Now where was I?

Before the end of the year, I must catch up with our 

Indian journey.  We had arrived at The Most Exotic

Marigold Haveli.  Not all was as it seemed.

Set in beautiful countryside east of Udiapur, this

lovely old house had had a makeover for a film 

set.   Filming started in Udiapur, after Khempur

the shoot moved on to Jaipur, I think only days

before we arrived.  Remains of 'alterations' to

the building and surrounding area, including a

market place!  Starring Judy Dench and

Maggie Smith, we will have to wait until

Spring 2012 when it should open in cinemas.  

The front of the building; our rooms are behind the three

windows bottom left.  The red jali work in the windows on

the middle floor is polystyrene.  This floor has an open 

area running along the front, with window seats and

cushions to sit and relax watching the sun go down.

An area where we ate the most delicious food under

 the stars - no menu, just perfectly cooked Mawari food.  

We were the only guests, so it was as though we had 

our own personal chef.  On the first night he sent his

apologies for being a bit late - he was on his way 

by bike.   Now that doesn't happen in the usual hotels!

The courtyard, which does look a bit grubby!  The 

fountain is another film prop.  The trees and shrubs

were full of birds singing their hearts out.

Looking out from our window the Shiva Temple and

stables.  Beyond it could be the English country side.

The temple became the focus of two wedding

ceremonies, unfortunately my camera went flakey 

at this point.  I will post some fabulous pictures

taken by Keith later.

The owner of the haveli, and his family, breed 

wonderful Mawari horses.  There are so many

trophies and 'horsey' things inside the havali

it's amazing.  Their ears look like upside down

tassels!   To see them all decked out for part

 of the wedding ceremony was sensational.

The villagers were charming, wanting to stop and

chat.  Inviting us into their homes for chai.

Plenty of these bullock carts to be seen.

We had a very peaceful two days here.  The surrounding

countryside teaming with wild life.  It was just great

walking for miles in complete silence, except, that is,

the sounds of wedding drums progressing 

around the village.

I think we might be returning at the end of February.

Lots more to explore, plus there is a village nearby

that specializes in block printing and dyeing which

is certainly worth investigating.

I looked at the haveli's website www.ravlakhempur.com

it's amazing!  Looks like a different place altogether.

So back to Udaipur for three days before returning

home.  Catching up with a couple of friends, and yes,

a little more shopping.  Well, a girl can't help herself!

As ever, someone doing something you haven't

noticed before.   Very intricate wood carving.

Sunset, time to pack.

Happy  New Year

The Final Journal Quilt

Completed before the 31st December deadline.  Phew!

Inspiration from photograph taken

when the garden was covered in snow.

Great pattern on the sole of my shoe.

Free machine stitching, using a very 

ancient spool of thread that just

happened to surface.  Perfect.  Job done.

Now to have the annual clear out.  So much

stuff seems to have gathered in my room.

I shall be glad to see the back of 2010.

There's been good times and sad times.

Frantic times with too much pressure.

I am looking forward to a 'different' year.

Less hassle and more play.  Sounds good.

Journal Quilt

Reflections on Snow (dyeing)

Detail

Making use of the snow dyed linen.  Free machine stitching,

applique using unknown(!) sheer fabric, and a chance to

use my new printing set.

Not exactly a snow colour, although it reminds me of

the reflections of  the indoor Christmas lights

on the cold wintery scene outside.

snow dyeing

I missed the first fall of snow at the end of December.

I read accounts of snow dyeing and wished I could

have experimented.  My wish came true.

I had some left over dye solution - magenta, golden

yellow and black - and soda ash mix.  These have been

sitting in the freezing conservatory for a few weeks.

I deduced that since cold snow was involved it

was worth a go.   The whole process seems to fly in

the face of warm dyes and batching fabric in warmth.

So gathering the other ingredients - old linen sheet,

washing up bowl, and a metal baking mesh, I dug

up snow crystals and added dye.  My fingers were

frozen;  a unknown hole in gloves added a

festive look to my thumb (magenta).

Bowl placed in the frozen Big Shed - who knew

it would be so useful!   The next day it was still

pretty frozen, so it was brought into the slightly

less cold conservatory.

Results

Interesting patterns - the linen probably too loose a weave

to hold 'scrunching'.  The black just did not work.

 Unexpected consequences - the mesh backing sheet

produced rust marks.

I must have another go.  I am pretty sure we will have

more snow to play with before the winter has finished.

A family gathering

A pre-Christmas supper on Saturday.  

A walk on the beach on Sunday.

Into the howling east wind blowing

snow into our faces.   Ben is safely

tucked up, and asleep in his buggy.

I have never seen Sandbanks beach

covered in snow before.

Today is the shortest day.  Warm and

cosy indoors.   The Christmas lights are

twinkling on the balcony.  No sign of

the lunar eclipse this morning - thick

white cloud.  I guess the full moon

will be hiding this evening.  A nice

thought - the days will start to get

longer again from today.

Happy Christmas to you all,

and may the New Year bring

good things.

Look what I found outside my door!

I think this is a Paper Cinema production!

A festive interlude

A couple of days after my return from India, it was a 

Walford Mill Thursday, and the meeting of Just 10.

Actually, it's just seven now.  We meet every other

Thursday, and have done for twenty years - good

grief - when we started the C&G Patchwork

and Quilting course.

Kay issued a challenge to cover a box for the

Christmas lunch party.  That rattled the creative

thing in my brain.

So here is my box covering - sari silk waste

couched on to pelmet vilene.

The festive table - piles of Christmas cards.

Mistletoe - well, you never know who might

come upstairs.  Packages containing covered

boxes - with presents inside.   The food is

on another table.  The best meal in town.

We all bring a plate of something, and

somehow manage not to double up.

Today it has been snowing since 7am.

Yes, here in Dorset.   Now I am getting a

bit excited - I can have a go at snow dyeing!

I have tw journal quilts to catch up with before

the end of the year.   I have a new pair of

shoes with fabulous patterns on the soles.

Now, there's some inspiration.

The bird table decked out for Christmas.

Along with the usual feeders, a large branch

of holly, with berries - will the Redwings come?

Home made suet 'mince pies' for our

feathered friends - not squirrels.  (should any
of them happen to read my blog).

A train ride and the next destination

The journey started driving through the beautiful countryside.

A few kilometres along the National Highway, and a stop

at Khambli  Ghat.  We had to find the station to take a

train ride to Phulad.   A narrow gauge track, and a

price you couldn't argue with 4 rupees each (70r to £1.00).

The train arrives at Khambli Ghat

Samshu and Keith sitting comfortably 

on wooden seats - above wooden bunks

off we go

climbing up the Aravelli hills, going round bends

over bridges

a signal stop, and monkeys waiting

for food - how did they know?

fresh food being prepared for passengers

through a tunnel - no lights in the train but

a lot of exciting shouts and and laughter

fellow passengers - two young boys who were fascinated

by us.  Travelling alone they alighted from the train

just before our final destination, last seen walking

across a field presumably to their homes

a brief stop high up in the hills

finally we reach Phulad, and there is the driver

waiting for us.  The thing is, it took us near on

two hours to complete the journey of 15k, and 

by road it takes 20 minutes - but it was fun!

So back to the National Highway, lunch at

a dhaba house - delicious - and on we go.

After a while we turned off the main road,

and were soon back in the country side.

Eventually we arrived at our next haveli.

Perfect!!!!!!!!!!

Lakes, jungles and even more temples

The snake road, this only half of it.  Winding it's way down to 

the valley.  Built by the British about 150 years ago it's an 

amazing feat of  engineering.

Into a nature reserve.  Very quiet, I rather suspect we were

a bit late - way past breakfast time.  So unlike the usual

reserves, it was free and nobody but us and the

inhabitants, where ever they were.  We actually got out

and walked - heard a toucan, found the pug mark

of a leopard, and just caught sight of a mongoose.

Lots of small temples along the roads.

and lakes

plenty of bird life, huge frogs and monitor lizards.

Small villages,  folk working the land, some

cheeky monkeys.  Very little traffic.  All

very peaceful and relaxing.

Supper a little delayed - power cut and a generator

which needed a jump start.  So, what to do?

The evening was a little chilly.  Have a bonfire 

of course with all the bits of wood laying around.

So, about ten of us sat around chatting and

drinking beer under the velvet black sky. 

Certainly no light pollution here.  I loved

seeing all those stars.

Eventually the generator started up and we left

the bonfire to sit down to delicious curries.

 The chefserved fabulous food during our stay,

and we were the only guests.  Very exclusive!

Todgarh

We woke to look out on the sunrise, and the Aravelli  

Hills all around us.  What a delight.  Now, I must say 

I have been in love with this range of hills, running 

from west Rajasthan to the outskirts  of Dehli - first

encountered from a train window.  They remind me

of a child's drawing.   Roughly the shape of a

triangle, with trees growing on the edge.  In the

winter, when the leaves have fallen,

they could be giant hedgehogs.

A view with the small town of Todgarh in the

background.   There is a Christian church on

the summit of the hill.  Interesting.  On my

return I did a bit of research, and now wish

we had made our way up there.  The original

village of Barsawada was renamed by the 

Maharaja of Udaipur in recognition of the

work done by Colonel James Tod, a survey

officer with the East India Company.  For

more info www.ecopanions.com - Walk in

the Wild.

Meanwhile, back in the haveli.  It should

be completed early next year.  In the

meantime we had air conditioning, that

is the main room downstairs had door and

window frames, all lacking glass and

the essential doors!  It will be a wonderful

place to stay if you want to get away from

it all.   Here's a link www.hillvalleyresort.com

We spent the morning relaxing, having a bit

of a wander with the binoculars.  After lunch

a trip around the villages.

The land in the valley is so fertile.

This is the season for ploughing

and planting.

Blue house with washing.  It almost

blends with the sky

collecting water

village temple

Nice window

Sunset over the Aravelli Hills

The journey continues

We left Jaisalmer at 7.30am.  Originally we planned 

to stay in a small town called Bap, en route to

Kichan.  A renovated havali, which looked fab.

Somewhere to relax for a couple of days, may be

with hot water and a dhobi service. No reply to

our emails, and Samshu had a plan. No contest.

We set out on the Bikaner road, past Pokaran.

In May 1998 India detonated five nuclear devices

which left a huge cater - strictly off limits.  The road

runs along the Thar desert and seems mainly to

be the home of military installations to the north.

The Pakistan border is very close by. Shepherds with 

their goats and sheep, a few houses, not much else.

On the road

a light bite at a dhaba hut, the best curries

cooked before your eyes and the parathas

delicious, not to mention the chai.

a festive lorry

wedding horse

The reason for going to Kichan was to see the

demoiselle cranes.  They arrive from Siberia to

overwinter.  For the last 150 years or so, the villagers

have been putting out grain in the morning and 

evening. Result, thousands of cranes descend on

 feeding grounds.  I was fortunate enough to 

see them on The Rann in Gujarat last year.  

They are huge, flying off with a whooshing noise.  

I noted that the claw print was as big as my hand.

  Now, Keith is very patient with my textile 

thing, so it was only fair to do the wild life bit.

So here they are.  An amazing sight. Great drifts

of twenty plus leaving the feeding grounds every

five minutes or so.

Tick - time to move on.   Next stop Rohet, 

near Jodphur.  I should say here for those

who have not travelled on Indian roads, 

distances can only be estimated in Indian

time!   Another dhaba stop for chai and nibbles.

We stopped off to stretch legs, take in the 

countryside, arriving south of Jodphur at 3pm.

We are now following Samshu's plan.  First off

a safari in the land of the Bishnu, who are very

protective of their land and wildlife. Without entering 

a safari park, we saw antelope, black buck

 and deer. Brilliant, there they were just

 doing their thing.

We had booked in to the Rohet Havali. I was

quite excited since Bruce Chatwin and 

William Dalrymple spent time here writing.

Oh, what a disappointment.  A lovely haveli, but

with very obsequious staff.  No, they hadn't a room

for us, but we could stay in a posh tent  17k away.

A snip at £150 per night.  We didn't think so.

Over to Samshu.  We will go to Todgarh, he

declared.  Another chai stop, and on the road

 again.  It was getting dark.  Oh, those scary

lorries, playing 'chicken'.  Quite terrifying.

Eventually we turn off to a road suitable for

two cars.  Jungle country - watch out for eyes

in hedgerows.  Over narrow gauge

railway tracks, small villages, a few lights in

the distance.  Stopping to ask for

directions every so often.  At around 9pm 

Samshu suggested a beer might be called for.

Crazy, nothing there but a shack with a

metal door.  A knock was answered by

Samshu's friend.  Beer produced which was

consumed under a sky so dark the stars looked

like golden beads on black velvet.  

 More directions for Todgarh required.

We arrived at 10pm.  It had been a long

day for us all.  A great welcome.  We were

the only guests.  I did note that the

havali appeared to be a construction site

Our bedroom was fantastic.  So huge,

with a four poster bed and a bathroom to

loose yourself in.   By this time we were only

to happy to have arrived - and so to bed!

This is a picture taken in the morning.

Pretty impressive to say the least! 

Our room is the one on the left hand turret.

Note - picture of Demoiselle cranes

courtesy of Mr. Rawling. If you want to see 

fabulous pictures of India, check out his

website on the side bar.