Take over the asylum.
I love it
The yard has so many exciting opportunities.
Including crinkly plastic
I’ve been careful not to get too attached to the Kits. If only life was so straightforward.
As with children we should recognise the need to continue to have playful fun. How else can we enjoy and keep learning?
Oy, stop eating me.
I’ve just got back from walking Lucie and couldn’t find the kits anywhere.
I’d left the garage door open so they had access to the yard.
Eventually I found one of the whiteys and slowly they began to appear from their hiding place under the washing machine.
I think something scared them and mum wasn’t here.
Now they’re relaxed and we’re bonding through biting.
They haven’t worked out eating their soft solids (meat or fish) without sticking their nose in it. …. hence the dirty nostrils.
We’re all ok now.
Testing
Next we’ll consult the consumer and the disposal inexpert
Did I mention we’ve got kats?
Our democratic kits. After a few tussles, with the support of Obama, the election result wasn’t too bad, and they now settle into the off White House.
Action
Mysore BnB and Mycycle tours officially reopened. Nicely Quiet with the wonderful team at Indiasomeday helping out
Spain
Like buses, Spanish come in twos. Two workawayers, the first since earlier this year contacted me about coming to work and one turns up a few days later. She’s from the area in Catalonia that I first visited at age six with my grandparents.
Eva (aywa) has already helped as chaperone so that Kaveri could stay here. Medium term she’ll be elsewhere for yoga teacher training but hopefully will be available now and again as chaperone and English (no not for me 😉 ) teacher.
To impress her with the fab ness of Mysore, we went to see a band at the Wodeyar Architecture College.
My new favourite shoes are yes….. also Spanish, from Camper.
On Saturday we went to see a play based on this book. It was organised by Anna Cheria (clearly she’s a mover and a shaker, someone to connect with and a really good sign is that many of our networks overlap). The book is one of my granddaughter’s favourites. The illustrator and his other books are heavily featured in Manjula’s library.
Kitten Wrangler
Kaveri and I let the kittens and Billet Doux into the house for the first time. Fun.
Dog planet was contained upstairs.
Rangoli
We did it, mine’s the worse.
Kaveri’s progress
I’ve started using phonetics books to help her read English. Her understanding of Yorkshire English is improving fast and her confidence in speaking moves on.
Kaveri was collected by mum and dad Sunday eve.
My Reading
More to do
Vaccination, pension, plan our young adults group thing.
Farrell Factoid
A chaperone enables Kaveri to stay here. I’ve given up on needing one when we do our general activities, it’s just too much hassle. Family issues means she currently can’t stay with her grandmother nearby hence the need for a sensible woman staying at my house.
Ina leaves … The premises and now I’m sad.
Ina from Adelaide was Manjula’s closest friend., amongst our guests
It was as if there was an essence of MAnjula wafting back here with me, as she regaled me with the stories of the times they’d spent together. More dimensions of my wonderful were revealed.
They’d sometimes, maybe usually arrange for Ina to visit when I was away.
I can’t think why.
After first visiting in 2014 she was back in 2015, shortly after we got engaged and then each year with breaks solely due to the pandemic.
In 2018 we had a great time (yes I was allowed to be here) celebrating Manjula’s 45th birthday, also hosting our first ‘ workawayer ‘ Willian from Brazil.
During this visit which lasted two months! The longest ever. 👍🏽🤔🤭🙂
We went to a traditional dance to share with MAnjula. Then made a special celebration of Manjula’s Birthday as Ina had missed our big event in August on her birthday itself.
Led Lucie astray.
… revisited places on Srirangaptnam close to MAnjula and I, that had featured in our wedding.
Ina together with reading ‘a pocketful of happiness’ by Richard E Grant has helped me realise — as oddball in Kelly’s Heroes would say: “less of those negative waves man,” —- that I’ve allowed the grief gravy to engulf me leaving angry bitter negativeness in its forever trail.
So I’m going to sort it and get myself back on track to rewrite our story with one or two innovative tweaks.
Ina’s farewell note:
Stephen having Manjula in my life was one of the best things that happened to me, I still think of her a lot and she continues to be a great inspiration.
Tears again
….. promotes cultural exchange, hosts offer somewhere to stay and in return the ‘workawayer’ helps out for a few hours each day.
In 2018 and 2019 we had help from workawayers.
Willian, from Brazil, got wet taking Ganesh to the river, dismantled all our Mycycle cycles for respraying, rebuilt them and set up our base on Srirangaptnam.
Dani and Chas, from the UK, decorated, provided general help and support of Manjula at a very difficult but important time.
Thank you guys, you all did a fantastic job, and it was a pleasure getting to know you.
We’ve not hosted workawayers for the past two years but now we’ve officially reopened with the arrival of one of our longest staying guests: Ina, we’re open to possibilities.
They’re all very different, which is part of the wonder that is workaway, and we all learn a lot
Our next arrives this week.
Eva is also multi-talented, (such a long list) a Spanish woman, who has lived in the USA so I’ll have to watch my stupid English humour. I’ve already created a list of possibles including teacher, chaperone, and all round good egg. I hope I haven’t scared her off already.
For the Manjula’s Mysore team who helped create the event on Manjula’s Birthday
And a reunion of our holiday in Kannur
And our chance to celebrate MAnjula together.
STOP PRESS CHECK THE VIDEO
Manjula’s Mysore is now the name of the new business. and we’ve already done a few things…
A fun day of activities for forty young visually impaired women on what would have been Manjula’s 49th birthday. Please Check the video created by Faizan.
We’ll always do something on her birthday
Created a garden in the park opposite.
A holiday in Kannur for our extended team
Reopened mysore bed and breakfast and mycycle tours. This month the MCC : Mysore City Corporation issued a business licence and so we’ve officially welcomed our first guests.
The new business has allowed Stephen to get a business visa, to continue to stay in India. So far he’s not been able to get an OCI (overseas citizen of india) and most importantly it’s another way to celebrate MAnjula
Manjula’s Mysore is a three year project to do good as MAnjula would have wanted
Me and MYCycle 