Sunday, 28 November 2010

The Royal Cavalry Horse Show

Wow, what a wonderful afternoon! I was told it would be a super thing to witness and I was not disappointed. I thought it would be a great experience for Bear and we got to see it together. 

We arrived in plenty of time and found parking straight away in extra bays laid on for this event. Then the buses were regular enough that we just hopped on one and headed in to the Royal Cavalry barracks. Bear had her little camera and with a little persuasion, she found the confidence to start clicking away.

We had a little wander and saw where we would be sitting; although three-quarters of the seating had plush comfy covers and the remainder were the plastic garden chairs! We thought we’d head to the comfy end to grab a seat…then I read the tickets again and I’m very glad I recognise Arabic letters as we were seated in آ/A, aka comfy cushions, yay!

I won’t bother recounting the frustrating step by step procedure required to actually get to our seats but I will say that even the debacle with the checking of cameras did nothing to spoil the day! I will say that the only thing that really did spoil it was the amount of litter on the ground, even hours before everyone had arrived. Royalty were attending for goodness sake!!! It has always been one of the very, VERY few things that I do not like about this country, and all it could take is a couple of seconds to find the nearest rubbish bin or keep hold of it and take it home. Grrrr…ok, off the soap box…

We saw we were quite close to the Royal Stand and would have a pretty good view of everything!

On recommendation, what I was looking forward to were the horsewomen, both jockeys and display. You weren’t wrong, OPNO and Noora. S.! I’m very glad that Omani women are free to become horseriders because they were a highlight of the day!





Even when they couldn’t stand up on the horse or when the horse refused to ‘curtsey’ to the Queen and the Sultan, seeing a smile and an obvious giggle made it all ok! All the displays were amazing and some breathtaking, the skills was incredible – I loved the tent-pegging!






Some random photos from the day:

A lady's gorgeous Chinoiserie fan

I’m going to try and get to see a few more shows and races, now I know where I find the racing schedule – thanks again, OPNO.

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

Garden Update mid-November 2



Orange


Lemon


Mango no. 1

Mango no. 2

Fig
Fig

Kumquat
Kumquat in foreground and opposite corner of patio
A slight fuzz of green grass...honest!

Frangipane

Redcup

Firepit!

Omani Rose
Redcup


Friday, 12 November 2010

Garden - Day 3

I have found a way to get rid of the neighbours' kids from your  garden - quickly. Empty several sacks of manure on your garden, water liberally and watch them disperse in squeals of disgust!! Hilarious! ;-D





Pop-up Sprinklers! Cool!
A few pictures from the rest of the garden: