My Life in Boxes
Or what my life looks like right now . . . feels like just yesterday I was packing boxes, unpacking boxes, and here we go again . . . .
The quilt room, all packed up now . . .
Unexpected Blessings
Yesterday I received an unexpected thrill – a letter from a publishing house in Zambia asking to use a photo of a quilt I made in a textbook they are publishing for Namibian children. We have traveled often to Zambia, and once to Namibia. Namibia is a thrilling country, as hot and dry and dusty as Qatar and Kuwait, and as rich, due to diamond deposits.
This is the quilt they will be using. I made it for my husband when I first started quilting, and more experienced quilters said I was crazy. It is a huge quilt, ample for a California king sized bed, but I knew I needed 3″ squares (I had some giraffe fabric I wanted to use) and as the quilt assumed a life of its own, it ended up much larger than I had planned.
It has many African fabrics, one a piece I bought in Tunisia about 30 years ago. I put a piece of it in all my map quilts.
Here are a couple of my more recent quilts. The first is the one I made for my new grandson 🙂
This one is one I started many years ago, but didn’t know how to make it work the way I wanted it to. Twelve years later, I pulled it out and knew exactly what to do and had it pieced together in one morning. 🙂
All these years of living abroad, with AdventureMan working long hours and often traveling, quilting has kept me sane. It provides me with friends who speak the same language – patterns, textures and colors – no matter where I go in the world. It is so absorbing that sometimes I look up and an entire day has passed while I work on a quilt, and it’s time to fix dinner . . . Dinner? No! No! I am going to sew for another hour and order out!
One of the things quilting groups do is to help you stretch and to try new things. Literally, the groups hold CHALLENGES. This was a challenge where it was to show you and a facet of your personality – so this is how I see me with the green Gulf in the background. I made this while living in Kuwait and participating in the quilting guild which is part of the Kuwait Textile Arts Association there. 🙂
There is a wonderful guild in Qatar, the Qatar Quilters. They meet once a month and have nearly 100 members – imagine! Women who quilt come from all Qatar to attend. At the meetings, they show what they have been working on, and teach one another new ways to create quilts. They share information on where to find quilting tools and which shop has recently received a new shipment of fabrics.
You can learn more about the Qatar Quilters by visiting their blog: Qatar Quilters The lady you see in the first photo is one of the Qatar Quilter founders.
Salwa Road: Getting Worse Before it Gets Better
I have always avoided Salwa any way I could. I might cross Salwa, but only as a last resort. Salwa Road is a death trap, an unlimited speed zone, a cat and mouse game zone, a chicken-game road and a training ground for some of the worst maintained tiny little cars I have ever seen. Between the aggressive drivers with their big attitudes and big cars and the POS cars, it’s a nightmare.
The nightmare is getting worse.
This is from today’s Peninsula:
Salwa Road roundabouts to be converted as tunnels
Web posted at: 3/8/2010 4:58:36
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Several major roundabouts on the Salwa Road — Ain Khalid, Al Aziziya, Central Souq and Qatar Decor — will be converted as tunnels.
The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) will start working on the project by the end of this year, official sources at Ashghal told Al Sharq.
Tenders for the project have already been floated. The project comes as part of the next phase of the Salwa International Road development project.
The project will help overcome the traffic jams on this important road. Conversions and alternative roads will be provided during the work as the roundabouts will be removed completely.
The sources promised that delays like those happened in the case of the February 22 road and Industrial Area intersection will not happen in the case of the new project.
Several nationals and residents were highly critical about the delays in these two major projects. Jabber al Khayareen, owner of a show room on the Salwa road said that they had suffered losses due the long road closure.
The shopkeepers had been complaining about the long closure of the Salwa road but officials were turning a deaf ear to their complains, he said.
He cited the heavy traffic jams at Ain Khalid roundabout after opening the Industrial Area flyover as an example of bad planning. The road which was closed for a long time opened to see heavy traffic from the new flyover to a bottleneck of the narrow road and a small roundabout.
He was also critical about the partial opening of main roads before completion of sideways and roundabouts and related service roads.
Another national, Mohammed al Nuaimi hoped that that new road projects would take into consideration the expansion of the Doha city and the increase in its population.
Yousef Al Sharhani, another national, said there was some improvement in the traffic scenario after Ashghal resumed works on various infrastructural projects and completed some of the major road projects.
Doha – Pensacola – Doha
I was always a KLM frequent flyer, when my destination was Seattle, the Amsterdam – Seattle direct flight was the least hassle from Kuwait. From Doha, however, there is an annoying stop in Dammam. a ghostly airport in Saudi Arabia, where all the men who have been working on the oil rigs and in isolated locations get on. Some families also board, but most of the passengers are men who like to drink and talk talk talk in loud voices when the rest of us just want to sleep en route to Amsterdam.
Now that we are flying to Pensacola, we could still go KLM, but one time when KLM cancelled my flight and didn’t tell me, they put me on an Emirates flight out of Kuwait around six at night that got me to Dubai in about an hour, and then put me on a Delta flight that landed early the next morning, not in Amsterdam, but in Atlanta. In another couple hours I was in Pensacola.
Hmmm. Let’s see – 23 hours of flying plus seemingly endless layovers in airport lounges and an additional annoyance factor of the landing in Dammam, OR a short flight + a very long walk in the new Dubai airport to the next terminal + checking in again because the airlines are not partners (bags are checked all the way through, though, so it is only a ticketing issue) and then a very very long flight that gets you there the next morning . . . I’ll opt for the long flight. Now that Delta and KLM are partners, all my miles still count.
Downside. It is a very long flight. There are also a lot of women and children on board, and the first time, I sat next to a little boy who threw up. I felt really sorry for the little boy and his Mom, and I was nice about it, but the smell of throw up makes me feel very much like throwing up. Memorable flight.
This time, because we needed to accomplish a lot in a hurry and needed to be at our best from the moment we arrived, we went business class. Wooo HOOO. I love the Business Class on this flight. All the things that matter to me – Privacy . . . Comfortable Sleeping . . . Quiet cabin . . . relatively clean restrooms . . .
This is what the sleeping pod looks like:
En route back to Doha from Pensacola, when I got to the departure terminal, there was an extra delight – a live pianist in the food mall. I don’t know if this is a paid pianist or a volunteer but she was GOOD! She was also enthusiastic and lively, and played a bunch of old Beatle’s songs. It brightened up what might have been a dull time.
After all that Grandmama-ing and house buying, I was exhausted, and I really slept a lot all the way home. I am paying for it now. I have never had jet lag so extreme or so long. Almost a week later, I am still unable to sleep through the night, falling asleep at weird times, like 8 p.m. and waking up around 2 in the morning. Aarrgh.
Other than that, my life is very dull right now. Packing boxes. Toting things I won’t need – 220v appliances, for example – to people that might need them. Packing more boxes, clearing out cupboards, trying to figure out what I need to keep and what I can freely freely give. Didn’t I just do this? Like yesterday? Leaving Kuwait for Doha?
Some nights I cook, some nights we go out to old favorite restaurants we want to hit one more time – The Majlis. The Little Sailor. The Beirut. Beijing. Royal Tandoor. Places we know we will miss when we are living in Pensacola. Trying to figure out what to take with me in suitcases, what to ship in our limited air cargo, and what I can live without for three months (!)
Of course, the carrot on the end of this long stick is living near our son and his bride and our little grandson. 🙂 Makes it all worthwhile.
Some ‘adventures’ are more irksome than others. This moving stuff is getting old. For those of you who are asking in the background, yes, the Qatteri cat goes with us. He is a member of our family!
Traditional Qatari Architecture Saves on A/C
If, like me, you have any interest in traditional Gulf architecture, and in understanding what works in Gulf countries – and what doesn’t – I urge you to visit a wonderful resource, John Lockerbie’s blog on a variety of things including Islamic design. Clicking on the blue type will take you to a menu with so many items you can get lost for hours. I discovered it one day when I needed information to help me identify the traditional boats, which I love. John’s blog has been a constant resource for me when I have questions about the things I see. . .
Traditional Qatari buildings save on air-conditioning
Web posted at: 3/2/2010 6:26:27
Source ::: The Peninsula
Doha: Buildings and places need to be designed and developed in a sustainable way to allow communities to be less reliant on air conditioning and cars. Sustainable design can lead to cost and energy efficiencies, enhanced lifestyles and a reduced impact on climate change.
This is the view of Tim Makower, partner at Doha-based architects Allies and Morrison, who will be presenting his thoughts and ideas at the Sustainability and the Built Environment Seminar tomorrow, which has been organised by the UK Trade & Invest section of the British Embassy in Doha.
“Air conditioning is not the only way to cool a building, especially in the more temperate months of the year. The Gulf faces extremely hot weather for three, arguably five, months of the year and during this time air conditioning is essential, but for the rest of the year, the weather is very pleasant and architects, engineers and developers should explore alternative ways to cool buildings during these months,” said Makower.
Allies and Morrison opened an office in Doha in summer 2009 and over the last three years has helped to develop the ‘Architectural Guidelines’ for the Dohaland’s 35 hectare development Musheireb, (formerly Heart of Doha).
It is also designing the Diwan Annexe and the National Archive buildings within the first development phase of Musheireb. Both buildings will be two of the first LEED Platinum buildings in Qatar.
Makower said far more air conditioning is used than necessary. He believes that by reducing the reliance on air conditioning there would be some clear benefits, including cost savings and being more eco-friendly due to lower energy consumption.
“We need to design places and buildings that allow people to respond to the climate and live in more harmony with the seasons. For instance, people should be provided with the choice to switch off their air conditioning and open a window during the winter months; for many people that is the most comfortable way to live,” Makower said.
“What could be better than being given greater choice, greater comfort and cost savings all in one go? We are designing homes and work places now which can be dramatically opened up on to external courtyards and balconies in good weather.”
Makower said this flexibility should also extend to the use of the car. He passionately believes that places should be designed to be pedestrian-friendly and that streets should be naturally cooled so that people can choose to walk to schools, shops, the mosque or to work during the cooler months, instead of having to use their cars and face traffic congestion.
“I don’t question the right to use air conditioning or a car, but I believe that we should design places and buildings that give people the choice to switch off their air-conditioning and leave their car in the garage,” he said. During his presentation, Makower will explain how using inventive solutions, which are often founded in traditional Qatari methods and building techniques, can naturally cool buildings.
For instance, buildings can be cooled by incorporating wind-catchers or using thick walls. They can also be positioned to capture the prevailing winds and sea breezes and be related to the sun’s path to create optimum shade.
This can be supported by architectural features such as projecting cornices, canopies, colonnades and screens, all of them traditional Qatari motifs. Re-introducing the traditional form of the narrow lane, or Sikkat, is another way to create shaded spaces with modern buildings.
“Over and above energy related issues, sustainability is about minimising waste and creating lasting places. Buildings and neighbourhoods should be built to last, while still allowing for the natural process of gradual change and regeneration rather than wholesale demolition. It is Dohaland’s intention to retain and maintain the Musheireb in the long term, and to ensure that it is built to last.”
The Sustainability and the Built Environment Seminar will be held at 8.30am on March 3 at the Diplomatic Club in Doha.
Qatar Initiates Solar Energy Plan
Woooo HOOOO, Qatar, for not depending on a non-renewable energy source, but continuing to develop strategies for survival into the future. And Qatar definitely has an abundance of solar power. But then again – so does Kuwait.
Qatar to tap solar power in a big way
Web posted at: 3/2/2010 6:29:33
Source ::: THE PENINSULA/ BY SATISH KANADY
DOHA: Qatar is all set to tap its abundance of solar power. Two leading international agencies yesterday announced their decision to partner with two Qatari entities to produce the green energy in the country.
SolarWorld AG, one of the world’s largest solar companies, will partner with Qatar Solar Technology (QST), in which Qatar Foundation (QF) has a major stake. Separately, the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, German Aerospace Centre (DLR), will partner with the country’s ambitious Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP).
Qatar Solar Technology marks the entry of QF into the solar energy sector. QF will have a 70 percent stake in QST, with SolarWorld holding 29 percent and Qatar Development Bank the remaining one percent.
The initial investment in QST is valued at over $500m, QF said.
Through the joint venture, solar grade polysilicon, the essential ingredient of solar panels, would be produced in the first phase.
QST will develop a new plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, in the northeast of Qatar, which will be one of the first operational polysilicon plants in the region. The plant will produce well over 3,500 tonnes per annum of the material and will be designed with future expansion in mind, which will enable it to significantly increase production capacity.
You can read the rest of the article, including contributions by Texas A&M, by clicking HERE
Oh! Didn’t It Rain!
I love it that this YouTube version of Mahalia Jackson’s rendition of “Oh Didn’t It Rain!” starts out with photos in Wadi Rum in Jordan, a couple peeks at Petra, and as the camera backs off, the effects of wind and rain on the topography of the Wadi Rum area. We camped there for three nights, lo, these many years ago, going on camelback into the deeper parts of the canyon. It was unforgettable.
My trip back into Doha last night was unforgettable.
In what is usually the most mundane of flights, we found ourselves bumping up and down with lightning striking all around us, from about the halfway point all the way into Doha. I’ve never had a lot of faith in the aerodynamics that keeps airplanes up in the air, and seeing flashes of lightning all around me was a genuinely religious experience, LOL.
(From article on lightning strikes plane in Japan: According to a Scientific American article about lightning strikes and aircraft, its is “estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year”. However, the article notes that the last crash directly attributed to a lightning strike occurred back in 1967 when the fuel tank exploded.)
At the airport, all the baggage handlers actually had on rain-gear, and on the way home, there were deep pools where drains have clogged. And, as AdventureMan said, when you live at sea level, just where is the water going to drain?
I am so thankful to be home. Home for the next scant three weeks, anyway, as I pack up all those boxes once again for what we think will be (one of) our last moves. Sorting, giving away, “can I live without this if I leave it behind?” “Will I regret it forever if I leave this behind?” “Is there someone who could give this a good home?”
I have two great avenues of disposal; my own church, where incoming church personnel can make use of household goods and not have to buy everything new, and my housekeeper’s church, where they cherish anything they get.
Waterfront Mission Pensacola
LOL, this is what a mother-son outing looks like in our family. Our son volunteered to take me shopping at the Waterfront Mission, a store like Goodwill or the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul, second hand stores run by churches. I love these stores (and I donate to these stores!) because I can find treasures here to make new and usable once again, and when I spend my money here, I know it will go to help the homeless, help feed the poor, help heat a house for a person without the money for electricity, etc. These are worthy organizations, providing a great service to the community.
People get rid of perfectly good, usable furniture, because they want something fresh and new. This is good news for people like me – I took a class in furniture upholstery and discovered that it is something I love doing. Tearing off the old fabric and stuffing is GREAT therapy when you are annoyed or anxious about something, and good prayer time, too. Putting it all back together is just good fun. Many times there are pieces of wood that need to be stripped and/or refinished; at least in the pieces I like to renovate.
Wait! I’ll show you some of the potential treasures I found! I didn’t buy anything; haven’t got the house yet, but this field trip gave me inspiration for the future:
See what I mean? These pieces have potential!
For AdventureMan:
Here is a detail – how cool is that?
If you want your own massage table:
Someone spray painted this daybed a verdigris sort of green. It could be rescued, but it would be a lot of trouble . . .
For your outdoor patio, there are two marble topped tables:
And for my collector friends, a real treasure – a SINGER treadle!
There were exquisite wedding dresses for sale – makes you wonder what happened to the marriage, that a bride would part with her wedding dress. Most of these are custom made; they are available at prices that would make them worth buying just to re-use the fabrics in a quilt or cushion or Christmas stocking:
There are things I would never buy used – like a mattress. But many pieces of furniture from older times are 100% solid wood, and better made than some of the furniture you find in stores, even expensive stores, worth the effort to rescue and rehabilitate. And, for people like me, the rehabilitation is part of the fun. 🙂 Thanks be to God for a husband and son and daughter (in-law) who support my peculiar habits!
Americans Sing for the Liberation of Kuwait
My sweet Kuwait friend sent me this today. It made me cry.
We all have memories of the invasion. I remember it well. We had just moved to Tampa, AdventureMan was working with CENTCOM. He had just brought his very old grandmother to visit with us, and the next day, Iraq invaded, and his grandmother and I didn’t see him again!
We have had a long history with Kuwait, longer than our time living there. Kuwait matters to us. This song makes me cry; the effects of this invasion linger on, resonating and affecting so many lives:
Grabbing a Half Day
While most of my time has been spent joyfully grandmama-ing, I was feeling increasing anxiety about one thing. I am flying back to Doha to pack, and then I am flying back to Pensacola to close on the house, and wait for AdventureMan to join me, and then all our furniture and household goods that have been in storage a lifetime – twelve years – will arrive.
Oh oh. Where do we sleep until our bed arrives? We COULD invade our dear son and his sweet wife once again, but don’t you think enough is enough? Would you want your parents and in-laws living with you, week after week, with all our well-intentioned advice, and stories about our son when he was young?
No? LLOOLLL, me neither!
So yesterday, I took an afternoon to myself.
First, I had learned that the Pensacola Quilter’s Guild was having their bienniel (once every TWO years) show this weekend, Friday and Saturday. There is little that can take this adoring grandmama away from her most adorable brand-new grandson, but I will admit it – a quilt show – that is beyond temptation. I had to go, even just for an hour. I went, joined the guild, hurried through the exhibit, which was GLORIOUS! and then I went furniture shopping.
Furniture shopping is not what it used to be. I have some lovely furniture in storage, but not a huge amount of it. Some of it we sent off with Law and Order Man when he went off to law school and needed some basics. Some of it is just outdated – like televisions from the 90’s! I figured I would just look for the basics – bed, mattress and table and chair. We will have a place to sit when we are not sleeping, and we can buy the TV’s together, later, with our son’s help. We need the help of the high-tech-savvy to get us up to speed on what we will be needing, phones, TV’s, cable connections, phone plans, internet connections, oh, it is as bad as buying a new car!
When we were still in the military, we found a dining room table and chairs, gorgeous, at an auction, for $169. We found marble topped antique oak nightstands, gorgeous, at the flea market in Metz, and paid $60 for the pair. We found a gorgeous buffet/credenza in a used furniture shop in Leavenworth, KS for $50 + $10 for delivery, all these are furniture pieces we still treasure. I am telling you this so you will understand what sticker shock I get when I go to look at new furniture.
I am quick and clear about what I want and need, but the prices require me to summon all the courage I can summon when I go to write the checks. I am good at saving. Letting that money go is so HARD. It took me the entire afternoon to find pieces I knew would work for us.
Here is where you will sleep, the guest room bed, when you come to stay with us:
It was on sale. I love it because, with the inlay, it sort of reminds me of the Middle East, of Damascus:
I also bought mattresses. It was difficult, too, because I don’t like these pillow tops. We like a good, firm bed, and I like to sleep cool, I can’t get to sleep if I am too warm, and these pillow tops are too warm. It took me a long time to find a good, firm mattress set for the bed.
Then I went looking for a table and chairs for the family room/ casual dining area. I knew what I wanted. My long-time Chinese friend told me the best table for families is the round table, no one sits at the head, everyone is equal. My sister Big Diamond (Little Diamond’s and Sporty Diamond’s Mom) has a HUGE, gorgeous round table, and I have seen how people love to gather there. So I knew I wanted a round table that would be inviting and comfortable, but not so grand as my sister’s. I have been looking online, checking out a lot of models. When I found one here in Pensacola, at a reasonable price, I was hooked. It is light teak – light in color, heavy in weight. OOps. Then she reminded me I would need chairs. Aaarrgh.
There weren’t any other customers in the shop at the time, so we took our time. As I learned from you, my Middle Eastern friends, we dickered a little, comfortably and amiably – and she gave me a discount, and free delivery.
The chairs are amazing. You would not believe wood could feel so comfortable. The table and chairs together remind me so much of all our times camping and in lodges in Africa, in Zanzibar, in Zambia, in Botswana, where the furniture is both comfortable and well made. But I almost choked, writing the check. Some things are just worth buying new; sturdy, comfortable furniture is one of them.
Here is the guest bathroom:
It has a spa tub and a walk in shower. 🙂
Last but not least, I found some farewell gifts for friends I have had in Doha for a long long time, and a bolt of muslin for a friend who knows I am coming back with suitcases almost empty. 🙂 It was a long day, and a fruitful day, and I am resting easier knowing all these little details are coming together.
Today, however, my son and his wife are taking me to the kinds of places I LOVE buying furniture! The Waterfront Mission Store and Loaves and Fishes! Wooo HOOOOO!
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