Unexpectedly Exceptional

Well folks, I did it again.

I neglected this little space here of mine.

Part of the reason was a recent jaunt to Sri Lanka, which I'll share more about later.

But for now, let's start with today.

A day that wasn't planned, but played out in a most lovely way.

It was one of those perfect weather days, where the skies are so very blue that everything seems bright and beautiful.  When I was working, it was days like this that I dreamed of playing hooky.

I took the pedestrian bridge over to the Boulevard which is a 10 minute walk from my house.

And there I met my friend, Emina, for a wonderful walk followed up with coffee and crochet.

Since I have garden duties on Monday, we walked back to my house to pick up my compost bucket and then headed to the garden where we watered plants and discovered some crochet surprises left by a friend last week.

 

After the garden, we decided to have lunch at Marina Crescent.

And, because the weather was just too perfect to waste, I took another walk late this afternoon.

The bonus is that the health app on my phone says I walked 16,586 steps or 9.4 kms, which is about 6 miles.

Exceptional all the way around.

Happy Monday!

Sights and Night Lights

It's been a while since I blogged.

My husband's cousin was here from Jordan for the past week and a half and just left yesterday morning.

His father was my husband's uncle who died in November from prostrate cancer, so there was some personal business to take care of here that took a little longer than expected. 

He and his family left Kuwait during the invasion in 1990 and never returned, so this was his first time back in all those years.

Last Friday we drove around the city showing him different sights he might remember.

Kuwait Towers, of course, are the most recognizable landmark.

We passed by the new cultural center that opened in October -- just days earlier, the roof on one of the buildings was damaged due to a fire caused by welding.

We could see workers there doing the necessary repairs.

That evening, we went to Souk Al Mubarakiya which is the oldest souk in Kuwait.  It was renovated after damage during the Iraqi Invasion.

Right now it is looking very festive in preparation for National and Liberation Days, the 25th and 26th of this month.

That Friday also happened to be the night of the Full Snow Moon.

No snow here ... it was a warm night so we were able to sit outside for dinner.

 Foul ("phool") and falafel from a restaurant that's been around since my husband was a kid.

 Tea and crochet was a nice way to end the day.

Hope all  is well in your corner of the world.

Weaving Day at the Garden

On Saturday, January 28th, I collaborated with Shelby, a crochet artist from Oregon, on a day of weaving at The Secret Garden.  Our aim was to use items that we could recycle and upcycle to add creative color to the garden.

Before the actual event, I tried my hand at circular and loom weaving using cardboard, and rediscovered a "wishbone" stick I made while in St. Catharines, Ontario this past summer.

I made up a pile of little cardboard loom kits so that visitors could try their hand at tiny weaving.

My husband and I went to the industrial area where he works and picked up discarded wooden pallets; and I scavenged some plastic packing belts from a rubbish pile in my neighborhood.

 We leaned the pallets up against a tree so that the plastic could be woven between the slats.

Painted tires were drilled with holes and then colorful rope was woven to create unique seating.

We also wound rope around a tree and left yarn there to encourage visitors to weave any time they are at the garden.

Another weaving activity was God's Eyes which the kids LOVED!

Mere color can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.

(Oscar Wilde)

Sunday blessings,

What the World Needs Now

... is love sweet love

 Love recognizes no barriers, it jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

(Maya Angelou)

Happy February,

Mosaic Monday: About Saturday

Happy Monday!

Today I am joining Maggie at Normandy Life for a Mosaic Monday all about my Saturday.

We took my youngest boy to the airport on Friday at midnight for his flight back to the States.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep and was feeling a bit blue, so it was good that I had plans for the day.

First up was breakfast to celebrate a friend's birthday.

Some of the things I handmade for here were a granny square envelope for gifts that I tied up with ribbon; a sugar scrub with Argan oil and rosemary oil; and a little cross-stitch.  (There were also some homemade almond butter cookies but didn't get a picture of them.)

I felt very spoiled as she came bearing gifts for me, too.

Afterwards, I headed over to Shakshooka, a farmers/craft market that is organized monthly by Mimi who is also the founder of The Secret Garden where I volunteer.

As you can see, there was a nice crowd, the weather was good, I ran into so many people I know, and was able to purchase items from some of my favorite vendors.

My breakfast this morning was delicious multigrain toast with vegan nut cheese balls from Caveboy Grubs and Pomegranate Zaatar from InfusionsKW.

Wishing you all a lovely new week.