...it's me again!

...well I didn't just drop off the face of the earth! It may have seemed that way but a little secret was kept from you. I guess I owe you an explanation!

I won't go into too much detail... a little storyboard will suffice...

hello... my name is luca joy!

I'm Ready for a Holiday Now!...

Finally I have another quick chance to check in...

We have been rushing around recently trying to sort out furnishing our new apartment in Goa. We have spent a few weeks in Kerala with C's parents and now we are in Cochin staying with a friend before we take the train back to Goa tomorrow night.

Apart from not having anytime to relax and be peaceful... I'm really happy and enjoying the stress. I do however really miss catching up on my google reader. When I get back to Goa I'm going to spend sometime in a wireless cafe and just read and read...

I've noticed I've got a few new followers and commenters and I haven't even had time to think about new blogs, so to everyone who is keeping up with me I will be back soon! And to all my fellow bloggers, I hope you are all happy and I look forward to catching up with you all x


Angel, however has been having the time of her life!

Diyas and Rangoli...

Today the world I live in is celebrating the 'Festival of Lights'...

Diya's and Rangoli decorate the doorsteps of every Hindu, Sikh and Jain home on the eve of Diwali...

One of the most intriguing qualities that puts India in my dreams, is that no day goes by without flashes of patterns and colours that bring your senses and emotions to a split second standstill...

I guess it explains why I love photography so much too. To capture a moment of life that we rarely get a chance to savour in all the rushing around from here to there...

To sit and have the privilege of studying in detail the colour and depth of such minute detail in the never ending story of the busy world you are living in...

To take time to be grateful for what you have...

I find it beautiful that where money is scarce, the colours seems to become brighter, people surround themselves with beauty in a more passionate manner...

The senses are given more importance in life to enlighten and awaken the soul...

Colours are brighter, music and prayers are shared, food is sweeter and you are transported to memories past at every corner where a chai stall sends the smell of ginger and cardamom to your nose...

The fate of an Indian lies in Gods hands, the passion for their culture and religion is so alive in their hearts, it is hard for it to not rub of on you when you walk past..

Life is full of beauty when you take the time to look...

Happy Diwali to you all...

May the journey you are following be full of colour and light in every way...

***

Thanks Sharon... x

The Future is in Our Hands...

I was talking to my little (13 year old) sister today about consumerism and Epicurus and how attachments lead to suffering in the Buddhist context. She's quite mature for her age and is always open to learning more about life, but what surprised me was she already knew what Carbon Offsetting is!

Now when I was her age, a) there was no such thing as a carbon footprint and b) if there was I wouldn't have had a clue what you were talking about.

So we sat down together and watched 'The Story of Stuff'...

My point is... it's the future generations we need to teach, because they do care. They are the ones who will change, for the better. We just need to support them and teach them by example.

There is hope. 

Just Letting You Know...

...Tuesday night!

(...then I'll be the stupid cow in the middle of the chaos of Bombay...)

© Martin Roemers/Panos Pictures

"The intensity of urbanization can clash with age-old customs and traditions. The traffic dodges a cow, while street vendors vie with modern shops in this busy Mumbai, India, intersection"

Stop and Smell the Roses...

I'm taking your advice and taking it easy... 

relaxing...

being happy...

enjoying Autumn (with a scarf on)...

and foraging in the garden...

there are no more blackberries left now!

...And Then There Was Light

Diwali The Festival of Lights

Well... the bright lights of Leicester are all blinking behind us now. Which is a shame because it's Diwali soon and Leicester is supposed to have the biggest Diwali celebration in the UK... we are praying we will be in India by the 28th for Diwali celebrations big time!

The last few days have been a bizarre mix of calm and chaos. We are one step closer but still in limbo land. There is still no date set and emotions are being drowned in melancholy.

I've been lurking around my google reader and watching your lives move on 'business as usual', but feeling quite numb to the world of blogging. I'm leaving you all comments in my head (can you hear them?) but right now it's not that I don't have time (I have too much) but my energy has gone on holiday without me.

I read a book. I haven't read a book for a long time. If I start a book then I can't put it down until it's finished, so life gets put on hold. I only have one fiction book at the moment, so I read it again before I give it back. 

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini is a beautifully written book, just like his first, 'The Kite Runner'. It's books like this that bring my simple life into perspective. I'm lucky and I really have nothing to complain about. It's as simple as that.

Angel has a horrible cold, runny nose and is miserable.

C is outside working in the cold, helping my Dad lay a path, missing his family and is melancholic and miserable.

I have hurt my back either through lifting boxes or stress or both (I should have listened to you Jack) and I am miserable.

But we are safe, together, free and alive.

I'm grateful for that..

Diwali signifies the triumph of good over evil and it is also about new beginnings...

****

Kum ba ya my Lord, kum ba ya,
Oh Lord, kum ba ya

Someone's crying, Lord, kum ba ya,
Oh Lord, kum ba ya

Someone's singing, Lord, kum ba ya,
Oh Lord, kum ba ya

Someone's praying, Lord, kum ba ya,
Oh Lord, kum ba ya

Slipping off the Eco-Wagon...

I'm not being very 'Green', 'Simple' or 'Self Sufficient' right now...

My energy levels are on a roller coaster ride at the moment. I've slowed down in the last few days, my mind is cloudy and I'm not at all worried about the impending doom and gloom of packing, paying bills and moving on...

In fact I'm almost non plussed.

I've realised that because I haven't had any of my usual focuses to focus on, I feel a bit lost. I've got nothing to write about, I've got no meals planned, I'm scraping through the last of our stock in the cupboards at the same time as being a bit frivolous, thinking 'Oh well, we'll be gone soon anyway'... 

My Mum came at the weekend bringing a fresh haul of goodies. Muffins, brownies (no, not a chance it was fresh from the oven, fresh from Sainsbury's!) Sausages, chicken and lots of shrink wrapped veggies. She's so good to me and hates to think of me starving myself! So I haven't even had the usually mulling around the local shops to do. I did however pick a handful of French Beans for my Mum to take home, she was quite amazed and hadn't thought in a million years, her daughter would be giving her home grown veg!

As for the packing, well what am I thinking! A new life starts ..... (here!).... and I'm worrying whether or not to take my colander along for the ride! Mum's bagsed almost everything, Michael will be none to happy about that! He can't stand the clutter and begs me to take it away.. no more back up kettles purleeeese!

I usually base my posts around the photos I've taken recently. But there aren't any. We haven't been very far with no car. We catch the bus to playschool on Mondays and Wednesdays and pop over to the local park. No excitement, no stress.

We went on the bus into the city last night. The usual shopping trip before we travel, to pick up the necessities for traveling, like pants and stretchy things you can't get in India. Primark of course because we can't afford anything else, although I did splash out for the first time in years at the weekend. We went with my family to Wagamamas for lunch, which happens to be smack bang in the middle of the brand spanking new Highcross Shopping Centre, Leicester City. A haven of high class, top brand fashion... yuck! 

Now in my mind I hate all the faffy fashions, hate the thought of all that money being wasted away, despise the image factor and can't believe people enjoy doing it all on a Saturday afternoon. Then when I got there, I was on a high having my family around me, having £40 in my pocket from Grandpa and having a belly full of positive+ energy...

I found the shop (Republic) I had tried to order some quality, 5 yearly purchases, online a few weeks ago. My order had been refunded because they were out of stock.

We can't afford the G-Stars and Diesels of the world, not coveted for the expensive labels but for the quality, industrial look, comfort and practicality, so very occasionally we step up a level from Primark and buy some long lasting essentials.

There in the shop the lovely grey hoody and sparkly jeans I coveted, were waiting by the door to tempt me... along with a very practical, lightweight coat, perfect for air-conditioned airports and the fresh air of the mountains. 

I had also wanted these combats...                                                                                                                 

... but the size 10 was huge on me, they are supposed to come in a size 6 too, be serious, me a size 6, not even in my dreams am I a size 6! So I was very upset to find the size 6 never even existed. After a mass trying on session and a few giggles with the lovely guy looking after the changing rooms, my very relaxed shopping spree (baby with Ammama) ended on a high when the nice manager gave me a 10% discount for having such a silly sizing system on the combats!

So I'm all ready to go, full capsule wardrobe waiting in a not very neat pile...

We still haven't got our passports back, so no tickets booked!

***

I'm very excited about tomorrow morning! Another bus trip to the city, for my very first meeting with an 'Internet Friend'! I've arranged to meet Laura from 'Move to Portugal' for a cup of Fairtrade coffee in 'The Lanes' of Leicester. That'll be something to post about!

Feeling Happy...

My family have come to stay for the weekend...

It's so nice to have a bit of time without constant attention to the angel...

I love her with all my heart, but it's nice to free my mind...

She's so happy with her Ammama (my Mum)

Funny Grandpa (my Grandpa, he's 87!) 

and Auntie Hanna (my Sister)

I hate to think about leaving them behind and taking her away... it's too much... 

Has anyone been through it before?

Once Upon a Time...

In answer to Kel at Taurus Rising ...who left this comment on Sinking Ship...SOS

"5 weeks. Wow! Have I missed a post which describes where you're staying when you first arrive, what your plans are when you get there...? Point me in the right direction, or ..write one, lots of detail.."

***

Ok where do I start?

At the beginning...

For me this stage of my life started when, after traveling the world and becoming disillusioned with life I quit my job in 2003 and left England to buy a house in Goa, India. You may have seen me on TV, Get a new life, the one who bought the dodgy looking house with a dream of opening a cafe... Most people I have spoken to since, have said they thought I was 'bloody bonkers!' Well maybe I am. I had got this far with the help of my family and was down to zero capital ... But even having no money and no plan didn't deter me, I trusted in 'Hope' and soon I was introduced to someone who proposed a business plan and away we went...

So my dream turned from this...

...to this!

Casa Maya

(Click to see the website)

I spent a couple of years of hard(ish) work to design and build this house, (not with my own hands!) sticking as much as possible to the traditional Portuguese house that was already a part of the land. Every detail was passed by me, every piece of work was checked by me, every colour and material was chosen by me, everything from roof to foundations, plants to tiles, cups to cushions... I'm quite proud of what I achieved in my naive determination to succeed.

But because the dream had faded and become somebody elses, because I hadn't paid for the work to be done, because I had to compromise 'big time' on the econess (read expensiveness) of the whole project, because I didn't have much of a say anymore, because I felt that I was very lucky to have got so far, because I fell in love and because I got married, because Goa just went downhill far to quickly... My dream was washed away in the monsoon rains and I sold my share of Casa Maya, the pretty boutique guesthouse in the sun...

'My' dream then became 'Our' dream

...then 2 became 3

***

Why did we come back to England?

* Because we are lucky to have free medical treatment in the UK and I wanted to have the support of my family when I had our baby.

* Because we had dreams of making some money in this country and possibly buying a house we could rent out in the future.

* Because of the bureaucracy of immigration laws... 

***

Why do we want to go back?

* Because we both love India and don't love Britain.

* Because we don't fit in to this way of life.

* Because we can't afford to stay.

* Because my husbands family need us.

* Because we want the best life for our daughter.

Where will we go?

* We will start in Bombay, where we will spend time with family, C's brother and sister and Evangels cousins, they were born 6 weeks apart, Angelina, Emmanuel and Evangel (and Chris, who is much older)

* We will move down to Goa where we have bought an apartment that has just been built and needs finishing touches before we can rent it out.

* Then down to Kerala, where C's family are from.

* We then plan on making the most of our freedom together as a family. We want to spend a few years traveling around India, hopefully finding a place where we feel at home.

What will we do?

* We are not looking to be rich, just happy.

* We will rent our apartment during the tourist season in Goa (October-April)

* We will invest what we have in either a fixed deposit, property or land.

* We will live a frugal, simple and natural life.

What is our long term plan?

* To settle down when Angel reaches school age, in a beautiful place, where we can teach her the joys of simple living.

* To give Angel the best possible education we can provide her. We are both in agreement that we would like her to be a part of a Montessori type environment. In India there is a school with a similar ideology called Krishnamurti, where "learning to enquire, to observe oneself, to relate with other people and the earth, is their core intention."

* To make sure C's parents are well looked after and happy.

* To find a piece of land we can build our little eco house on and live self sufficiently.

How will we get there?

We both live on fresh air and dreams...

We follow our hearts instead of our heads...

We believe everything will be alright in the end...

We both have good hearts and good intentions...

We don't follow what society believes is right, only what we know is best for each other...

We both feel very lucky to have what we have...

...our little angel x

***

Rhythm and Bubbles...

We had so much fun this weekend at the Rhythm Festival

It was like a mini holiday for us after all the stress and hard work of the last few months!

The feeling of 'calm' drifted through the sunny days,

We found ourselves 'back to normal' again!

We chilled out and spent our time being a family again...

Shared our happiness,

Felt what life is really about...

The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday...

The sun came out to play with us,

The music was great...

We danced and played and laughed and sang...

Spent time with our friends (Angels God Parents)...

Who like us are so busy trying to keep up with this crazy life,

we hardly get to see them...

Until it was all too much excitement for one weekend...

We took our last journey in the little red car,

No longer economically viable on this 'journey' of ours,

***

I know now in my heart that we are making the right decision to go to India. Evangel is such a 'Free Spirit', she thrives outside whether rain or shine...

When she's surrounded by nature and people, her serious little face lights up and a smile spreads across her face...

***

We are most definitely a 'cage free family', as they say:

"Watch us change everything about ourselves as we discover our true values and apply them to our lives; finding out what we are really made of: Love and Happiness."