...back home.

Not been very regular here, have I? I've been out traveling for the past month and busy catching up since coming back home. I have enjoyed getting back to photography again, it really seemed like a lull in the last few months, felt bogged down by taking the same kind of shots again and again, so it was nice to see things in a new perspective.


Enjoying the nice weather at home....its lovely to walk around the lake, morning and evening.

Searching for ladybirds in the grass and collecting leaves!
Evening sunshine makes everything look so pretty.
Intriguing shadows inside as well.

shopping boring shopping

The weekly shopping gets boring sometimes doesn't it! I find that I get stuck buying the same things again and again, walking the same aisles, never looking for something different or new. At home, I keep thinking I must try out something new, but once at the store, I just want to get the shopping done quickly and finish with it. It's just basic stuff, not like I'm busying something complicated like standoffs or something like that. Eggs, bread, milk, yogurt, apples and so on.

Ski resorts

For anyone who likes to ski, this is going to be great site to known of Supertravel.co.uk has some incredible listings of ski resorts in Courchevel, France. Most people don't know that Courchevel is one of the premier resort towns, where the rich and famous go to enjoy their private time. Some of the Chalets Courchevel are simply beautiful and not to be missed for all ski enthusiasts. There are a lot of travel sites, but this looks to be one of the nicer ones, although they focus on luxury holidays.

a musical note

Walking around the neighborhood, I noticed that there are several new stores opening up. By far the most interesting of the lot is a new musical supply store that should be soon opening. I stopped by and met the owners of the shop a couple of days back and was really happy to know that they plan to get the community involved in enjoying and making music. Everything from renting instruments, hosting musical parties and so on. And they're going to have everything from top of the line stuff like best presonus mixers you can find to instruments for kids. Now the PreSonus range is not to be taken lightly, it's one of the most powerful yet flexible digital mixers on the market with its 16 XMAX microphone preamplifiers, option for FireWire recorning, DSP effets, 6 aux buses and a playback engine. It pretty much pushes the limit to bring you the best quality music. It's definitely an exciting time to live in this neighborhood!

a weekend of music

It was a busy weekend and I can't believe how quickly it went by. Time spent with friends and family is always time well spent I find, but this weekend we also managed to catch a concert by a local group, playing beautiful yet simple music with just guitars keeping them company. When it comes to musical instruments, there's nothing quite like a guitar to make a song more meaningful and memorable. It really makes me want to go and find lets say a fender stratocaster for sale so that I can try my hand at it as well. These are not just any guitars, but objects of beauty, and will fit both entry level aficionados and professionals alike for their ease of use.

lately...

It's been ages hasn't it, since I posted an update, a photographic update of my daily life, of the little things that make my week, that made one day different from the next, when there really are all the same. Is that the same for you too? The sameness, the routine, the monotony? Or is it exciting that it's the same, the continuity of daily life. Do share.

 A mid morning walk, noticing how different the light is while my path is the same.

 A little bract of bougainvillea that E picked up and gave me. It's the sweetest thing, when she gives me things like this.

A batch of brownies.....baked after ages, and not baked since.

country style

There's something about folk and country music that always tugs at my heart. I think it's because it's so basic, so true, so pure that it always feels more real. It's also to do with the simplicity of the instruments, the spareness of them, and their rustic sounds like the Banjo or the violin. When you see the banjos at musicians friend they're a lot more complex than your basic banjo seen at the barn dance variety, but that's because the sound is better too, deeper, truer and purer. It's important to have instruments that give authenticity to music and that's especially true when it comes to country music. Its the music of the earth, of people who live closest to it.

New artwork to go with the new look!

Well, we finally got around to making some of the changes in the house that we had been wanting to do for ages. Absolutely ages. So there's a new look at home and it feels nice. We're still not done, but then no house ever is, unless you get it done by a decorator which doesn't usually give the feeling of home. To me, it's important to see ones home as an ever-changing process, so that it grows and changes as you do. When you have kids, it often the simplest of things that makes the difference, like having a bin to store all the toys, and even better if the bin is nicely disguised as regular furniture so it doesn't stand out!

Where I find that one can be a little freer is with art. I like to have art that's not the run of the mill traditional kind. Maybe something that could be even like children's art, or better still, some of your child's art as regular art, beautifully mounted and framed. It's what gives a home personality, the opposite of cookie-cutter homes. So I am thrilled to have poster printers at hand, where I can upload either my own photographs or scan something that my daughter made and have it enlarged to something like an 18x24 and shipped to me. Awesome! Really, I'm in love with this concept and how I can create whatever kind of posters and prints I want.

With a lot of poster printers there are odd terms and high shipping costs, but Shortrun Posters is a pretty straightforward company, which makes it great to work with them. Usually when I like something, I want to blog about it, but this time I'm tempted to Tweet this as well!

the power of a microphone!

The other day I tried to watch the movie Bridesmaids. Tried is the key word. I should have given up right there at the engagement party scene where they fight for the microphone back and forth, but I thought maybe it would get better. It didn't. Anyway, it got me to thinking about how people love to talk into microphones. Hand even a shy person a microphone and see how they open up, or bumble around, but talk they will, since it gives them a sense of importance and status. To be the one with the microphone! And these days, really you can get a microphone at musicians friend for as little as $29.99, seriously! How cool and tempting is that! To keep one for your parties and maybe host a little karaoke night or two for the office friends. Anyway, back to microphones, everyone feels they look cool holding one, so why not make them feel special especially when you're doing some celebrating.

winter days

Back from vacation, but still not back to the routine. I usually bounce back fast and get into the swing of things, but this time it seems to be taking me more time. Maybe it's the early morning school rush that I've come to dread, or her fussiness for some reason or the other, one day it's sniffles, another day it coughing, and clinging all the time. It's tiring.

 Pigeons sunning themselves in the weak afternoon sun.

 Interesting tile detail under the window.

 A cup of coffee for me, to warm up in the bone chilling winter.