Firstly to all those who were at the Cursillo Christmas party in Edinburgh and contributed to the postage of the parcel of books which I received today. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. A goodly selection Ruth, I've read all the Vikram Seth and especially A Suitable Boy and love it I would have brought it with me were it not quite so huge, so I'm really looking forward to diving in to it again. I've never quite got to grips with Zadie Smith so maybe this is a good time to try, all in all a good choice so thank you all there's 7 I think so that'll keep me going a while. How'm I doing Chris?
As my stomach gradually returns to some semblance of normality I am beginning to find I can face some food again, I had a poached egg on toast yesterday that was lovely. especially since I found me a toaster over the holiday.
Today I really fancied a scone... yes a scone, but when you don't have an oven,that's a wee challenge, however it sat there in the back of my mind until I remembered Girdle scones... or as the English prefer Griddle scones. I hit the internet and got a recipe and off I went. So, first challenge was to find a girdle, that's easy, a chappatti pan, next a sieve... have you ever tried to mime a sieve when you don't know the word for flour? Of course if I'd used the correct word - strainer, then I had a huge choice of plastic and metal. Next scales or a dry measure, same problem only miming is even more difficult, gave up in one shop, tried another was just going out the door when I spotted one... Oh a measure she said, I thought that's what I had asked for but never mind. Ok no SR flour but I found baking powder. I raced home and got started and in no time at all had some fairly presentable girdle scones, never made them before so I was quite pleased with eh results, I'd even put sultanas in to make them more interesting, problem is I may have to eat them all by myself. Rock hard butter is a slight draw back but I'll cope.
A very Happy Hogmanay to all you Scots and a guid New Year when it comes, mine will be alcohol free! I'll raise you a glass of 7Up. I've not yet decided whether or not I can face the 3 hour midnight service yet, I'm usually in bed by 10pm! See you Next Year.

I've never really mentioned the garden around my house have I - it's bearing a fair bit of fruit as they say.
I've two pomegranate trees, a picture if one of the fruits is below, it's around 6 inches top to bottom. Two coconut palms, very common, everyone has coconut palms, main concern is that the coconuts don't come crashing down and hit someone on the head! there are several young banana trees, not yet fruiting as they're too young, an almond tree, at least I've been told it's an almond, the fruits look a bit strange but may have an outer covering.
I also have a mango tree, I can only see one fruit on it, so I've taken a picture in case it goes away or falls off or something! It's about 5 inches long so far.
The lady who comes and does cleaning or me, also works for Nancy who lives upstairs and has rented me this house, she waters the garden for several hours every day, keep clear at those times as the Mozzies just love it. I think that is probably why my frogs like it too. Kind of puts my apples and pears at home to shame doesn't it!

Continuing to improve healthwise thank goodness, Doctor Daughter assures me that after trauma your guts take a while to settle down again and that if I just take it easy all will be well. Hope so as Colin arrives next week.
I went out today specifically to the new Higginbothams bookshop which opened just this week. I thought it might be a source of some new books. So trusty auto drops me at the shop and in I go... "Good Morning" says I, "Where will I find your English fiction?" "English Fiction" he says " Not arrived yet Madam. Well,actually, the parcel arrived yesterday but we have not yet unpacked it." At this point I was ready to head off. "We've got some very good English books though" he said and pointed me to what is obviously their exam syllabus section. Then I found their self help books, their computing section,their history section. I did however find a book of South Indian tiffin recipes so now I can make Dosa and idli... if only I liked idli and dosa I'd be all set! There is also a sambar recipe which I do like, it's a kind of runny veg curry or gravy as they would describe it. They promise to have their English fiction unpacked on Monday so I'll maybe go in on Wednesday.
Isn't it funny how you can go into the same shop frequently and then suddenly go in and see something completely different which has been there all the time. I went into our local'ish supermarket after my abortive trip to the bookshop and as I needed some more plastic containers had a look at their small selection and picked one or two. Then I was at the back of the shop when I noticed what I had always thought was the back shop and there was a whole new department... a veritable Aladdin's cave - mainly plastics and household, but a far better selection than anywhere else I've seen... am I really getting excited about tupperware... no, but just that there was a whole variety of stuff I'd never seen before.
I came home in time for lunch and another power-cut, then settled down for a lazy day with only a quick trip to the local shops this afternoon. I've managed to eat 3 meals today with no ill effects which is the first time since 23rd December! Must be improving!
I have to say if there is one thing that Indian men seem to excel at, that I can't stand, it is spitting. It is just so revolting and yet is absolutely socially acceptable here to make a great song and dance about hawking then letting fly with the result... Yuck! it makes me want to leave immediately, or at least wrinkle my nose, at least some of my friends say excuse me, but it really does bother me, what an old wifie!!
Talking of old wifies, isn't it awful when you put your glasses down and can't find them!! It seems to be happening all the time just now, I really don't seem to need my varifocals for reading or typing, so I take them off and then they go into a black hole or hyper space or another dimension or something.
I know I've mentioned the cows before but it really is extraordinary the way they wander about.We are in a pretty well to do suburb here and yet someone unlocks their garden gate and down the path ambles a cow, to be turned out into the street to eat ... goodness knows what... then at the end of the day, the cow makes its own way back and stands, head to the posh gate, waiting to be let back in again. I think there is some sort of byre behind many of the houses. It is then milked and someone comes around on a bike with a milk churn ringing their bell and shouting "Milll..ko..o" or something similar in Tamil... don't be tempted though it's definitely not pasteurised. I'm going to put my favourite cow picture back on here, as I think it is so funny!

Feeling a little better today, (yesterday was still a bit iffy)I got myself up and out and down to the junction to complain about the Salwars I'd had made for Christmas - the legs were too tight! I was quite impressed I thought it was really brave to actually go and complain about something to someone with no English! Anyway the guy was really nice, I'd taken down a previous pair for comparison and he couldn't fail to see the difference! I then decided to continue to be brave and to go and buy some chicken to try and gentle my tummy into thinking food was a good idea. I've never actually been to a meat shop before - the chicken shops are all called things like "Chunky Broilers" with pictures of strutting white hens outside them. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but lets just say there is no doubt the meat is fresh!!!
So tonight, dinner will consist of, chicken fried gently in butter, potatoes and WAIT FOR IT... fresh garden peas, couldn't believe it when I saw them, ready podded in a wee bag in the local green grocers, I'm really looking forward to that!
You remember my water tank and it's murky brown contents? The filter must actually be quite good as what comes out of the tap is fairly clear, much cleaner than what comes out of the ground water (bore well) tap, which I only use if I'm running out of the other stuff, Reggie says it tastes slightly salty but I'm unwilling to check. Anyway back to my water tank, I can actually see it is clearer now than it used to be which is what they told me when I moved in, that it was so murky due to the rains. We haven't had rains for over a week now and there is a marked difference.
Hope all have recovered from the excesses of Christmas and are settling back to work again, my middle sister just called from Gatwick where she is waiting for a plane to had off to Egypt, now there is a place I've always fancied seeing some time, still, going to the Taj Mahal in 2 weeks is pretty good too!
The power has just gone off again, it's been doing that off and on all day, I'd do some work, wash up or something and think right I'll just go and relax and off would go the power. The fans go off too which makes it too hot to sit around in comfort! It's getting dark now too, so the plug in mozzie thingies need to work but won't without power. Lucky I've got my UPS box for my computer or I'd have lost that lot! However I can no longer see the keys very well so I'll quit while I am winning!

I came across this site today, a harmless bit of fun for those of us in hot climates and the rest of you in slightly chillier climes, do try it out, working out what to do is half teh fun!
http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/

I had a few random thoughts as I walked along to the milk shop 15 minutes ago... that's 9.00pm.
1) It's really strange going out in the evening you don't have to think about putting another layer of clothes on... but every night I catch myself going through the thought process.
2) If the cattle are lying down along the roadside are they lowing?
3) I found myself thinking to myself as I walked back, "Gosh, it's quite cool tonight" when I got home I checked my trusty thermometer... it's 25 degrees! How will I cope in Delhi?
Here are some night pictures of the street by my house, which is like a side road off one off say Marchmont Road to you Edinburgh folks. Picture 1 is a church along the road, picture 2 a house across the road and the third is one of my frogs, under an inch long, he's by the diagonal twig in the centre in case you need a clue, he's kind of ground coloured...and by the way, I have seen the evidence they were, as I thought, letting off the fireworks all along my wall, about 20 feet from me in my sick bed!

PS Don't miss the main post for today below! I'm obviously feeling better!

Still it's a long way to India! I am happy to report that I am feeling much better today, I've made myself some rice pudding as something fairly safe and bland and definitely comfort food and that seems to have gone down ok. The problem with this place is the smells of cooking which constantly assail you, and then when you avoid those there is the smell of wood smoke which can also be a bit of a turn off when you don't feel great. The good news is that somewhere along the way since I got to India I seem to have lost a stone - not sure weight watchers might not have been a bit cheaper though!!! Hopefully that will not all go back on as  soon as I start eating properly although those of us who know about such things know that we can lose around 3 pounds by going to bed at night, so what 2 days of not eating might do heaven alone knows.

I got myself up and mobile by around 11.30am today in time to answer the door to the postie who handed me  a package – my copy of Daylight dutifully forwarded by Margaret S at church. Thank you for that hope I left enough postage! I’m going to be back in time for the next one! He then wished me a Happy Christmas, I don’t think he was looking for a tip.

At 2.00pm I felt brave enough to make myself a cup of Fortnum & Mason’s tea, kindly sent by the second of the Andrews sisters, very nice even with boiled milk. They boil all the milk here even though it says pasteurised as they don’t trust the farmers not to take short cuts and not do the pasteurisation properly. It’s a shame there is such a lot of mistrust about, if the farmers would only say “yes we’ll follow the rules” then so much energy would be saved and the milk would taste nicer too! I raised my pinky while drinking out of my big mug, to show respect to F & M’s normally we drink out of coffee cup sized cups in India but I brought 1 mug with me.

At around 4.00pm I raised the energy to go out and catch an auto to the Junction – Tirunelvelli is divide into two parts, Tirunelvelli Junction and Tirunelvelli Town, quite a drive between the two. The two best fabric shops are in Town, but all the hotels etc are in junction as well as many of the best sweet makers (that’s Indian sweets, not our candies etc), and other shops. The real junction is an intricate maze and you cannot assume that the narrow allies will not have good shops in them… that’s not classy just exactly the shop you want though! The bridge at the railway station is actually on two different levels with the in between one used by smaller traffic and pedestrians while most of the through traffic uses the top layer.

I found a picture, the thing looks more ramshackle than it is, The top layer is heavy reinforced concrete roadway and the lower is also substantial although it looks a bit like corrugated iron here. That’s the main rail line south to Kanya Kumari going through it just at the edge of the station.

Anyway as I started to say, I picked up an auto and went to Junction to pick up Carrie’s Christmas present which I had been supposed to pick up on Christmas Eve but got diverted! I then drove back via school to say thank you to Jeyakodi and Agnes then on to Carrie’s to deliver the gift. I have to say she breeds a particularly vicious type of mosquito, I was only there 10 minutes and one got me. She sneaked me into see Cyrus who was asleep in his room with the football I gave him for Christmas hugged to his chest! Guess that was a popular choice then! I’m just not very good at man presents… poor Reggie got a belt and Jon got a Gandhi tee shirt! Sorry guys I just don’t think you’d appreciate some of the things I can buy ladies, and no Mike I don’t mean silks, satins and furs!

Talking about Mozzies I think I have almost the only (well by comparison) mosquito free house in India, I keep my plug in deterrents on 24 hours a day, and in spite of saying 90% mortality for mosquitoes they don’t kill the blighters just send them elsewhere (maybe to Carrie’s maybe it’s my own fault).

Any way that’s enough for you all to be reading over your cold turkey and beetroot sandwiches in white bread with lots of butter and cranberry sauce….. ooh enough my mouth is watering at the thought!

All except Ruthie who is having Christmas dinner and fatted calf today. Welcome Home number 2!

Well I was all sorted for today, lunch with Carrie and family after church then in the evening off to C Vijayasingh and family for the evening. All kinda went pear shaped yeaterday when something I had eaten the day before obviously disagreed with me... to put it mildly! I'd been in touch with Carrie during the day to say I wasn't feeling great and so at about 7.00pm, she took me to the doctor  when I was concerned 'cos my temp had reached 102 or 39 in real money. As we were getting into the car Mr Alex (next door in his 70's) came up to the car and spoke to Carrie, apparently he had been trying to phone her mum who he knows, to say Carrie should come and see me as I wasn't well. He had been round to help earlier in the day and at 5 had come round with a bag of tea from the tea stall for me, I hadn't even had the energy to accept it and had just said no thank you from my bedroom window, how ungrateful!. Anyhow we went to the doc, who had held on at his clinic before leaving for his family gathering in Nazareth about an hour and a half away. He  took my blood pressure and prodded and pronounced that as my bp was 90 / 60 "he would like me to go into hosp and have a saline drip for a few hours, how did I feel about that?"  Well chuffed to bits of course but a little out of it too. Anyway the upshot was that I ended up in a bed in the very same ward in Bell Pins Mission Hospital that I had been at the opening ceremony for in November... didn't expect to see that again so soon. Most of the wards here seem to be single rooms and your friends and relatives stay with you and meet your needs,  a bit like our auxiliaries used to, while the nurses and doctors to the medical bits. I have to say my treatment was first class, you go (or Carrie went) to the pharmacy and pick up the drugs and equipment the doctor has prescribed, including sterile IV sets, syringes, gloves and drugs (all the equipment was sterile 1 use, (I was on the ball enough to check that out!). I had IV anti-biotics, an anti-nausea jab and 500mls IV saline and it was extraordinary how quickly I recovered. Jeyakodi and Agnes also came in to see me when they heard i was not well, they had been planning on coming to my house so I had asked Carrie to phone and explain! My BP had recovered to its normal 120 /70 and I was back home by around 10.30 having decided I would rather be ill in my own bed. End of gory details but I know how some of us thrive on them! Total cost of treatment including take home meds. 562/- around £6 and cheap at the price. I had been contemplating actually making use of my travel insurance but I think they would laugh if I sent in the bill!!
The upshot is that today I have spent the day in bed, mostly reading and drifting out of sleep, but feeling quite up in between times. I've been drinking lots, taking the meds I was given and sadly not having a chicken biryani... in fact the very thought is too much! I've been having some dry biscuits to keep up the sugar levels.
So Christmas in India is not what it was cracked out to be believe me - or at least not this one! Maggie I got your text about going to the midnight service just as I was coming out of hospital so I gave a wry smile! Not been to church at all today or last night so you'll all just have to pray for me instead!
The festivities here started around 7.00am, later than  in town where it was at around 4.00am!!! That was when they started letting off the fire crackers, and believe me most of them seem to have been set off outside my garden wall, they haven't stopped yet and it is 8pm! No sign of any let up either. I can see the flashes as I lie in bed! Think of the loudest banger then multiply it by 10 and you'll have some idea of volume, nothing pretty just LOUD bangs.
The funny thing was yesterday that I had got an electrician in to fit a new fan and fix a couple of existing ones. I was fine in the morning when he came to estimate but by the time he came to fit them I just said "I am sick" and shuffled between the rooms that he was not working in! He wanted me to check his work but I just paid him and gave him the padlock to lock the gate on his way out.
Ironically because of my temperature, I couldn't bear to have the fan on as I was shivering! I never imagined having goose pimples in India although I believe Delhi goes down to around 8 degrees at night, how will I cope next month? I've only got 1 cardi and no jackets or jerseys!
Anyway I'm off to lie down again.
Merry Christmas to all my readers I wish I knew how many of you there are, lots of people seem to be sending emails, thanks a lot! Do keep in touch, hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow!

I’m trying to be organised (yes me!) and instead of writing a post and adding to it throughout the day I’m writing in Word and will copy and paste later… or that’s the idea anyway. Makes inserting the pics a little difficult as I have to remember to do them all at the end. This may however make for smoother reading.
I was talking to Freddie yesterday and saying what a wimp I felt yearning for things like cheese and tomato sandwiches and boiled eggs without ‘gravy’ (curry sauce to you westerners), but bless her she sympathised remembering how she had similar needs when she lived in Germany… Good grief that was almost 30 years ago, her memory must be good! Anyway I’ve sourced the cheddar, tomatoes are easy and the other day I bought a toasted sandwich maker, a bit like something a friend of mine had called a bean pie maker. Anyway you butter the inside of this thing, this is India, you spread ghee on the inside! Put your sandwich into it, clip it shut and put on the gas, turning frequently till pleasantly brown inside…. Except I have rarely managed anything less than charcoal outside and uncooked in the middle! Still charcoal is good for you isn’t it I seem to remember my granny eating charcoal biscuits… why? Was it just a scam by a guy who overcooked his biscuits one day? I’ve googled a pic so I’ll put it at the end so as you see what I mean. I also have a toaster of similar deign which is sometimes a little more successful! Yesterday I spotted an electric toasted sandwich maker in a store and I really think I might just treat myself for Christmas!!!

Jeyakodi-the principal at the school and a friend of 10 years standing along with his wife Agnes … the banana lady in the pic of a few weeks ago- look after me so well. In the school there is a bakery, being built when we first visited in 1997 and it has a bread oven, here in India most cookery is stove top. He occasionally arranges for me to have… wait for it… roast chicken, roast potatoes and veg , yesterday when I dropped in he arranged for me to call by on Monday and pic up, he originally offered 1kg of roast chicken but I pointed out that would last me a fortnight, so we reduced that to 2 portions, one I can eat hot and the other have cold (refrigerated ) another day, sounds fab, if only I had cranberry sauce I could be like you lot and have cold turkey (well chicken) sandwiches on Boxing day.
Christmas fever is mounting here … they don’t do pressies like we do though which is probably a good thing! They do all have a new outfit for Christmas though and another for New Year.
Did I tell you about Santa’s visit to school? Apart from the balloon dance that is? The kids were all given a new outfit, a set of school uniform, a new sheet for their bed all gifted by local donors and a balloon… the looks on their faces, they were ecstatic! They were so proud and grateful it was quite humbling as they came up to show me what they had been given. They were all called out one by one by name to receive them too, and all got the same although the clothes and uniforms differed for the older students.
Staff received a Christmas bonus of 2 weeks salary and even I received 100/- even though I am not salaried. I’ll find something special and wee (It’s about £1.30) Like the other staff, I also got a new bedsheet and a new metal plate for my food to use in my house. The plate is what you use if you don’t have a banana leaf meal and it allows all courses to be served at once you can them mix and match as you choose while eating with your fingers.

They include me in everything and it is just wonderful to feel so welcome, I don’t know if we reciprocate when people come to the UK. Nothing is too much trouble and everyone invites you, feeds you, introduces you and facilitates your every need… except sometimes toilet paper… you get a jug of water for that but maybe that’s too much information!
BTW Ruth, I thought of you as I put a purple star on my tree! As you will see though, as usual I lack your colour coordination; I remember your red tree in Gilmerton!
Do you know, one of the things I am going to like most about being back in Scotland is not having to stand back as I push a door open and wait for things that just MIGHT be there to scurry out of sight, and the joy of being able to walk into the bathroom and kitchen at night barefoot, without first checking the floor!

It's Kathryn's birthday today and  I can't believe she's as old as she is... Happy Birthday anyway honey! It's Saturday today so what did I do, well first I told the cleaning lady not to come... she really belongs to upstairs but sweeps my floors every couple of days... so I got to sleep till 9.00am Yeah! Sadly Balagi the driver, have I told you about him? The lady who owns the house has a car which she pays a man (Balagi) to drive for her and it is then hired out, he goes to the bus stand where all the drivers hang out and waits for a hire or sometimes has a longer trip booked. Suppose it's a bit like a taxi! Well very like a taxi now I come to think of it! Anyway when I came home last night around 10.30, I noticed that the car was back (it is parked right outside my bedroom window) but the back doors were open, I said hallo but there was no response, so when I went into the house I peeped through the curtains and there was Balagi asleep on the back seat. I had a feeling this was ominous and sure enough at about 4.30 am the car starts up.. It's an old diesel so needs a lot of revving to get it warmed up... you've got it... full volume outside my bedroom window... Fab! Balagi drove me to Kovalum and back last week and will take me  when I go to meet Colin. He's very nice and helps me in the house if I need it too; on behalf of the owners.
Tolerance is a funny thing isn't it. last week as we were driving to Kovalum 130km best part of 3 hours! we passed through various towns and in one he said this is muslim village you know, Taliban, Al Qaida. Tonight I was in a shop organising some sweets to take as gifts on Christmas Day to the two families I am visiting and was having a few language problems, well in fact I'd got as far as "Do you speak English?" "No", when a guy said "what's the problem can I help?", and proceeded to translate and negotiate very nicely for me. His wife started chatting to me and advised me on what would be a suitable gift. She then held out her hand as she was leaving and said "Happy Christmas" with her beautiful brown eyes twinkling through the slit in her Burkha!
I got home this afternoon and was relaxing, in the dark as the power was off again and this is quite a dark wee house, when there was a rustle at the gate, and I realised it was carol singers, I went to get my purse as the power went on which allowed them to ring my doorbell... curses foiled, no hiding away here! I went to the door and as I opened it, they burst into "Joy to the World" It was Carrie with younger son Cyrus (14) and some other adults and children. Next a bible reading from Luke about the angels proclaiming the good news, then Sam prayed - a personal prayer for me. Then they sang We wish You a Merry Christmas and I joined in! I went to put my money in the box which was being held out to me then realised it was actually a gift, a cake in a box from Arryas Bakery. I invited them in and Carrie introduced them as her Bible Study Group, they thought I might be a bit down as it was Katy's birthday and decided to come and cheer me up, I didn't need really need cheering up but enjoyed meeting them. Thank you for that!
For those who are wondering, yes I do have a Christmas Tree and an Advent Candle (Thanks Maggie) The candle stick came as a  gift at the Cursillo Ultreya Meeting the other day, just what I needed, I thought too you might like to see me in my new saree. Well you'll see me whether you like it or not I'm afraid! Happy Christmas Shopping all you silent ones! Don't forget the poor starving children in India... and NO THANK YOU I don't want you to parcel up your left overs and send them! I've got a Holy Cross Christmas Pud to keep in touch with you all when I finish my Biryani!

I think some of you may think I've gone on about the rain a bit and been slightly unsympathetic, but today I walked to Tirunelvelli Junction again and over the bridge which I posted pictures of a few days ago. (I checked the distance and it's 2.5 miles so I'm quite pleased with myself and my exercise levels in this heat ... yes it is humid again!, you forget, it's like being wrapped in a warm cloud)I took another pic today and I'll put the two on this post so that you can compare them. In the first you may remember I pointed out the Hindu Temples set back from the river on the right hand side, today the temples are under water! In the third you can see a wee boy in the centre right wading back to shore having left his mum and another child behind him on a wee islet. So maybe I have been moaning but I get to do that occasionally!

And another thing while I'm having a rant! Couldn't get into my house last night for 7 cows who had lain down completely blocking my gate, fortunately my auto driver was a bit together and he pushed the smallest calf who mooed but got up, he then poked a couple of the others who ignored him so he then pulled the tail of another and she got up along with the others... only thing is they seem to have decided that outside my house is a good place to sit at the moment,and leave me their calling cards!! OK in dry weather not so in this wet! Maybe I should run out with a roll in my hand and shout "Beefburger" and see what happens... they don't eat beef in Tamil Nadu very much, or maybe I should show them this shot of cows off to market in Kerala where they do eat beef!!

Apparently the youth rally for the DMK was a huge success but the town ground to a halt! All buses and cars were banned from town and re-routed around the centre. the chief minister's son "Stalin" by name the one who is currently mayor of Chennai (Madras). Apparently over 10,00,000 That's not a misplaced comma, that means 10 Lakh people or 10 X100,000) were expected but only around 7.5 Lakh turned up.
You should see the state of the place afterwards it's chaos. Around 1,000 people camped unofficially in the field in front of our school. No facilities provided but they put up a shelter to cook under. They then washed out their pots using the hoses the builders have put in while building the school extension. The hoses are of course by the school and so all we could smell through the windows was sour food this week... Yuck! the field was all ploughed up by the sheer volume of people and now, don't know if it's made the news but we have been having torrential rain for 3 days. 33 folks killed and all schools closed for last two days by the Chennai government. (No deaths in my area, they happened in tribal areas and around river plains which flooded.) The rain really has been crazy though. Normally when it rains it just dries up in a matter of hours but it hasn't stopped at all for more than an hour or two. the local laundry has stopped taking in washing as they can't get it dry anywhere! The two pics which follow are of our school field, I took these on Wednesday, it's much worse now, today I actually saw ducks swimming on it and as you can see I have been watching herons frog catching! It's normally a cricket pitch in the middle so you can see how bad it is. The other is the male cook at school tending the rice. Rice for the school is cooked outside on a wood fire in an enormous pot. Due to the weather HE put on this fetching little raincoat and hat. Couldn't resist the pic! By the way have you realised that if you click on some of the pics a larger version opens in a new window? Clever eh!

Well as I feared yesterday was frantic! The day passed with a fair amount of hanging around and nothing much to do, then right on cue... just as I had decided to freshen up I was told that the car had arrived to take me to Bell school, it turned out I was only talking to 4 years worth of kids but I'd got the numbers wrong...1500 of them, not 500! I arrived and they immediately promised I would be finished and back at BS school by 6.30. I then waited 40 minutes for the principal to arrive and the function started 25 minutes late grrrr! I'm incredibly annoyed by poor time keeping. Went to the school hall was introduced by someone as usual as Mrs Sally Mair from England. I did my usual correction of that one, it doesn't matter how many times you tell folk they just don't remember, still I suppose our entire population is smaller than that of Bangalore so we are fairly insignificant... if noisy. the other misconception is about the wonderful world famous Scottish Police.... Scotland Yard!
Talk went well but I ended up feeling very rude and having to rush away before the end. If we'd started on time we'd have had no problem but there ye go! Off to BS for our Christmas function and as the opening item was a song I'd taught, I needed to be there. It all went very well but you have never seen anything like Tata Christmas, the balloon dance was one of those.. you had to be there moments. A still really does not do it justice.  The nativity play was lovely, really a moving tableau, no lines or anything, an absolutely beaming 19 year old Mary with suitably Indian coloured offspring baby doll. The camels nodded their heads off ( not literally but it was lovely and included the usual reluctant angel who didn't want to stand on the bench like the others! Meal afterwards served by school staff and home around 9.45 exhausted!

Off now to a Christmas Ultreya for all you Cursillo folks.

Just as a matter of interest and as there have been no comments for a while, is anyone else having difficulty posting a comment or is it just Mike, who has emailed me his comments for the last couple of days? Thanks Mike, I really enjoy hearing from people.
Christmas continues to gallop closer at an amazing pace, I've been teaching a song to the kids and staff as I think I've mentioned and realised today that tomorrow is the performance! Only one practise left. I had a visit today from a Mr C Vijayasingh, a local Christian business man and the head of the family behind the Bell Pins Hospital, Bell Pins School and other assorted interests. He dropped in and caught me just as I was leaving school today to ask if I would "Give the Christmas message" at the Bell Pins school tomorrow... 10 minutes would do, 10 - 16 year olds and only around 500!! Tomorrow is the day of our big Christmas function at school and so I was about to decline when Jeyakodi said yes so long as they got me back for 6.30 when our function starts that would be fine!
So I am being picked up at 5.00pm and returned by 6.30pm. Apparently with a meal for 3 to take away! As we are already having a meal after the function at  Bishop Sargent, I guess I won't go hungry. Guess who should be writing a talk right now but is the master of displacement activity!
I got my pound of flesh though by asking for a lift to Mrs Lydia's house though. It has rained for 4 hours solid, real heavy rain, the roads are about an inch deep in muddy water and all sorts of hazards lurk just below the surface! People keep saying  things like "Isn't this lovely cool weather for you, just like at home in Scotland!" It's down to 25 degrees today. I was really glad not to walk. In fact it is now raining again and I know I won't get much sympathy, but I really am finding it quite chilly, I've put a shawl on... remember shawls guys? You receive them as gifts when you attend functions! the only other time I have really appreciated a shawl was when travelling overnight by train in an A/C coach, when we got up in the morning and had to give the bedding back, we  were all freezing.
Talking of Christmas preparations, today, as the weather was so bad they decided to give the young children a rest !!!???***  ie leave them in bed after their lunch time rest-and the older children would help the staff decorate the dining hall.... talk about getting a committee together! There were 6 men a ladder a rope and a streamer to tie to the rope, 15 minutes later they were still planning it all out, meanwhile 4 women in sarees, a table and a bench and they had 12 streamers exactly the same not only up, but put together in the first place... plus ca change, plus la meme chose! The other pic is of a little girl going home from school in the rain, on Dad's motor bike-please note the puddles and the inverted carrier bag on her head. Sometimes I wonder why I have any concerns at all when I try to decide what to wear in the mornings, at least most of my clothes are made of fabric and don't have logos and pictures all over them... and no I don't wear designer labels!
I'll let you know how the talk and function go tomorrow if I have the energy when I get home.

It's fantastic, I am, now officially online in india, my broadband happened today! Back to school today too after my weekend away when I definitely changed colour. it was just so good to be without any responsibilities, floating in the sea. I did my usual and read too may books so thanks to those who have sent some. Christmas cards have been arriving daily too so again thanks for those.
It's Kathryn's birthday this weekend, first quarter century already, hard to believe time has flown so quickly. the first time I won't be there and her first as a married woman too.
Those of you who were with us in 1997 won't recognise kovalum these days, there is a 'boardwalk' to use an americanism, above the beach level which is completely lined with cafe's, restaurants & shops of many types. the area you remember of sand above a deserted beach has long gone now. Every year things become more modern and  busier. The beach itself is quite narrow and has an extraordinary sand on it whoich is almost black and sticks infuriatingly well to one's feet! the sand is not yet at the critical stage where you can't actually walk on it without getting your soles burned. Below are two pics from the weekend, the first a sunset just to wet your appetites and the second the fish on display outside one of the beach restaurants.
Have I told you the hotel's website? <www.rockholm.com> turn up your speakers!                                                                            

Well I've had a fab day chilling out by the sea! It's still not sunny, but at 27degrees you can live with that in fact it is more pleasant. i got a nice lady from London to put suncream on my back... an impossibility on your own, maybe skinny people can rach right round but i can't!! Unfortunately I then forgot to do the rest of me! So I am verging on the pink in bits... the bits that don't normally see the sun in more conservative Tirunelvelli!
Not too bad I don't think, certainly not burnt just a little grilled! It's probably as well i only have half a day tomorrow 'll make sure teh pink nits are plastered in cream tomorrow. It's not helped by the little ladies who go round constantly with baskets on their head saying "Pineapple, coconut, papaya , banana, I give you nice coconut oil to rub on you get nice sun tan!" Can you imagine if I fell for that one, it wouldn't be deep fried mars bar but deep fried Sally!
I ahd a go at using a body board (mini surf board to you old folks reading this!) Lots of fun but I kinda like just floating on top of the water beyond where the waves break, where they just lift you with the surge!
Off now for my dinner, got quite an appetite and I'm enjoying being able to ahev non-indian food just for a wee change!

Well here I am back in the same internet cafe I was in 6 weeks ago when i first arrived, my trusty car and driver arrived at 8.45 for a 9.00am departure this morning, w set off at 9.00am and arrived here in Kovalum at around 12.30. Nice to travel in the morning, it is a lot cooler. However, i did not expect it to be dull and cloudy when I got here, that was not on my agenda, however nothing daunted I checked in , went for a swim and then back to the hotel for a siesta, Fab! If you haven't already had a look at the website have a look at www.rockholm.com and have your sound up! It's painted in a slightly rosey light, however my room has been repainted since I was in it in November and the guy came really quickly to deal with the ant nest in the corner of my bathroom! My family know how much I loathe ants so that was quite an important thing!
Much less stressful than having to work.
Trying to decide whether or not to have fish/prawns (look more like lobsters in size) / or a veg dish for tea!) Decisions, decisions, decisions!

I'm getting spontaneous in my old age! Theere is ahuge political event here in Tirunelvelli this weekend run by the ruling party in tamil Nadu..DMK perhaps? Anyway they are expecting 1/2 a million folks so all buses have been re routed to avoid town completely... helpful! and all schools closed for Friday and Saturday. Sooooooooo I've booked a room at the Rockholm at Kovalum and am off at 9.00am tomorrow morning back Sunday evening. Nice to relax, I'm really looking forward to it.
The evnt really is huge, all and I mean all the roads have been re-surfaced, there are immense posters and bill boards lining all the roads, posts have been erected along the main roads every 10 yards or so with black and red flags, viewing galleries have been built, i have never seen anything like it. They have taken over some fields and erected a covered area which took over 10 minutes to walk the length of, it has ceiling fans every 10-15 feet across and up and down the length of the tented area. each area is fenced off to avoid crushing. The chief minister of Tamil Nadu and his son The Mayor of Chennai who is (as I was told) the equivalent of Prince Charles is the main speaker. I've forgotten my camera but will post some pics next week.
The front entrance is about 200 yards long and built like a palace front and made of plaster of paris, the inner entrance, equally grand is longer, and made of plam frond panels all painted and with foil stapled to them so at night they are fantastic. Apparently too speakers are being erected all through teh towns and villages so no one misses out! I'm off! Funny thing is I don't know anyone who is going.

Wow, it's about to happen, I bit the bullet today and accepted Jeyakodi's offer to call someone in BSNL (phone company) to try and speed up my broadband connection. Turns out his friend is only the assistant general manager, so if I pay 900 rupees a month instead of 500 (an extra 5 pounds) I can have my connection this week or next! I was at home this evening when the phone call came to say go and get a modem which I did, it is being installed tomorrow by a very nice young man who came and installed my PSU last week. I'll be getting a reputation for having nice young men come to call. My auto driver pops in now and then too, to see if I should wish to go anywhere! - and then as soon as BSNL get to me, I'm online again at home, no more interent browsing places for me-at least while in Tirunelvelli. I'll be using SKYPE phone system which is free calls to anyone else who is a Skype user, 20 euro cents a minute to UK mobiles and 2 euro cents a minute to landlines! Can't wait. You'll get no peace now folks. It's also well worth downloading onto your computer if you don't already have it, you can then call computer to computer with just a headset.

School has been a bit of a pain this week, or at least parents have, we make lots of appointments for people for one to one sessions and they then don't show up which means we are sitting twiddling our thumbs rather than working with other kids who are available. I've been teaching the school staff and pupils  a Christmas song to sing at parents night next Wednesday. parents staff and pupils all come in and have an entertainment (us) and a meal together before school breaks up the next day. Like at Canaan many kids don't go home very often in term time, so it is a chance for widely distributed parents to meet up.
Went for a walk by the "tank" in Tirunelvelli town yesterday which is being tarted up, they've built a really nice walkway all around it, unfortuately they have forgotten to put ay access gates so you have to clamber over it, easy in salwars but not so easy in a  saree I imagine! It's a fresh water lake and really very clean and nice looking. I took a pic of birds on a jetty type thing... Two kinds of pelican, cormorants, dippers, not to mention 3 or 4 types of raptor flying overhead, kites, eagles and what may have been an osprey. Amazing.
The final picture is of a green bee catcher, they hang around ( well perch actually) on the wires outside the school.

I went shopping yesterday to a local farmers market sort of thing. I bought a really nice rug for by my bed... I discovered that the ones I had been using were actually prayer rugs, Christian ones, to save one's knees and make the place special I suppose. I wondered when two people in a row came in, glanced through the door and said 'Oh you were praying' Of course I had been!!! Anyway decided I should put those mats away and bought this one. It's about a centimetre thick pile like chenille and is just lovely,I don't like putting my feet on the terracotta tiles in the middle of the night, you get all gritty and this is just fab! It cast me about £4 so not too expensive.

Today I went out for a walk and walked for about 2 miles... I think everyone thinks I'm mad, but you see far more and get smiled at much more often if you are walking about. I crossed the bridge over the Cauvery river which separates Tirunelvelli from Palayamkottai (they are twin towns and if it wasn't for the river you wouldn't be able to separate them!. Here is a shot or two, you can see folk doing their washing, and washing themselves, a herd of goats, some Hindu temples on the right bank. The other picture is a guy who wouldn't leave me alone till I took his picture, or even after I took his picture. I think he then wanted me to take it home to see his wife, but I wasn't too tempted you'll be relieved to hear Colin!
I also bought plane tickets for Colin and I from Delhi to Bangalore, we're going to see Sham, Jolly and Shyama for a couple of days from 9th January.

Well it is Saturday and what did I find myself doing this morning but getting up to go to work… well actually I drained the water tank first, cleaned out all the muck and then turned on the water to fill it again. The water only comes between 8am and 9am so you need to be on the ball especially if the tank needs cleaned out. I’ve realised it is not a good idea to pump my indoor tank all upstairs before going to work in the morning as inevitably if I do someone uses it… lets not get selfish here Sally… but twice I’ve turned on the shower at night to find no water left and I’m really not up for that one. Anyway turned on the water to fill the tank only to find there wasn’t any… apparently corporation water doesn’t come on a Saturday… need to ch