INDIA AND ALL IT'S BEAUTY

Good Afternoon to you,

As you have discovered, shopping in India is a whole different experience, but on one of our shopping expeditions, Natasha took me to a shop which was totally different, in fact I think it would be fair to say, it was quite westernised, in that everything was neatly displayed and accessible. Kalpa Druma sells beautiful vegetable dyed cotton, such as sheets,  pillow slips and throws.

In a different part of the shop they sell the most beautiful  wooden carvings, such as,

this wooden carving of Ganesha. It is believed that Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. The little marigold flowers have been placed as an offering to Ganesha.

I fell in love with this chair, but it was that old suitcase problem again!

The work is so detailed and it is beautifully hand painted. I  am not too disappointed to leave this chair behind, as I am lucky enough to own an Indian painted chest, as beautifully painted as this chair.

This handsome pair of painted cows are from Kerala in India.  The ears are detachable and the idea is that you  whisper your wish in the cow's ear. You then replace the ear and Nandi will talk to the Gods about your wish.

I realised I had not shown you any photographs of The Bay of Bengal, so I thought I should remedy that situation.

Here it is the beautiful Bay of Bengal.   On any given day, the bay is full of small fishing boats, bobbing up and down on the sea. George managed to capture this photograph for me as the fishermen were quite a distance from the shore.

The fish which the fishermen catch is sold at the local fish market, which is just a short walk from the beach.  These fish are the freshest you can  buy, unless you are lucky enough to have a fisherman in the family.  Phyllis has a good friend who goes trout fishing and about once every three months she is presented with the gift of half a dozen trout.

Look at this little fellow, now he is small, but my, does he make a loud noise. We were sitting in the garden chatting and I kept hearing a bird song, which I did not recognise. Natasha told me to look up at the neighbour's roof and there right at the very top was a Woodpecker. I only know this because we had to go and find the binoculars to identify the bird. I was so surprised to see such a small bird, as the sound was so loud, that I had expected to see something much bigger.

Here you can see his head is down and he is pecking at a piece of wood. If you look carefully you can just see his plume at the back of his head. I know you cannot see the picture very well, but considering the distance, I was really pleased that I managed to capture this little Woodpecker.

Look, they have graffiti in India as well.  People have left their names on the plant. I wonder why, as it seemed an odd thing to do. This little lizard does not seem to mind as he is resting in the shade.

I am so thrilled to show you this photograph. When we went to New Delhi, we were looking out from  Natasha's balcony, which backs onto a nature reserve, and there, I spied a family of peacocks.  I have only ever seen photographs of peacocks, so to watch a family foraging in the wild was a wonderful experience.

I was willing this beautiful peacock to open his feathers, but apparently they only display if they are mating.  I am sure you will agree that this is a very magnificent creature.

I do hope you have enjoyed your visit to India.  I thought I would give you a break for now, but later in the year I will be showing you some Indian cooking utensils. I will also be cooking Indian dishes, some will be vegetarian and some will include meat, so there will be something for everyone.

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining,

Karen at Sew Many Ways

Cathy at A Peek Into My Paradise