Sometimes things happen . . . . . . . . . .

These are some of the vegetables that were just plucked from the garden this morning.

Sometimes things happen way far beyond than what you expect it to be.

I mean we came down to Spain to stay with Nalini, an old friend of ours who said that she will take us to this place on Monday and the next day we will go to that place..... in short she and her kids had planned a lot for the eight day stay that we were going to have in La Adrada which is a cute little small villlage about 90 kms from Madrid.

From the day we came I noticed that she was not in a good form physically to play the host that she intended to be. When I greeted her with a kiss she warned me "careful Joe, don´t hold me so tight I am in pain"

Cutting a long story short she just passed away on the third day of our arrival.

I remember many years ago, when she had been to our place in India and said that she missed having a piano to practice her lessons, I offered her the small casio player that I had with me. It was nothing compared to the grand piano she had at home, but she did use it. When she realised that I was musically inclined, she even taught me how to read the musical notes (something I did not pursue which I regret now)

In this age of e mails and computers she wrote a three page hand written letter to us when she got back to Spain.

Well, after I saw the vegetables that were plucked in the morning by her daughter, I took my camera and went out into the garden where Nalini did her gardening.

The figs, pomegranate and apples were not yet ready to be plucked.

Some of the vegetables that she grew:

She probably intended to pluck and cook these herself for us.

and the flowers:

Her daughter showing us around the garden:

The small car that she drove for about a decade.

The gentleman in the village from whose shop Nalini bought most of her provisions. He had a lot of stories to narrate about Nalini. In fact many whom we met in the village had something to say about her as she was a "mother and a good friend" to many.

She was so artistically inclined that most of the things in the house were created by her.

Her painting.

The stuffed toys that she made for her grand daughter.

The crib that she made by cutting perspex sheet (and that too by filing each image with a file and not by a cutting machine)

She used to jot down some of the sayings that she liked.

One entry:

"We meet to create memories and depart to preserve them"

Probably the last entry by Nalini :

One of the entries "There may be times we can´t find help when we need it, but there is never a time we can´t give it"

(note that number four was yet to be entered)

Her house was always open for those who seek warmth, love and happiness........

A beautiful service was held in the church before the funeral.

Preparing for the readings in the church (both in English and Spanish)

The children . . . .  . . .  . .  a moment of grief:

After the funeral, the ashes were brought home last night. (while clicking this, my camera had a very bad fall, but miraculously it is still working)

I hope to write more posts about La Adrada and the other surrounding villages once I am back in India.

Am trying to string up the videos that I shot in the church and once that is done, I will attach it to this post later.

I am sure Nalini wanted us to have a good time in La Adrada and I intend to take back good memories from here.

I love looking at old photographs, especially when it is in black and white.

This one was clicked during Nalini´s engagement, way back in 1974.

And this was clicked about seven years ago when she visited us in Pune.