Eid Mubarak!

We were a bit reticent about coming back to Oman at the start of Ramadan but in actual fact it's been fine, very peaceful, a lesser need to be out and about and with more time spent at home.


We're slowly getting there ... well, the Captain has been thrown back to work and is away from home again ... I would say normal service is resumed but actually him being away is not so normal! And all my friends have slowly trickled back in to the country from their sojourns abroad (How many Antipodeans were in Italy this summer?? I know of at least 5 families! And  all separate holidays! Must be harking back to their backpacking days ;-) ) So the social calendar is starting to blossom again. (Could still do with the quiet simple camping life, if I'm honest with you). But I"m looking forward to the cooler weather and getting out and about in Oman again. Still lots we haven't seen and I really want to keep up with my photography.


But now life returns to the post-holiday routine, I know I will still totally hit the ground running come start of term ... there are never enough hours in the day.


The rush to buy school shoes, uniform, pencil cases and bags begins, the chaos of the school run commences and now into the mix I have to had the fact that I will be working full-time. Approximately 8 x more than my husband per week (on average). Not that I'm counting.


I've been under paper, printing, stapling, filing and sticking, preparing for the job. I feel quite apprehensive but I am going to make myself get in to a pre- and/or post-work day routine to maintain my sanity ... half hour for a cuppa on my own, half hour meditation (both put me in a good spot!)... maybe a run. I've been (to quote hubby), "a bit shouty" recently apparently (there's no apparently about it really, I have been) so I'm determined to shake that.


Wish me luck.

Summer Trip Update - Days 38-40

Another missing UK post! The last one, I promise. No photos....as iPhoto is playing up. I will do a post after with just photos when it's sorted. (www.ilikewindows.com!)

And so it's almost the last leg of the big journey. All the major events have been attended and now we are 3 days from flying back to Oman. I could really do with another week and can't believe it'll be a year before we get to enjoy being with Betty again...we really bonded this year :-D (anyone who has classic cars will understand this....others, including some of my friends I think, consider me nutty).

We made our way south from Yorkshire round to a campsite in north Kent, near Wrotham Heath. It was one of the longer journeys and it was warm! The traffic on the M25 was it's usual...slow, and so Betty was feeling it, the kids were also roasting in the back. I had to get out at a point in the fast lane when the traffic was at a standstill and open the engine bay so she could cool down!

So the campsite was really a base so that we could get into London for the dinosaur exhibition at the 02 and to see the sites basically. C wants to go on a London bus and to see the London Eye (he thought for a while that the ferris wheel at Qurm Natural park was the London Eye when we first came to Oman...bless). It was also a chance to meet up with my baby sis (...30 this month...not so much baby sis anymore...).

We got a train to London, all part of the holiday seeing as we don't have a train system in Oman! And then it was the Tube all the way to the o2. we hadn't told the kids what we were doing, we just wanted them to see the signs. There were a few signs but they didn't really notice, I think they were just enjoying the scenery! We reminisced about the concerts we had seen here...Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Roger Waters (twice).

Before we went in the children had their photos taken next to a dinosaur. Woo hoo...any way, we got talking to the photographer and she was from Arizona, earning a bit of money whilst she spends her spare time songwriting. She is Ngawara Madison and I finally got around to googling her and listening to some of her work. It sounds like Country is her style, not my thing but I'll listen to it (although Islands in the Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers is one of my favourite songs to sing out loud, bizarrely enough! Sssh, don't tell anyone!). So I'm going to keep checking on how she's doing. In the short time we spoke with her, she seemed a really lovely girl.

We had a great tour around the exhibition...it would have been quite disappointing without it as the animatronics weren't fabulous, I suppose it has to be quite straightforward being a temporary exhibition. The lady taking us round was great, good fun. Although she needs to check her knowledge...my 7 year old had to correct her at one point! ;-p

We had lunch at the Armadillo restaurant in the O2...the BEST burger ever. And then Baby Sis came along and got the kids all hyped up and excited, all that an Auntie should do, I guess! We thought we'd add to their ice-cream sugar rush and take them to watch Cars 2. In 3D. It was very good of course...but I fell asleep during one of the car chases. How random.

Next touristy thing to do was to take the Clipper boat along the Thames from the O2 to Waterloo (sis went her own way) and we went back to Wrotham Heath.

Next day, we were heading to Mum and Dad's and we stopped for a picnic and a flask of tea on the north downs, looking over north Kent. It's times like this that I realise we would be in the van every weekend if we were at home, but also that I do miss the UK, and we probably didn't make the most of it in the last few years. This trip has reminded me how beautiful our country is if you look beyond the news headlines.

Tonight's dinner was a takeaway with sis and her boyf. Mum and Dad joined us, it was a really relaxed and fun evening. This must be what it's like to have large family gatherings, loud and full of conversations and laughter. Although having a small family maybe makes me appreciate the times we do have, all getting together.


Oman-bound in a few days. I really will miss Britain this time.

Summer Trip Update - Days 35-37 - Deershed Festival

The next few posts have been languishing as drafts for a while! :-/ They'll be the last few updates from our summer trip to the UK and Europe. A super trip...we have been back two weeks and I'm still a little homesick.
**********************************************************************************

22nd to 24th July 2011

We usually try and get to a music festival in the UK whenever we are back. The last couple of years have been T-in the Park in Scotland and before we came to Oman we usually went to the V Festival, oh and we've done the Reading festival once - to see Pearl Jam especially. But we never really wanted to take the children to these events as it is so busy, large and basically we wouldn't relax. Personally, I don't think that they are kid-friendly events, although some families do attend, we'd rather not...until they're older at least.

We came across the Deershed Festival through following one of our favourite bands, Admiral Fallow (a nu-folk band, similar kind of ilk to Mumford and Sons). Admiral Fallow tend to play the smaller events at the moment. We first discovered them on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park last year and have been following them ever since. We were a bit disgruntled that living abroad now, we'd never get to see them in the cosier, more intimate venues, the time before they make it big. (They are playing their first European gig this weekend...not long now before they're in the big league).

The festival was described basically as child-friendly and the list of activities that would be on offer says it all. Kind of like a huge village fete with extras. All four of us are keen and very amateur astronomers so we were especially interested in the astronomy events (my son's space question ...'what is there after space?'... answers on a postcard please).

"We'll have after-hours star-gazing, a cosmodome, themed kids workshops and cabaret plus some really ambitious plans which are currently in the hands of the Civil Aviation Authority. We can't afford everyone's favourite TV boyfriend Prof Brian Cox but we will have other experts with less floppy hair."

Bear loves arts and crafts and there were plenty of workshops and stalls...Other stuff included comedy, a Big Top, swingball, football, space hoppers, face painting, ukele workshops, milk bottle mask making, doodle walls, cardboard knights and fairies, clay modelling, story shows and so much more. Just have a look at the website under each category.

 I was so, so pleased that we had made it with Betty to Topcliffe, North Yorkshire for the festival. Already I was having a good feeling about it as some of the carpark marshalls happily waving us in were probably some of the children's grandparents. Seen that at Reading/T?! We found a perfect spot to park Betty and we got on with setting up the awning whilst the kids tracked down potential friends. From the website;

"We have a really spacious and beautiful parkland campsite. We will have specific camping areas for those with kids, those without, those who want quiet and those who aren't bothered who their neighbours are. In the family camping areas we will have loads of stuff to keep kids occupied whilst you argue over which bit of the tent goes up first....The average distance from the car park to the family camping is only 200m and this year we'll have porters armed with wheelbarrows to help carry all that clobber. If you have a campervan or caravan we have a spot for you too"

It's worth mentioning that the porters were scouts earning a bob or two. Brilliant!

My Dad often asks me if i'm happy. For some reason, I can never make myself say a definitive 'yes'. No reason to say no...I have my health, my family, a good and fortunate life, (as they say here, ma'shallah)... I think I'm just so distracted sometimes that I forget what being happy is about. Me: "I'll think about being whather I'm happy or not in a minute when I've fed the kids/washed up/bathed the kids/replaced the toilet rolls/watered the garden/sweep up 10 minutes after the maid has been (she's good, my kids are messy)... I  know I am, I probably think about it too much. Anyway, to the point...I have had the time on this trip to actually stop, think and realise the happy moments we are having...no distractions or chores. It's a buddhist belief that we are so weighed down with our possessions, our emotions, our ego, our very full and busy lives that we are swamped and forget what it's like to be rested, peaceful and relaxed.

The reason I write the above is that at the festival I actually had a overwhelming feeling of being happy, no strings attached, no material possession needed, just...happy. We were sat outside our tent, having finished dinner and the kids were playing with their new friends. There were families all around, there was a lovely warm friendly atmosphere, you could hear chatting and laughing, the sun was shining....bliss.

So to sum up the Deershed festival:

• Laughter, colourful, fun, bustly, friendly, lively.
• You could make conversation with a stranger and it would instantly be friendly...the likelihood is that they would be parents too...an instant ice-breaker. We met one family on the Friday, watching Hope and Social, one of their favourite bands, so we told them about Admiral Fallow the following night. we didn't see them in the crowd but I hoped they enjoyed it!
• You would smile as you pass other parents, for no real reason.
• Kids were being ferried around in wheelbarrows.
• One family had a homemade barrow.

  
• 
  

  

  Children's comedians. Genius, my kind of comedy! We watched James Campbell (hilarous!), who talked about how a farmer would bring back an escapee cow, the Wii, making friends, why grown-ups groan when they sit down...you get the idea. Can't find anything on Youtube so I may have to buy the cd...for the kids of course.

"The Sunday Times says of James, "Campbell's stand-up for kids has acquired almost holy status. Don't miss." James talks about everything that is relevant to kids and anyone who has ever been a kid. His show is aimed at children aged six, their parents and anyone who enjoys top quality comedy without swearing."

• Reasonably priced tickets and a very resonable bar
• The food stalls were a bit expensive but we'd much rather pay for authentic, local and wholesome food than an overcooked burger and fries at other festivals.



• We concluded that it was a festival for children but with music and beer for the grownups. Perfect.

The only disappointment was that some parents still felt like they could let their

children wander freely out of sight and without supervision. Yes, it's a child/family festival I know...but still....

I loved every minute of it but hubby isn't too sure about coming back next year. It was because of Admiral Fallow that we made it this year....would it feel different if we didn't know any of the bands? My attitude is that we came across a couple of other unknown bands as well as seeing our favourite so why not make that the aim of next year...finding some new music. The children had a whale of a time so why not come back at least for them.

I saw this going round Facebook this week. A few reminders to us all I think. There are LOADS in there for me!
X

I saw Britain in a good light...

...three weeks ago! Hmmm.....


Good to see the fine upstanding people of the capital cities of the UK showing how great the British nation is...really, wth??? Embarrassing. And 11/12/13 year olds involved. I was more interested in my Johnny Hates Jazz and Bros LPs when I was 12 years old.

Is it genuine protests? Nope, I think it's boredom. What else is there to do on a Monday night. In my day the 'yoovs' would just hang out by the corner shops in Owlsmoor [or town of choice], intimidating the younger kids (and me) and the elderly. Now it's a few steps up from that.

Apparently it all escalated following a police shooting in Tottenham...and it's gone from there. The criminal element of society kicking off. Which worries me about the size of the criminal element that they are overpowering the police. The government's planned police spending cuts (possibly at least 10000 fewer officers) will be the solution. No problem. Well done, coalition, well done.

I'm sure other people actually living in these districts and towns are no doubt scared, shocked and embarrassed, like many Omanis said they were during the Sohar riots (I think I can call it a riot rather than a protest now).

I can be quite old fashioned sometimes, but I'm all for bringing back National Service. Not sure nanny-state Britain will allow for that though. Bless Her, wouldn't want to upset anyone, would we...?

The other question is should the Army be involved... any thoughts? The Army is stretched as it is and really, is that what the Army is there for? Just playing Devil's advocate here, can't decide what the answer should be.


As an aside, I feel for the organisations that are organising the Olympics...1 year to go... And football matches postponed. (Although understandable given the reputation of some London team fans. My team included ;-) )


However, you've got to see the funny side of it...Wayne Rooney's social comment on Twitter (I don't tweet, just picked this up from Sky news)

"These riots are nuts. Why would people do this to their own country, own city, this is embarassing for our country. Stop please"

Please note he's that peaceful, calm, restrained, courteous Manchester United football player. As you can see from this picture: 

or this one....

I've just had to switch Sky news off...Holmes is a national institution but he's appalling sometimes!


Ooh I'm in a sarcastic mood today....


...I cannot believe I have posted pictures of Wayne Rooney on my blog...