The Secret Garden

Remember this book, all you children of the 50's and 60's? I didn't realize that Tasha Tudor illustrated one of the later editions (she of the corgis and lovely shawls who has illustrated children's books for so long). Tasha is also the inspiration for one of my favorite (and easy!) shawl patterns written by Nancy Bush. Go to her site for the free pattern. Can't remember how many times I've made it, but a bunch. It has a wonderful edging that rolls over naturally on the upper edge to form a very flattering shawl collar look. The triangle of the shawl is just that and has no decreases. The reason the edge folds over is that when you add the edge on the top, you are putting the edging stitches into live stitches which makes it bow out a bit. On the lower sides of the triangle it's one edge stitch for every other row so it stays flat. Very comfortable and comforting shawl to wear. Gauge does not matter on this shawl and you can make it out of anything! I usually do it in a dk to worsted yarn on size 4 needles. Since it's garter stitch it will stretch out from hanging over time, so a small needle is better and makes it very dense and warm - all in my humble opinion of course. I leave the tricky lace patterns alone and admire people like Dear Readers Rebecca and Peggy, Mary B and Sandi who make fabulous lace things. If you want something just a tad lacy around the edges that's not hard to do, this one's for you!

The French architecture in Pondicherry brings up memories of this favorite book whenever I walk around the "French" side of town. Many of the houses are big and have a large garden and courtyard in front with very high walls and a wonderful double arched door in the wall. It makes you want very badly to see what's inside. Whenever one of the doors has been left ajar I immediately go into a rounded shoulder stealth hunch and pass by really slowly to get a glimpse. What a lovely idea for living in a city. No one can see over or through the walls and you have security and privacy between you and the street. Here are some samples.





Inner Courtyards






Love these.







Below left is a Christian Temple. It may sound like an oxymoron to say Christian and Temple together but not in this case. That's Mary in the glass case up above and people come to short masses here and to light candles and bring flowers and other offerings. The picture on the right side is a convent.



Why - you're wondering - are the walls so grungy on many of them?



It's a combination of pollution and salt air in a tremendously humid environment. There are no emission controls whatsoever on any kind of vehicle, so the combination of that and salt air really kills the buildings.

The large houses on the Frenchy side are serious about keeping people from sleeping on the walks in front and from climbing over the walls.



Not to worry, this Gato is not lying on shards of glass - they only go half-way back on his/her ledge.



Coordinating colors of glass shards, Oooooooooooooo!



Hopefully you're not asleep yet! The French side really has a lot of lovely houses. Tomorrow, the Tamil side!

This is a picture of a Tamarind tree - note the huge pods hanging down. Tamarind is used for flavorings and chutneys - 's pretty wonderful!



These pods are of an altogether different sort. No clue!!! Feel free to chime in here. Could be a mango tree for all I know!



And of course, pictures of street doggies. The really sad thing I see is that they have no packs and dogs are all about packs and being social. Once in a while a family will have two at once that seem attached to them in some way. They sleep near the family and the family gives them handouts - but the rest are living among humans with no social contact. How strange is that? Sometimes I'll see a small group of puppies sleeping or hanging out together until they get a bit older. Dang!



Whoops, those were goat doggies. They are everywhere, terribly cute, and they ALWAYS run in a pack, or a goggle, or whatever a flock of goats are called. Flock? Oh....



By the way, I'm getting the hang of the Indian-style toilet. I do cheat and bring a small stash of T.P. with me but I've got the rest down as Dear Reader Virginia predicted. Never underestimated the power of having to go.

Ciao for now!