I've come to the conclusion that I have an on-again off-again love affair with my PC.  At present I'm rather in the off-again mode for various reasons.  One reason is that whenever I have wanted to sit at the computer--after work--there have been frequent power cuts.  Then there is the fact that my computer takes forever to load--too many programs.  So, I'm getting a new hard drive!
There is also the fact of the new camera, which means I'm creeping around oustside (even during the noon day sun!) to captures birds or other wildlife--at which I've been wildly unsuccessful [probably 'cos I lumber around too clumsily and noisily?]  By the way, in the course of trying to take bird videos, I have discovered that my phone cam actually gives me a better zoom to take bird pics than my camera!
Then there is the nice fact that my brother--after a flying visit here of all of 2 days--has left me 3 books to read, apart from the book I've been reading sporadically.
The book I'm reading--

I find it an interesting view of our country.

The books that have been left behind for me to read--

As you can see--many hours of enjoyable reading ahead!

Afternoon bird song--but recorded with my trusty phone cam!

'It's a lovely day'

"It's a lovely day today
And whatever we've got to do
We've got a lovely day to do it in, that's true
................
I'll say it's a lovely day for saying
It's a lovely day. "


It's a beautiful 'winter' morning! The air is crisp and pleasantly cool and the skies so clear. There's a gently breeze swaying the trees gently. Unlike in more Northern climes, our 'winters' are never dark. So the day is bright.
I love the sunshine during our winter. It is as bright as ever, but when the sun is in the south, he shines less harshly. There is a clarity about the light, which makes me linger outside. The light slants thought the trees, clothing the leaves in a green not seen in the strong summer sunlight.
What a lovely morning and how glad I am that I have a holiday to enjoy it.

a great gift.

The other exciting happening over the holidays—I have a camera! A dear niece gave me the camera as a gift. It's a basic camera I suppose--a Sony cyber-shot. I'm just getting to know the camera and it's features. I had just learned all the features in my phone camera. Now I will have to learn the many more features available here.

Unfortunately, ever since I got the camera, I haven't been able to see birds close enough in the trees to take pictures of :( I prowl around at noon trying to see the birds that I can hear calling, so that I can photograph them.. But alas, I can't find them. Maybe it's just too hot and dry. Hopefully I will have pictures after a summer shower.

Thanks Hiphop Grandmom for this award.
This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
I pass these awards on to
All the blogs in my blogroll actually. They are all good friends and wonderful writers. Some of them already have the award I know. But all the same, thank you so much for being my friend!

Hi Blogworld!

Been out of touch with Blogworld for a while. Was out of town, where there was not much Internet time. Have only just caught up with all the blogs I follow. I didn't want to post till I'd read all the posts of my blog friends that I missed.
Well, during the time I went missing, some exciting things have happened:-- I got to see the birth of a baby! This was a first for me. Though I have been to the hospital with a to-be mother, have helped with baby-sitting new borns, I have never witnessed a birth. My own daughter had to have a Ceasarean.
In India, normally there are no private labour rooms. It's only in the very recent past, that upper-end private hospitals have started having such rooms. In a usual hospital, in the labour room there would usually be more than one woman giving birth. I remember that when I had my babies, especially my eldest, there were atleast 5 or 6 women having their babies at the same time, in cubicles on either side of me. So it was just not done to have anyone with you during the final stage of labour.
In the generation previous to mine though, women just had children at home, with a midwife, and in later days maybe a lady doctor, to help. For example my mother-in-law had 7 of her 8 kids at home and my own mother delivered my elder 2 siblings at her parents' home. But when hospitals became the norm for delivery, under Indian conditions of the time--many babies being born, far more infectons around than now--there was no way any lay person could be allowed into a labour room.
But whatever the situation, men were strictly excluded, unless the man in question was the doctor. But now with all the reading of books from the West on birth and how the husband is allowed to witness the birth, more and more young Indian women are asking for their husbands to be allowed in to the labour rooms, as well as a close female relative.  So the young father-to-be and I were in the room.  But dad-to-be kept to a corner, well out of the way, till the baby was with the pediatrician and he was given permission to go see his son.
Anyway, so I got to see the little baby come out into our world and laid on his mother, after which he was taken away to be cleaned up and his stats looked at.  I didn't really see much of the gore as I was holding the young mum's hand.
To me the experience was much like when I used to go cheer my daughter and friends when they ran marathons (11and1/2 kms) in school.  When they flagged towards the end, one would cheer, "Come on, come on, you can do it, just a bit more, hang in there!"  Even the words I used was about the same :).  It was an exhilarating, though somewhat exhausting experience!  But I wouldn't have missed it for the world.