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!

Bonjour!

Nothing much has been happening here. All usual mundane stuff, busy home-spent weekend, busy week ahead, plans for coming up weekend again. Days are rolling and rolling. Little A continues his playschool in a same positive mood, thank god. He learned quite much in just 2 weeks of attending it. W,e in our turn, teach him some things at home too, like colors, counting etc. I try to involve him in Russian books' reading everyday and we learned many Russian words too.  I hope that this trend will continue till his speech establishes properly.

D and I joined French language classes... Hence the post title "Bonjour!" :) Phew! The language is awesome but I barely get time to revise and repeat and learn new lessons. It's been also only two weeks (we joined classes the same day as A joined school) but learned quite a few phrases, and we can read and write (slowly).

On a crafty side, I have been rather slow but on purpose. I said myself not to rush into completing the  blankie but to enjoy making it, one square at a time. I am using a 7 mm aluminium crochet hook of a Russian company "Gamma". These have been the best crochet hooks to work with.

I also managed to create few so to say "side projects". One of them is a long-planned crochet owl!!! Little A picked up that owl сraze his mommy has (we have owls everywhere around the house, including my jewelry, and numerous owls in children's books, lol), so he became very happy when I gave him this:

Should I say that having another owl in our rooms brings enormous joy to me as well :) I have to make few more, probably, as X-mas gifts. In plans to create an autumn leaf garland using this awesome (fast and easy) crochet fall leaves pattern. One leaf  takes hardly 10 minutes to complete. Once I am done with the garland I will definitely showcase it. 

This weekend I should as well buy material for A's cape and a few skeins of yarn for my blanket because some ran out already. Going to be occupied with homely deals as usual. :)

Have a great week!

Life as it is

Hello dear friends! Hope these few weeks of  a new year were good to you and brought only positive and joyful things to your family.

gachak

Day before yesterday we celebrated Lohri festival, with bonfire, gachak (Indian sweets with various nuts), dancing. Though this festival marks end of the winter and start of the spring... it has become cold the very next day! We have not been getting "proper" winter since it started here in Chandigarh. However foggy and cold weather has settled yesterday and today as well. I am happy though because I am a winter girl you know.

But I have been restless for a over a week now because my little A is about to have his vaccination today, and we know it is going to be a painful one (DTwP), because the painless one (DTaP) is not available in India for the past few months, and no one knows when and where it might appear. We have been following the vaccination schedule since little A's birth, but I have never been worried more than this time! First I cannot see him crying and feeling pain when the medicine is injected...plus extremely worried about how he is going to be post vaccination. He might as well be fine, but we prepare for high fever and at least a couple of tough days for him and us. I just want it to pass soon so we can move on and have our usual routine.
I know there are many discussions regarding vaccination in the internet and many opinions, many scary stories, LOADS of information which actually doesn't ease my mind and my heart. I consulted with several friends, some of them are doctors, so we decided to vaccinate.
As of now I am looking forward to be with my little one who became very choosy about who is going to be with him, and got attached to my in-laws a lot lately. He is growing very fast, speaking his own language, but definitely meaning to say something, so I guess his speaking skills are about to bloom by the time he is 2 years old. We are also thinking of a good preschool for him, and this thought itself makes me sad and worried. I cannot imagine him being out of the house without any of us beside him! Really really tough decisions are there, and I shall get used to the thought that my little A will have to be on his own some time and some day...

Sending wishes of cozy and cheerful atmosphere in your house! 

The Indian Prince Had Arrived

Yes, dear friends, we finally became parents to a boy on the 5th of July at the start of the 39th week of pregnancy, and exactly a month after my D's birthday. Both my husband and son are summer boys :)

Well, what to say, I feel a little better today after all we had to go through. It seems like a bad dream now... I ended up with Cesarean section after 24 hours of labour but it was worth it! We are immensely happy and looking forward to new discoveries on this "being a parent" way. I get loads of support from my in-laws, so basically I only care for my baby and sometimes watch Harry Potter while he is sleeping or sleep myself :)) 

It is not at all easy straight after delivery start taking care of your little one! So many things we don't know yet however I hope it will get even better when he is at least 1 month old. My D takes a big part in everything related to our baby, and at times worries much more than me. As of now my little boy is taking a nap in his cot and probably dreaming of... the next portion of sweet milk.

Thanks to all for constant support as well, and I am happy to share this happy event of my life with you :)! I do hope that the days of blogging and crocheting are not that far away for me! The monsoon has started here, today especially the air is cool and fresh.You know how much I love this season :) And I love it even more because my son was born during it.

Have a blessed day, my dears!

What I Ate on Vacations - Russian Dishes

Over last few weeks I figured out that this topic deserves a separate post. Though I thought I was done with my Trip Home series, there was something else to tell - food we had there. However not just any food I ate, but those home made dishes, which my Mum never fails to prepare great! Why I want to have a special post about food is also because it represents some traditional Russian meals, which are my and my parents favourite. May be they will tease your taste buds too :)

May be some of your heard or may be even saw Russian feast, table with different tasty dishes, with many drinks and many guests sitting and talking absorbedly. All this is true. Russian family gathering at the table is a long lasting event, during which participants try out the variety of food which was made by a hostess and a host (my parents and me a little in our case). Here is one of the examples of how we used to taste at my parents house. As you know my D's whole family went with us this time, and I was very happy that everyone liked our cuisine. My Mum managed to please vegetarians as well as non-veg and prepare whole meal for 7 adults! Thanks Mum and Dad :)So here you can see (from left to right): turkey with vegetables, buckwheat, fried champignon mushroom, vareniki (I have a recipe here), vegetable salad, and cooked vegetables, sour cream + wine and vodka you know :)

The mushrooms were a real delicacy of that dinner, and freshly picked up by my parents on the way from Borovoe resort. Aren't they great looking?

Besides food my parents had home made cherry kompot (stewed fruit).What else to say? Delicious!

What concerns me, I made my dream come true and did some baking in the gas oven. I made "Sharlotka" pie which is my Mum's preference too when you need fast and easy dessert to be made. I was delighted when preparing the batter and then putting into a from and then taking our the flavoured yumminess! This one was an apple one, with a pinch of sugar and cinnamon.

After 3-4 days I baked one more but with raspberries from dacha! I put some cinnamon on the top simply because I love how it smells. This baking experience was different also because of the baking paper I used for the first time and I liked it this way - the pie doesn't stick and doesn't get burned.

Oh well and this is some special morning treat called oladii made of accidentally soured milk, flour and some sugar. Fried on oil.. and eaten with home made strawberry confiture! This picture itself makes my mouth watering, I better finish this post asap :)!

I want to try to make some of the dishes in India too, just need to find equivalent ingredients and here we go! Many times after finishing such care-free post I think of how happy I am to be able to enjoy all these! Because the world gets crazy day by day, judging by the news we see on TV and in newspapers.

I hope all of you are safe and sound whenever you are and enjoying the weekend with your families. Many warm blessings to you, my friends!

Flying High - Once a Year :)

Hello, dear friends! I hope your weekend was/or is great and you had good time with your loved ones, did some nice cooking, baking, and simply enjoyed your time. My weekend was not as active as I hoped for, due to some reasons. But yes, there was good food, some nice talks with my D, and movie watching on the big screen at home :) 

Today I am doing the last post from my Trip Home series, hehe.   This year me and D planned something different, as we wanted to see some more of my country. Hence we spent last days of our visit to Kazakhstan in Almaty, city in the South of the country, an ex-capital of it, and an awesome place to be! Here is we are on the way to it - wonderful view from the plane. 

We stayed at our friends place who recently shifted there. We arrived in the afternoon, and were out in the city in one hour and a half after that. We took the local bus, asked the conductor how to get where we wanted to, and here we were, at one of the most popular place to visit in Almaty - the Park of Culture and Recreation named after Gorky, a heritage of Soviet past, and it did look like time stopped there. This is the entry to the park.

The long flower bed was also a significant feature of such Soviet projects. You can spot a statue in the end of the flower bed, guess who is that?

Of course, Maxim Gorky, who was a Russian/Soviet writer, a political activist. But most I liked the bushy ivy weaved around the tree. Gorgeous nature!

We had a long walk in the park, exploring the places. There was this interesting fountain, would never think of meeting anything mythological in there. later we had a ride on that Ferris wheel. 

A slow ride, which gave us opportunity to see the TV tower, which became our destination the next day.

After that we continued our stroll, and once again saw the typical Soviet building - a Rodina Cinema (Motherland Cinema), fully functioning.

But India was calling me, when we stumbled upon a stand advertising Mehendi (henna) art. 

Oh yea, we were tired, plus I started falling sick that day and had a bed sore throat. We stopped at one of the cafes, had pizza and some beer (yea, I know, I shouldn't have had it, but I wanted to, before I was going to be away from any of Kazakhstani beers till next year). This cute cat came to us, but refused eating a piece of pizza, so I considered she was not that hungry, or pizza was not that good.

That day we came home back home around 9pm, asking people how to get at the location we needed, but we found it, and enjoyed walking under the street lights. 

Next day was not at all the way we planned it, because I had high fever till afternoon, and only after it subsided, we were able to go out again. I really couldn't afford cancelling our plan, and we headed up the hills. First, by local bus, then by small bus which delivered us on the top of the mountain Kok-Tobe, the highest point of Almaty city. It was worth it!

Being up on Kok-Tobe was a great experience for both of us, though we were in the Himalays few times already, the atmosphere of this place was different -  lively, and at the same time relaxing, fresh air and beautiful views! While walking on the path, we noticed that a girl was clicking photos of something on the tree, and we were so much pleased to see that it was a cute squirrel, busy with eating of the pine cone seeds. I adore those little fingers holding the seed!

From Kok-Tobe you could the whole city down there, the wide avenue took our attention - it was shining in the sun.

Soon we approached the point closest to that TV tower we saw the day before. 

From another viewpoint one could observe the snow peaks, perhaps of the Tian Shan range of mountains. After this picture our camera's battery died, and we had to continue  taking snaps with the mobiles, but you know, they were as good. Anyway, I think that these many photos can give you an idea of what Almaty city is. We liked it very much, and wouldn't mind living there if we can.

 

The next early morning we were awake, and proceeded out journey, now further, to India. I had the last glimpse of my native land (this year), waved "See you", and...

was going to be in Delhi in three and a half hours. The view of the mountains was breathtaking, and by the way Tian Shan is a part of Himalays, so India and Kazakhstan are connected.

I had emotional moments when leaving my land this year, even my D was sad, but what is important that we are always together, ready to support, to understand and love each other. Now my crochet "marathon" has started, and I will keep myself busy with it, like many of you suggested as to decrease that level of missing of KZ:)

Have a wonderful week ahead, value precious time, friends!

Back to Nature and... Crochet

Many days have passed by, and I am still under impression of my 1 month trip, it is still difficult for me get on track, blog again regularly, and so on. Last time I promised to share more pictures from my journey to parents. As you know I am crazy for dacha, gardening, nature, and all related stuff. So in one of our awesome trips to this lovely abode, I planned to take few snaps of my amigurumi - a white cat which I gifted to my parents last year and Cheburashka, who traveled with us all way long and back this time. 

My father was quite enthusiastic about my idea and helped to find places for photo shoot. Like this one, on the sunflower :)

Or on one of the pine trees. My dear papa! Miss you now so much here. But these pictures put a smile on my face every time I look at them.

 The photo shoot for my Russian cat was done by me, and I tried to find some typical Russian flora for her. Chamomile was one of such plants, and oh, I love their simple look!

I also chose another  flower symbolical for Russian culture - bluett. My Mum never fails to have them in her garden, and they were there last year too. My cat liked sniffing this cute blossoms, and the picture came out cute, didn't it?

She, being a totally Russian cat made of Indian acrylic yarn, never seen this truly Russian tree - birch. So I gave her opportunity to sit on it for a while and enjoy the summer day.

Rest of my exploration of parents dacha included finding of flowers and peculiar plants around. For a long time my parents were puzzled about the name of this bush, which they took from the garden of our relative sin the village. They simply named after a nice old lady, who was alive then and living in that house, Frida. After few years they finally showed the nuts the plant produced to their dacha neighbour, and she assured it was an almond. Though I still have doubts and promised my parents to ask you, my dear friends, what plant it is actually.

This was another curios discovery of mine - a lungwort flower, which as My mum said usually blossoms in spring, and suddenly did it again in August. I suppose it happened because of the wet weather conditions this Summer.

I couldn't not to take yet one more picture of Calendula- can't get enough of its radiant color!

The blanket flowers are called by my parents "Indian flower", because they saw so many of them when came to India, that there was no doubt how to call them.

As title says "and Crochet". Here is what I made in a span of 4 weeks *cough, cough*. Just like last year I decided to mark our visit and made summer doily, so that my parents can recollect all nice moments we shared together. What other pattern can be so fast and easy and beautiful at the same time? Granny square, yey! When packing for my trip home, I just threw 5 balls of yarn in my suit case, and to my surprise those were the colors of flowers growing at dacha. 

Just a little bit of sunshine makes colors more vivid and bright. Love the big leaves of Canna by the way.

Even this is not all I planned and wanted to tell you about. However I already have new things to show, and hope that I will not be behind of time too much. I started learning some new needle art, and went into exploring possibilities of crochet. Thanks everyone for leaving nice comments on my last post, I feel better now mentally and physically, your support matters a lot too! 

Have a wonderful weekend ahead, and keep on creating!

Missing My Hometown

Yes, I am back to India. Can't say this time I was eager to come here, and I can't explain why. This time visit to my parents was different, because my in-laws also went there :) They stayed with us for 2 weeks, and left, and me and my D continued our stay for two more weeks. I didn't want to leave.. I wanted to be there more to enjoy cool weather, have long chats over a cup of tea with my parents, go to dacha, eat MY food, be in MY environment... So right now I am missing my parents badly, and also, to add to this I fell ill just few days before our departure, and still having cough and cold. Oh well, but I am also back to blogging, to you, my friends! I somehow found two opportunities to post during my vacations, but that was all I could afford.

We had great time together in Kazakhstan: visited many places, had awesome weekends, and ate delicious food! Today I'd like to make some kind of presentation of my hometown, as I had never put any photos of it before. 

First I will take you to the new part of the city, which is located on the left bank of the Ishim river. Here comes the symbol of the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, Bayterek. You go to the top by lift, and can view the whole city from the height of 97 meters. It was a new experience for my in-laws, and they liked it. 

 A view of the President house Ak-Orda, with blue dome, and behind it is The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, called Pyramid.

 A view in the direction of the old town, which is on the right bank of the Ishim river..

Even I discovered many new things in the city this time. We had a great family at the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center, which is a huge, 150 m high tent.  

There are many boutiques and shops inside it, as well as a big kids amusement park, and even an artificial beach on the top floor!

You can see how this new part of the city is planned - the objects are situated on the straight line, and symmetrically. 

Happened so that my parents living in such a beautiful city, don't have time to simply walk in it. So in last two weeks we went out with them for a stroll on the river bank and had a wonderful ferryboat ride. Summer brought loads of rains in the North Kazakhstan this year, so such clouds were hanging there every day, but I loved it!

The ferry took us closer to the President House, and the Pyramid, but unfortunately our camera's battery discharged by the time we reached there.

Being among the skyscrapers can make you feel tired, even if you admit how beautiful and impressive they are. My D also said that he likes the old city more, as it is cozy and lively. I agree, and offer you a photo of an old street in the evening.

 And especially I like the never changing view of the sunset, which you can see from our balcony. Cozy, and so MY...

Hope you could make an idea of my hometown. I have more photos to share with you, and more stories to tell. I also plan to start checking out your blogs soon, as I am far far away from what's going on in here. 

So have a nice day and take care, my dears!