I am in the countdown phase again; getting ready to head off to Nepal again which means a lot of organising.  Still, it is all stuff I feel really passionate about and that means I feel very satisfied when things get done!

Recently I put some of my own work (as opposed to Samunnat pieces) in the wonderful Gallery Shop at BHRAG and it has been selling really well. I am stoked!!! So, I am busy making a few more pieces to keep stocks up in the run up to Christmas.  I love making what I like to think of as my signature piece, the phul mala, flower necklace, and over the weekend made some in the wonderful rich colour of Sangria using Carolyn Good’s recipe.  Some of these incorporate garnets from Nepal and one is heading on a long journey like me! (More of that later!)

I also finally strung together a necklace that had been lying around on my work table half assembled.  This was born when I was teaching the 6 week classes and we were looking at complementary colour combinations.  Seems very summery to me!

This was going to be a reflective (and possibly wordy) post on collecting my thoughts again after an eventful month away. But now it won’t be. Instead I am just going to put up some photos of what happened one day, when instead of answering my usual question of OK, What should I do today? I gave myself the chance to answer another one.

What would be fun to do right now?

Samjhana was the result. She was made entirely with stuff around the house (slightly scary to think that an Eiffel Tower was lying unused in the shed but there you go).  She is life size (taller than me) and extraordinarily authentic down to a small thauli purse containing rupees tucked into her blouse in case she needs it and she can move. Not independently obviously, but I can change her position according to weather conditions, needs and interests.  Each time I look at her, she reminds me to be mindful. To be present, to lighten up. Her name comes from the Nepali word for remembering or memory.

Given that I will be in Nepal again in month, it would be good if she reminded me of my Nepali language (getting somewhat rusty) but that may need to be a process of more active engagement (with my text book!) rather than gazing at a Nepali figure in my back garden.

BTW, Zoe Margaret continues to delight and inspire. She can’t say angel yet but her mother reports that she looks at hers!