Home Sweet Home

A dear friend introduced me to Iris folding a few months ago. I got hooked on to the simple and fun technique quite easily. My first project is a little personal, a birthday gift to my husband so I won't be talking about that. My second project is called Home sweet home. I visualised a little cottage surrounded with greenery and sunshine and lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering around. I was to gift this to some friends on a special occasion but by the end of the activity I just couldn't let go!

To learn the technique you could refer to sites teaching 'Iris folding' like this one...

First get a sheet of card paper with butterfly prints on it.
On the other side which is blank draw an outline of the cottage, two trees one on each side of the house and a circle for the sun.
Using a cutter cut along the outlines.
On a piece of card paper from an old packing or any other firm cardboard draw the Iris template.
Then keep the template on a table or board and stick it with cello-tape so it doesn't shift. Keep the butterfly sheet over the template with the blank side facing up.
Stick different pieces of coloured paper in a sequence using cello tape. For instance if you choose 4 colours of crepe paper for the house stick Colour W over 1, Colour X over 2, Colour Y over 3, Colour Z over 4 and so on and make sure to follow the order.
Follow the same technique for the other forms like trees and sun. Use gold paper for the sun, shades of green for the trees and gold or brown for the trunk.
When completed turn the sheet and your project is ready.

Dry fish chutney

This recipe was shared with me by my mamma after I came to Germany. She makes the world's best dry fish chutney! It goes so well with rice especially red rice and is really simple to make. At home mum made it with fresh grated coconut but she gave me a super convenient method of making the chutney with 'kopra'/dried coconut. You can make it with fresh or dried coconut depending on what is easily available. When using 'kopra' first soak it in water for at least 4 hours so that you can grind it easily.

So here's what you need..
Half a coconut - make pieces
5 to 6 dried red chillies/ 2 green chillies or depending on the spice you can take
Ball of tamarind, about 11/2 inch in diameter
About two fists full of any dry fish of your choice, best to use something boneless


The process..
Put all the ingredients except the dry fish in a mixer and grind coarsely till it blends together. Collect this in a bowl and add the dry fish. Mix well. This goes well with plain rice or dal rice or rasam rice.

Nutty मोर

Next time you eat Pistachios don't throw away the shells. There are different beautiful things you can do with them. Here is one idea. (मोर = Peacock in Hindi pronounced as 'more')

You will need:

Lots of Pista shells

Acrylic paints or water colours

Brushes

Tooth picks

Cardpaper

Thick white glue

Draw an outline of a peacock on white card paper and cut it out.

To get an idea of how many shells to colour place the shells on the outline as in the picture below. Place three over the head for the crest, one for the eye, few for the main body and one for each feather.

Depending on the part of the body colour the shells. Bright pink for the crest, a black dot for the eye, blue or purple for the body and light green with a dark green dot for the feathers.

Once they dry up stick them in place using glue.

For the beak, feathers and feet use tooth picks. You will need to cut these to required size.

Stick the peacock on a black sheet of paper. Cut clouds and grass and stick them around the peacock.

Now time to go dance in the rain!!

And my spirit yearns for more excitement with each passing day as if todays is not satiating enough!! :)))

Our 'Last Supper'

For the last few months I have been thinking of working on a 'Last Supper' picture for our dining area. But none of the many ideas in my head seemed exciting enough. Like I do with most things I wanted this creation to be a depiction of my own understanding of what Jesus' act of service and sacrifice means to me.

Last week one of the stores here called 'Lidl' had a wonderful offer for a metal tool that is heated to 500 degrees C and has different bits (like in a drilling machine) to make designs on cork. leather and wood. Basically it burns the material and you get a black and white effect. We have several planks of wood in our store room and once I had bought the machine I knew what I was going to do. First I practised on some cork coasters to check how it was going to react. I felt pretty comfortable in the initial 10 minutes of using it and I grabbed a plank of wood to make our very own Last Supper frame.

It took me about 2 hours to complete the work with occasional 2 minute breaks as the fingers got tired. The device gets very hot and so I could not afford to be distracted even for a bit. The task required a lot of concentration, patience and skill because everything was done free hand with reference to another last supper picture. Holding the metal tip at one point for too long over heated the wood creating smoke that hurt the eyes and irritated the nose. So I also had to ensure I was not over heating the wood and holding the materials at an angle where the smoke didn't enter my nostrils directly.

Hmmm so now to tell you what is so special about our Last Supper. You will notice two things: 1. Only the apostles seated on one side of Jesus are coloured dark while not the others. Each of us has a bright side (our strengths, potential) and a dark side (our weaknesses, limitations). I believe that Jesus comes to reach out to us irrespective of who we are. He comes to strengthen our strengths and heal our weaknesses. All of this being a reminder to treat ourselves with the same respect and care. 2. Jesus' face is coloured dark which makes it difficult to recognise him. Jesus didn't just come for us years ago but He keeps working in our lives through different people, often through strangers or the least likely people.

Our 'Last Supper' is an image of hope, faith, respect, service and love. Each day when we sit together as a family I hope and pray that we are reminded of these values.

I take charge of the way I learn...

In the current context I am talking about my decent and recent progress in learning German. I still have a long way to go. Based on my experience so far here are a few tips when planning to learn a foreign language. 

Is learning German difficult?? 
Now I wonder if doing anything the first time is easy. The same applies when learning a language. A million meaningless sounds flying around all at once. But once you hear them over and over again you may just manage to see gaps between two different sounds. The key is to LISTEN..

So even before I started attending class in Mumbai, Flav helped me find material online that I could save and listen on my Ipod and print and read when on my way to work. So I spent one hour everyday just listening and repeating what I heard while following on paper. I didn't understand everything I heard but I understood the difference between the sounds and slowly they didn't seem so unfamiliar. Few sounded a lot like words from the English language. This activity was such a blessing because when I finally started class after two weeks I didn't feel so lost.
http://multilingualbooks.com/fsi-sampler.html#german

Now I am in a place where I hear those sounds (which I can call words) all the time. My vocabulary is still very limited but I still haven't stopped "listening" to what people talk to each other at a supermarket, while traveling or over the phone. No am not hungry for gossip... just plain hungry to learn.

When I came here I criticized the system of teaching a lot... and I still do in some ways. But that process of criticism was only to help me understand what would help me learn better, what my strengths are and today I feel satisfied.
1. The dictionary is THE biggest help every time you hear a new word.
http://dict.leo.org/
2.  If I want to say something in German and I am not sure if I am right then I first frame the sentence based on what I can and then cross check with lingoes. You can use it for any other language. Its a freeware and also compatible with mobile phones. 
http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/download.htm

3. I am not particularly fond of reading a lot but I do enjoy reading short stories and articles. So I try looking up material that interests me.

Short stories in both German and English! http://www.a-language-guide.com/german-short-stories/
http://www.fln.vcu.edu/menu.html

I may not have control over the way I am taught but I sure do over the way I learn!!!

The wandering and the wondering mind...

Not sure about the logic bit but the mind often wonders and wanders about. Toh socha 'chalo use bhi mauka diya jaye!' So I was wondering... did my mind first wander and then start wondering about why, when, who???? or while wondering about the why's and what's did it wander away to a point of no return??? No am not talking crap.. Am talking distractions!!