Stash Busting Sunday: Needles & Yarn & Mini Flowers

A friend and I learned about a new yarn store when we attended International Crochet Day at Sadu House earlier this month.

We were finally able to make our way there last weekend.

A cute little shop filled to the brim with yarn and yarny inspiration.

The little framed clothesline with twigs for posts, teeny tiny little clothespins and crocheted clothes was my favorite.  Absolutely adorable!

I picked up two books.

Some project bags.

And, of course, I couldn't walk out of there without a couple of balls of yarn.

I'm thinking scarves.

But have no fear, I am still stashbusting.

 Using the bits leftover from my doilies and dishcloths, I am making mini flowers.

Maya shares the pattern on her blog Little Treasures.

For more stash busting, visit Linda's Crafty Corner.

Best wishes,

A Lovely Sort of Day

I love Saturdays!

I always feel like I accomplish so much more on a Saturday than I do any other day of the week.

My morning started with coffee and muffins with a friend on her rooftop.

A lovely way to start the day!

 Then we headed over to a new yarn shop we recently learned about.

(More on that trip another time.)

 For lunch I made two kinds of pasta.

Italian tomato and lemon mushroom.

Served up with olive bread and salad.

Delicious!

 Then an afternoon walk with my husband

We didn't even break a sweat so that means the weather is slowly starting to change.  Yes, it's still 110 during the day, but mornings and evenings are getting a little bit cooler.

 For dinner I made our favorite lentil & spinach soup with spicy pita chips on the side.

And then I baked up some walnut raisin bread for my boss' birthday tomorrow.

Now it's time to call it a day and hit the hay!

Jingles thinks so, too.

Apparently dishcloths and doilies make for very nice bedding.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Moon Shots

Perigree Full Moon, also known as the Supermoon, as seen from Kuwait

July 22 -- the night we left for our trip to the States

Colorado, USA, August 12th (taken with iPhone)

Slidell, Louisiana

August 21st

 Amsterdam, August 24th

I wish I would have had my Canon for this picture.

The moon was a big orange ball in the sky perfectly situated over water and between two buildings.

Absolutely gorgeous but an iPhone just can't get that kind of shot.

Tonight is the Harvest Full Moon

Best wishes and blessings,

Opening Meeting

The Kuwait Textile Arts Association kicked off its season last night with a presentation by the daughter of the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Kuwait.

She shared information about the dress, customs and rituals of her country.

The traditional dance at the end was my favorite part of the evening.
(I was trying to be discreet, so did not get the best of photos with my iPhone.)

Since my husband has a business in Colombo, we go there often.

Sri Lanka is a country that has much to offer its visitors.

Colombo
Where old meets new

 Pinnawala
Home of the Elephant Orphanage

Nuwara Eliya
Tea plantations

Bentota
Beautiful beach

Dambulla
Heritance Kandalama and Sigiriya Rock Fortress

Blessings to you all,

Stash Busting Sunday: Dishcloths and Daisy Wheels

When Leslie and I attended the International Crochet Day gathering at the Sadu House on Thursday, I needed something simple to work on, so of course, chose a dishcloth.

 Since I was on a roll, I made a bunch more over the weekend.

A simple pattern - 23 chains, sc in the 2nd chain from hook, then dc, sc, dc, sc ... all the way across ending with a sc, ch 1, turn and do a dc in the previous sc and a sc in the previous dc, across.  Back and forth until you get a square.  The border is sc around with 3 scs in each corner.

My favorite part is seeing them folded and stacked.

 Just to switch things up, I made some daisy wheel dishcloths, too.

One of them is still a work in progress.

All the September stash busting projects can be found at Linda's Crafty Corner.

Wishing you a peaceful Sunday.

Sightseeing Saturday: Las Vegas NM

Las Vegas, New Mexico may be small but there was much to see and do while we were there.

My friend and former hairdresser, Kathy, whom I met in Kuwait, bought a beautiful Victorian home there which she has painstakingly renovated over the past 2 years.

It was built in the 1890s by a Syrian family and owned by them up until the time she purchased it.

Kathy is very much into historic preservation and in August (before we arrived) she had coordinated a Tour of Homes that included hers and 7 other older homes of the area.

On this day, we made our way down to the old town plaza where there was a lovely park ...

 a huge antique store filled to the brim ...

 and the old Plaza Hotel that was known as the Belle of the Southwest when it was built in 1882.

We stopped for fresh tortillas with honey at the Spic (as the locals call it).

Oh my, if you have never had fresh tortillas, you are missing out.

Absolutely incredibly delicious!

I was impressed to learn that the area offers three colleges.

Luna Community College (no photo)

Highlands University

 And the Armand Hammer United World College which is attended by 200 students from around the world who are between the ages of 16 and 19.

There are only 12 UWCs worldwide.

Just down the road from the college there are hot springs which are claimed to have healing properties.

We visited the Victory Alpaca Ranch where we fed alpacas and lamas.

 Stopped by Salman Ranch Gardens.

Had lunch at a quirky little RV Park.

And a late dinner at the Historic El Fidel Hotel which aims to serve high quality seasonal cuisine with a twist.

I am so thankful that Kathy took the time to show us around the place she now calls home.

I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area.

Best wishes and blessings,