India

Yes, I've been in India since June 30th, but the internet hasn't been, well, user-friendly.
The first two days we rested (except for one person) and prepared for a jeep trek to the nomads in the ChangThang area.
Once there, we went to several nomad encampments. What was it like? Well, cold, for one thing. We woke up morning with snow on our tents!
Interesting, for another. In ChangThang, we are high in the Himalayas, above the tree line. Very rocky and dusty, except the very occaisonal area where there are springs or streams (from glacier melt).
Scary, with the mountain roads (if there are roads at all) and with that one person contracting pulmonary edema from high altitude sickness--because he didn't rest when we got to Leh! But he went back down to Leh and spent the night in the hospital and was fine by the time we returned from ChangTang.
Smelly, sleeping beside the goats and yaks.
Beautiful, with the mountains, and the wonderfully welcoming people. We watched the nomads herding their yaks and pashmina goats, visited the highest village in the world, saw monks at their devotions...
Next week we will be going to another part of Ladakh.
and IF (a big if) the internet is working, I'll write some more later!
PS I got some lovely Indian cotton fabric to make a dress or skirt/top with!

Stuck in Chicago!

Well, we missed our flight to Delhi, sitting on the tarmac at O'Hare Airport. So, this am we are still in Chicago, and hopefully will be on our way to Delhi posthaste!
Unfortunately, we will miss our flight from Delhi to Leh. And the phones appear to not be working in India. And the computers are on the fritz at the Indian airlines.
Oh, well! Somehow we'll get there!

What about India?

We've been going to India for 6 years now.

This year will be our 7th and 8th trip there. We most often go and trek in northern India in an area called the Ladakh. Most of the people are Buddhist, and are of Tibetan origin.

The Ladakh is a beautiful, mountainous desert area. In the midst of the Himalayan mountains, it is nothing short of stupendous. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

I will be attempting to post occaisonally from India. And, perhaps, my DH or DS, who will remain at home, can post something from stateside. However, there will be weeks where I will be camping among the nomadic ChangTang peoples or in small villages where there is no electricity or cell phones.

See you in five weeks!

New Hat for India!

Starting to pack! I got a new hat--my old hat is floppy and too small. It did not fare well in the washing machine. So a new hat to ward off the sun, which is VERY bright that high in altitude in the Himalayan desert.

And new sock liners. I could only find 2 and 1/2 sock liners. Now, before you nod your head, yes, of course, I'm missing sock-like articles of clothing, understand that in this household, the socks multiply. I believe that this particular dryer is where all the socks in the universe go. So if you're missing a sock, just ask...

No, here we lose clothes hangers. I believe I've bought 17 dozen (yes, you read it right) hangers since moving here 5 years ago.

Maybe we trade hangers for socks....

Happy Father's Day!

Across
4. Ephraim and Manasse 5. Rehoboam

7. Hezekiah 9. Moab

11. Nimrod 12. Obed

15. Joshua 16. Esau and Jacob

17. Jesus

18. Isaac and Ishmael 19. Samson

21. Joseph and Benjamin

23. James and John, The sons of thunder

Down
1. David

2. Jonathan, Merab, and Michal

3. Cain and Abel 4. Simon Peter

6. Samue l8. John the Baptist

10. Absalom and Solomon

13. Rachel and Leah

14. Shem, Ham, and Japeth

20. Jehoshaphat 22. Jesse

Homeschooling and a few oddsn'ends

Ya' know, my homeschooling days are almost over--my youngest will be a senior next year--if he gets all of his courses done!
But he will, he's a strong student (when he wants to be) and can certainly do the work. I'm very proud about the schoolwork he is doing this summer.
When he graduates next year, I will have homeschooled, let's see--17 years? Wow.

It's been great, and I will miss homeschooling.
So I know part of going to grad school is to deal with this change in my life--I'm just not the kind of person to sit still! And I'm not going back to the career I had before we had kids. DH and I prayed and talked about it, and the Lord just opened that door (so fast!) I feel confident about this step. Well, most of the time!
I will only go to school part-time next year. Even tho' our youngest DS will be taking most of his courses outside the home (co-op and college classes), I still have homeschooling things to do! Like graduation.

Boy, it's going to be quiet around here in a year or so!

New Nightie

I used the 1893 chemise pattern from The Ladies Treasury of Costume and Fashion.

http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/freepatterns/index.html

Though it looked daunting, it was quite easy to draw the pattern. There were no instructions, so I decided to line the yoke and not gather on the sleeves nor use the sleeve band.

It's quite a loud plaid, but oh, such a soft cotton! Great for sleeping. I made this to take to India.

I also had some fun with my fancy stitches on my (fairly) new Viking machine!