India at the gallery, food and drawings

 Today the house cleaners are scheduled, so I'm out and about, first to the UPS store to return an item which just arrived. 

Nothing like the description, also comically wrong size, but black, I'll grant them that. The label was correct, but the contents were random. QR code set up, back to UPS, nice lady scans, takes package, issues a receipt. 

This makes three out of three recent  fails in online shopping for clothes. Usually the labels are as ordered and the item bears no resemblance. I wonder if they count on people not returning them.

Then the day improved with a wonderful photography show at the library gallery. I'm not usually much interested in photography; few people really make art  with a  camera.

But this man does.

He has an eye for daily life, the tea wallah tending his shop, the goat at the door of the bead shop, the tiny shoes being made for little refugees, the man carrying an enormous vessel on his head, echoing the dome in the background, Diwali lights, nature encroaching on buildings.

The three headed figure is in the context of the two headed memes we talked about recently, and in Europe the three headed glass vase used to be a popular motif.

Lovely show, and I've only shown you my favorites. Outside the gallery, I put in a few puzzle pieces

Yesterday Gary brought me in to help him with Indian sweets he'd been given for Diwali. The Indian neighbors have showered western friends, and now we're redistributing. 

I'm one of the few Westerners around here who love Indian foods, most Americans finding them a bit spicy.  And I'm so grateful for a digestive system which seems to be castiron, despite my great age and decrepitude. I can eat and enjoy practically anything, and I never forget how lucky I am.

While I listened to the Martin Walker Bruno mystery, I knitted a bit, and suddenly felt like a couple of minutes'  drawing. 

Just pilot pen in a little all-purpose notebook. These shapes might show up in some future work, we'll see. Meanwhile it was a nice couple of minutes.

Happy day everyone, seize the nice couple of minutes where you find them!

Such a rich life

Yesterday was the knitting group, a reunion with two members who hadn't seen there for ages, and my first since all the exciting health events over the summer.

Here's the endless scarf in progress by our self taught young artist friend, with him considering how much longer to go.

And the temperature blanket in progress by the other person in the picture

The black stripes separate the months 

In other good news they're thinking of moving the morning of the book group which means I could rejoin. It's the same day as the knitting group and I can't do both in one day, time, mileage etc, so I've been choosing the knitting group and missing the bookies.

And the library, this is a library based group, has a current exhibit about early artifacts of the Lenni Lenape original inhabitants, sadly driven out by colonial settlers.

Not very good pictures, light poor, refiections

There are many flint and slate arrowheads, clay lamps and other interesting items in the fields around here , sometimes turned up by spring plowing.

When foundations are dug for new buildings, it's not unusual to turn up interesting early artifacts. Princeton university sends little teams of hopeful archaeologists out, and there's one area down the road which I think may be a learning place, since I've several times seen teams of  students turning over the same corner of a field each spring. 

When RCA built their HQ, across from where we eventually came to live in West Windsor, our neighbors who already lived there would go across after hours, and search about in the upturned earth. 

They found a lot of recognizable items like little oil lamps, the small clay type, arrowheads, axe heads, great stuff. The official archaeologists struck out and the neighbors were so sorry for them that they handed over most of their finds for the museum collection! It was a huge neighborhood joke that two housewives had wiped the eye of the Important Museum People!

Then friend Amitha, next door, back from India, came over with treats they'd brought back

Did ever a person have better neighbors? I think they really appreciate how I love the kids, since a lot of older people are more in the get off my lawn frame of mind. I told her it was far too quiet with them away!

How can anyone bear to move to those 55+ places, where only the occasional visiting grandchild is as seen in the deserted streets? Not my jam, anyway, even when it's noisy I'd rather be pestered with kids and the hilarious things they argue about.

So that's us. The San Francisco jigsaw puzzle is coming along.

 I find I'm the put a couple of pieces in in passing style of puzzler rather than being engrossed for hours.  It's nice to have it in progress on the table.

Happy day everyone I hope your day's as rich as mine

Indian treats, date jam and March 'nations

Today was one of those days where you need a flexible approach to life.  I had sort of planned on going to a special lecture on Palestinian costume and embroidery, then the weather turned so bitter I was afraid I would have trouble breathing, what with the wind and all.

So I was wondering about this, then a friend stopped in, newly back from India full of news of relatives and parties and bearing a box of special Indian treats she knows I love.  One's gone already before the pic happened.

While she was in mid chat, another friend stopped in to return a dish in which I'd given him fruit crumble some time ago, and stayed to join in the convo.  Very good time had by all, and I seized the day to give them both some banana chutney I've been planning on giving.  Food just whizzes back and forth in this neighborhood.

Then he left and she and I talked resistance training, no, not the political stuff I've been doing, the free weight type.  And she was stunned to find out I lift more than two pounds...but while we were at it, I showed her how to do resistance whole-body safe stuff on the stairs.  And she cracked me up by making a video of it to share with her husband so they can both do it!  The inadvertent movie star..no I didn't ask to see it, bad enough seeing still pix of self.

Then by the time they'd left, I was out of time, also peopled out. I can only take on so much people exposure daily, but they had priority.  Hoping to see some people tomorrow who might have gone to today's event, anyway.

So got down to the other plan for the day, making date jam.  Wanted to make some little preserve ahead of friend coming to visit next week, and date and apple seemed good.  The apples were in the freezer, all prepped, so I just cut down the dates, put dates and apples, random amounts, really, in pan with some added water, shake of really good cinnamon, not that supermarket stuff, shake of vanilla essence.  

Brought to the boil, down to simmer, cooked for about 35 minutes, spooned into redhot sterilized jar, which had been in boiling water all the while the jam was cooking.  Done.

You will note that there's no added sugar in this jam.  Dates and apples are already packed with fructose, no need for it.  I just read a book by a big alternative fact merchant on how she went without sugar for a year.  

I read with interest wondering how she managed it, and found out she had made massive use of glucose -- SUGAR, and dextrose -- SUGAR!  All she did without was a range of prepared other forms of sugar.  Very far from sugar free.

No need for me to pile on, though, since I found a raft of messages to her from people who know all about this stuff kindly explaining that she's totally wrong, and is no chemist, nor nutritionist. So I figured my opinion was out there enough, no need for more. But I'm just sayin, that's all, mumble, mumble.

And I did get out for a brief errand, after I finished fussing about the sugar lady,  despite knifing wind, because I was out of, gasp, wine!  And milk. And while I was there, flowers. I organize flowers for the house on the first of the month, a New Year's resolution which is pretty easy to keep, and very good for my spirits at this time of year.  Poked about in the flower department, and came out with pink flowers, protest pink!  

I don't like it at all when people abbreviate flower and other names, chrysanthemums to mums, computers to 'puters, please.  However, can't beat em, join em, so, to show I can be as annoying as the next, here are my pink 'nations...

Some baking tonight, I think, and some Alan Rickman watching, great youtube link from K, she is always showing me stuff I really ought to know already and don't, and it's v. cool. In fact why don't I show you the link, too, instead of just wittering on about it.

Friends home from India with good news and not so good

Shabnam from next door arrived back today, well, early this morning after a 17 hour flight, then straight to work, battling jetlag. I had sort of kept an eye on things while she was away a couple of weeks, and she brought me back my downfall -- box of Indian sweets, oh dear.  No idea what's in them, but some are covered in edible silver, a lot of them have various nuts and spices, and all of them suit me just fine.

You see inroads in the foreground, with edible silver bitten into...and the fruit on the left is my first try at a fresh guava, hand brought for me.  I've had them canned only, so this was a great idea to offer me.  Another food adventure.  I'll open and explore it tomorrow.

It's become a joke with Indian friends who keep feeding me special treats to let them know if I don't like any of them. Up to now, they haven't hit on anything I don't like..

She also brought the news that the relative the other friend went to see at his last, died very shortly after she got there, with some family in attendance.  Sad journey home.  I'll walk the labyrinth for the departed father tomorrow, and for the family.