on the bean bushes! I planted seeds of some salad few days ago. It has already given second leaves. Ahh... so cute :)

 Just look at my lemon yellow marigolds in their full bloom! My first attempt of making a flower bed. Though marigolds are not quiet like those which my Mum had, I feel so good when seeing them every morning. There are about 20 of them as of now, and these are the most fluffy ones.

In spite of really Summer like days, I don't forget about coming up holidays and their attributes... like snow! I found this Linda's Snowflake Potholder on Ravelry and tried the pattern straight away. This potholder went to my colleagues home, as I gifted it to her for her b'day. I definitely want to make more of them for gifting.

Hope you all having a good week! Happy Thanksgiving and wishing you more Summer like days!

Red Christmas Star Decoration

Life seems to be turning to its quiet side again. After all those festivals, which indeed create a lot of buzz around and at home, I shall admit I feel relaxed finally... and excited at the same time. The first half of November has passed by what means that all the winter holidays are not far away and I am trying to charge myself by creating some Christmas and New Year goodies for home decoration. I have come up with the Red Christmas Star decor piece. The pattern was improvised by me. But what I like the most is this yarn with sequences I purchased from the yarn market last weekend. Isn't it gorgeous? You just don't actually need anymore sparkles to add. 

 I was thinking of making a tutorial or write a pattern for the same, but can't find time for this, unfortunately. May be tomorrow :) I made some more stars using simple acrylic yarn. Looks good, but no shimmer is there of course. 

The stars are hanging on my room's wall, I like them. However they look a little lonely, I might think of some bunting to hang on the same wall.

We are having out personal "friendship day" today as happened so we are meeting many of our fellows tonight, while another friend of ours came from Delhi and wants to meet us too!

Have a great weekend, don't forget to enjoy it :)

Lights All Over

Lights all over is what Diwali is like! You would love being here in India during this festival...it feels good! So here are some moments of this bright holiday I captured yesterday, especially for you!

We went for crackers and sweets shopping in the evening. The stalls were full of goodies like flowers, candles, different home decoration items. The stalls with sweets were awesome! The lady seller, seeing that I was going to take the picture, wanted to stop me from it, but my mother-in-law explained her I was just capturing it because of my own curiosity. As far as I understood they had a superstition that the shop's success can decline if someone clicks the picture and uses it not in good intentions.

Lit up diyas in front of the Indian Gods. The diyas are then placed around the house to provide prosperity, luck to the family.

The candles we placed outside, and my husband in the background going to lit another cracker :)

One of the firewokrs called Flower Pot...such a name!

A piece of our house and the neighbour houses all in lights! It was a great Diwali, the third one I celebrated in a new country and in a new family. I was missing my parents back there, I wish they were with us too this festival season. May be next year :)

P.S. Oh yea, and this is my 100th post and I reached 50 followers! :) Thanks to all for taking interest in my Sunny Indian Days!

Our Happy Diwali

First I can't recognise myself as this month I make posts again and again, and it's only mid of November :) Well, may be I discovered more things to blog about Sunny Indian Days which continue to be as such. Today is the eve of Indian Festival of Lights called Diwali or Deepavali. This one is one of my favourite holidays! House decorated with bulb lights, in the evening we will put lit diyas (small vessels made of clay) around the house and outside. This looks so festive! However Diwali is also such a joyful holiday because the families get together. Diwali for Indians (Hindus, Sikhs) is like Christmas and New Year for Christians.

My husband, thank God, came back from his awesome trip exactly before Diwali, and this what makes it so much happy for me. He brought so much joy in the house straight away and was like Diwali Santa, giving away all these yummy and fragrant stuff. I must say that he knows what we both like, and we like chocolate a lot!

This chocolate bar is made in Lippstadt, it has some of the city views on the cover. We haven't tasted it yet, I am sure it will be yummy!

 A set of sweets and a mug with Mozart's picture as a souvenir from Vienna.

 In order to celebrate my D's arrival and coming up Diwali we opened this lovely fizzy wine yesterday evening.

 We sat comfortably on the sofa, poured it in the glasses, and then I threw a look at the crochet cushion case... I said "Hey, dear, I spoke about it so much in my recent blog post. I need you to hold it tight and I'll take the picture!"

So here is he, clutching the cushion :) Yes, he liked it a lot!

And here's me hiding behind it. I am happy... Diwali is going to be great! We will go to buy different crackers and will make some noise in the evening! See how many of exclamation marks I inserted in my post!

Happy Diwali to you, my dear friends!Be Happy!

Homely Cushion Case

How could I not to share my Tah-da moment with you! Meet The Wagon Wheel Square cushion case! I was so much worried about color selection... but I am in love with it now! This cushion case reminds me of  Xmas and New Year, snow fall, candles, cozy house... That's why I was hurrying so much to accomplish the cover before my D comes back so that he can feel homely when he sees it:) Yes, my husband is coming back tomorrow, exactly before Indian festival of lights Diwali which is on 13th of November. 

I was turning the cushion  on the sofa and found out that it looked good in any position. This is indeed the first crochet project I made which I really like a lot, and probably the first I managed to work so neatly. I also hadn't thought about it before, but that the cushion cover has actually 2 in 1 design, as I worked back side in simple granny square. Here is the Wagon Wheel Square pattern.

Yesterday I bought lovely buttons to close the cover at the bottom. It appeared to be an easy way and also it has many designing options ( like smaller button, buttons of different colors and so on).

  I hope my dear D will like it.. I just can't wait to see him and hug him and say how much I was missing him! 

 Have a lovely day ahead and Happy Diwali! Be with your families, feel joy of being together!

Europe... Why Not?

I have been struck by a thought, why not to post about my husband's trip? My blog after all is not only about MY things, but about OUR things. Anyway, whatever I do these days, my D is always on my mind.  I am sure, I am on his, what makes us connected through distance, good that we have experience in this already. 

The city my husband went to is called Lippstadt, and this is where the company he works for has its headquarters. My husband was astonished with the city's beautiful architecture. He kept on telling me over the phone that it is so cozy in the streets, so beautiful and so...  I myself visited Germany many many years ago with my Mum, so now I am glad my D can understand why I was always so much in love with this country.

The road from the Dusseldorf airport. The Autumn is over there now. So you can see all its colors. I miss real Autumn very much.

The city is not big. I guess what makes its beauty is houses in different shapes and colors. 

I think that this is the city's plaza. The houses are like decorations! Oh I wish so much to be there too!

My D was quite surprised to see so many people riding bicycles there.

I love this picture! Some bridge.. so romantic and a little Gothic... I miss such kind of surroundings and weather...

What my D enjoyed there for sure is ...food! He likes to try something different, but I was quite worried whether he finds anything what suits his taste. I was much relieved when one of his first statements was that he liked the food a lot! This is a restaurant they went to have dinner to. Cozy, cozy!

I guess it's all for now. Ahh... you can't imagine how much excited I am to see all these. I know my D definitely has a cultural shock, and I am glad he does. This acts like an injection of fresh air! I even remade a famous Sting's song "Oh oh, I am an alien, I am a little alien, I am an Indian in Europe!" :)

Have a lovely day, my dear friends, and may you discover more and more new things around!