DAY 136

There's a nice tradition in my office: when someone leaves, we eat. From the bottom of the plate we had mini samosas (another favourite), dhokla (google it, too hard to describe) and paneer pakoras - two slices of paneer, with chutney sandwiched between them, dipped in gram flour batter with caraway seeds in it and deep fried. All of it disappeared in seconds.

DAY 135

Interesting choice of location for this graffiti: our local rubbish depot.

DAY 134

It rained so hard today I treated myself to a taxi home.

DAY 133

A new favourite activity.

DAY 132

A delicious welcome home meal at a restaurant down the road. Starting from the bottom of the plate and moving clockwise: garlic naan, rice, Navratan korma, paneer tikka, mint chutney, pindi channa (chick peas) and raita (yoghurt).

DAY 131

The view from the 6th floor of the British Council near Trafalgar Square. Pretty special. Shame about the anti pigeon netting.

DAY 130

The new installation on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. I was more impressed by the beautiful roof of the dome of The National Gallery though; I hadn't noticed how lovely it is before.

DAY 129

Chapel Pool: Polperro's best kept low tide secret. I didn't make it in for a swim this time. Slightly regretting that now.

DAY 128

The view from my parents' house in Cornwall. Not too shabby.

DAY 127

You can never be sure who you're going to meet on any given visit to the farm.

DAY 126

Back at Keyford Gardens. Sigh.

DAY 125

So it's true what they've been saying about the weather here... truly amazing.

DAY 124

This photo doesn't do it justice at all, but flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan was so beautiful. It was so clear and I could see for miles. The mountains are just incredible.

DAY 123

A little bit of Oslo's home school (he's swimming).

DAY 122

I pass this 'Electric Crematorium' every day on my way to work, with its friendly reminder...

DAY 121

I saw these Escher-esque fire escapes walking back from lunch today. Managed to get back to the office just in time before it absolutely hammered down. Lucky: even an umbrella would have been no use at all.

DAY 120

And this guy has a leopard print one: very fashion forward. Note his toes in the bottom middle of the photo. I'm not quite sure how they got there.

DAY 119

Here's another rickshaw driver's scarf thing. I'm trying to make you understand why I like them.

DAY 118

Saturday morning at The All American Diner. I used to think it was weird but now I think it's great: all day pancakes and waffles with maple syrup. Mmmmm.

DAY 117

Another one for Andrew. We may not have our roses, but we do have these flowers in the park outside our house. Love the colours.

DAY 116

 

I have a new special interest in the pieces of cloth that auto rickshaw drivers hang from their wing mirrors. You see them all the time and they're almost always lovely, soft, well-washed cotton. They're plain, checked or sometimes (my favourite) a single line of thread in a different colour, running down the length. I saw one the other day that I loved so much I almost asked the rickshaw driver if I could buy it from him, but I thought that might be taking it a bit far. I might have to show you a few more examples before you really understand why I like them. This might be the third chapter of my book.

DAY 115

I pass this building sometimes on my way home from work. It's much bigger than it looks in this photo. I love the colour, the covered balcony and the arches. But most of all I love the name. What is a chummery? I have been perplexed by this. But now I know. Apparently, a chummery was originally a building where unmarried officers lived during the British Raj. 'P&T' here stands for 'Post and Telegraph'. It might still house only bachelors who work for the postal service. I should find out.

DAY 114

Meanwhile I have had a very productive day at work, helped by the contents of my favourite lunchbox. I saw two elephants on the way home from work today - such a treat.

DAY 113

One last photo from the mountains - the boys and Ed found a beautiful walk after I left, behind the Dalai Lama's temple compound and down into the forest, full of prayer flags and prayer wheels and these painted and carved rocks. Looks so lovely, I'm very jealous I didn't get to see it. They came back to Delhi on Monday night on the overnight sleeper train.

DAY 112

I've left the boys and Ed in the mountains now - I took the sleeper train back to Delhi and arrived this morning. I loved this sign at the station in Pathankot. 

DAY 111

This is quite deceptive as it has been chucking down with rain today - proper heavy might-burst-a-river rain. This is one of the main streets in McLeod Ganj and everyone is walking back after the Dalai Lama's teachings had finished.

DAY 110

We did a momo making class today and learned how to make three different types: vegetable, spinach and cheese and sweet sugary sesame ones. Mmmmmm.

DAY 109

So proud of their new little Tibetan jackets (although Oz is convinced his is something to do with the army).

DAY 108

We walked to a beautiful waterfall today, three hours up and three hours back with no complaints. Totally brilliant.

DAY 107

Yesterday we visited a monastery near McLeod Ganj. One of the monks showed us this sand mandala that they had finished recently. It took five monks eight days to make it and tomorrow they will destroy it. Even the boys were impressed.

DAY 106

Prayer wheels at the Dalai Lama's palace.