Leaves are a changin

Yesterday marks one year since I arrived in the UK, and as I sit in a room lit by the fading light of shorter days, an elephant enters with the gust of crisp, clear full of promise and uncertain autumn air. With the academic year over, it is time to take stock of things and evaluate what I want from life and what I want to give to it. Maybe it is time to pluck the chicken out of the stock, and allow the broth to simmer and reduce to a clear and transparent soup with a sprinkling of fresh herb inspiration  from this new continent that has been my home for the past 365 days. According to Buddha, "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."
With the visa restrictions for passport holders from 'non-native' speaking countries, finding an English teaching job abroad has been difficult. Maybe my heart is not in it, maybe it is time for a change. Change in direction. Change in expectation. Change in perception. Even the leaves are a changin : )

Here is a list of things I am currently working on.

1. Restringing a necklace

2. Knotting 25 lantern holders

3. Three bracelets

4. Exploring potential of cherry wood for pendants

5. Beach glass creations collected on the loveliest holiday to Penryn and Falmouth

6. Registering for the second Suitcase Sale and stalls in Brighton!

7. Picking mulberries and raspberries for ice-cream + jam + stain hands : )

8. Collecting my mum from Heathrow in 2 days ~* !

change - alter - exchange - vary - shift - convert - transform - mutate - metamorph

The music of spheres

Summer 2012, Bristol.

"The geodesic dome is an extraordinarily potent, geometric composition, which mirrors the structure and form of the very cosmos itself."

it rains a lot. but there are berries. raspberry picking tomorrow. hopefully a second harvest of strawberries. their flowers a five petaled star. like our five peopled geodesic dome. Yes, we built it. our own dome. to sleep in. to dismantle. to build again. found pipe. branches of the native hazel tree. 2 days of work. sunny days. here is the story in pictures. Enjoy!

A blue print.branches colour coded. 

 clubbed by length, we are whittling their ends, while correctly spaced out holes are being drilled into the pipe. 

Max checking to see if the first lying down layer fits, while we contemplate the physical manifestation of the philosophy of sacred geometry. 

we close shop for the day. 

: ) putting things away in their proper slots. * we used corresponding pipes to bundle families of branches together and got down to preparing pins to fix the branches in place. 

and with the tarp pulled over, we have our dome sweet dome with the light dancing on the blue : )

 more plans: sturdy plastic bags stitched together, their rectangle shapes fitted side by side to make an inner  colourful patterned roof, improve our pins (though they have proven sturdy and today it is our second night!) and hopefully we can have a cooking stove of sorts?!  to top it off a row of flowers along the edges and on the earth beneath our feet would be perfect : )

this is where we started our journey and its wonderful index has so so much more to offer !

Egyptian scarab beetle bead choker

leather strap that once belonged to an old boot 

scrap metal found in  Leh 

 hand made glass beads from Santiniketan 

Hang it out : )

Last month I participated in Bristol's first Suitcase Sale ! It was a grand idea and though we were a relatively small gathering out on a windy day, the ingenuity of people made up for the numbers and lack of publicity.

Here is a poster, drawn by Laurie. O, which we then scanned and printed. 

From crepes being made in foil lined 'boxes' and all sorts of bric-a-brac for sale, here is a lovely suitcase chair !

An old accordion case fitted with willow branches to hang earrings and bracelets and roses lining the sides, worked it's magic for my macrame creations. Thank you to lovely friends who unexpectedly came by with hummus and bread and much love and cheer : ) 

I have always said that one must hang things out into the universe - dreams, desires, sweet nothings, a thought, a seed, an idea, a question, an anything and that the universe shall answer. 

I got socks and elf green tights for a steal here, : )

Words aren't enough to say thank you for all the love and kindness, I receive from

 the place of berries that I sleep in every night and wake up to every morning. None of this would be possible without the generous refilling cups of tea and bowls of food, that keep me rich in body, mind, spirit and soul. Here is a little something, hung up by a window - the beads, stones, seeds and shells weave a story of gratefulness and surrender to all the beauty I am lucky enough to be surrounded by. : ) 

Thank you. 

Doilies on shirts, doily dream catchers, doilies in my hair and in windows like webs, there is so much to create! 

old friends, daybreak, a city through the eyes of another, 

 patterns rediscovered and embraced, memories visited, 

paths crossing with strangers and intertwining, 

chance encounters and new beginnings, 

renewed hope, lying on the grass and in the sun,

waiting in bus stops, 

pieces of paper, lines of ink, 

a game where the face the body the legs and the feet 

are each drawn by another,

FISH AND CHIPS! 

What are the odds that the one night we are stranded in London, the city of all cities with homeless plenty, we meet a professor from Delhi University  who offers to let us sleep on his floor! A night out of the rain, with Becherovka and refreshing viewpoints for stimulating company, nicely rounded off with eggs on toast for breakfast : ) Thank you Saroj for your hospitality. 

Not to mention the little bit of shiny happy chancy magic : ) 

water colour cleanse,

It's been so long since I did a painting.

A burst of colour 

lines and leaves

eyes that see

whirls blue

and dancing tunes

stars and flowers

cards and patterns, 

I made this for my cousin's birthday and it was so much fun !

For now it's back to work and painting words, 

strawberry fields forever,

Strawberries sweetest in the summer sun 

Eaten unwashed from the ground

I made a tart yesterday : ) 

dreamy evenings spent weeding the sweet smelling beds,
I could be a strawberry farmer forever !

Yes, I am a quitter !

Enter the portal that is the trunk of a tree,
to find a message left by a stranger
the belief of the universe.
Love is the key,
It makes things possible.
This is the BIG one.
This is it.
Thank you for quitting with me,

It's been a little over two weeks since I smoked my last cigarette! Though I still feel like I'm mourning the death of a dear friend, my lungs seem to have expanded to the pit of my stomach and down to my toes! The decision entailed a fair amount of melodrama and was preceded by throwing away an almost full pouch of baccy, filters and paper in the bin! Even though it was a  final gesture and there was no looking back, I almost gave into the temptation to smoke a few times during the first week. However, life, the universe and the people around  seem to conspire to make me stick to my resolve. For the first time 'smokers' outside pubs, those walking by and around street corners seem strangely uninviting and almost ugly. I also read this article here where Baaba Maal says, "I stopped smoking six years ago. It was just one day – boom! Before that, I felt like cigarettes owned me. Running around a whole city looking for a cigarette at 5am is not how I wanted to be. Nothing was going to catch me." 

Though it is still a constant struggle to say no every second of every day, now I step out of the house, boat, room, pub because I have a purpose that is larger than satisfying a mere nicotine urge.For the first time since my lung infection last year, I am able to slowly build back my stamina and endurance by cycling around the Long Ashton Park - where we also found Roger the squirrel in September. Here he is nibbling and stretching away in his little box where he lived in the pocket of a jumper! 

So much more time and so much more to do, why do people smoke? Most absurd of things putting smoke in our lungs, unnatural and addictive but it is not impossible to give up. Here is an older post for more oxygen   - finally it is becoming a reality!!! 

Bigger and brighter
don't moon around
moon on,

tonight the moon appears 14% larger and 30% brighter than the other full moons of 2012....

the moon crescents my hair, 

stars in my ears and a fiRE in my belly, 

Part of speech: noun
Definition: Earth's satellite
Synonyms: celestial body, crescent, full moon, half-moon, heavenly body, new moon, old moon, orb of night, planetoid, pumpkin, quarter-moon, satellite, blue moon... .. . 

Experimenting with fimo

Sometime ago, I started experimenting with fimo or polyester clay to make my own beads. My initial thoughts  went from, it's fairly simple to blend the colours and create shapes as I want, to oh wow! there are so many possibilities! I soon discovered that there are a range of techniques that can be used to create intricate patterns, almost unfathomable as you can see here. 

This first batch from a couple of months ago consists of mainly marbled beads in various sizes and flattened pendants. You can see a more complex pink and yellow flower design, the beginning of using different colours in a systematic way to form patterns. In the second photo, you can see the recent batch out of the oven and waiting to be macra-made!

Blending, twisting and coiling to form spirals - I'm quite happy with them, what do you think? 

Yes, said the moon to the sea,

we do meet. 

Not now or today, 

but forever tomorrow : ) 

Ultraviolet nights 

knots to learn, teach and incorporate

a ring with daffodils or bluebells, sweet smelling thyme and sage bundles : )

start again, start anew with these knots from yore

mix them up mix them up

A collage of nature inspired pieces, a reminder of things done and to do : )

wire to wrap stones and stones, orange slices, seeds and bottle tops with decoupage, crab claws, ankle bells and orange peels that became wearable pieces of macrame pendants.

A sauntering, wandering, travelling mountain cafe shop to the venues in Bangalore city, Tang's shop ~* after a few stalls with other vendors now lives on a boat : )

Online shop coming soon, so you can own or commission your own piece of macrame jewelry from whichever part of the world you are in !

grateful for the people, warmth, places

love and sunshine warmth gratefulness to marmalade cat, my lobster, and imaginary friend margarine butter who share my incredible journey and make everything possible : )

Big thanks to all the people who believe, 'like'and support cYcLe ShOp ~*

now goes by the name Tang's Shop - Handmade jewelry; fixes, repairs and strings to avoid any confusion!

Woodland walk and inspiration

Willow bent dream catchers and found feathers, mini pine cones for wreaths, jars to turn into vases and macrame candle holders : )

Put a rose in it : )

A floating summer shop : ) Perfect way to meet people, make friends, swap crafty tips and life stories - Tang's Shop is growing, creating and changing in the Spring sun by the water, and welcomes vendors, friends and inspiration from everyone : )

If you are recycling, making and creating things this summer, we would love to hear about it!

and a fish is like a boat ... .

I eat : )

After years of singing + teaching a rhyme about hot cross buns, I ate some 'skipped' from the Tescos bin and felt compelled to dedicate a page to them!

Warmed and buttered, hint of cinnamon yum : )

It's been months since my last blog entry and since I left India to get my Masters in England.

Berry adventures and initial sunny days have given way to not only the cold, grey English weather, but overwhelming amounts of reading, writing and loneliness!

Hopefully I'll be able to get my camera working and salvage photos to share here, but in the meanwhile, I have started a visual diary.

I live with a crocheting, musician lioness of the woods, a bear boy and two cats in a rickety, hobbit arched magical cottage in Half Moon Village. The University is over the bridge and across a field and a place for meeting people. I've spent nights on a boat and on the streets of Soho, hitched rides, sipped mead and seen a puppet theater most magnificent, eaten my first butternut squash + chestnuts and other sorts galore, become a fan of soup and stood in open parks further than my eye can see. The northern sky is a different blue, the air is cold, the light (when it's there) glistens white gold and there are blue tits, magpies and robins out the kitchen window.

We walk on words

we walk on thoughts

wherever you are

the sky is your umbrella

and it's mine too.

Universe

love love love