An evening in the park

It is so rare for us to be in the park after tea time. But tonight after picking up the groceries in Asda the boys were keen to go to the park. The weather was so warm and mild and burning off energy in the park sounded like more fun than heading home to kill a couple of hours before bedtime. 

It was warm, I was surrounded by foreign accents so I relaxed and imagined I was in Barcelona or some other Metropolitan city. I think it is the closest I’m going to get to international travel this year. Sob sob.

 

Baby chicks

She did it! Lj successfully hatched her first set of chicks. We now have Dolly, Byrne, Spot and Cheerio and are awaiting the arrival of 3 more chicks in the next two days.
We all love watching them. Calvin and Ezra are always eager to hold them and give them a cuddle too.

Making memories for future days

I once visited an elderly lady in her home. I will never forget the walls of her lounge where she spent almost all of her time unable to get around like she used to. She lived a full life when she was physically able being a missionary with her family in Hong Kong and Singapore. The walls of her lounge were adorned with photos, paintings, prints, fabrics, landscapes and Chinese texts. Even when she was too tired to read, listen or watch and had no visitors to talk to, her heart must have been warmed by all the memories that those images invoked. 

My Granny turned 92 this month and in her words she has had ‘too many birthdays’. Her body is not as strong as it used to be and her memory is letting her down. She loves to travel and was fortunate enough to travel the world with her late husband, when she was physically able. Now when she is too tired to read, listen or watch and has no visitors to talk to she pours over her old photos albums, reliving Kenyan safaris, the Canadian Rockies or the Australian bush. 

Often I fall behind posting photos on my blog and often I wonder if there is any point in doing it at all but I keep going because I can’t help remembering Grace with her memories on the wall or Granny Jean with her memories stored in albums. Memories which their natural, aged minds would have long forgotten are brought back to life and time that passes so slowly for them these days passes quicker as they remember!

So here’s to storing memories of the everyday!

Don't forget to lock the door.

Now that MJ is at High School, his evening activities don't end until after my bed time. So I left him a note for when he got home from youth club. It obviously wasn't big enough as he totally missed it! Will have to go for A1 paper next time.

Chef Lilyjean!

M and his garden

I often complain about the amount of time M spends working in his garden at weekends...but then when I go outside to pick some flowers to bring inside I'm stunned at the colour and variety, even at this time of year...perhaps I need to praise his talent rather than moan!

Our Weekdays

During the week while M is at work we follow a fairly regular pattern. Mj and lj spend the mornings doing Maths, French, English, Indian History and spellings each day, with Science, Letters to their classes back home, learning the catechism, writing diary entries and drawing what they have seen dispersed through the week. Most mornings Ez and Cal have had a nap which has been a real blessing, giving the older two a chance to focus on learning.
At noon we clear away our books and prepare lunch so that we are ready to head out shortly after.
The first couple of weeks we tried out lots of different activities and places but as the weeks have gone on we have started to return to the places we enjoy most or are most useful.
Each week Mj and lj have been ice skating at Ambience Mall, which also gives me a chance to do some food and general shopping in Big Bazaar. We enjoy South Point Mall with it’s Bricks Cafe, a space to build Lego while I have lunch or a coffee and we DID enjoy ‘going bananas’ which is a soft play with a cafe attached...that was until today when they told us that Lj was to old to play in it...even though there were no children playing and at least 5 staff doing nothing. Anyway, it forced us to try ‘Monkey business’ for the first time which is a very clever business idea. It provides childcare per hour for parents who need an hour here or there to work. It was a lovely space and as is fairly normal there was no one else using it.
This week we have found two spots where we can go for a walk and have a run around which is nice although these are quite dependant on the air quality that day.
After our little outing we come back for a rest, then head outside to play tennis, play in the park or some basketball before it is dinner time, bath time and bed time.
I’m so thankful that we have made some friends. So on the days we catch up with them our schedule is rearranged but i’m just glad we have company and can deal with the routine getting knocked.

Shopping for books

Our mission today was to find a book shop, Kool Skool, which had been recommended by our new American friend. It was in another shopping mall which pushed us out of our comfort zones. But I feel we are gaining confidence in dodging stray dogs and not being put off by dusty, run down looking stalls. After going down to the basement, up to second floor and back down to ground and asking four different people for directions we finally found what we were looking for.
What amazes me is that although from the outside the shops look tired and out of date, inside they carry all the well known brands and latest items.
We purchased a few books to keep us going and I particularly liked these two. One has an audio cd which I thought would be useful on our long car journeys. I was also drawn to the watercolour illustrations as Lj and I are trying to improve our watercolor skills on this trip. Perhaps, I'll post a few of our watercolor efforts one day.

And the rains came down

It was a good morning to hitch a lift with M on his way to work. A night of thunder and lightning storms and very heavy rain had left the roads flooded. Our driver jumped out of the car in his bare feet to help fold up the buggy and put it in the boot along with his shoes. The new parts of the city have drainage so were busy but not flooded. As we neared M's work in Old Gurgaon, the fun began, with broken down tuk tuks, people abandoning cars, choosing to walk and people trying to stay on the high edges of the road to avoid the deep puddles. So many people with trousers rolled up and shoes in hand waded through the flood waters. It was a sight to behold.

Friends

It seems that in order for us to make new friends we need to stay out later in the evening. There was a hive of activity around the parks this evening. Mj and Lj had great fun playing 'tag' with some kids their age and plan to meet up tomorrow! 

Red Fort and Ghandi Museum, Delhi, India

Today was the first day since our arrival that M has been off work so we made the most of it and headed into Delhi.

We started at the Red Fort in the morning. Had lunch at ‘The Salad Story’ in Khan market and finished in the afternoon at the Gandhi Museum. Lots of ideas for homeschooling this week!

A real Indian takeaway

Tonight we had our first real Indian takeaway. It was delicious. The kids were v brave and tucked in too... Adding a mouthful of mango lassi with every bite of korma!! Calvin was the funniest. The spiciness didn't put him off his love of food but oh the facial expressions as he persevered on. 

I also loved the packaging that the take away arrived in. V cool illustration. 

Ice skating

Ice-skating today at Ambience Mall, Gurgaon. Ezra was disappointed that he couldn't skate but MJ and Lj loved it and want to go everyday. While we watched, I tucked into a coffee and chocolate brownie without considering the cleanliness of the outlet that serve it. Please stay away Delhi Belly!

Jet lag 😩

Just after midnight and everyone is awake apart from M!

Advent is over

I spent a lot of advent keeping this boy out of the advent calendars with varying success. He consumed a lot of chocolate in 24 days.

Post exam activities

I'm not tech savvy enough to post videos on here from my photo but if I was you would be able to see and hear MJ's animation and Lj playing Christmas carols. Now that MJ has completed his 11+ exams (he celebrated with the cake of his choice, a caramel slice!) and Lj has completed her piano exam, which at the time she felt went terribly but actually earned her a distinction they are having to find other hobbies to fill their evenings.

Red sky in the morning!

When I see a red sky, I always remember the rhyme

'Red sky at night, shepherds delight.
Red sky in the morning, sailors warning!'

Should I be worried?!

Bean bags

I had a little bit of help getting these bean bags finished off this morning. Ideally I would like Ezra to learn to recognise his name using them but I think for now I will have to relax and allow them to be thrown around or stacked up high!