Hi Everyone --

The weather seems to have started changing again. The rains have lessened -- sometimes we have 2-3 days in a row without rain. Then we will have a day or two that are cloudy and some rain on and off all day. On the sunny days, it is much hotter than the cloudy days. Mary (my housekeeper) says that October is hot again before it cools off for winter.

We had a pretty calm week. I went out to Hannah's school on Tuesday to see what was going on. The "management" person we talked to had lots of excuses and no answers, as well as no solutions. Only time will tell if they actually will have enough teachers for the semester and the year. It really isn't any better at school, but Hannah is getting used to it, so she is much calmer about it.

Thursday, Ratna and I went to Laxhmi Road and the Tulsibaug for shopping. Ratna is the newlywed and new member of the church here in Pune. We had a nice shopping outing. I got a chappati press (probably like a tortilla press), a pressure cooker, a cute new outfit for Ella-marie, and a couple new shirts for me. I told Doug that it was my hostess duty to spend money so Ratna could enjoy the trip too. She told me she was going to bring Alfred (her husband) there to shop on Saturday. They didn't get to Laxhmi Road, but they did get some shopping done. She had a nice new salwar chamise and he wore a matching tie today to church.

We did go to church today. It's still a long drive. A member of the mission presidency is coming to visit us next Saturday and all the other members in Pune (which isn't so many these days -- they have mostly left). We will see what he says about a home group meeting here. (See the blog page for pictures of monkeys on the side of the road.)

Doug went on a team building experience with the other John Deere people this weekend. They went to Mahabaleshwar (I know you think I just typed random letters together there, but that's really the name of the place). It is a hill station about 150 km. from Pune. They left early Friday morning and came home late Saturday night. This place is a strawberry capitol and there was lots of jam and syrup and candy from strawberries. I don't think it is actually strawberry season in India, however. (No, it wasn't strawberry season. It is the monsoon which was why we were able to rent the resort. They get 5 meters, 15 feet, of rain there during the monsoon and quite a few on the days we were there. Maybe we will go back as a family when it dries out. DJ)

I have made 16 baby blankets so far. Two went to the new baby in the branch today. I need to get more flannel and keep going. I have enough thread to do about 9 more. Then I'll go back to the Indian 100% cotton crochet thread.

They came and sprayed for bugs on Friday. That was a good thing. It's something that needs done every 3 months and it had been 4. The ants and spiders were starting to come in. They also stained and varnished our front gate this week -- of course it was on the day it was raining. We are still waiting for the waterproofers to come and fix the leaks in the kitchen. Maybe they will do it when the monsoon is over -- but then they won't need to because it won't leak any more!

The big Ganesh festival starts next weekend here. They take all their idols down to the rivers or lakes for a swim. They are getting these ready all over town so there are shops and shops filled with these gaudy, painted, half human, half elephant idols. I am told that this is an extremely noisy and loud festival that lasts 10-12 days. We'll wait and see how that goes.

We are doing fine and all is well here.
We love you and miss you much!
Love, Lucinda