71/365

Grace in small things.

1. The Wonder Hill Market today at Tooting Tram and Social. What a cool venue, what a lovely, warm atmosphere (met lots of lovely sellers and bumped into Sinead from Crafty Fox and got to see her brand new fox cub - what a teeny cutie), and what a sweet surprise at the end! I had started to notice a few dapper young gentlemen and some very stylish vintagey ladies milling about, checking out all the stalls. And I wondered, where did these people come from all of a sudden? This is not your every day Tooting look. Then, a swinging song kicked out overhead, and the aisles of the market became a stage for swing dancers. Hence the dapper and vintage. Good fun.

I love that woman's dress.

2. Fresh fruit, muesli and yoghurt for breakfast. Mmm...

3. New pillows! Tempur pillows! And the matching bed coming soon! My back hurt ever so slightly less this morning when I woke up. I think.

4. Another free day full of lots of tiny power. One highlight of all I did: I turned one of Marcus's old snagged jumpers into my no-snags jumper. Easiest upcycle ever.

5. I've started making things for my new home. They will be photographed just as soon as I get to go make that new home mine.

69/365

Grace in small things.

1. Baking. Last night I baked some lemon bars from this recipe (via Pinterest, of course). The flat smelled delightful while we were watching True Blood. Today, I glaze. Tomorrow, I share.

2. Today is an empty day. I don't have to go to work. Marcus has taken Dhari into nursery on his way to work. The flat is clean. I have nothing that absolutely has to be done. It is, therefore, a dangerous day - so full of potential, but potential for what? Productivity? Faffing around on t'interwebs all day? Getting lost in a good book? Basking in the sunshine? It is entirely up to me. I feel so powerful in such a tiny way.

3. We have begun to pack our things into boxes. I was making asparagus risotto for dinner last night and on autopilot, I went to the bookshelf to get The Silver Spoon, only to realise I had packed all the cookbooks away the day before. Not to worry though. I've made that dish so many times I could do it with my eyes closed. But I couldn't really, because I might cut my finger off chopping onions.

4. Marcus, Dhari and I joined the crowd on Monday evening to watch our bit of the Olympic torch relay go by. Living in London is truly a special thing, but only if you have the energy (and lack the cynicism/jadedness) to jump in and take advantage of it.

5. I'm listening to Flight of the Conchords this morning, thanks to a random Facebook thread one of my friends started. Oh I laugh. And laugh. And laughandlaughandlaugh.

A little gem for your enjoyment:



Have you ever been told that you look like a llama?
Tears of a rapper, I'm crying tears of a rapper...


I don't know about you, but I'm crying tears of laughter.

66/365

Grace in small things.

1. I totally made Dhari a pair of bird wings (from this tutorial). It took me hours, but it turned out to be something truly special. And, as I'm a tiny-bit of a hippy, I really like that his first cape is bird wings and not a superhero one. Not that there's anything wrong with superheroes - I just like nature better.

I made it with some fabric my mom gave me ages ago. She used it as table cloths for some themed party she had, and thought it might make cute banditos. Sadly, while I love gingham for banditos, it was the wrong fabric. But I found a use for it finally! And I have loads more left over, if anyone else wants to make some matching bird wings. Or, if you want me to make them for you (or your toddler, whatever). But it'll cost you, because like I mentioned before, it takes hours. :) Pictures to come.

2. We had a glorious (and very busy) trip to the USA. Sunshine, family, friends, dinosaurs, legos, boats, pancakes...I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll just leave it with this:

3. Just found out yesterday that the twins are both boys. I will be totally outnumbered, but this is going to be loads of fun.

4. So far so good on the sale of our flat. Hoping it gets done quickly! I'm ready to get into that house!

5. Dhari let me sleep in a little bit today.

65/365

Grace in small things.

1. I'm back!

2. There are lots of reasons I have fallen off the face of the blogosphere. One is I've been really tired and falling asleep on the couch instead of writing blogs and taking pictures and making things. That doesn't seem appropriate for a Grace post, except for the part that I recently found out I'm having twins! Holy schnikes!

3. We're moving to a house! With an actual garden in the front and the back! And stairs! And a garage! And a little bit of extra space to just be. At least until the twin invasion. I don't think I'll be getting my dream sewing studio. It will probably still be a spot on the dining table, but whatevs. I get a garden! To grow things!

4. I get to see my Americans in a few days. Woot!

5. Days and days of sunshine. Please tell me summer is finally here to stay.

64/365

Grace in small things.

1. Yesterday, at the bus stop, Dhari made a stranger guffaw (it was an actual guffaw, I kid you not) by randomly shouting out at the top of his voice, "WHAT IS GOING ON????" Her response, after the laughter, was, "What IS going on? The bus should be here by now." Sometimes Dhari clearly annoys grumpy people on public transport during rush hour. But he mostly makes them smile. And that makes me happy.

2. Sunshine! Days and days of it! Yay! I know there's a drought in the UK at the moment, and this is a big problem, but there is a silver lining behind this lack of clouds. It's called Vitamin D and happy Londoners.

3. Wet felting Easter eggs out of beautifully hand-dyed Falkland wool. It takes ages, but is really very meditative.

4. Dhari and I will be going to a funfair this afternoon with our buddies, Hazel, Sophia, Alexander, Claire, Jack and Maisie. Dhari is so excited.

5. Growing things. Dhari's really getting into this. At the moment we just have mustard cress growing in an egg cup on the windowsill and some watercress seeds lurking under some soil on the back step, but soon we will have a complete salad, once we plant the tomatoes and sweet peppers. Hahah!

61/365

Grace in Small Things.

1. Good news on a bad news kind of day. In this case, I am chuffed to announce that I'll once again be presiding over a humbly awesome table at the Crafty Fox Spring Market at the Dogstar in Brixton in March. Woo!

'Springfox' by Jimbobart

2. Marcus painted the kitchen an antique-white. It's suddenly a bigger room. Yay!

3. babybandito has been getting a windfall of ticky tock orders. Wahoo!

4. We're finally getting our buzzing radiators fixed. Now I can sleep with the heating on in my bedroom, without having it wake me up hourly. Shazam!

5. I have finished reading The Hunger Games. Courtney was right. It broke my heart, then put it back together, only to break it all over again. And again. And again. I can't wait for the movie. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

58/365

Grace in small things.

1. The therapeutic properties of cooking. I came home this evening wanting to destroy something, but after cooking up some lovely minestrone, and then gobbling it up with my family, I felt so much better. Oh, and hey. Don't worry. It wasn't any major personal turmoil; I was just railing against the establishment. Mostly Michael Gove (stupid face. Because of him I might be buying the queen a £60 million yacht for her Diamond Jubilee! I wonder what she'll get me for mine...I'm hoping for an island, or perhaps the NHS...) and Citibank (who have decided to charge us to put our own dollars in our own dollar account!). Anyway, I'm glad I chose to create, rather than destroy. Creating is so much tastier.

2. Dhari is a master of flirting. This evening on the train, he got a woman to tell him her name, note that he knows he's cute, and then show him pictures of her house (on her camera, which he asked her about). I know, I should probably teach him to be less friendly to strangers, but...

3. I just finished reading A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It was pretty wonderful.

4. I made a lampshade on Saturday at The Make Lounge. It's pretty awesome.

5.  I'm starting a book club in the library at school. I hope it's well-received! Any suggestions for reading material? The participants will be 14/15 year old boys.

57/365

Grace in small things.

1. Got to chat with my big brudder on Skype this afternoon.

2. Dhari doesn't let chicken pox get him down.

3. The Etsy Spring 2012 Look Book is out now. And I'm in it! Well, not me, but you know...

Open publication - Free publishing - More 2012

Please keep your fingers crossed that this means I'll be madly stitching hundreds of tiny felt watches until I go cross-eyed.

4. Back to normal(ish).

5. I've kept to my resolutions so far: floss daily and improve the rhythm of my home.

55/365

Grace in small things.

1. Volunteering at Fine Cell Work yesterday afternoon. We put together project kits: cutting and counting strands of yarn and thread, constructing colour keys, and choosing and assembling colour way kits for new recruits to practise their needlework. The last one was good fun. I decided to make a colour way inspired by my shirt.

FCW is a charity organisation that works with prisoners, but what makes them unique is they teach the prisoners needlework/embroidery, and then give them paid work. What they have found is that not only does it give them the opportunity to have money to do things like call home or save up for a better life when they get out, but the work itself allows them to have quiet, positive moments in their cells to reflect and to have positive, supportive interactions with fellow inmates who are also involved in FCW. 75% of the inmates involved are men. Amazing. The organiser read out a letter they received that week from a "lifer" who wrote how important FCW was to him and his own mental wellbeing, and his message nearly made me cry. I hope to do a lot more work with FCW in the future.

2. Adele got her needle book and it would seem that she loves it.

3. I'm going to the Concrete Market today. It's organised by Tobyboo, who I think I've mentioned before.

4. I crocheted a cowl last night with some yarn which I think is from the 80s. It is warm and fuzzy.

5. Marcus gave our bedroom a proper tidy up and clean yesterday. It now looks like no one actually lives there. I love it.

53/365

Grace in small things.

1. Big ol' Thanksgiving partay comin' right up. My gonna eat some pecan pie.

2. Dhari made a snowman puppet today. He named it Hmmm.

3. We figured out where to put some of our clutter here at Chez Bhargava.

4. William Shatner and Ben Folds' "Has Been". So good.

5. I still like my job. Woot!

splish-splash, simple joys

42/365

Grace in Small Things.

1. Mending my Diesel jeans for the third time. I know I should be fuming that such an extravagantly expensive pair of jeans should fall apart so easily (and so frequently), but I'm just not. I actually enjoy the process of bringing them back to life, and I relish in that stubborn-as-an-ox feeling of absolutely refusing to let them die. I love them as much as a human being can actually love a pair of jeans.

2. Watching Dhari make everyone laugh at his weekly music and play class. That's my boy!

3. The sweetness of a sleepy two-year old. "Want to cuddle Mummy..."

4. A hermit day. I love sunny days, and getting outside to bask a bit, but I also love being a hermit - just hanging out with my little guy and getting stuff done and hanging out with my little guy a bit more. I suppose, if we get stir-crazy and it doesn't rain, we might go to the park for a bit.

5. Getting lots of positive feedback about my bibs. That feels good.

40/365.

Grace in small things.

1. Felafel wraps for Easter lunch, especially when the spicy hot pickled veg is homemade from scratch and the felafel is too, and you get to watch the cook make it expertly with an Israeli felafel mould that's been around for ages and "only gets brought out on special occasions".

2. Dhari's first Easter egg hunt. So cute.

3. The hallway is painted! It is no longer yellow! And I helped!

4. Dhari keeps playing the intro to "To Die a Virgin" by Divine Comedy, over and over again. It's a sound clip from an old British TV show, of a woman saying, "If there's a war, I'll sleep with you before you get get killed - that's what maidens do in books, and I'm a maiden." And then a man replies, "Oh, you do seem to go on about your virginity. Virginity's nothing - you can lose it on a bicycle." She responds, "I didn't know that! I must be careful - I'm going to get a bicycle when I get to London." Dhari seems to think it's really funny.

5. I got my lovely Mother's Day dress (handmade by Sue Bradbury) in the post today! Yay!

39/365

Grace in Small Things.

1. I've started a cross-stitch project. So far it's taken me two days just to transfer the pattern. There must be an easier way, I just couldn't figure it out. But I'm way excited to start stitching and see the final product! It will be one of my Facebook giveaways, which I let fall by the wayside there for a while. Oops.

2. Going to a funfair yesterday with Dhari, Sophia and Hazel. I took Dhari on loads of little kid rides, including the caterpillar train, the teacups and a little train roller coaster (which he loved at first, but then at the 4th or 5th time around he decided "I don't like it! I don't like this one!"). I was hoping he'd come off saying, "I ain't afraid of no rolly-coaster!" But he didn't.

3. Summery days like today. Ooh, sunshine.

4. The tea cupboard. It's the only spot in the flat that isn't cluttered. Thanks Marcus!

5. Charlie Brookers The Hell of It All. It makes me laugh so much I can't really read it on The Tube. You're not allowed to smile, let alone laugh, on public transportation.

37/365

Grace in small things.

1. A clean flat, largely thanks to Marcus.

2. Spending yesterday afternoon engaged in two of my favourite things: crafting and activism.

I met loads of lovely people, including Colin, a hilarious and chatty homeless man who joined in with the stitchery in exchange for tea, sandwiches and cakes! Good atmosphere overall.

3. A gorgeous little shop in Brighton called Fair, that befittingly trades in Fair Trade goods. Being a Fair Trade city, Brighton has a barrel-full of these places, but this one was particularly good. Lots of stuff from People Tree and elsewhere. One highlight was underwear that says on the elastic waistband, "Poverty is Pants". In the end, I bought some giant hoop earrings and a very cool necklace, for the bargain price of £24 (there goes my fun-spend allowance for this week...).

4. I'm getting really excited about the Crafty Fox pop-up market on Saturday. Be there, dudes and dudettes!

5. Having actual conversations with Dhari. It floors me every time.

36/365

Grace in small things.

1. Sitting in the sunshine with Dhari, both of us singing along to Father Goose and playing tents with the sawaar kameez scarves. Again! We've had nearly a week of this. Awesome. (plus, according to a very reliable Facebook source, all this sunshine is due to the magical workings of a newly-built playhouse in Kingston...Dhari can't wait to try it out).

Dhari's Downward Facing Dog?

2. Taking baby steps toward the "Keep what you love and get rid of the rest" way of living. I hate being surrounded by clutter - it stresses me out - yet I don't want to live somewhere that feels like no one lives there. You know what I mean. So, yesterday, Dhari and I wandered down to the charity shop and offloaded some of my things that I don't love. I kept Dhari, by the way.

3. I put some white azaleas in my "backyard" flower pots and relocated my herbs to a disused window box. Things are starting to brighten up back here! This weekend, I hope to hit up the market near my flat to buy some inexpensive, but cheerful flowers for the rest of my planters. I'll probably be going for purple because that's my favourite.

4. Taking a moment to paint my nails. Three coats!

5. A nearly finished Easter basket (that - I am ashamed to admit - was started in February).

Scrum-diddly-umptious.

My flat smells awesome right now. Mainly because I live here (obviously. Just kidding). No, mainly because I've been working on a nice smell-good project. My friend Hazel asked me to make some lavender heart sachets for her to hang on doorknobs around her house. Her house is serene in a mainly cream/beige/grey/black sort of way. So here is what I made for her:

The pink one's for her daughter's room. :)

I'm well pleased with the outcome and hope Hazel is too (and Sophia!). These will definitely feature in my developing grownup etsy shop-to-be. 

29/365

Grace in Small Things.

1. Using the last episode of Skins to clarify a student's understanding of what themes actually are.

2. Dhari was really really excited to see his grandmuma and granddad. It was cute.

3. I started making Hazel's lavender door hangers this evening. I think they're going to be luuurrrrvely and might have to make some for my own home too!

4. I already posted this on Facebook, but as I was getting off the bus at Richmond Station, an old man with awesome sideburns let me get off the bus first and then told me, "Your hair colour is really pretty." It was sweet and totally made me smile.

5. I discovered a little shout-out for my friend Dana on the Made By Rae blog today. Dana's featured design is the Dinosaur Rock Band. It makes me happy that she is getting major kudos all over the place, because she is awesome, talented and hilarious and she definitely deserves it.

23/365

Grace in small things.

1. My Matthew Williamson dress. I got to bust it out for the second time ever (first time, Angie Lang-Mendenhall's wedding, woot-woot!) on Saturday for Nina and Nirmal's 25th wedding anniversary. And boy-oh-boy, am I ever glad I did? Had I worn anything even a teensy-weensy less colourful or sparkly, I would have felt like I was wearing burlap. Indian ladies know how to dress for an occasion (I'm not one for stereotyping, but this has largely been my impression over time - plus, it's a big huggy-kissy compliment, so just shush). I love my dress. Unfortunately, I can't find any full-length pics of me in it, nor can I find any pics of it being worn by some waif-like model on the Internet. So you'll just have to imagine. It is these colours and fabrics:

Put into this shape and design:

Both dresses are Matthew Williamson, of course. And while we're at it, here's the man himself:

Only this man could have come up with those dresses. Am I wrong?

I especially love this dress right now because I am newly obsessed with embroidery (didn't you know?). Also, because  I you can wolf down a whole box of Mr. Kipling lemon cake slices on my your own and still slink around in it comfortably.

2. A cuddly toddler in my lap right now.

3. My friend Tanya, who gave Dhari a pack of art supplies. Thanks Tans. It keeps the munchkin occupied for at least half an hour everyday. Taking all the pens out...swapping the lids around...putting the pens back in...

4. Laundry. It's the only housework I actually enjoy. Not ironing though. That's different. And not fun at all.

5. The sounds of squealing adolescent girls outside my window every weekday at around 4pm. School lets out and so do they. My goodness!