For The Love of Totoro

DIY Totoro Crochet

I fell in love with the characters of "My Neighbor Totoro" since time time i watched this movie back in 2011 and have been watching the movie again and again, never getting tired of it.

My Neighbor Totoro is a Japanese animated  movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The movie is about the Two young girls, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, who move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. Satsuki and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros They soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures.

I wanted to buy a Totoro doll but couldn't find any toy shops selling it. So, finally i decided to crochet it myself and looked up in the internet for tutorials and to my amazement, i landed up with the couple of tutorials. I chose the the tutorial by Lucy Collin as it was very easy to follow her tutorials. In the beginning, i decided to crochet only one grey Totoro, but ended up crocheting 13 extra.

Here is the link to the Grey Totoro Crochet   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grey-totoro-amigurumi

Side View

View from Front

Blue Totoro front view

Side View

 The above Totoro took me four days to finish it.

Here is the link to the Blue Totoro. It took me three days to finish it. 

 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/blue-totoro-amigurumi

The tutorial for little white Totoro http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tiny-white-totoro-amigurumi

All the patterns are available to download, so please have fun making them!

XoXo

{DIY} YARN WRAPPED LETTERS

How To Make Yarn Wrapped Alphabet Letters

This Simple DIY task is simple and easy and it just takes few hours to make it. I decided to do a "LOVE" word for the craft.

The craft immediately beautified and lightened up my home. 

Things Required:

1. Yarn

2. Cardboard Box/a  sponge at that you use at home

3. Scissors

4. Cello tape

5. Papers

6. Measuring Tape

7. Pencil/pen

8. Glue

Directions:

Cut the cartoon box/mat in to the required alphabets for the base to prepare the craft. 

I measured my alphabets and the cut it accordingly.

After cutting the outline of the alphabets, i begin wrapping the alphabets horizontally. This took a little amount of time.

Make sure that you wrap around the alphabets neatly. After the wrapping was done i cut the yarn and secured it to the edge by gluing it down on all sides.

Then i set the craft aside to dry.

I decorated the finished letter with crocheted flowers and leaves after which i secured it on the finished alphabet.

After its dried, i folded an A4 sized paper and inserted it into the yarn on the backside of the craft to be pasted on the wall. Then i  took the two sided cello tape and pasted it one side on the paper. 

Then i pasted the finished project on the wall.

Let me know if you guys try this out. I think they would be super cute as a single letter in you bedroom or living room or your kids’ rooms or even on a bookshelf.

HAPPY DIYing!

XoXo

Earth Laughs in Flowers

Spring Through My Lens

Spring brings a new hope of  rebirth, renewal and regrowth. Everything becomes new when the spring is in the air.

Enjoy the spring through my lens:

Peach Blossom

Peach Blossom

Pear Blossom

Dandelion

Primula Blossom

Apple Blossom

Trashi Chhodzong

Below is the Peach Blossom Nail Art i did to rejoice the spring month. 

Wish You a Bright and Happy Spring!

30 DAYS FITNESS CHALLENGE REVIEW

The Challenge-  30 days Fat Burn by BeFit

I had been maintaining a healthy life style by doing routine cardio exercises, weight training and yoga. 

I wanted to up my fitness to another level and googled hard for a workout challenge and found out a 30 days fat burn challenge by Be-Fit. The 10 minutes workout comes with different workout each day for 30 days with a time table to follow.

 I started the  one month challenge and completed the complete set of workout today and the results are AMAZING!!!

Let me show you the Before and After Picture of the workout results.

#No Filter

The workout is not easy but not impossible to do. In the first few days, my body was all sore,especially the thigh and the gluts which gradually faded away after i gained endurance.

The workout is for 10 minutes which i did twice as merely 10 minutes didn't tire me out. I did my workout in the mornings with additional of 30 minutes yoga.

On the diet part, my breakfast was normal but i switched to more healthy for lunch and dinner by eating brown rice, steamed veggies and lentils.

The final result is:

• i see some definition in the abs
• i have more energy and feel stronger
• weight loss from 50.5 to 47.5 kgs
• i feel healthy and happy 

I would like to encourage anyone wanting to start this program to at least give it a try. You can download the workout freely from you tube.

My next Goal is to do the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. The workout looks much tougher and longer. Who is with me? 

MY STORY ON THE TREK TO BUMDRA

The well planned and much awaited trek finally came on the auspicious day of 22nd February with 15 of enthusiastic trekkers with determination to overcome any obstacles aka altitude  sickness!!! Since i had never trekked such high mountains my entire life, i was on self doubt whether i can even start climbing from the base of the mountain. Moreover, i was worried whether i can get up so early for the trek.

The plan was a one day trek.

The day started by getting up at around 3:30am and getting everything ready by 4am. We departed at 4:15am from Thimphu to Paro. I squeezed a quick nap worried i might doze off while walking.

We reached the base point at Sanga Choekor, Paro, a Buddhist Institute at around 6:15am and had some tea and snacks before starting the journey.

The way to Bumdra took us through steep slopes, through verdant forests and dusty trials strewn with little pebbles and rocks.

Half way across the destination, we even managed to get lost where we eventually found our way back to the main trail. This incident took me to my memory lane where once my friend and i got lost during a school trip. We had to weave through thick prickly, bushy forest with tears and fears in our minds. This time it was just half an hour into the wilderness. Relieved, we continued our trek to the destination.

Walking sticks came as a welcome relief to the tired legs to an ametuer trekker like me.

Finally, after climbing uphill for almost four and half hours we reached the destination and the scenery there was simply breathtaking.

We preceded our way to the Bumdra Temple where we lighted butter lamps and offered prayers.

According to the priest there, Khandro Yeshi Tshogyal manifested into 100,000 dakine and flew to the rock where the present temple resides. The sacred place was blessed with many more great scholars and  lamas.

The view of the temple is simply breathtaking where it is built on a steep rock. The nearby mountain reminded me Pandora from the Avatar Movie.

From the temple, we hiked another about 2km uphill mountaintop where the last vestigial vegetation gives way to winter landscapes of ice and snow and the magnificent beauty of the roof of the mountain. 

We sat down among the fluttering prayer flags and considered how far and high we have come. It all seemed like a Dream.

The Trek all in all took about 8 walking hours.

Back home i enjoyed my coffee which i had been craving for the whole day with different taste of happiness and satisfaction.

Felt so accomplished

Add caption

The Group who conquer'd a mountain

A Warm Hearty Meal for the Cold Winter

Bhathup (Flat Noodles Bouillabaisse)

Recipe

Ingredients:
1. Flour
2. Beef
3. Spinach
4. Ginger
5. Garlic
6. Chilli Powder
7. Oil/butter
9. Salt.
10. Egg
11. Coriander

Method
1. Firstly add an egg and water to the flour and knead it into a soft dough.
2. Roll the dough into a ball and flatten it using a rolling pin. Then cut it into strips and keep it aside.
3. Crush ginger and garlic in to a thick paste and keep it aside.
4. Shred the spinach and keep in aside. Then chop the coriander and keep it aside.
5. Then boil the water and add in the dough strips and salt. After 5 minutes, add in oil/butter,ginger garlic paste, precooked beef and chilli powder and let it cook for sometime.
6. Once the doughstrip in aldente, add in the spinach, adjust the
 seasoning and serve with chopped coriander on top.

Try it out and let me know how it turned out.