Informing friends and family!!!!

I was for whatever reason a bit hesitant to inform friends and family about my blog!!!! I know that amongst Americans blogging seems at least (to me) to be a way of life and there are blogs covering every aspect of one's life. But and a bit but, Sri Lankans are a little more private about most things and I was wondering how people would react to this!!!!

Today I informed friends and family about this blog and the reactions have so far been very good! People are in turn surprised, pleasantly so, some had not even known that I was interested in crafts (goes to show how much we keep hidden from everyone!!!!) and the reactions anyway have been very nice. I am so pleased with myself.

On another pleasant subject, I do feel that with the cessation of hostilities in our country, tourist arrivals have begun to increase and this is apparent from two visits I had made recently to Negombo and Hikkaduwa (both tourist destinations in our country). It used to be very sad to see Hikkaduwa once a bustling hive of activity so drab and most shops and little boutiques closed down. Now there is an air of expectancy - shops are being painted and you can see tourists trickling in. I do hope this trend will continue as tourism is an industry that is an income earner for not just the big hotels and travel operators but right down to the little man who sells batik, or the woman who sells hand made chains and coconut shell ornaments. The benefits trickle down to everyone in these areas and we hope that this is a good sign of things to come.

Right now I am having sponsors from Finland here who are helping me assist a children's home in Negombo where 40 girls are being housed. We help by way of supplying groceries, clothes, shoes and miscellaneous items as and when needed on a monthly basis. The children all go to local schools and are growing up very nicely. There are a fair proportion of girls from the North and East where the war was at its worst - but they have settled down very well in the peaceful atmosphere of this Negombo home. My sponsors themselves are here after a very long break - everytime they wanted to come out bombs were going all over the place, and it was always a question of putting it off for a safer time. Now the safer time has come and I hope that we will have more and more visitors here.

I have still not got around to uploading photographs on to this blog and this is I know something that has to be done urgently. Photographs make a blog so much more interesting than just reading about a subject and I promise you that it will be done shortly.

I am in the middle of a quilt but just cant get around to decide what colors I should use for sashing. Everything I place by the prints seem to either clash or just melt away into a colorless mess!!!! so I have put it aside till inspiration strikes.