We are now 5 weeks into our break in India with just 21 days to go until we return to the UK & start seriously thinking about our move North! Am certainly not missing the cold weather and snow that the UK has been experiencing… here’s a comparison from yesterday!

So what have we been up to in the past week?

Last Thursday (2nd January) I finally got to have a FaceTime call with Mum! As planned, I was waiting by the ipad at 5.30pm in India which was 12 noon in the UK… the call came through 5 mins early and I missed it and then had a panic that I wouldn’t be able to call back but it all worked with absolutely no problems so not sure what went wrong on Boxing Day! It was great to speak to Mum who was being supported by Bianca (one of the Seniors) and having a late breakfast of toast at the time (apparently, she’d had a lie in that morning and had not woken until late!)… It’s always great to see Mum but hearing her laugh (which she does a lot) is very reassuring too – she seemed very happy and I was very thankful to Bianca at the Raikes for making this call happen – it means a lot! ❤️

On Friday (3rd January) we headed to Cavelossim aiming to have a look at the Tailors that we missed previously. Unfortunately, set back off the main road, the tailors we found was not really what we were after – it was no more than a small shack and, unfortunately, the Seamstress there did not speak any English & didn’t really understand that we wanted to have some copies made of clothing we already had despite her trying to find someone who might translate for us… shame really as I am sure she would have done a great job! Anyway, we had to leave that one and so headed further up the road to Cavelossim itself where we saw another sign for a Tailors which we thought we’d have a look at. This one was obviously set up to deal with us foreigners as all the fabrics were on display and the chap who runs it was able to confirm that he could do what I was after. We haggled over the price for a few mins and, being satisfied, I’ve ordered three new pairs of trousers which should be ready this coming Friday… Pete has also ordered some made-to-measure shirts – he likes a “grandad” collar and cannot seem to find them at home… so we shall see what these all turn out like and, who knows, we might have time for a few more things to be made yet.

After the Tailors, we headed for the Jewellery makers to collect the pendant I was having made. The story behind this pendant is that after Dad passed away & Mum moved into her new home, we ended up with four gold rings which had been cut off various fingers over time… there was a ring of Dad’s which was badly bent & mishappened, my Mum’s engagement ring with a small solitaire diamond (which probably cost my Dad a few weeks wages when he bought it in 1962!); and then two other wedding rings which I believe belonged to my Nanny Wilson (Dad’s Mum) and Nan Brindley (Mum’s Mum). As none of these were wearable (particularly with my sausage fingers 🤣🤣🤣), we had brought them with us so that I could see if they could be made into something else – It’s not a great photo and looks better in real life(!) but I am pretty pleased with the result:

The guys who made this told me there was enough gold left for a pair of earrings too, which Pete said he would get – bonus! All in all, it cost us next to nothing for the guys to follow the design I provided and combine all these rings, which were just sat in a drawer at home, into new jewellery that I can actually wear and which has great sentimental value to me – so I am very happy!

Yesterday (Saturday – 4th Jan), after a few hours on the beach in the afternoon, we headed to the bank for some cash… on the way, you drive through the paddy fields and we managed to spot a couple of birds we had not seen before – the first being a Long-Tailed Shrike which was sat in a bush just at the edge of the road we were travelling along; the second, which was a bit of a fluke as we had the briefest glimpse of it as it flew across the field next to us, was a Western Marsh Harrier which is apparently, only a winter visitor to India.

Today has been a lovely day (unlike in the UK from what the BBC news says!). After a typical morning in the apartment, we went off to our local beach but thought we would try a different place. Honestly, we felt like naughty children sneaking off somewhere else but actually, the new beach “Cafe” is a lot nicer than the one we’ve been using and has much better sun beds and more choice on the menu! To top it all, the fresh orange juice, which is the first thing we order on arrival at the beach, was delicious!

One sad thing, Pete found out earlier today that another Green Jacket friend has gone to the final RV having passed away yesterday – RIP Ray Ashton.

So, that’s all for now – 21 days to go… not sure if it’s going to go fast or slow but it feels like New Year was ages ago! TTFN xx