One is nearer God's heart...

Today is the turn of some of the flowers in Ida's garden.
The blue flower, Butterfly Pea or Aparjita or Asian Pigeonwings is growing in a little pot. Apparently it covered an arch with blue flowers last year but it seeded so prolifically that they took most of it out. It's a fabulous colour. (It has a rather rude name too but we won't mention that)
I've never seen a red passionflower before, but it was instantly recognisable, this grows up and through one of the neem trees. It's absolutely stunning.
The red hibiscus is the solitary flower on a new plant this year, it's not the most beautiful but they are such striking flowers.
The fourth image is the, or one of the, crows which sit on the tree and wake me up with loud calling in the morning.
Today Raja took me on a mission to have a watch repair done. When I arrived the watchmaker was lying on the concrete floor of the shop having a nap. I wish I'd taken a picture of the shop. It reminded me of my dad when he was in full watch fixing mode - little dishes of wheels and gears and screws soaking in light oil, clocks on the walls all at different times and with different ticks. They like ticking clocks here. He instantly diagnosed the fault but thought he might not be able to get the part. He's having a go though and I'll hear back in a couple of days.
His assistant was sitting cross legged on the floor fixing straps and replacing pins.
The other job we did today was sending a parcel. Our friend Sham lives in Bangalore, last time I was here his daughter had just, literally, had her first daughter and I went to visit. This time, again there is a new baby her second daughter was born on Christmas Eve, so is almost two months old. I'd brought some gifts from home and had hoped to visit but sadly that is not going to work out so I wanted to post them.
After discussion it was agreed a courier was the best option. Most of the gifts (books and a dress) and cards fitted into a large, linen reinforced, envelope. I packed that up and the staff member finished it off with tape and staples. The other part of the gift was for Sham, two tins of haggis, he loves it so I bring him some when I can. The girl looked at the tins rather suspiciously, "It's chocolate". said Raja, with a straight face (!!!). We pointed to the use by date of 2026 so she agreed it was likely ok to accept. Raja had found a box to put them in, so again it was packed, labelled and very well taped.
Sending two parcels was much easier than trying to fit everything into one packet but I thought it might cost a bit more. They were going to Bangalore in the next state, around 400 miles away. She weighed the packages - just under 2kg - put barcodes on them, and charged me the princely sum of 200 rupees, under £2. A bargain and that included all the time and care and tape she used packing them up for me. They should get there the day after tomorrow, so fingers crossed.