We then went to a Craft Market and amongst other things we watched this very talented man painting papier mache boxes with the finest, finest brush. His concentration was incredible and the craftsmanship was fantastic. He told us he had been an apprentice for years before he reached this standard and was able to teach others.

These are some of the papers with the writing for the carpet patterns. The carpet makers just thread one sheet at a time between the long strands on the loom and follow what is written there!! Quite incomprehensible to you and I!! The other picture is of OUR carpet!!!

We watched Tibetan refugees making the most beautiful silk carpets in the most intricate and age old designs. And lo and behold, after numerous cups of Tibetan tea and lengthy conversation with a fascinating professor we bought a fabulous carpet for our living room in France!! Not that we have the living room yet!! This will take a little longer!!

And what do you think of this carving? Hard to realise that it is about eight hundred years old!!

By the way, a big thank you should go to Christopher for reminding us to bring a copy of the Lonely Planet to India book with us to use on this trip. It has been invaluable for finding hotels and telling us about what we are seeing and what we should see and even where to get the best seafood in Panaji, Goa (but more of that later on!).

No matter how I try to lay the photographs out in an artistic fashion, they almost seem to turn up just any-old-where. Oh well, I suppose the only thing that matters is that the pictures show up at all!! After all the trouble I have had.

Anyway, these pictures show the Qutb Minar in Delhi. The QM itself is a soaring tower of vistory dating from the beginning of islamic rule in India in 1193 and is of early afghan design. It is a beautiful place and we seemed to be visiting when there were not too many people about. A difficult thing to do anywhere in India!

These pictures show the largest Mosque in India in Delhi. And there is no doubt that the place is huge. This was the first of our visits to sites of historial and architectural interest.

During March this year we were able to enjoy a two week Indian holiday. We had a marvellous time. We saw lots of forts, temples and palaces and covered a fair bit of Indian countryside. We met interesting people and stayed in some lovely hotels converted from old Indian and Portuguese homes and have collected lots of fabulous memories to be enjoyed and re-lived with a glass of wine on the terrace we will build when we retire to France in the coming months.

We visited Delhi, Jaipur and Agra in the north and then went to Goa for a weeks rest and relaxation. As you can see we started off our visit to Delhi with a leisurely outdoor breakfast!

The winter months here enjoy about the most perfect weather as far as we are concerned. And also a time for the most fabulous displays of floral shrubbery.

The majority of Indian people are Hindus and here are just a few pictures of the small temple that is here in the Township.

A beautiful and peaceful place.

Just to show you some of the henna hand painting. This was done for me by one of the ladies who lives here at Reliance Greens at a family evening that was held in the Township at the Civic Centre one weekend evening over the winter.

The majority of Bechtel staff working here returned to their home base (in USA, India, UK or other European countries) for the Christmas and New Year holidays. We decided to stay here and have a quiet time together and save our holiday allocation for a holiday in India after the turn of the year (more of that later).

We had a day out and just popped into the Guest House for a little supper on our return. Certainly not expecting to find Santa Claus had showed up!!!

We have a beautifully laid out park here at Reliance Greens and the evenings are a lovely time to be there.

Every now and then a large stage is erected there and performances, such as these pictures show, are staged for the enjoyment of everyone.

During November we were invited by the gentleman on the far left of this picture to a very special function at the Town Hall in Jamnagar to watch his sixteen year old daughter performing a type of dancing particular to an area of India much further south than here (where the family, as I understand it, is originally from).

Charles, John, Gavin and I were priviledged to be included as the only non-Indian guests in an auditorium seating up to eight hundred guests!!

A most enjoyable evening. And neither did my sari fall apart!!

Winter in this part of India seems to be classified as from November to February. (Not that it is 'winter' as we know it in northern Europe more like the best of summer days, but nevertheless 'winter' for this part of India)

There are so very many hard working people in India who live in the most appalling conditions - with no running water or electricity; with shelters which can barely be called homes; and after having worked a long day in equally appalling conditions there is little warmth or comfort.

Last Otober I joined a group of other resident ladies of Reliance Greens to raise money to try to make at least a small difference to the people who live in the little shanty just outside our boundaries and work on the buildinig sites here. A blanket per household, a jumper or something similar that is warm for as many people as possible as well as some jammy dodgers for the children just to see them smile. I wish we could have done more, but at least it was something.

The plight of these people from first hand experience and from following the newspapers while we have been here means that these types of situations will beimprinted in our minds for life. In fact, should never be forgotten by anyone.

After trying so many times over the last months to add more photographs and notes to this Blogg, I had all but completely given up hope. But, for some completely unknown reason I have tried again today and lo and behold it appears to be working again!! Why or how, I have no idea but long may it last!!

By the way, this picture is of the two little parrots we had for a while. They lived on our balcony but, un-noticed by us, they gradually ground there way through the paperclip which we had twisted through the bars to keep the door shut. And one day while I was in the UK, Gavin came home for lunch and found they had flown the coup!!

Anyway, now that we appear to be up and running again, I will spend the next little while adding SOME of the three hundred photographs we took while we were on our recent Indian holiday. What a fabulous time we had and the places we saw - fantastic!! We hope you will enjoy sharing some of our experiences. Of course, the first thing to do is send a 'round robin' e-mail to say we are back in business with this Blog. I am stillsomewhat stunned - just hope it is really and truly going to work this time!!

Important Notice . . . .

There STILL appear to be endless problems at Blog HQ and I STILL cannot upload photographs, which are obviously the most important part of a Blog Diary like this one - I am sorry. I am trying to find out what is going on. If the problem does not get resolved very shortly either I will go up in smoke or I will start a completely new Blog with a different outfit. I am just about at the end of my patience!! It was so easy for the first three months or so and now . . . .