Just returned from a recent trip to India and after more than a week, I think I’ve recovered from jet lag and the time change issues and am ready to blog again. The trip, or what I prefer to call, “an adventure,” was a whirlwind of activities:

Visited a vestment factory in South India…

My husband, Bishop Leo Michael, (Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite) celebrated Mass and preached at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Bangalore. St. Mark’s Cathedral, more than 200 years old, is a beautiful colonial structure with roman archers along the walls and lovely stained glass windows.  Spent time with a newly formed mission in Erode, Tamil Nadu, South India…

Visited the hill station of Yercaud, in the state of Tamil Nadu, to check out the family’s coffee plantation…

…coffee plants look great……pepper plants vining around the trees…

 had a picnic on the plantation…More Yercaud scenes…

 mist on the mountains

Monkeys on the roadside

And hanging around the hotel

In town, a jackfruit vendor

And, a trip to Tiruppattur to see our good friend Father Michael, (who is a character in my novel, Crooked Lines) and next to me, Amma, my beautiful saintly mother-in-law.

 on the way back to the state of Karnataka, we saw goat crossings and…

a roadside barber shop…

a lot of temples…

and back in the bustling city of Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, we saw cows…

…and this lovely auto body parts store on the top of a roof. Picture taken from the third story window from where we were staying. One evening, from 9 pm until 3 am, they hauled the auto parts up onto the rooftop. Interesting and obnoxiously noisy.

And niece Shilpa during some pre-wedding customs…
and, I’m so glad I didn’t know about this custom when I got married…

Weddings…

and niece Sandhya’s wedding pic:

I’ll miss everyone and the fresh coconut drinks I had for breakfast…