What's happening at home

Hello again. I'm afraid that my recent rate of blog posts has been poor but I am fully intending to get back on track! Starting now.

So what's been going on? Well, first off, change is on the cards for us as we're expecting a baby in September. We'll be staying in Mumbai for the big event before moving back to the UK for good in June 2016 (this is now definite for a work perspective). For this blog, this means that there's likely to be more focus on Mumbai and less on travelling around India, particular for the rest of 2015, but I'll try to keep it interesting and share more about both Mumbai and what it's like to have a baby in India.
My current blogging gap is because we enjoyed two weeks in the UK earlier in April and have spent the last two weeks settling down to life in Mumbai, which seems to mainly entail fixing things in our apartment.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one thing goes wrong in our apartment then many others things happen at the same time.  So here's what's happening:

1) Pigeons. They have nested, on our balcony, having infiltrated our apparently inadequate netting defences. I generally have no desire to harm other living creatures but these pigeons are testing that principle on the basis of being filthy and utterly stupid yet extremely persistent in their quest to set up camp in our balcony! I have declared pigeon war and we are currently on a mission to get better netting and a clean up operation underway, if only the netting man would actually turn up when called...

2) Kitchen cupboards and lights. Are all making a bid from freedom from their wall fastenings. Last week, we noticed that a whole row of cupboards were about to drop off the wall so we engaged in a hasty emptying operation and are awaiting the arrival of a carpenter! The neon lights did the same thing a week before, though apparently these still work when hanging from the ceiling on a single wire so it's not a problem.

3) Treadmill.  The electrics have gone again, taking out the treadmill and washing machine at the same time. Phil is sad (more about the treadmill than the washing machine). Monty the treadmill man will be summoned at the earliest opportunity!

4) Bedroom curtains. Recently decided to drop of the pole through breaking rings thought this was simple enough for me to fix independently. Phil was impressed!

5) Car wash man. Rings the doorbell pick up our car key each morning to wash the car inside and out (I know this sounds ridiculous but is apparently compulsory). After reliably ringing at 730am for most of the last 2 years, he bizarrely switched to a 615am to 630am doorbell ringing strategy when we got back from the UK. That didn't last long, even my Hindi is good enough to convey that the new time system was not popular!

6) Fridge door. Is falling apart. I made a valiant attempt to glue it together again although accidentally glued my thumb to the tube of super strong glue instead! This caused much hilarity for Phil so was worthwhile in that respect.

Although tradesmen are much cheaper in India than in the UK, I am starting to reach the conclusion that you pay for what you get. It's cheap to get things fixed but they rarely stay fixed for long! Sigh.

In good news, we've recently made a purchase which I'm thoroughly enjoying, a second hand digital piano:-) It appears to be working perfectly and it's lovely to be able to play again.

The new arrival.  Don't ask me why Sagar is the one posing, but he did manage to get it in the car and transport from South Mumbai so good work Sagar!