Strange days indeed

We are having some very weird weather here at present. 28 degrees celsius and pouring with rain. Very tropical for this part of the world. The summer roses are in bloom and speckled with rain...but perhaps this mismatched picture and the peculiar conditions in general suit my own slightly discordant mood this week!

Wandering

Although the Buddha says that we should not look for solutions in distant lands, but within our own hearts, regular readers here will know that I have a tendency to look to distant lands quite often! Not for solutions necessarily, but to feed my imagination - feed my heart, if you like - so perhaps it works out as amounting to the same thing?

At present, I am feeling that tingle in my wandering feet again and as well as my favourite locales - Japan, Europe - I am thinking too of India. I have been watching "The Jewel in the Crown" on one of the new digital channels here late every Sunday night and although I watched it with my parents when it was first released in the early 80s, I didn't really understand it then. Critics I'm sure could (and probably did) call it 'Brideshead in a Hot Cilmate' (with apologies to Nancy Mitford) since they were made at about the same time, but I am really enjoying it. I studied Indian history for a year as an undergrad at uni and so I am slowly recalling bits and pieces of long-forgotten facts as it goes along. As well as that, I have also just started reading E.M. Forster's A Passage to India which, although I have loved the film for some time, I dismissed the book as boring. I am now finding it to be really engaging and so vividly depicted. Has anyone else read it? I would have loved to put a clip of either "The Jewel in the Crown" or "A Passage to India" up here but there were no clips of the former to be found on You Tube and the latter's clips had been disabled. Huh. However, last but by no means least, I can bring you a gorgeous clip from "Monsoon Wedding", a lovely, lovely, lovely movie which you have to seek out if you haven't seen it already. And, needless to say, it presents a more modern view of India than the titles mentioned above! This song is one of my favourites from the soundtrack (the sound is a little subdued, so crank it up a little if you can). I defy you to not be cheered by it.

Has anyone been to India? What's it like?

And one last thing while on the topic of India (sort of), I have lately discovered a very nice little side dish which I have now had two nights running. It sort of reminds me of the cucumber dish which is generally served with pappadums at Indian restaurants. Combine sliced or diced cucumber with natural yoghurt and a little finely chopped or minced garlic. The proportions of each are to your own taste. Mmmm.

Simple, Simple, Simple...

Sorry to be absent for a couple of days, but my headache--tummyache combo got the better of me! I am beginning to feel a little better now though. Being ill, though, has given me some time to think and what I've been thinking about is the need for simplicity. This has been a particular realisation for me when it became apparent that my headaches were 1 part to what I was eating to about 3 parts stress.

I know that a lot of what stresses me is about how I process stress, how I respond to it. But I think part of it is also about what is around me. I work largely from home and loving thrifting as I do, I now find myself with a large amount of stuff in a small house--trying to get some work done. So, what to do? Well, part of my answer which I am gradually putting in place this week is to follow (what I believe to be) a Japanese aesthetic. Minimise. Put things away. Don't have everything out on surfaces. Give space. Have the room to just be. I realise that I will never have a totally minimalist house. It would in fact just be an additional stress to aim for something which is impractical for someone who does still like stuff! But I think a little bit of streamlining is in order. Just little things to start. So, my tea chest which was gathering dust (the tea is in jars instead), is now housing my cardmaking stuff instead. That way, my crafty goods are off the study desktop and into draws. The design of the tea-chest is even a little Japanese, though it is from Ikea. Anyway, it's a start. If you're of a similar mindset, try to get hold of Japan Style by Taschen Books. So. Very. Beautiful.

The Lovers, the Dreamers and Me

A lighter note to end the week - perhaps. The Muppet Movie, from which this song is taken, was the first movie I saw at the cinema. And Kermit the Frog was my first love. I didn't realise he wasn't a real frog until I was 5. Seriously. It seemed completely plausible to me that a frog could talk. I think this says a few things: that I was very gullible, very naive or very imaginative. Or all three. And perhaps these descriptors still fit, which would explain all sorts of other things too!

Also, I've always rather liked the lyrics to "The Rainbow Connection". I know they're a bit syrupy, and certainly that angle has been played up over the years, but I also think the song talks about keeping your hope alive in the face of disappointment. Or at least that's what it says to me. Either way, enjoy and have a lovely weekend :)

Are hamburgers Kapha, Pitta or Vata?

You may have realised by now that I am a fairly introspective person. And by 'fairly' I mean 'very' :) But of late, I have been even more introspective than usual, just thinking about things. How things in life work, how I go about doing things. And as such, my reading list is wide and a little deep, as you can see from my book stack above.

What has prompted this is really one idea: I could be doing things a little better. I could feel a little better health-wise. I could approach what comes up in life's great cycle a little more calmly. There's room for improvement.

Health-wise, I have been dogged over the last couple of months by chronic sinusitis and a very delicate stomach, prone at the slightest provocation to upsets. But I keep going. Sniff my nasal spray, keep eating the same stuff I've been eating since I grew teeth. And the complaints are still there. Huh. Funny that. Maybe time to re-assess!

So, I've been reading about the Ayurvedic principle of well-being, with special reference to food. Don't ask me to explain it all to you just yet, but what I can tell you is that I am a Pitta-Vata type. Do you know anything about it? I'd love to discuss it with someone. But having said all that, I'm not going to get crazy about it. I'm still going to eat chocolate. Maybe even the odd hamburger if the mood strikes me. But I am going to try and put some of the principles in place - for now, I'm going to try the ideas that work for me, and see how I go. For some it might sound like half-measures, but I've found that the best approach for me is to take things one step at a time, not come over too ascetic or I'll give up. So tonight, I'm going to put together my own version of a Pitta-Vata dish. Rice, sweet potato, carrot, cumin and fennel seeds.

And I'll keep you posted on my journey of 1000 steps.

'Tis the season...

How did that happen? It seems only a month or two ago that Christmas was here and now here it almost is again. "Only 9 shopping weeks to go!" the advertisements on the radio told me this morning. But I am having a bit more fun with it this year, now that I have got in touch with my crafty side (or, at least, I now have a map which has my crafty side clearly marked on it...!)

So, this week I have started to make Christmas cards. I have come up with these fairly simple, classic designs so far - 'Pax' and 'Peace' - but I am planning to put some others together before the week is out. If you like them, I'm open to taking orders. We can talk via the comments page, or we can swap email addresses and I'll be in touch.

Coming up like a flower

Summer is on its way...our first truly warm day today and the signs of summer are starting to appear. I must admit I brace myself a little. An Australian summer can be a challenging thing! But I am also trying to remind myself that there is still more of spring to come, and that summer has its own rewards...nature's buzz of expectation and activity on a summer's morning...long, cool nights eating dinner in the backyard...