Back to basics!

Yesterday the UAE got selected as organizer of the WorldExpo 2020. It was hard not to get tempted; I almost blinded you again with pictures of the fireworks and sound fragments of the honking cars following the announcement. Or I could have written a lament about the fact that at 10pm we got a message that the school would close the following today to celebrate winning the election. But no, I will not get myself seduced to write about any of this, after all I have the next 7 years to write about the upcoming WorldExpo.

I promised this post would not cover the weather, wouldn’t be showing holiday pictures nor rugby reports, but it would be about sewing! And I keep my promise.

I present you my new shoulder bag!

I made the webbing as I described here, but this time I did not stitch symmetrical lines.

I made the big version of the bag mentioned in the book, as after all I still have one child in diapers and also the treasures the other kids find all over town sometimes need some storage.

Although the choice of fabrics is exactly as I pictured I am not completely happy with its size. The bag is rather big. I could do with a smaller version!

Pattern: The pattern is recipe 27 from the book Zo Geknipt.

Fabric: The fabric is a combination of Flight Dusk and Poppies Mineral from The Grove collection of Birch Organic Fabric. The fabric was bought oversea @ Fabricworm.

Playtime

Eventually I did rain, a day later than initially announced.

Luckily it was Friday, so there was no school and the kids did not have to get evacuated again. They enjoyed playing outside and getting completely soaked.

As expected some roads got badly flooded but nothing that can’t be managed.

Evacuation

The last couple of days there was unstable weather, and intermittent sand storms.

Today we even had a little bit of rain. Nothing exceptional I hear you think, except when you live out here, as rain IS exceptional in the United Arab Emirates. As it is not very common the house and road infrastructure are not adjusted to these weather conditions. Even with the slightest bit of rain, the electricity breaks down, the rain’s coming in through the roof and the roads are flooding. I am talking about a normal shower of rain and not a tropical downpour.

Today when the first drops fell down, we got the following mail from our children’s school:

‘BREAKING NEWS: En raison des orages et selon l'ordre du KHDA, l'établissement va fermer ses portes au plus vite possible. Le Lycée est en train de contacter les familles pour organiser le départ des élèves.’

All schools were evacuated today, and another couple of drops of rain later the kids were dropped at my doorsteps by the school bus.

I took them to Satwa fabric area, we spotted some nice fabrics at Tahir, unluckily enough they were being used as doormat to avoid wet shoes inside the shop. 

For a fabric-shopping-addict as myself it doesn’t feel right to use fabric as a doormat!

Next post we are back to business!

Flamingo

A last non-DIY blogpost.

As it is perfect weather at the moment, sunny with a light breeze, we have lots of visitors this time of the year. Consequently we spend more time visiting the town then we spend time behind the sewing machine.

Yesterday, we went to watch the birds at the RasAlKhor bird sanctuary and reserve; a peaceful place in the middle of the city.

I only brought my cell phone and the birds were too far to take decent pictures; so I placed my cell phone in front of the binoculars and took these cute snaps.

A tiny bit of nature in the middle of a lot of concrete constructions.

Sir Baniyas Island in pictures

A last post with sunny pictures; after this one we will return to the usual content of this blog.

Last Eid we went to Sir Baniyas Island, we already showed you a picture of that trip, nevertheless we took many more, and I finally found the time to select our favorites for you.

We had a great time spotting mammals and birds during a wildlife safari.

The kids had a great time playing, swimming, jumping, running, biking and looking for bones left behind after the hyena’s meal.

The girls showed off their gymnastics skills.

We took the time to take plenty of family pictures.

Hijab

Our sportive trip to India is already behind us. We fought our self to a reasonable 6^th place at the 2013 Asian Championships.

Just like in the previous edition of the Championship I was moved by the fighting spirit of the Iranian ladies team. We had to fight back strongly to defend our try line.

In addition the Iranian ladies team plays with long sleeves, long legs and Hijab, which makes it noteworthy more difficult to play in 32°C.

We got invited and agreed to go to Iran next spring to participate in a tournament. I am already looking forward to see those lovely girls back in Iran, within a couple of months to play our very first game in long sleeves and Hijab!

There was no time for sightseeing and the only taste of India was during a short walk. A busy road all of a sudden changed into a rural scenery, with horses carrying lambs followed by a herd of sheep.

Pattern reinstatement

The pattern of this ugly duckling got reinstated by the latest version that we made.

The bag is made with Chinese Blue –hand dyed fabric I bought in Shanghai- the details are in red to contrast with the blue of the main fabric.

A little treasure I made for myself and in which I proudly sew my label.

The bag got finished just in time to take to Pune, India, where I, together with the other girls of the National Rugby Team will represent the United Arab Emirates at the Asian Championships.

The luggage is ready, I need another hour to study the National anthem and then we can take off to play against Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, and Iran.

Wish us good luck!