Three times lucky!

Just when I thought that my luck had run out - as I hadn't won a single give away in ages - it seems the dry spell is finally over.

First I won Jess' three years blog anniversary give away and was lucky to get this lovely tote bag. It can be rolled up and tucked into the handbag; very clever and handy. She also sent me a packet of Wonder Clips, as I was wondering what they were when she showed them on her blog a while ago.

Then, only a few days later, I struck "gold" again with this lovely Twirl charm pack
coming from Sheila. She had a give away to celebrate her 200th blog post.

And that still wasn't the end. Farah had a give away to celebrate her 150th follower and guess what, I won that too. Another lovely charm pack came my way (Chicopee) and she too tucked in a little extra, a half a meter of Kona cotton.

Thanks so much Jess, Sheila and Farah. My faith in "lady luck" is now restored!

Cheers
Vreni x

Last minute preparations

In preparation for this week's charity fair, I did a bit of last minute crafting.

A Christmas box, covered with a lovely old fashioned fabric.

And aren't these fabric stars fun? I found the tutorial here and after a bit of fiddling around, I understood the process and was ready to go.

I see more of these in my future.

Keep your fingers crossed for our bazaar so we'll be able to make lots of money for a good cause.

Cheers

Vreni x

Done and dusted!

It seems that lately I'm constantly trying to catch my tail, due to my procrastinating, I suspect.  But I've pulled up my socks on the weekend and finally made the overdue bee blocks.

I have also organised my own blocks as it's my turn for the bee this month and the envelopes are all ready to be posted. I can't wait for the blocks to come back and see what everybody has made. 

It feels good to have at least a couple of things ticked off my to do list, which is - by the way -  a long as my arm.

Vreni x

Nepal and India

Hi, I'm back from what has been a short, but interesting trip. I loved Nepal; the people are very friendly and I even got to see a gimps of the Himalayas. Unfortunately they were mostly hiding behind clouds. Luckily I was able to see Mount Everest from the airplane. Between you and me, it doesn't look much different from our Matterhorn!

Entrance to the old city of Bhaktapur, which is situated in the Kathmandu Valley. It is listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO for its rich culture, temples, wood, metal and stone artwork.

 

Beautiful countryside on the way to Nagarkot. 

As there is a big community of Tibetan refuges their influence is visible everywhere. 

Inside a Tibetan monastery 

Young Tibetan nuns

Paintings on a monastery 

From Nepal we flew to Bombay for a few days. Here's a picture of the "Gate to India" taken from our hotel window.  We stayed at the Taj Mahal, the hotel with was attacked four years ago by terrorist. As it happened, my husband was staying at that hotel on that day, but luckily checked out a few hours before the attack. The hotel with its wonderful history has been totally renovated and is back to its former glory.

4

On a little tour around town we saw the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly known as Victoria Station) which was another scene of the shooting on that fateful day! 

 

                           

Markets

Dhoby Ghaut, which means washing place in Hindi, where thousands and thousands of pieces of laundry are washed and dried everyday, and all by hand!

The Tiffin wallahs, another Bombay institution. Around 200'000 tiffins (lunch boxes) are picked up every day from their respective homes, delivered to the owners at their offices and then later in the afternoon picked up again and brought back home. Apparently with absolutely no mistakes or lost boxes. Supply chain at its finest!

And lastly the Mahatma Gandhi museum

And now it's back with the nose to the grindstone. I can't believe how fast Christmas is approaching. I'm not yet in the right mood; are you?

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

Vreni x