A Taste of Taif

TAIF Intercontinental Hotel, you may find the room service menu interesting!mmmm...think I'll give this one a miss !

Camels, camels & more camels

I love this one... A real pre/post modern Saudi image
This is where it can get real dangerous.. when camels wonder off onto the Riyadh road...not a safe road at the best of times, let alone hitting a camel on your way as well.
This baby tried to make a run for it...
... back with mummy !
You could buy your very own camel for as little as £17,000 !




Well we are in Saudi ... I mean 'Camel Land' !

EASTER

Its so easy to forget what's going on outside our little bubble but we were reminded of Easter by the kids .. well they're idea of Easter is a little different ie., chocolate eggs !The compound laid on some lovely events for the kids and they really enjoyed the Easter Egg hunt and painting the boiled eggs. The Easter bunny did come this morning but how much he had to pay for them I'd hate to think as there were rumours of eggs costing as much as £60 for around 8 ! He made a mess much to Heather's delight by leaving carrot tops around and taking her painted boiled egg she made specially for him/her/whatever !


EASTER COFFEE MORNING
The Easter Coffee Morning was as fun as usual with some real effort put in for the Easter Bonnet Parade... I didn't get round to making mine ... time just ran away and all those visits to the dentist just didn't help. I had intended to make up something quick yesterday but after another 2 hours 'root canal' filling I just couldn't face it. So this morning grabbed some bunny ears won at the Easter Hunt and stuck some flowers on them.... Forgot to take a pic... might do this later, but honestly you're not missing out.
CHARITY QUILT RAFFLEJust had to show you this ... Quilt... I'm definitely going to have to get involved in making one of these before I leave the Kingdom.

Happy Easter !

Riyadh, Socks, & Dishcloths

Hi ya, sorry not been able to get online for a bit and been to Riyadh for a few days as well and didn’t take the laptop.

First off, we went for our first visit to Riyadh and stayed on a lovely compound (BAE) which is apparently going to be the blueprint of the one we’re moving to next year. A bit Strepford Wives but I’m not going to complain too much lol. There are mini pools jotted around the villas with a huge lagoon style pool for all to use. The compound we’re on at the moment is well established and has its own character so will certainly miss it along with the people. There are a multitude of nationalities on our current compound which has been wonderful for the kids to mix with all the children and me of course. On the new one we'll be more isolated with just the Brit/American mix I assume.

Went to the Kingdom Tower and almost had a fit when saw how high we were…hubby was a real scaredy cat and took an age before actually stepping out to have a look. The Sky Bridge is 99 floors high at 310 metres. Here is a link to the official website:
http://www.kingdomcentre.com.sa/

Must admit he wasn't the only scared one... a Saudi guy was petrified and he had to have his friend hold his hand the whole time, coaxing him to walk a few paces at a time.Doesn't look scary I hear you say, but believe me it was. I took this pic using a zoom lense.
On the way down in the lift which was super speedy 99 floors in 30 secs !!!, we witnessed the way saudi boys meet saudi girls... with 'Bluetooth'... the girls huddled together so the lift attendant didn't see them and the boys did the same. At a guess they swapped id's. The lift attendant did a great job of separating the boys from the family and girls and even refused to let the girls off the lift until he was sure the boys had gone... however, they hadn't gone too far and were sitting 'in wait' a few yards away. I'm sure they have a lot of fun getting to meet each other but the consequences must be pretty harsh if caught. I used to think how awful this culture was but being here you soon adjust and find it pretty normal after a while.

Went to have afternoon tea at Faisal Tower but was told they wern’t doing it except on the weekend which we had just missed so will have to go back again for this one. A real dissapointment but as I say will go back. The restaurant is in the globe at the top incase you were wondering.

Took some great pics of … camels ! Hundreds of them all in a caravan walking along a bridge with cars and lorries running thru underneath.. a great shot of pre & post modern Saudi.

SOCKSWell I have finished another pair but just not got round to taking a picture but when I do I will add it here. Its another alpaca select pattern using 4 ply alpaca mixed.

CROCHET DISHCLOTHS
mmm... why dishcloths I hear you ask... well I made (crocheted) my first one last year after thinking exactly the same and wanted to see what all the rave was about homemade cotton dishcloths. I havn't looked back since... they're far superior to the shop brands and last for ages... well they used to until the house helper got hold of them but they still last longer than the bought ones. I buy a ball at £1.99 and can make 3 out of a ball in about 40 mins ! I even made one for my MIL and even she prefers them and has knitted her own since.

I Luv Snail Mail

I am so pleased ... I got a postal delivery yesterday and after weeks of 'nothing' not even a 'bill' from the UK, I got my long awaited subscription mag, 'Simply Knitting' and some others that I'd either won on ebay or asked relatives to buy and send on.

The mag only took about 2 weeks to arrive so that's not too bad. Have also subscribed to 'Knitting' mag as well so I've got 2 things to look forward to the snail mail bringing once a month.

Waiting for another delivery of wool to keep the sock supplies up !

New Cat on the Block

One of the families on the compound is leaving this week and has had Lexie for a couple of years. Lexy didn't have a good start in life as she got trapped in the compound security gates and lost half her tail and toes on one paw a couple of years ago. She's a bit of a freaky cat as she hisses, spits and makes an odd noise and walks with a tic, usually with her right front leg flicking. Anyway it was thought that she would be far too stressed (as she has psycological problems too) to make it to the new compound in Abu Dabi so I offered to give her a home.

Lexy came to stay this morning and has spent most of her time in the downstairs toilet. She came out for an hour and was happy enough, mewing and coming over for a bit of a stroke. Then all of a sudden she went off on one. She's back in the toilet after a bit of a struggle getting her into her cage. Didn't want to let the kids come home to the scene nor want them trying to catch her and being ripped to shreds. Not too sure that Lexy likes being here just yet, but we'll see how she gets on. Trouble is Scamp has to come home too yet, so after her performance this morning I'm sure she's not going to like him very much either.

Anyway, here's Lexy.. hopefully she'll be a little more relaxed in the next picture.

Toooo Cute !

Just had to snag this off 'Ten Thousand Dancing Stars' blogger, just far to cute not to. He's also my screen saver this week.

Now why can't Lexy learn from this one.