A Day of Surprise Visits and Wonderful Friends

It's my first free day! Woo hoo! Time to start working on that to-do-list!

Jobs today: Shoe Shopping. With Zinfandel Queen and Champagne Charlie (there's a theme here...). After a rather late one with aforementioned cast members. On a school night. Bleurgh. Which resulted in me drunk-Facebooking. Raving about Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams I think...cringe...

So 2 out of 3 of us are feeling a little tired, a little frayed around the edges, the other one is just immune to alcohol now I fear. They do the Boot Camp that is run here and they even managed to make that at silly o'clock this morning. But onwards and upwards, we had a job to do! A gorgeous pair of Nine West shoes ready for the Ball on Thursday were purchased...not by me this time :-(  A picture will follow later if ZQ will let them out of her site!

I had a surprise message from a close friend's (Mrs. Gee) husband, saying that he was passing through Oman (as you do!) and asking if he could visit. We haven't seen them for well over a year now so of course it had to happen! Sod's law the Captain was still away ... it was so amazing to see him. However, all of the Gees are coming to see us next Feb so this'll tide me over! Hopefully it'll be slightly cooler for them than it was today!

I did have to miss the Wine and Diamonds at the neighbour's though! I did pop in to say hi and have a quick look! Very sparkly and big! :-D

And so continues the wonderful friends bit...another neighbour offered to have the kids for a sleepover this weekend. Sometimes, I just grin ear to ear when I think of the super friends we have, truly amazing! Thank you x

WHY?????

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!

My Glee-fest is ruined, RUINED I tell you!

WHY HAVE SHOWTIME TAKEN OFF A SHOW-ON-DEMAND PROGRAMME 4 DAYS BEFORE IT IS DUE TO EXPIRE??? I had episodes 10-22 to watch whilst Hubby is away!!

How truly annoying....I had it all planned out.

It now turns out they have put it on every Friday and Saturday double episodes each day....October is Glee Month apparently. The Captain will be pleased.

Love Thy Neighbours...

Another morning on the school-run...I would like to question why all districts seem to be grinding to a halt at rush hour these days...oh, that's right, it's because they've decided to implement roadworks along all major routes and service roads!! With one month to go until HM's 40th National Day, I think they've tried to cram everything in before it's too late! We left early today...yet an 8 minute journey (even with a stop at the Al Bahja traffic lights) takes at least half hour so we're are pretty much guaranteed we'll be late. With driving standards as they are in this country (I'm not saying it's the worst country by any means), it really is a precarious journey into school and work.

I had a lovely message from Domestic Goddess read out on the radio though, which made the traffic insignificant!!! We're trying to get together on the boat soon, only so we can have her carrot cake.

Anyway, after all that, we get to school and Bear feels sick, almost throwing up in the school car park. She really wants to go to school but she can barely function so I took her home. Had to take the day off work as The Captain (new blog name for Husband) is off again somewhere (that's the trouble with supply teaching, you only get paid for what you do) but being a little selfish, it was so nice to spend a little quality time with just her, snuggling on the sofa, watching Ice Age 2!

This last week or so, I've been missing home and the town we left to come here. This encompasses a lot...it's where my beautiful house is, where my children were born in the nearby hospital, where I raised my children and just as important, where some of our dearest friends are. We miss 'em loads and I hope they know it. But I know they still think of us as much as we do them. Our lovely neighbour (the kids' third Granny), our friends E and R, Posh and the Boys, and M and D, not to mention the amazing community we had joined through Bear's primary school. I love and miss that school very much....I completed 2 of my 3 teaching practices there. Even being able to wander down the high street was a simple thing; it's proving to have been more enjoyable than I probably thought at the time...we have to drive everywhere now.

Emigrating is no easy feat, leaving behind family and friends, a house you love, the pets you adore, and the climate and the gardens amongst many things...but being an expat here, as maybe it is in many places,  can be tricky. It's not always idyllic! It is the friends we have made here that has helped make our experience as full and rich as it is. I'm thankful, grateful and very happy to have some very good neighbours and friends here! It really can be a small world though...one neighbour (still trying to think of blog name for her! Zinfandel Queen is top of the list just now ;-) ) and her hubby used to live in Snodland, one of the Kentish towns where I grew up in. AND they grew up in the Medway towns, where my Mum and Dad grew up!

My old school Holmesdale Secondary School (now a technology college)

Snodland Clock Tower

Plenty of projects lined up from next week! I'm starting to think of some painting inspiration! Do I stick with my previous henna-inspired pieces...? I think I need to do some more, get this theme out of my system...not sure what I need to move on to....then some photography, now the kids are both at school all day I can spend more time out and about. It is still so hot and humid though! I'm going to start on the garden too.

Other 'projects' include coffee with Domestic Goddess, Wine and Diamonds (!!!!!!!!!!) at a neighbours, a massage, a haircut, eyebrows threaded, pedicure, shoe shopping, Mexican night at the Club and the Best Ball of the season! Busy girl, very busy....

For Clarabelle:

Natural Oman

Here is what we have been seeing in Oman, particularly over the last few months.

Around our house and local area
Little Green Bee Eater:



Bee Eater eating a Dragonfly!



Ring-necked Parakeet:



I'll add to this page over time. The Captain has had some cool encounters with some wildlife on his travels recently!

While the cat's away, the mice...

...will watch back-to-back episodes of Glee! Series 1, all episodes. FABulous!!!

Can't wait to see my Beyonce-dancing College football players!

Another lovely weekend.

Now the turf mat has been rolled out, I’m still the only one who is keen on this new space. Although when we brought the table up Husband did seem to be coming round to the idea. It was a lovely evening, the sun was about to set and it wasn’t too hot. I tried not to look too smug…. :-D

The table and chairs are there now along with a few candles and citronella lamps. I sat there this evening for a while…despite the muffled traffic noise and the lights, it was rather lovely.

So, another weekend over and another joyful one at that. A very relaxed day yesterday with an afternoon at the pool with friends from the ‘campus’. Inevitably, it continued into the evening with a curry being delivered to the pool; they even brought paper plate and plastic cutlery with the food!

Today, a lazy, cosy morning with tea (thank you Mr. M! x) and cuddles with the kids in bed. We haven’t done that for so long. Then a buffet lunch at the Crowne Plaza…STUFFED! I haven’t eaten anything since lunch!

Husband is due back to work early this week, so it's back to the dreaded school runs. But at least I'm back in the big car. I feel a bit too vulnerable in the white rollerskate!

Have a good week, everyone. And a good weekend for you in the UK! x

A good Husband is...

…one who, although thinks your idea probably isn’t the best idea that you’ve ever had, helps you see your idea through to the end so that you too can see it probably isn’t the best idea you’ve ever had!

We have been in this house for over 18 months now. It’s about time we did something with it to make it more our own. We can’t keep thinking we’re going to be moved and so not bother doing anything. This autumn/winter, it’s the back garden’s turn. We’ve been mulling over a design for a shade to go over the (somewhat redundant) patio we had made earlier this year. Nothing has seemed quite right so we decided to leave it and focus on the planting. The kids’ trampoline will go around the back and some grass will hopefully be established, maybe a couple of palms and banana plants. We priced shrubberies (!) up at one of the many garden centres and we can get our garden set for about 50-70 Omani rials (about £75-100). So that is on the cards very soon, as soon as I’ve finished work, had a much needed pamper session, caught up with my girlfriends, caught up with emails and facebook THEN I will make a trip or seven to the nurseries. Not sure I will get many palms in the back of the Kia…

ANYway…let me explain the main reason behind today’s title.

I’ve been itching to get on with the garden…or any project it would seem. So I found one. The roof. It’s wasted space at the moment and could be made to be a nice, relaxing (read: MY) space.

I run it past Husband, knowing full well what his response will be. Practical, too sensible and if I dare say, a bit lazy! (Understandably maybe, we do have 3 stories to climb to get there!) My idea is that we would use it in the evening to enjoy the sunsets and the cooling evenings with a glass of wine or a cup of tea. If we forget the bottle opener for instance, or if the kids are playing outside. No, it’s not practical to be up there when the kids are playing outside but I wouldn’t be up there if that was the case! And we'd make sure we have a spare bottle opener upstairs. Along with a fridge and a kettle. Duh. ;-) This is one I wanted to see through!

So today was the day I HAD to do something about it and had the necessary energy to get on with it. So to start - it’s an empty, dusty space with the washing line, a/c units and the satellite. But there was space for a mat and the small table and chairs we brought over from the UK. Would the Arabic style camping picnic mat do? Yes, it would. That was my first idea. But then Husband suggested the large piece of astro turf we inherited from next door when they moved. Excellent, he’s getting on my side! It’s been lying out the back for over a year now, looking forlorn and dusty with no use being made of it. Yep, great idea. So I go out and start shaking off the gravel that’s accumulated. And the dust. And the crickets. It is a heavy piece so I get Husband to help. And love him, he does! We thought we might have to wait and call on the neighbours to help but we managed, we lifted this hulking roll of backed plastic, the weight of which was probably doubled by the amount of dust still embedded in it, up three stories. Very satisfying! Moreso for having some much-needed exercise too.

I've swept most of the dust from it. Well, loosened and shifted the dust from one place to another! Husband had to walk away I think, in despair! But I was in the determined mood. It was going to happen!

Now to plan pots and lighting and ambience at La Terrace! I just hope those who are invited can be arsed to climb the stairs!