Things are a changing.

The latest trend here, is to bring down old buildings with spacious flats and replace them with taller buildings , smaller flats with exorbitant rents.

The only old building in our area, still intact, is ours.Its going to be a matter of a few more months ,before it is pulled down as well. Its there in the air.I wanted to move before they give us notice to move.

Moreover, our little family has outgrown this teeny tiny apartment we have lived in for over five years .this was the right time to move.

Off we went looking for apartments, and all the ones that were within our budget turns out to be a pigeon hole with no space for kids to walk , leave alone play .

Driving through the entire neighbourhood,we either didn’t like the location or the apt, or it was too far away from school _ worse ,near work camps.

Dh found a place that seemed ideal , close to the Jamiya,(co-op) hospital and school. Only drawback, old building- which means more moving in the future.

Just when we were thinking , we are at a dead end, a colleague called up to inform us about this place, which we went to see.Neat Place.

Funny thing is , we drove so many times past this place_ me saying, it would be really wonderful if we found a place there; dh saying, itwas rented out to American camps.

Turns out the American camp contract got over,they did not use a large part of the building and we are occupying a brand new flat as its first ever occupants.See , every flat we have rented so far ,we ‘ve been the first occupants, except in our own house!!

We cannot own property here_ if we could , this would be the kind of flat I would think about buying.

So ,we are shifting tent which means a load of things, other than just change of address……….With sorting, pretending not to notice, but blushing in all shades of purple when hubby shakes his head in disbelief at the huge cartons of my hobby supplies , Packing ,moving happening in full swing,and loads of other things associated with shifting places, no crafting of any sort has taken place.

A is already moaning having to leave his long time friends here.

We had so many lovely memories in this home ,lots of good times and very little bad ones actually so little, I can hardly remember any.

Feeling kind of nostalgic when we find things long forgotten about, like M’s little blue hospital wristband and the pregnancy test kits. How casually I tested for pregnancy_,after years of being disappointed _ without really expecting another pink line.How surprised I was at seeing the pink line,that I rushed out and got a couple more test kits to double check that there was no mistake.

This little book I had ,where I wrote everyday of the blessings we had for that day ever since we got married.Had forgotten all about its existence.Every life’s little pleasures I take so much for granted these days are there on the list_ something as simple or silly as finding a window seat in a crowded train or eating ice cream from the wayside vendor ! Note to self : start writing it again once settled in the new home.

Tons of letters dh and I wrote each other for the six months he was here while I was in India.chocolate wrappers, cards, wonky crochet projects , my first real crocheted bag torn here and there. books books and more books ….. so many more things with so many memories attached to them.

Little things that remind me that miracles happen when you least expect it and to take time to enjoy the simple things in life.

It doesn’t make sense to collect all these things in a country where you are not allowed to put down roots .Now I will just carry the memories .I have as much things I have left behind in India when we moved here.

Being the sentimental fool that I am , getting attached to places and people and stuff easily, its quite hard to throw out all the stuff and leave a home I considered lucky for us. Then I console myself that I would be devastated to see it being pulled down, which is true .

I still cannot find it in me to give up any of my hobby supplies and we are taking them all even if three fourth of the stuff is mine.Its scaring me now, this pack rat habit of mine.I have decided that I will consciously try to be clutter free in the new house.

I have decided

• that I will not buy anymore yarn or books or anything else until I use up all the things I already have
• buy only for that project I have in mind when I am about to start working on it

Its almost feels like we are moving to another country .Thank you God we are not!!

We are excited about the new home.

Wish us luck at our new place

Ana Kuwaiti

*picture heavy*

Not me, but my kids think they are poor things

Come National Day /Liberation Day, we are like the moth attracted to flame.Knowing fully well, we will be caught in endless traffic jams , be sprayed with party foam by some rude and some nice kids so much as to block visibility,we still go out to see the lights and the celebrations on the street.

The meds for the strep throat I am taking ,made me terribly sleepy and I slept through the entire ride around the city _woke up only when shaken vigorously to take pictures of beautifully decorated buildings_ while the boys laughed and squealed heartily at being sprayed with party foam all over the car.

I find it amusing that some kids ask permission before spraying foam on our windows which we give naturally, as they are so polite.Others think its their right to open the car doors forcibly and spray party foam all over you with faces so grim ,that it feels like they are out to punish you for god knows what crime.Ofcourse ,once bitten a couple of years back,we now make double sure the doors are locked .

We were not the only ones taking pictures, there were more professional photographers.

This is my favourite of them all

I heard this funny story of boys and girls spraying foam on each other, turns out that while the boys sprayed regular party foam on girls, the boys got sprayed with hair removing creams, by the girls.Do not know if this is true or not, but I found it hilarious when I heard it.

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47 years of Kuwait’s growth as a Country and 17 yrs after the Liberation.

Wanted to take pictures of the little kids dressed up in the colours of the National Flag, waving to passersby cutely , didn’t want to offend the parents so didn’t take their pictures.

More than the boisterous fun of spraying foams which sometimes gets out of hand, and can actually get irritating after a point, specially when they overdo it and lift the wipers and make it stand so as not to let us wipe out the foam on the windshield; I like watching people celebrate wearing funny caps , dresses and dancing without a care in the world ,some even pose for the camera when they see one in my hand

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I did take small videos of some boys dancing on the streets, some of them were really really good.Its the energy on the streets that makes it such a fun evening.

And so she learnt

to quilt……

with lots of help

cheered on by the sweet little voice that sang, as she sewed the blocks together_” quilting is magic, quilting is joy“……. to the tune of Disney is Magic,Disney is joy

Why we don’t celebrate Valentine’s day……

My family  thinks they have to look out for me coz,I have a tendency to forget important days, anniversaries, birthdays, special days.

So when my cousin sister, buzzed  me on Valentines day _Ihad completely lost track of the dates one more time and only after she mentioned it, I remembered it was Feb 14th _I told her,  how after  years of doing the roses and chocolates and gifts , the thought of celebrating Valentines day itself seems kind of repetitive and superfluous when we find romance in mundane everyday life.

Where doing the  small things ,Like he does for me everyday_ taking care of the kids and giving me a break on a hard day; dropping me at my classes coz I have to go and the taxi guy has not arrived or accompanying me for some thing that is important to me putting aside all his work just coz I need his moral support , for a funny joke to make me laugh when I am down; the random calls during the day to say he was thinking of me  _  is so romantic that you don’t have to have a special day to show  how special we are to each other  blah blah blah……..in my condescending big sister way as always (I know its bad, my poor sisters!) 

 After all that big talk ….

 I made a surprise lunch for Dh  with all his favourite food and did some gifts……… 

 He  in turn ,surprised me with a surprise dinner at a fancy place,  with flowers, bag , shoes ,cosmetics,  to add to my already overflowing collection ,inspite of mercilessly ribbing me about my obsessions with the said things on several past occasions, coz nothing else cheers me up as much.

 and true to his style_extended the celebrations to one more day_  surprised me with a brunch the morning after, at an even fancier place ,even though the weather contrived to spoil his plans..

All of which and more, had me thanking the Good Lord for letting me share my life with this wonderful man and grinning ear to ear like a Cheshire cat all through the weekend and after. 

And to think I’m past all these things, frivoulous humbug that I am!  

What a sweet thing to say………

Awwwww Mimi ,Thank you very much.

You make  my day too.I always look forward to see what you have been Designing.

Sorry, I didn’t see this earlier and I still have trouble posting comments on your blog.

Now he doesn’t even want us?!

Everyday bedtime is a battle.

The scene always is that _M , doesn’t want to go to sleep and every ten seconds would  come ask for water, or milk or ask to be taken to the loo….for the nth time_anything to avoid going to bed.

Me ,on the other hand  is so worn out by the end of the day ,that my eyes keep drooping without my knowledge.

Nothing is more irritating when you are  so ready to crash on the bed and a little devil comes demanding for more” nighty nighty sleep tighty kiss”; to repeat the prayers one more time,coz the cockroach  is crawling somewhere in the kitchen or  some random reason like “I have to check if I kept my shoe properly on the shoe rack (yea right!)  .

Having no more patience to spare, I threaten in a stern exasperated tone, “M, if you are-not going to bed this minute, close your eyes and  go to sleep, I am never going to talk to you again.I am going tell Dada how naughty you were and he is also not going to talk to you.We will not be your friends anymore”

He replies nonchalantly, ” It doesn’t matter , annan (big brother)is there for me, he will talk to me and be friends with me for ever”. 

 hmmmmmmm didn’t see that coming!

“Pactise” makes perfect!

It was lunch time, and I had to get lunch ready or it would get late when the man comes to pick up dh’s lunch.

M was quietly ‘cooking’ in his favourite corner.I really didn’t mind all the vessels strewn around in the drawing room, or the noise of ‘cooking ’as long as he kept out of my stuff and interupting my own cooking.

My stuff was in the bedroom so there was no way he would go there , I thought.I should have known better.

It was all so quiet_ too quiet so I peeked in to check on him.

I had to pick up my jaw that had  touched the floor by now.

“M,What do you think you are doing?” I asked  , my voice almost  a feverish high pitch by the end of the sentence .

“Pactising (Practising )to go to your school mumma” (meaning my quilt class ),came the calm, collected reply with look that said, ‘whats the fuss about?, you should really be happy!’

Do I laugh or cry or bang my head against the wall and scream ” Lord ,I need a break”?! 

Mommies are not allowed tantrums ,you know, so I just thanked the lucky stars , he didn’t cut his fingers and went on to think about the best solution to redeem the situation.

Two completed quilt blocks slashed in  random places with the rotary cutter.

Well,  I didn’t have too much work to do all over again like I thought first .All is well that ends well I guess

Stash Busting

Too many of these fancy yarns were lying around in my yarn basket desperately trying to catch my attention.I honestly, had no idea what to do with them.After all, they were single skeins of very different yarns.

First I thought I would make skiny scarves with them for the neices, but the yardage was so little, that wasn’t a good idea. Then I thought maybe a little bag, the idea didn’t appeal much either

I decided a hat for M, would be the best idea……the guy really loves hats.Turned out, the yarn didn’t have enough yardage for a hat.So back into the yarn basket it went.Then a lightbulb went on, it would make a nice border for a hat .Kept putting it off until I saw Deneen’s Winter Hat for Elena. After seeing her hat (its so pretty), I just had to make this hat I had on my mind .

I used a simple basic hat pattern and added a row of the fancy yarn to break in the monotony of working with the same colour.The fact is, I couldn’t wait till I reached the border to find out how it looked

The project Details:

Yarn:The cream yarn is some nameless yarn I got in an ROAK.its really soft baby yarn

             The border yarn is Schachenmayer nomoto Hip Hop 100% polymide (Colour 008 ,lot 1700) [25 g 25 m yardage]

Hook: H Susan Bates

Pattern: Basic Hat pattern , I now know this pattern by heart that I didn’t need a printed version to  follow . 

TheHipHop yarn is really soft and the border covers the ears really well and keeps it warm.Very appropriate for the cold weather here. I still have a couple more hats I made with two other fancy yarn but havn’t taken a picture yet

Just thinking out loud :

Lord God I am so tired of this winter _this someone is always sick household _ please bring on the sunny months as soon as possible.I am so ready for summer.

Anyone missed me?

Fifth was our Wedding Anniversary. Eleven years  and still wishing for a lot more years together says it all in a nutshell . 

Didn’t have a big celebration as M still keeps getting severe Wheezing.It has gotten to a stage where I start dreading and get upset,  the minute he develops a runny nose.The endless doses of antibiotics and asthma medicines have made his very weak.And also very hyper.(Asthma meds do that)

So I have been feeling very desperate , depressed and totally frustrated_ plus we had no internet for a few days .Which meant  I couldn’t talk to my mom back in India and vent away as much as I wanted. And also didn’t have blogging on my mind. 

 However the quilt workshop is there to take my mind off these depressing thoughts for a few hours.And when I look at the quilt shaping up, it really brightens me up.

 M ,my little monkey takes pleasure in immitating whatever I do, so when I am cooking, all the vessels comeout of the kitchen shelf and he cooks alongside me , same goes for everything else, crochet, knitting,  you name it.

While I was trying to quilt at home, he sat along side me and quilted .Took all the scraps and soaked them in water, when I prepared my fabric to quilt ,dried his ‘quilting” on the heater when I hung mine to dry ,insisted I iron his scraps too, and also stitch up all the scraps as I did .

He  now thinks that quilting is the most fun thing to do _what with playing in the water while soaking the fabric, playing with the heater while drying the materials .So now he ‘d rather go to the” quilting school”, than to his real school…….”Mumma take me to your quilting school, I don’t want to go to my school”

Today was the admission day  at school. While he sat quietly , smiled sweetly and nodded to the Principal’s questions , he threw a big tantrum when we had to leave the campus.Poor little guy had been thinking that I would leave him at the  school with A today,and bawled his eyes out .Turning beet red, I  bundled a thrashing, screaming M to run and hide in our car  while other parents looked on curiously unable to comprehend what hue and cry was about.Dh wasn’t there to offer cover  and so I ran fast as I could.Phew, embarrassing moments come without a notice too!

 I’ve lost two readers on my bloglines,both are private profiles so I have no idea who lost interest in my blog and why.Makes me sad .Would love to know why they have lost interest. Any feedback anyone?

I have been quilting mostly but also did a little crochet here and there .Will post pictures later.

Whoa!

I was just checking out Copyscape for fun and I found this .I also found posts from other blogs that I have read before, there.

I ‘m creeped out to find pictures of my children on some other place. I think its time to take them all down.

I tried to leave a comment but it doesn’t work.