Grandma's Visit Continues

Here are two of my three daughters. You can see why we are so proud of them.B (9 years old) took this picture for us.

We decided to try it again having an adult take the picture!
Lots of love and sunshine!

Grandma's Visit

Grandama just returned from a visit to the grandkids. (Forget going to see the kids - just skip right over to the grandkids.)

This is N - and 11 year old scout. No, he is not standing on a stool, he is standing next to me! N was getting ready for an overnight scout trip. He looked great in his uniform.

Next comes Mr. B. Lots of fun and lots of life in this young man. He loves legos and anything to do with math. I loved to listen to him practice his piano - he is very good.

Next in line is J. I like to call him JJ, but he tells me this is not his name! He had lost another tooth while I was there and the tooth fairy was very generous with him. He seems to have two favorite foods - crepes and nutella. (I like his choices.)

Grandma made rice bags while there and J was a great helper in filling them.

Last, but not least, comes T, or more commonly called "TT." He calls me "Hama."

What would a movie night/pajama party be like without ice cream?

C and her mom came to visit on my last weekend there. Here is C and B - or rather "The Princess and the Pea."

JoAnn's Fabric - Saudi style

As many of you know, sewing/quilting are what I like to do. Here is my where I shop for my supplies. This is what the westerners call Kuwaiti sooqs and you can buy anything in these little shops from clothing to carpets.

One of the fabric stores in Kuwaiti sooqs. Notice that there are no cutting tables like we see in Joann's. He uses a metal rod that is 1 meter in length to measure the fabric. He then folds the fabric at the designated spot and runs the scissors along the fold. I purchased apprx 6 meters of a polyester fabric here for 20 SR - about $5.

My next stop was for notions! I have missed these little shops and really stocked up on ribbon which is MUCH cheaper than in the states. This little place has everything from buttons to thread to zippers to tassles. You name it - he probably has it.

You can even buy a sewing machine here.

They are actually quite good, mechanical machines. They cost around $40.

Not sure you noticed, but there are only men working in the stores. The women can work only in certain areas such as hospitals and schools.

Inside of our villa

Wanted to share some inside pictures of our villa.

This is our combination dining room table/computer table. Since it is the only table in the villa it gets used for EVERYTHING.

All of the appliances in the villa were put in new before we moved in.

Master bedroom.

We affectionately call this our Prayer Rug. All the floors are tile which are cold and hard (but easy to keep clean). We have bought two rugs for the villa - one under the dining room table and one next to the bed. One of the fun things about living where we do is these carpets are plentiful and inexpensive.

Master bathroom. Notice -- all tile and all new fixtures.

One of the problems with all new appliances, is that I didn't have any choice in what was installed. The general manager ordered an Italian combination washer/dryer. Italians do food well, but not appliances. I affectionately called this my peanut butter cup washer. I never did figure out how to use it as a dryer and could only do a miniscule batch of laundry in it.

However, the day before I left to come back to the States, they replaced my peanut butter cup washer with this full-sized one - but the cord was not long enough to go to the outlet. Check out the splice in the cord! Now let's think this one through - we are talking about a possibility of water overflowing her. Yes, this is the Land of Almost.

Chirstmas 2007 Trip to Hungary-Croatia-Slovenia-Austria

For Christmas 2007, we traveled to Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria with our friends Wayne & Diane Shurtliff. The four of us have now traveled together in 20 countries.

Mick and Wayne awaiting one of our trains.

We have decided that Eurail passes are the best way to travel throughout Europe.

What would travel be without experiencing the local food. These were a Hungarian specialty; a pastry dough wrapped around a cylinder, the dough then flattened and cooked over a charcoal grill. After they were nice and brown, they were then dipped into a flavor of your choice - cinnamon, vanilla sugar, cocoa.

We found that Budapest was a great place to celebrate Christmas. Father Christmas had already come - he comes there on 5 Dec - so the commercialism was over with. There were nativity scenes and Christmas booths everywhere. This picture is of a live nativity that took place every hour on the hour in front of the Parliment building--no concern here of separation of church and state. This live nativity was complete with live animals and gorgeous costumes.

On Christmas night, we enjoyed a Christmas dinner with Dora who lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is the Public Affairs person for Slovenia and Mick met her at their Public Affairs conferences in Frankfurt, Germany.

How cold was it? Cold enough that sometimes we couldn't find Diane!

One of the benefits of traveling on Eurail passes is you can change your mind about where you want to go. At the last minute, we decided to travel to Salzburg, Austria, on our way to Vienna. Salzburg holds fond memories for Mick and I as this is where we met some years ago.



Still friends after another trip together.

(Overlooking Salzburg)