coffee and croissant

Is there a better way to start a day than with coffee and croissant? Well yes, there is: with coffee, croissant and long forgotten book… and maybe Cat.

My obsession with inferior Indian tea resulted in long search for a perfect book explaining the phenomenon. I found one, shortly before the wedding, but soon the preparations and general hysteria took over, and my tea bible landed on a coffee table. I stumbled upon it during yet another organization fit, and here it is: waiting to be finished. 

So far I enjoyed it immensely, discovering many surprising facts, though I’m still waiting to learn about origin of milk tea! There was one anecdote about French aristocrat, who started this trend, worrying about tea’s influence on her precious china. But from what I’ve read so far, the habit died together with tea drinking, when France switched to coffee… The suspense is building up and I can’t wait to see how the story ends!

In the meantime I’m making macaroons – first time in my life! All I can say at this stage: macaroon makers don’t lie – these nasty little bastards are impossible!

to weekend or not to weekend...?

When we first moved to Goa, I was a little afraid that life will change into permanent holidays… and who would want that!
Surprisingly I manage to keep myself so busy that every weekend comes as a real reward. To make sure we are making a good use of our free time I even bought a book on this very subject – The wonderful weekend book – old British countryside type, quaint and charming.
While trying to learn how to “reclaim life’s simple pleasures” I came to the conclusion that we’ve mastered the concept already and have no problem indulging in everything Goa has to offer. 

Last weekend we even made and excursion towards Nasik, to attend festival held in one of the vineyards. While wine wasn’t the biggest attraction, though I enjoyed getting tipsy on sparkly Rosé, we had tons of fun with some friends and exceptional selection of music. I was never a fan of all these psychedelic transy music but I have to say Shpongle really made and impression. Of course Gypsy Allstars was everybody’s favorite - bunch of French guys, playing flamenco fusions with Rajasthani musicians. The idea might not be new, I remember similar concert in Delhi, not to mention Latcho drom – music documentary by Tony Gatlif, but it was, nonetheless, absolutely fantastic.

And so I’m sitting at my desk, remembering all the good weekend times, immersed in tedious job of internet flat hunting. I swear, I’m nearly crossed eyed from all the tiny floor plans and weird fonts… 

I do love our place, but unfortunately in this case “our” means rented. We got it into our heads that it’s time to have “our – our” place, and the search begun… It seemed exciting at first. All the ads sounded so dreamy! Old Portuguese villa in excellent condition… stuck behind village store, with no parking space or driveway; 3 bedroom apartment with valley view… with two bedrooms being converted balconies without proper roof; penthouse with a terrace… in a building nearly falling apart. Let’s just say that we’ve seen enough to understand what we got ourselves into. Plus there is one thing I simply can’t understand – even in the biggest apartments bathrooms are always the size of broom closet… why? Doesn’t anyone understand the importance of long bubble bath?
Long story short: this is how our, once wonderful, weekends are full of disappointments, dread and uncertainty, and I can’t help but wonder… are you there, somewhere…my dream house?

strawberry + tuna = yum!

I'm strawberry obsessed! When the season starts, strawberries go into everything - hence tuna salad with strawberry vinaigrette. To be honest I wasn't completely sure about tuna and strawberries in one bowl but it was surprisingly delicious!

First I made the standard vinaigrette:  

2 parts olive

1 part vinegar ( I use coconut – hello Goa!  but any apple or balsamic will do)

salt, pepper, a pinch of herbs ( Italian mix) 

and added

few spoons of mashed strawberries

Salad was one big improvisation but turned out fantastic

Lettuce ( rocket salad gives nice balance to fruits sweetness)

Canned tuna

Pear

Plum

Black olives

and...

Yum!

whimsy

I’ve been fairly uninspired during past few days. I’m blaming the quilt…

Finishing the rached thing is a real pain! Since I was trying to utilize my leftover scraps, I couldn’t really follow any pattern, so I’ve been stitching once piece to another until it reached roughly the size I need. Till now it’s been fun – piecing it together, playing with the fabric, only now I have ginormous bed sheet and no place to spread it and get the edges right. It’s been hanging over me like a stormy cloud and blocking all the other ideas with its little voice saying: you have to finish it first!

I would probably stay in this limbo if it wasn’t for a shower. I’ve noticed this shampoo label peeling of in a shape of masked face and I just couldn’t stop myself…

Only now it’s back to the quilt and the little maddening voice… finish it, finish it, FINISH IT!

Noite de fado

It was one of the most bewitching concerts I’ve seen in India (and I’ve seen a lot!).  Cuca Roseta was truly enchanting, plus the choice of repertoire was great. She moved between emotionally loaded and joyful songs, keeping the audience captivated. Guitarists were excellent although didn’t have much room to show their skills. The only “but” was the lighting, way too spirited for the occasion, kept blinding the audience with its rapid movements.

I hope, since Portuguese culture is such a big part of Goa, we’ll have a chance to explore fado more. I remember Amalia Rodrigues or Misia playing somewhere in the background, while I was growing up, but I don’t think I appreciated it fully as a kid…

 

kokeshi for breakfast

I like my mornings with a cup of coffee, plate of strawberries and latest posts from my favorite blogs. Cat is snoozing on the windowsill next to my desk, wind brings the chill leftover from the night and I delight in beautiful pictures and stories.

Just yesterday I came across cute sketches of Japanese dolls and got a sudden brainwave! I’ve made one like that some two years ago and completely forgotten about it! And here we are, in desperate need of key chains, when one of them is buried in my crafting supplies…

 

Putting on my walking shoes…

In my excitement for New Year’s resolutions, I planned the whole weekend to be extremely productive. Of course, in India, things rarely go according to plan...

First, we wanted to visit bird sanctuary which is just around the corner (and a ferry ride) from our place. Ignorant, as we are, in the bird's department, we were ready to go around noon. Turns out, the best time to actually see some birds is morning, early morning.

We quickly changed plans and went to see the folk festival and art exhibition in the local cultural center. What a disappointment! The folk festival turned out to be one big flea market - not a good kind.

The exhibition was a total travesty, just a bunch of canvas reprints of European masters. On the other hand, we had a nice time reminiscing about the fantastic museums we saw during holiday…
It wasn’t a complete waste too. We learned about fado concert coming up (just hope they won’t play it from a CD). Plus, behind the cultural center, we found a lovely boardwalk along the river, small beach, and tiny lighthouse – nice place to sit and dillydally.

 

After cultural disappointments, we turned to more practical goals. After I took down Christmas tree and decorations, our home looked quite empty. We bought a ton of beautiful picture frames and few plants in little quaint nursery called Green fingers. It also made me realize that I don’t know squat about flowers. (One more thing I would like to work on)

Sunday evening brought a pleasant surprise: wedding pictures arrived from our talented photographer. Yay! It also means one more task for this week: pick and print my favorites. Actually, the wedding pictures are the reason why I decided to pick up scrapbooking. Have you noticed, since digital photography entered our lives, we have millions of pictures on our computers but no albums?

resolutions time

Here comes the new year with all its promises, problems, and yes, resolutions! I was never the one for it, but it doesn’t hurt to try, does it?

Moving to the new (and dreamy) place seems like a perfect opportunity to erase all the bad habits and turn over a new leaf.  Till now the wedding provided wonderful excuse... There were so many better things to do then unpacking, cleaning and settling in, in general. The truth is, that after some feeble attempts to organize our home life, all my craft projects landed on the dining table waiting to be finished, the “to do” list is getting longer, boxes with stuff we don’t use often are piling up… while I indulge in daydreaming about a perfect house.

On top of that, I had a really low moment lately while dealing with the visa application. Since my current status does not allow me to work, I was forced to enter “housewife” as my profession. Not that there is anything wrong with it! I’m actually beginning to think it might be quite fun... it’s just not how I picture myself. But then I, thought, why not embrace my current status (for the time being at least) and enjoy the pleasures of homemaking while implementing a couple of new years resolutions?

Anyway, I got to it with enthusiasm and started by browsing the internet for hours and hours ( Yay to “less time in front of the computer”). Till now I ordered some books (to read more), a table and a dresser (to stash all my crafting stuff) and tons of scrapbooking treasures. 

After my credit card begged for holidays I decided to move to more active phase. So far I managed to organize my jewelry making supplies, started making kind of quilted duvet cover to utilize my fabric scraps. I also made a weekly plan of keeping the house together (as a good housewife should).  
We tried the maid service but somehow I just can’t get comfortable with this concept. It is slightly masochistic because now I either have to do it all myself or, like a tyrant I am, put my newly acquired husband on cleaning duties with me.

 The most difficult part comes now: finishing what I started. I do have a problem with it. I am always very dedicated to my projects; until something nice and shiny comes along… then it is on to the next project and hello growing pile of half-finished junk. But no more! This is new and improved me I’m talking about!