Dubai in pictures

Today I am starting a new series of posts. It will feature images of Dubai that you won't find in the tourist brochures.

This picture was taken in the Mall of the Emirates a while ago. The boys were looking down on a promotional display on the floor below.

Our bird family - (sad) update

Saturday afternoon as we came home from a shopping trip, we found the baby bulbul on the ground beneath the tree. Thy mommy bird was frantic and very upset. She sat in the tree nearby, calling loudly to her baby.


At first we stayed clear to see what would happen, but after a while I couldn't stand their distress anymore and I decided to pick the baby bird up and put it back in it's nest.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday we didn't see any of the birds around and the nest seemed deserted. But I still hoped...


This morning I found the dead baby bird beneath the tree. I still don't know if it died from injuries sustainded from falling out of it's nest, or if the parents deserted it because I touched it. I hope it is not the latter...

We buried the dead bird under the tree.

Quilt for new craftshop

My friends Riana and Jennifer are opening a new craftshop in Dubai next week. The shop will include a big workshop area where they will present quilt- and other craft classes. As part of all their preparations they asked me to piece a quilt top for the workshop.

They presented me with a stack of fabric and a pattern.

I have made quite a few quilts in my life but this was the first time I actually worked from a pattern.
It is made up of 2 different types of blocks in 3 different colour combinations.

The only freedom of choice I had was in how I will combine the 6 different prints into a 9-patch block

I just had to do the top. Someone else will do the actual quilting and finishing.

The shop opens this weekend. Can't wait...

Feathery visitors

The weather at the moment is just glorious! The summer is finally over and we can enjoy some mild temperatures and cool breezes. The sky is bright blue with a few feathery clouds floating by. (In summer the sky is a pale gray/yellow non-colour and months go by without a single cloud in sight) I have to remind myself everyday that this is autumn and not spring. But it seems I am not the only one who has season-confusion...

A pair of White Cheeked Bulbuls (Pycnonotus leucogenys) has built a nest in the tree outside our front door and they have successfully hatched two little ones! They get very angry at us whenever we go in or out near their nest, so we try to stay clear. Today I ventured closer and took a few photos. The nest is very well hidden between the leaves so it is not easy to see the babies.

The poor mommy bird got very upset with me and made a lot of noise, so I didn't stay long...

This fellow below is a Hoopoe (Upupa epops) and he is on his way south for the season. He feeds on the lawn in the school grounds where my son has swimming lessons and we have watched him for the past week or so. He will soon continue his journey south.

This Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) is a resident in the UAE although they are more common in the mountains to the east than in the city. This one looked quite young and still unsure of himself. He sat on the railing of the balcony for a long time. I had to take the photo through the window as I didn't want to scare him away.

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I have also noticed the Purple Sunbird in the garden but he doesn't stay still long enough for me to take a photo.

My daughter and I have a date for a picnic in the park next week - we might just see some more feathery friends to share...

Memory quilt

At last I can tell you about my secret project!
My friend Vera and myself made a memory quilt for our dear friend Truda who, after 7 years in Dubai, are moving back to South Africa with her family. I have talked about saying goodbye before - it is one of the few bad things about being an expat - friends never stay around long enough...

myself, Vera and Truda

After making and remaking lists of friends to include, we gave each person a square of white linen to decorate with messages and memories as they see fit. We were overwhelmed by everybody's creativity and love! We received everything from embroidery, painting, applique,printing, writing and beadwork to include in the quilt.

The finished quilt

We decided to use camel blankets to frame the blocks and bind everything together. Camel blankets are used to cover racing camels before and after racing and can be bought at the Camel Souk in Dubai. You will find a stack of camel blankets in every expat home in Dubai, being used for everything from tablecloths to picnic blankets to bed covers ... and we knew Truda loves them.

racing camels covered in camel blankets

Here are a few close-ups of some of the handmade blocks...

An embroidered portrait of Truda and her family

A beautifully appliqued heart with a scroll. The scroll contains photos and memories of a trip to Israel. A real treasure!

A beautifully embroidered heart and rose. The stitchwork on this block is exquisite!

A quilted Christmas star by a master quilter

A painting of a few Dubai memories

A handpainted vine branch

Another beautifully embroidered heart and flowers.

embroidered 'portrait' of the chorus

It was a real honor to make a lasting memory for a wonderful friend. I pray that their new life in South Africa will also be filled with great experiences, good friends and many blessings.

My secret project...

Just a quick "Hallo", to let you know I am still around.


I am frantically working on my secret project.


Only one week to go than I can reveal it - first to my friend and then to you.


In the meantime here are some teasers to tide you over.

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surprises and surprises

I am working on something really exciting, but I can't talk about it yet as it is a surprise for someone. I am not sure if that person is a regular reader of this blog, but just in case he/she is, I am holding back for a few weeks.


On a different note, I was very excited when I discovered this color scheme program on the internet. It is great to play around with if you are unsure about color combinations. Anything from quilting and embroidery to choosing paint colors becomes easier with this nifty tool!

Camping in Oman

When most people think of the Middle East, this is not what comes to mind:

But this is exactly what we experienced this past weekend. We spent 4 days camping off the east coast of Oman. Oman is part of the Arabian Peninsula and borders on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It is one of only a few unspoiled coastlines left on this planet. We were 6 families camping on this glorious beach with not another soul to be seen for the entire weekend.

The weekend consisted of swimming and body surfing during high tide and playing in the rock pools during low tide. The boys (old and young) fished from the beach or from the kayak, and the rest of the time we just lazed around. Life could not be more perfect even if it tried.

The fact that it is about 10 hours drive across the desert to get there, makes it even more special...

I mean, when was the last time you had to stop for a camel crossing the road?

Christmas mobiles

Yes, I know - it's still 3 months to go before Christmas (O my gosh! Only three?) but I am still talking about last Christmas.
It was the first time in two and a half years that we saw the family, so planning gifts was a big deal. Not only was everybody 2 years older than the last time we saw them, we also didn't know how their taste and style had changed in the mean time. And to top it all, everything had to go on the plane.
In the end I decided to make gifts for as many of the family as possible. My mother, mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law each received a handmade mobile. I have seen these free downloads on Futuregirl's blog last year and I knew I had to make it, so this was the ideal project for them.

Now, if you think this isn't very Christmassy at all, let me remind you that December is the middle of summer down in South Africa and a normal Christmas holiday for us is a beach holiday.

Alice from Futuregirl made her sea creatures from felt which makes it very easy (and neat, I might add) to edge them. I decided to use polycottons from my stash, which meant I had to put interfacing on to keep them from fraying.

I strung them all together with embroidery floss and added some beads and shells in between to give a more beachy feel to it.

The jellyfish at the bottom has small bells at the ends of their tentacles to give it some weight and to add a jingle to the mobile...

Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to finish it in time that I completely forgot to photograph it before I gave it away. These (not so good) photos was taken last month on my last holiday to SA at my mother's and mother-in-law's houses. The other two are as yet unphotographed.

Wip's

I know I haven't blogged about anything I made for quite a while now, so just to show that I'm not doing nothing I can show you two sneak peeks:

Wall art in Anika's room...

The next crochet project, still in the design phase...