The Distancing Diaries - Day 106 &107

I was astounded to look over at the alarm clock on Saturday (day 106) and discover that it was after 8am, no wonder the cats were pacing up and down the bed like caged tigers. I blame Huey Morgan for keeping us up late - we spent three weeks in the northeastern state of Bahia in Brazil back in 2001 and it was wonderful to revisit some of the places we hung out in the state capital, Salvador, in his BBC4 series Latin Music Adventures.

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By way of a change Jon got up first, fed the lads and brought mugs of tea back to bed where we lay reading until after 9am.

Jon went downstairs to start breakfast while I stripped and changed the bed. I loaded the machine and joined Jon at the kitchen table for veggie sausage sandwiches. After we'd eaten I put back the plants I'd left soaking in the utility room sink and bath overnight and pegged out the laundry.

Once dressed I stained the floorboards at the top of the stairs (the stairs I'd done yesterday were putting them to shame) then swept the patio as, once again, it was covered in debris from the lime tree. Ebbie was also covered in the stuff so Jon washed her, moved her away from the offending tree and covered her over. With the area of drive on which she'd been parked empty I raked the gravel and deposited the sweepings into the compost bin.

The dreaded lime tree, all one hundred foot of it. Okay to look at, not so much fun to live with!

WEARING: Vintage Indian cotton blouse & 1970s Ayesha Davar block print midi skirt (both Ebay)

Finally, the crocosmia has burst open! It's almost as tall as me.

This pair can't let Jon out of their sight.

Here's a resident of our garden you haven't met before, our tail-less magpie. I'm not sure what happened to him but we did find a pile of feathers at the bottom of the garden a couple of weeks ago so I can only assume he escaped Stephen's evil clutches. He can fly - but in a very ungainly fashion!

The postman arrived with two gorgeous books from Lynn & Philip, they'd been donated by a neighbour for the book pile they have outside their house but thought we'd appreciate them more - we do. There's some very tasty veggie-friendly recipes I might try out this week.

Saturday seems to be breadmaking day lately and Jon decided to make one of his Roman spelt loaves. HERE'S the recipe he uses (neither of us has ever watched the TV show, we avoid cookery programmes like the plague). Although it says to use white spelt flour he prefers the wholemeal variety and it works just as well.

You might have noticed that I've finally got round to creating a list of blogs I follow in my sidebar. These are written by fabulous women who comment regularly and keep me entertained with their own blogs, keeping the sense of community - which I've always loved about blogging - alive and well. 

Tea was freshly baked bread with salad, cheese and the largest gherkins known to man (they're a Turkish brand called Bodrum, bought from Johal's). We spent the evening - on Annie's recommendation - glued to Scotland's Home of the Year watching six episodes back-to-back on the I-player. As it was Saturday night rum and cola was consumed. Who needs the pub?

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This morning I woke at 7am, let the lads out and brought tea back to bed where we lay reading until 8.30 and I finished the Fred Vargas I started last week (what a wonderful writer, her characterisation is utterly fabulous). We watched The Andrew Marr Show, ate toast and I painted my nails.

Lockdown nails, week 16 - Barry M's Passion Fruit

When I went upstairs to clean my teeth I discovered with horror that we were almost out of toothpaste. I thought I'd bought three tubes back from India but it turned out that it was only two, one more squeeze and it would all be gone.

For most of last year we'd used a plastic free product from &Keep called Truthpaste but an order would take a few days to arrive so Jon went down to Johal's as he'd remembered seeing our favourite ayuervedic brand, Dabur, on the toiletry self. We usually use Red, I'm excited to try Basil.

Before I got dressed I cleaned our bedroom, which once again was covered in a layer of  dust. 

With the blustery conditions the UK is currently experiencing, the debris from next door's lime tree is a complete nightmare. With my daily sweeping up, I'm starting to feel like King Canute and his battle to stop the tide.

WEARING: Vintage Indian handloom kaftan (eBay, 2019), 1970s Indian silk screen print scarf by Sears (charity shop bargain bin)

While I swept, Jon and the lads headed to the shed to dig out the front of the cupboard that used to be in the third bedroom before we turned it into a bathroom. It had been in the shed for over a decade and involved a lot of huffing, puffing and choice language to get it out.

Glued together and held into place with clamps, Jon's got a cunning plan....

While the shed was open I spotted the vintage metal camping table we'd bought from a car boot sale years ago. Normally it forms part of our camp kitchen at festivals and, rather than leave it gathering dust in the shed, I've decided to use it as a potting table. I've moved the terracotta pots every day this week to sweep underneath them so it was hardship to do it again to squeeze in the table. The antique earthenware pot had been festering under a bush for years, I dug it out and filled it with the broken crocks which we use for drainage in our potted plants. While I was moving the pots I found a few chipped ones and had a lovely time smashing them to bits with a hammer. Such a satisfying job!

Also in the shed I found an envelope addressed to our old house and postmarked 2003. I must have bought these old colour plates from eBay and promptly stashed them away, forgetting all about them. The picture entitled The Death of Shah Jahan has him surrounded by exotic princesses, staring wistfully out from his prison cell within Agra Fort to the Taj Mahal across the water. We stood on the same spot in January, 2019.

Read about our visit HERE

 Although the forecast was for a miserable, wet weekend other than the blustery wind, the weekend hasn't been bad at all. There was no rain and, when the sun came out from behinds the clouds it's been deliciously warm - when they've not been stalking mice or, in Stephen's case, chasing birds, the lads have been basking on the lawn.

Jon gave the veg plants a liquid seaweed feed whilst I grappled with the hosepipe and gave the patio plants a thorough soaking.

The agapanthus have finally started to unfurl, four are out and I've counted another seven buds. The passionflower has made an appearance, such a weird looking thing.

The sea holly is on its way, the hydrangeas are looking gorgeous, the nastursiums fill me with joy every time I catch sight of them, as do the geraniums.

Tonight we're having jacket potatoes with baked beans and grated cheese, a proper old school tea. We'll be watching more of Scotland's Home of the Year before the mesmerising The Lumineries at 9pm.

Stay safe, stay fabulous, stay in touch!

Mughal Magic - Exploring Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri

After spending a couple of days enjoying the sights of India's capital we crossed over the border to Agra in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh. The journey is four hours by road from Delhi and for £20, hiring a chauffeur for the day sounded extravagant but was a cheaper option than a return train journey with an overnight hotel stay, although we did have to get up at silly o'clock to to reach the Taj Mahal for sunrise.

Akbar the Great (1542 - 1605)

After swooning over the Taj Mahal we headed a mile northwest of Agra, where the enormous red sandstone ramparts of Agra Fort dominate a bend in the Yamuna River. Akbar the Great laid the foundations of Agra Fort, which was built between 1565 & 1573 and served as the seat of the Mughul Empire for successive generations. 

Foreign tourists! We were surprised at how few of us there were.

The curved sandstone bastions reach a height of over 65 feet and stretch for around 1.5 miles, punctuated by a sequence of massive gates, although only the Amar Singh Pol (pictured above) is open to visitors. 

 Monkeys! They're everywhere.

As you can see from the photo below, the Amar Singh Pol is actually three separate gates placed close together and at right angles to one another to disorientate any potential attackers and to deprive them of the space to use battering weapons against the fortifications. 

From here the ramp slopes gently upwards flanked by high walls, through another gate to a spacious courtyard with a lawn, which surrounds the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Attendance) which was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1628. Originally this pillared hall, open on three sides, would have been adorned with brocade, carpets and satin canopies for audiences with the emperor.

Jon's admiring the emperor's massive bath tub.

 The tiny Mina Masjid (above) was built for Shah Jahan and used during his imprisonment here. In a passageway, just beyond, is where he was said to have caught his last glimpse of the Taj Mahal before he died. 

 Made entirely from marble, the Nagina Masjid (Gem Mosque) was commissioned for the ladies of the zenana (harem). At the rear is a carved lattice screen which offered a discreet viewpoint from where the members of the harem were able to inspect luxury goods - brocade, silk and jewellery - laid out for sale by merchants in the courtyard below.

Akbar had around 300 women in his harem, 35 wives, secondary wives and concubines. I'm amazed he had any energy left to run an empire.

Just like the Taj Mahal, the marble pillars at Agra Fort are inlaid with precious gemstones.

The two storey Macchi Bhavan (Fish Palace) overlooks the courtyard, once strewn with fountains and flowerbeds interspersed with tanks stocked with fish on which the emperor and his courtiers would perfect their angling skills. 

27 miles southwest from Agra lies the ghost city of Fatehpur Sikri, the former imperial capital of the great Mughal Emperor, Akbar. The city was built between 1569 and 1585 to honour a local Sufi saint who had successfully prophesied the birth of a son to the previously childless emperor. However, due to the remote location and lack of good quality water, Fatehpur Sikri's eminence was brief and after 1585 it was abandoned.

The elephant tower was built by Akbar, in memory of his favourite elephant, Hassan, who was used as a executioner, crushing the heads of those his master found guilty. It measures around round eighty feet high with stone projections fashioned to resemble tusks. 

To the left of the above photo, marked out on the floor, is a giant board used to play pachisi (a game similar to ludo).

 Akbar is said to have been a fanatical pachisi player, he'd sit on this very bench and use slave girls dressed in colourful costume as live pieces. Abu'l Fazl, the court chronicler, related At times more than two hundred persons participated, and no one was allowed to go home until he had played sixteen rounds. This could take up to three months. If one of the players lost his patience and became restless, he'd be made to drink a cupful of wine. Seen superficially, this appears to be just a game. But His Majesty pursues higher objectives. He weighs up the talents of his people and teaches them to be affable.

The platform in the middle of this ornamental pool (Anup Talao) is where the Emperor would have sat, surrounded by water scented with rosewater. Singers and musicians would also perform on the platform while Akbar watched from the pavilion in his private quarters. 

This is the Daulat Khana (Abode of Fortune), the emperor’s private quarters. The ground floor housed his library. Although unable to read or write himself, Akbar enjoyed having books read to him and wherever he went, his library of 50,000 manuscripts accompanied him. 

On the first floor you'll find the Khwabgah (Palace of Dreams), Akbar's private sleeping quarters with a huge stone bunk bed taking centre stage. This room would have once been lavishly decorated with rich carpets, hangings and cushions. The walls are decorated with gold and ultramarine frescoes, although now barely visible. 

The Treasury in the northwest corner of the courtyard houses secret stone safes in some corners (one has been left with its stone lid open for visitors to see). 

And when you travel the tourist trail you have to pose for the obligatory daft tourist photo, too. Don't blame us, this pose was the suggestion of the kind Indian tourist who offered to take our picture.

After seeing the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri all in one day we were absolutely knackered. Who knew that being surrounded by so much beauty would be so exhausting?

See you soon!

Linking to Patti & the gang for Visible Monday.

See the full set of photos HERE.