Simply Creative

I AM BACK!

2010-06-21T18:07:00.000+04:00

Yes, I know it really has been a VERY long time since my last update but you know...life got busy! What can I say... So thought what better time while sitting watching the 2010 World Cup soccer (and I can tell you I am NOT a soccer fan at all but I thought best I show my support just in case someone asked "did you see the match between...?")!

So yes, life has been a tad busy with our family "trek" (also know as "move") back from Dubai in March last year, yes, can you believe that! We have been back in Cape Town for over 15 months and it really feels like we haven't left! I started my cardmaking and scrapbooking business up and running again and it has been keeping me really, really busy! So now this blog will be dedicated to all my cardmaking and scrapbooking projects, a little bit about my life and travels (with a few personal updates for the rest of the family) so please feel free to delete yourself from the mailing if you don't want to receive any future blogging blah, blah from me!

So here is a little bit of cardmaking inspiration for you:

This card was made with the Cuttlebug butterfly die cut, scored into 3 sections to create a tier-folded card and finished off with red rhinestones and beads.

So this will be the start of many more bloggings to come to keep you up to date with all kinds of creativity, events, etc.

Have a happy week!

Until later...

For my creative friends...

2009-02-19T21:06:00.001+04:00

Okay! I always seem to apologise that it takes me so long to do posts! Why is life so hectic?!

Tomorrow afternoon we are off to experience our first overnight stay in the middle of the desert! We are going on a 4x4 adventure with friends and we are going to camp for the night, so that should be an interesting experience! Will blog the details with what we were up to...

I know it has been a while since I blogged some pictures of the cards I have been making so here are four for you to all get yourselves inspired and your creative juices flowing! I am always envious of all those people who blog each and every day (or second day) with new creative ideas and things that they have been doing creatively! Where do they find the time!!! So here are 3 cards I made recently (the first 2 are just general cards and the last one - pink teddy card was for my niece, Ella-Rose who just recently turned 2):

Bryce is having a sports day so I am off to be the "Mommy support!"

Until later...

International Day!

2009-01-31T19:24:00.007+04:00

Comes around once a year at Bryce and Logan's school. It is a day of celebrating your nationality and bringing you closer to people who come from the same background and country as you! It was wonderful to spend the morning with people from different nationalities and experience the unique cultures around the world.

So myself, Bryce and Logan dressed in our "national dress" which was rugby shirts and me in my South African flag t-shirt with my dreadlock hair (just to bring in an element of fun!). We headed off to school. The children started a parade which is just like the Olympics where they were put into groups from their different countries and walked into the hall. It was so great to see the kids participate and be proud of the countries they come from (or their parents!) No surprise that one of the biggest groups of children came from South African and Australia.

Each country ie, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, India, Sweden, Germany, had a room in the school which was decorated in each countries "heritage". So South Africa/Africa had an "African Theme" displaying African prints, animals, etc. It was really well done but unfortunately I did not get any pics of the room. Some South African mums got together and baked koeksisters, babotie, milk tart, boerewors (also known as "sausage" for those Non-South Africans) and we also had biltong and droewors! Yum! Yum!

Some of the SA moms and me were responsible for the kindies (kindergarten kids aged between 4 - 6) and had a room set up with them. We put together a 152 lion king masks made out of paper plates. Lots of time and effort! I was so grateful when they were done! I created the mask but not sure I will be so enthusiastic next year! Thanks to those Moms who helped though as I would still be doing the faces and cutting out 152 pieces of hair, 152 noses and 306 ears! Here is Logan wearing the mask.

Unfortunately my camera decided to play up so I could not get as many pics as I wanted to but here is what I got:

Myself, Bryce and Logan going to school
South African kids
Logan waving the SA flag he made

Until next time...

Dubai Aquarium

2009-01-16T22:17:00.006+04:00

Today we spend a leisurely morning going through the Dubai Aquarium situated at a new shopping mall, which has been abtly named "Dubai Mall"! The aquarium was nice, yes, just nice but the Cape Town aquarium is so much better! The one aspect which makes it great for the Dubains (not sure what we call ourselves here!) is the huge, and I mean huge glass wall of sea life swimming while you can shop.

The family gang (Vaughan, Nicky, Rowan, Fi, Ella-Rose and Madison) all meet at around 10h00, except the Glanvilles - well, we were late! We couldn't find the appropriate parking section and landed up on the otherside of the mall. It took us all of 20 mins to just park and walk otherwise I am sure we would have been on time. Anyway, not important! It took us about an hour to walk through the aquarium to see everything. We then went off to the food court (all that walking! not!) made us hungry so we went for a brunch. We are yet to find a nice place in Dubai (besides the hotels!) that sell a nice English breakfast (bacon - which is normally not on the menu and eggs are hard to come by!). So we ended up eating fast food instead!

Here are some of the pics I took (except obviously the one with all of us! :).

Oooh! What a good looking family! Love this picture of Bryce, the seal was posing so nicely for this pic too!

Until next time...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T10:28:00.014+04:00

Well, can you believe we are into the 4th day of our new year! If that's true, I would hate to see how fast this year is going to fly by! So my wish for you in 2009 is...

May your New Year be better than your old year.
May your goals be in reach and your dreams soar.

May you receive many joys & blessings in 2009.

I was reading the newspaper this morning (believe me I don't get to do this often) and read that John Travolta's son passed away on Friday morning, he was 16. They think he hit is head on the bath which caused a seizure. Apparently he did have siezures on the odd occassion. I felt so sad and reflected on how so many tragedy's happen everyday and we sometimes need to take a step back and be grateful for life and what it offers, no matter what curve balls are thrown our way!

On to a happier note, we celebrated a very quiet Christmas with my brother, Vaughan and sister-in-law Nicky and lunch with our South African friends, Crystal, Bruce, Celeste, Jolene, Colin and their two friends Matt and Amy. It was a great day. We started off with going to a church service. Then we went to take some pics at the Burj Al Arab (just to prove we were in Dubai!). We came home for a very belated omlette breakfast which Peter made and then we opened presents (the boys were very patient to wait so long as it was around 13h00 before we started present swapping!). Here are some pics taken through the day...

We celebrated our first New Year's Eve with friends of ours with a good 'ole spit braai! Not much celebrations going on though because the Sheikh of Dubai banned any outdoor celebrations (usually there are fireworks on the beach which a lot of the hotels let off as the New Year arrives) in support of the war going on along the Gaza strip. Well, that didn't stop us South Africans (and I am sure many out there too in Dubai) who had small house parties! Not sure that anyone would have seen much fireworks even if there were as there was such thick mist that came in, it was wonderful! Cool!

At least the New Year did not bring in a hangover and we celebrated the day just relaxing at home.

So...2009...what will this year bring us...well, I suppose we will have to wait and see!

All I wanted for Christmas....

2008-12-24T12:23:00.005+04:00

was a humungus Christmas tree for our house! Every Christmas time I put up our tree which was about half a metre high and it took me all of an hour to put it up and decorate! Well, my wish came true 3 days ago when we went shopping at one of the big shops here called Carrefour (a supermarket chain from France). They were having a 50 % discount off on all their Christmas decorations and I managed to get the last tree (just waiting for me!) on the shelf which was 2.4 metres. It almost got stolen out of my trolley too!

Not thinking much of how big a 2.4 metre tree was when buying it until I got it home and put it up the next day! The thought when buying that yes, it will be big but boy...that big! It took me about an hour to just put it together - luckily the branches are colour coded. Not like the small trees you buy where you just fold out the branches and start unfolding the smaller branches...no, not that easy!

Anyway, the point is I am still very happy about my Christmas tree, it also took about 3 days to decorate. The decorations were also on a 50 % discount so all in all I was quite chuffed about my bargains!

Thanks Row and Fi for the loan of your small Christmas tree (compared to the humungus one!) while you are holidaying in South Africa with Dad and Mom...lucky buggers!

So, this is what the tree looked like without the decorations (yes, that is a bird in the tree! Our new addition to our family, a parakeet, called Belladean (that story will be blogged still!)

and this is what it looks like decorated (lucky for high ceilings!)

So on this Chrismas Eve I would like to take the opportunity to wish all our family and friends the merriest Christmas and may 2009 bring you lots of happiness and may all your dreams come true....

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Miss you alll!!! XXX

Christmas card ideas!

2008-12-10T18:59:00.004+04:00

I am back, and it only took me a week! Whew! Life is way to busy and I think for everyone, this time of year gets to be the worst ever! The silly season is upon us! So here are a few Christmas cards to get you going - merry Christmas and happy New Year to all my friends and family! Just in case I forget to tell you! (ha, ha, ha!) - you never know! So some inspiration for those card follower friends of mine - hope you manage to get your Christmas cards out in time! I cannot believe that it is 15 days to Christmas and I have not done one Christmas shop! I have made all these cards and I hope this year I get to post them!

As you can see, loved the snowman! The background was done with an embossed plate with a cuttlebug.

Until later...

Oh my word!

2008-12-03T11:36:00.000+04:00

Has it really been that long since I last did a blog entry!! We are almost at the beginning of December and it has been over two months! So really sorry to the "followers" of my blog - I am certainly going to make a concerted effort to not leave it so long! So where do I start...!

Lots of things have happened in the last two months so I am going to put the highlights and blog them separately as the week goes by.

Firstly, I can't even remember October besides our Halloween party (that will be a whole other post!) so lets start with November! Secondly, It was Peter's birthday on 07 November - happy birthday, babes! We spent a relaxing afternoon at a place called Dubai Creek Park, the boys had lots of fun just running wild and spend most of their time at the Creek catching crabs! Bryce's ultimate goal is to catch anything that is alive! Peter does what he does best and caught a nap (he doesn't know I took this picture!).

Thirdly and lastly (for now!) one of my highligts for November was to spend a wonderful evening with our friends, Bruce and Celeste and we went to go see a live cooking show with Ainsley Harriot! It was fabulous! We arrived and were given glasses upon glasses of delicious Moet champagne with sushi type snacks. The show started with Ainsley at around 20h30 and he was hysterically funny - he is even better live than watching him on his shows "Ready, steady, cook!" - my cheeks were so sore from all the laughter!

Celeste and I managed to get our books signed my Ainsley - unfortunately, Peter had to babysit so Ainsley wrote - "thanks for looking after the sprogs (kids) - get cooking"! Here is a picture of Celeste and I with Ainsley and I have also added a video - Ainsley with Brian Turner doing a impromptu karaoke number. (That is Celeste's comments and laughter in the background!)

I had a very successful scrapbooking crop day which a friend of mine, Tracey and I which we organised this past weekend! 35 ladies all cropping and it was fantastic! Such good feeback too! Will blog about that and post some pics a bit later!

I will be blogging again shortly, I promise! For my cardmaking followers, I made a few cards and scrapbook pages too so will add those soon!

Until next time...!

An update and our move....(again!)

2008-09-30T09:23:00.008+04:00

Can anyone explain to me where September has gone, in fact, where has this year gone!

So it has been a while since I updated you with the going ons in Dubai so here we go...get a cup of tea/coffee this could be long update!

We sadly left all our family and friends in Cape Town after a lovely, long holiday (well, for the boys and I anyway!) and arrived back in Dubai on 28 August at 05h45, a tired husband and two boys in tow and not the best of flights but that is another story to be told! We headed off home to wait for the movers who arrived at 09h00 to move our stuff to the new villa. Luckily they did most of the packing besides the boxes I packed before I left for Cape Town! It was an extremely long day for all of us and this is how Logan and Peter coped (sleeping on the lounge floor in amongst the packers!).

We left the old villa at 15h00 and the movers left at around 18h30 and I was left to the job of unpacking boxes, etc. I would recommend this way of moving anytime. The packers packed and unpacked the heavy stuff and put it all in the relative rooms and all I really had to do was unpack our boxes and personal stuff. So the move went relatively smoothly and we are now all very happy in our new house. It didn't take me long to unpack all the boxes (the advantage of not accummulating years of stuff but it is amazing what you can accumulate in months too!). It probably took about 4 days to unpack everything but we are sorely lacking cupboard space! So we need cupboards for the boys bedrooms and new curtaining as we have 4 windows in the lounge/dining room area, compared to only 1 in old place! So here are the pics of the villa:

1st pic - Front of the villa

2nd pic - Front courtyard with swimming pool (front door)

3rd pic - Dining room/lounge area

4th pic - Logan's room

5th pic - Bryce's room

6th pic - Bathroom

7th pic - Our bedroom

8th pic - En-suite bathroom

The villa is lovely and large and very bright which I love! The boys have their own bedrooms now, which are also very big, our room is the only one with cupboards which Peter and I have to share (another advantage - can't buy more clothes because I can't fit them into the cupboard!). We have a huge kitchen (and I mean huge!), three bathrooms, a lovely garden with grass and we have just put up a portable pool for the boys in the front patio area which they are loving!

Bryce and Logan have also settled in really well at school and seem to love it, which I am very grateful for! Last week I spent time in the school library volunteering my services of covering their library books! So far I think I have covered over 250 books! I am going to help them out every now and then as they are so desparate for help! The boys are on school holidays again! They start school on Sunday because of Eid and Ramadan. Eid starts today (hip, hip hooray!) life is back to some normality! The month of September is Ramadan which has made life really interesting in Dubai. We cannot eat or drink in public at all, no smoking or chewing gum for those that do those habits and life really only begins after "iftar" when the sun goes down! The shops open late and close at around 12h00/01h00 in the morning but it really is something to get used to as you cannot even take a sip of water in public. If you do and offend someone you could be heavily fined or put in jail.

I am gearing up to teach card making classes in October. Just hope that I can get a couple of ladies interested so that I can get started and make some money but we will see how that goes! Peter's Dad and Cassandra arrive on Friday which we are all looking forward to so we will probably be doing some sightseeing with them. Friday night we are having a spit braai to celebrate the end of Ramadan (yeah! another party!) so I am looking forward to that.

I am still missing SA but seemed to be settled back in the way of Dubai life a little easier than when we first arrived. I think it is because I can drive the boys to school, the villa is a lot more spacious and my brothers are nearby. Only disadvantage is that we are almost on the flight path so we have planes flying over every couple of minutes, somtimes I am aware of it and sometimes it is that "white noise" in the background! I now say we don't need an excuse to drink anymore as there is always a boeing flying over!

What else is news - oh yes, I had my first fender bender in Dubai! I was going around a traffic circle and some dose of a cop stopped me as I was going around to let the flow of traffic come in and the guy behind me never stopped in time. Interesting experience! In Dubai you have to wait for a policeman to come so that they can give you slips so that you can get the cars fixed and no one arrived! The stupid police guy who stopped me headed off without coming to check, probably thought he would get fired, he just shrugged his shoulders when it happened! %&$@%!!!! Anyway, no damage to my car because the guy hit the bumper but his fender and bonnet was damaged! A nice guy from the UK who has only been here since April and his car was brand spanking new. My 1998 jallopy with all its scratches seemed to have survived. Although the clutch is going and because it is manual Peter decided to buy another car so we are getting a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder with a 3.5 litre engine which will probably suck the juice but being in Dubai it only takes about R 200.00 to fill the tank so I suppose we should enjoy the big 4x4 cars while it lasts!

So I think that is all the updates for now. Will add some more soon...hopefully I can be more disciplined and add updates on a weekly basis, saves you having to take the time to read such a long story but thanks for reading it anyway! Hope you didn't get too bored?!

So until next time...sooner than you think...

Well as they say...

2008-08-23T01:48:00.001+04:00

in South Africa, "min dae" (in english "few days") or "all good things eventually come to an end"! The boys and I have had a wonderful holiday in South Africa and we have 4 sleeps to go before we head back to, probably, a very warm Dubai! Our trip to the Eastern Cape was great! We spent lots of time with Nan (my grandmother, the boys great grandmother), who turned 87! It was also nice to spend time with all my aunts, uncles, cousins and friends - miss you all already!

We took a trip down to the Transkei for a few days, unfortunately we missed having lunch with Richard Gere and Hilary Swank! They were in the area shooting a new movie called "Amelia" - I mean - how much closer can you be to celebs than a couple of kilometres! The cottage we stayed in was awesome. Situated almost on the beach with no one in sight! Great weather but unfortunately the fish were being a bit evasive! Not to mention that I was also very creative and managed to make over 35 cards! Anyone looking at renting the cottage for a couple of days let me know! My aunt and uncle are responsible for the renting of it. You cannot ask for a better holiday - all you can do is relax as shops and people are miles away! Here's some pics:

Pic 1 - Going over the pont at Kei Mouth
Pic 2 - View from the cottage
Pic 3 - The cottage
Pic 4 - What a view from the braai area!
Pic 5 - ...not forgetting the seagull named "Nelson"
Pic 6 - Me trying to fish
Pic 7 - Dad, Bryce and Logan in front of the "Jacaranda" a ship that lost its way along the coast in 1973 - not much of it left now!
Pic 8 - Bryce and Logan having fun swinging

On our return Logan unfortunately contracted what we think might have been tick bite fever! The little bugger bit him on the head and he was sick with a fever and swollen glands for a couple of days. After hectic anti-biotics he was well on the road to recovery! He was absolutely fine during the day, no headaches but come night time a fever would start...but we got through it! Amazing how resilient kids can be - can't have any playtime interrupted!

Peter arrives in Cape Town on this evening. He arrived from Dubai on Tuesday and went up to the bushveld with his brothers and friends, at least he is having some good r&r (rest and relaxation!) and we all fly back to Dubai on Wednesday, 27 August - boo hoo! On top of all that we are also going to be moving into another villa when we get back, either on the day we arrive or just after but that is another story which I will get into some other time!

So... I am off to enjoy my last few days of the cold weather and our time in Cape Town...where has August gone!

Guess where I am...

2008-07-22T12:20:00.003+04:00

Okay I know I was behind on my "blogging" but this is seriously too far behind! So have you guessed yet where I am....

Well, as most of my South African family and friends know by now, myself, Bryce and Logan are back "home" in Cape Town for a lovely, long visit. Almost 7 weeks, woo hoo! Not so sure if the grandparents ie, my Mom and Dad are coping with the noise levels of the two boys, the fighting, the friends visiting, etc but they need some excitement in their lives for a while. Sorry, Mom and Dad won't be for too much longer!

It has been great to be back! So wonderful to see all the family and friends and to play "catch up"! Even managed to do some cardmaking and scrapbooking shopping this past week - not sure how I am going to fit it all in my suitcase! Husband, be warned, I think on your visit at the end of August before we leave to go back to Dubai you might have to pack just an overnight bag so I can use all your kilos!

Tomorrow we leave for the Eastern Cape to see all my aunts, uncles, cousins and my grandmother who is turning 87! Looking forward to that. We will be gone for about a week and a half visiting East London and then going to the Transkei to relax at a cottage, situated right on the beach! What more can you ask for.

Anyway, need to get back as we are leaving at 06h00 sharp!

Scrapbooking page layouts...

2008-06-30T10:00:00.001+04:00

Below are the scrapbooking layouts I have done in the last week. Four of them are of Bryce's birthday party at Ratanga Junction and the last layout is of my Mom taking the boys down to the sea in East London. It was so much fun actually eventually getting down to actually spending some time doing these pages. I also realised I have a long way to go before I catch up. I suppose this is a start...

I invited two scrapbooking friends who are both South Africans! Amazing how in a foreign country you tend to gravitate to the people of your own nationality. I have come to realise that when you discuss things they know what you are talking about! So Tracey and Janine it was great fun spending the morning with you and I hope it won't be long before we get together and do it again! The motivation and company was truly great! Don't worry I didn't do all the layouts at once but got the first two pages done in the morning and felt so inspired I finished 3 more in the evening!

Some more card ideas to come soon...

Some creative juices flowing...

2008-06-15T12:27:00.009+04:00

So for all my creative cardmaking and scrapbooking friends out there...I know...it has been a long while since I put anything creative on the blog so this entry is just for you!

On Friday and Saturday I was at a craft market in Dubai prompting scrapbooking and cardmaking and you cannot believe how many South Africans I met popping past the stall. It was a lot of fun but exhausting. I was there from 12h00 - 19h00 on both days and I taught a class doing a Tag Card Booklet - three people on Friday and two on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and it reminded me of my teaching days back home! When I come back from "summer break" I am hoping to get classes up and running here as there has been a lot of interest.

The tag card booklet consists of the following:

2 pieces of chipboard/frameboard for your cover measuring 8 x 12.5 cm. You will then need to cut two pieces of scrapbooking paper or cardstock to cover these pieces that are slightly larger. On one of the pieces attach a ribbon across.
Cut cardstock to measure 12 cm x 30 cm (the black piece in this picture) and a piece of patterned paper to measure 7.5 cm x 30 cm. Put these two pieces together and measuring at 7.5 cm intervals score a line from top to bottom (on a ruler across this should be at 7.5 cm / 15 cm / 22.5 cm).
Put a strip of double sided tape along the length of the cardstock measuring 12 cm x 30 cm and strips along the scored lines on the patterned paper. Put the patterned paper onto the black carstock, this will create pockets. Fold the scored lines. Working from the left side fold the cardstock in, the next fold will be behind (creating a valley).A
Attach the back of the folded pockes (right side of the cardstock) to the ribbon piece of chipboard/frameboard (your covers).
Carefully attach the front piece by aligning it with the back piece.
Embellish the front cover and then tie the ribbon.
The tags were creating by cutting cardstock to measure 5 cm x 9 cm and then cutting off a piece of either side to create the tag. Embellish the tags.

Hope this all make sense! Very quick instructions. All I can say is "good luck!" and if something is not making sense email me! Would love to see your creations so once you have made them please scan and email them to me.

The other creative thing I was up to was making door hangers (the type you find at hotels that say "do not disturb!") for my two nieces, Ella-Rose and Madison Grace for their rooms. The template I just made up and then just embellished them using scrapbooking paper and ribbon.
It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed making them.

Okay I am off to be more creative so watch this space!

Our first Dubai Party!

2008-06-07T20:58:00.015+04:00

Logan...the guest of honour and Bryce

On Thursday night we hosted our first party in Dubai in honour of Logans birthday (any excuse to have a party). We invited all our friends in Dubai (and that is not many, well...not as many as we have in Cape Town!) and my brothers and sister-in-laws and a lot of fun was had - I had fun anway not sure about everyone else!

It was roasting that evening so much so that we couldn't even go outside (unforunately for the smokers they had to endure the heat!) so we had snacks and drinks inside! A braai (aka barbeque) or a potjie (aka "pot of stew" made on a fire) were out of the question otherwise Peter would have melted into nothingness!

Well, after most people left around 10pm we had our friends Bruce, Celeste, Yolandi and Darryl staying for a long while after (until 02h00). We ended up having a ball singing karaoke (using your imagination) - our hands as mikes - belting out the words to 80/90's music and dancing the night away. We were in hysterics most of the time, especially with Darryl who was in his element when he heard a song of Snaps called the " Rythm of the night" and the likes - he said he hadn't heard "top treffers!" like these in a long time (only if you come from South Africa you can relate and especially if you lived through the 80's and early 90's as a teenager!). Well, that just had me going, I haven't heard that saying in years! Which got us reminiscing about old times! Awesome party and lots of fun! Not sure what the neighbours thought!! So here are some pics of everyone having fun!

Anyone flying over Dubai soon? Please can you throw a bucket of water out your window...desperate to see some rain coming out of the sky sometime! (Just had a look online and it is 31 degrees with 79 % humidity at 21h00 at night - tomorrow is 40 degrees during the day - humidity off the charts!)

Sue and Andy
Me, Darryl & Celeste

Peter Darryl & Celeste - the professionals!

Hip hip hooray...it is Logan's Birthday

2008-06-03T01:07:00.000+04:00

Hello, well all I can say is that I cannot believe we are now sitting in June 2008! Where has this year gone! So today we are celebrating Logan's birthday, he turns 4 (he is telling everyone that is asking him that he is 1!) Confused child...maybe!

He was so excited for this day to arrive. I had to count it in the number of sleeps for him and we we started from about 7 sleeps and then after I said 2 more sleeps to him two days ago and he said, "Mom, one sleep and then another sleep and then it is my birfday!" Glad, he has the concept of counting now at 4! Last night, he said that when he get his presents he is going to have a big smile on his face! So cute they are when little people can understand the concept of birthdays! All Logan wants is a play-play quad bike! So we bought him a real one - well, actually a battery operated one. He was so excited when he saw the box with a big grin on his face. He got up this morning at 06h00 (yuck!) and opened his presents (except the quad bike which we gave to him this evening so Dad could put it together and spend time with him). We went out to lunch and Peter managed to join us as well as our friends Celeste, Sue and Luke and then Logan went back with Peter to work which was so nice for him to spend some time with his Dad!
Having lunch!Painting a shark! My new quad bike!

So the mercury is hitting around 40 degrees or more a everyday now (today predictions is 40 degrees with 66 % humidity but I got into the car this afternoon and it was 45!), with the humidity not yet off the charts but if feels like it for me (everyone just keeps reminding me that it will just get hotter - I don't know if I will cope!) I am looking forward to going home for winter!
I am very happy to say that I will be home with the boys around 12 July (so look out family and friends, we are going to party up a storm!) Really looking forward to our six weeks back home and on the first day it rains I think I might just stand out there for about an hour to draw in the water and coldness! Can't wait!

So off to bed - a very exhausting day (for a change!)

The new arrival...

2008-05-25T22:58:00.006+04:00

...of our niece, Madison Grace on 25 May 2008 at 18h45. An absolutely beautiful baby girl weighing in at 3.780 kilograms. Fiona - you go girl!!! The birth was done naturally and I mean naturally! No epidural or spinal block!

Some pics of Madison

Congrats Row, Fi on the birth of your baby girl! We are so glad to here to share this joyful occassion with you.

I will be back soon to update you on some cards I made recently...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

2008-05-16T17:01:00.001+04:00

Today my dearly beloved mother turned ... okay Mom I won't tell them how old you are! A milestone birthday though and the saddest part is that myself and my two brothers could not be there to celebrate with her as we are all sitting in Dubai! Sorry Mom but you know we would be there if we could! We will all make it up to you when we see you soon! Enjoy your time with other part of the family and your party!

You were always there as we grew up

You're as lovely as they come

In the lottery of life, we got the best

We're so proud that you're our Mum

You didn't study for this job

Or have to pass an exam

So how come you turned out to be

The World's Greatest Mum.

So Mom...I want to thank you for your patience... your encouragement... your strength... your generosity... and your unconditional love...love you always! Happy Birthday and may you have many, many more!!!

That was then...16 years old

This is now... mmm...still will keep you all guessing!

Well...life has been a tad bit busy!

2008-05-11T22:54:00.005+04:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM! Also to all those Mother's celebrating I hope you got thoroughly spoilt!

Yep! Surprisingly enough it has all been go, go, go the last couple of days which makes life more interesting in Dubai! So, firstly the drivers license saga... I am pleased to announce I am now a legal driver in the UAE! Peter, the boys and myself drove through back to Abu Dhabi on Thursday (now a week ago!), I had a sense of de ja vu! I could not believe we had to do this trip again but after going through the process and now having the right documents it took about 2 hours to eventually have this id card in my hand! The proof...

On Friday (also a week ago now!) afternoon we went to a South African Freedom Day celebration at a hotel called the Le Meridian Mina Seyahi. What a blast! I was so homesick! We meet our one and only SA friends, Bruce and Celeste there and drank in true South African style! It was extremely hot and humid and the venue was running out of alcoholic drinks...I mean, really people, do you not know that South Africans have a reputation for drinking!!! There was a potjiekos competition, Johnny Clegg and the likes blaring out the speakers, over 2 000 expat South Africans mingled around, drinking, drinking and did I mention drinking! The afternoon also included a drumming session (Bryce also enjoyed a session!), lots of South African accents and a buffet including lots of salad and meat! Peter eventually dragged me away at 20h30! We were expecting my Aunt Gwen and Uncle Tommy from Glasgow on their way back to South Africa after visiting my cousin Cheryl in Edinburgh for almost 8 weeks. Aunty Gwen was lucky enough (and so was Cheryl) to meet Prince Charles on this trip! Anyway, we were expecting them to arrive at 00h30 in the morning so we eventually got to bed at 02h00! So a very long day (although we did nape between 21h30 and 00h00 before leaving for the airport - lucky for Peter's alarm on his cell phone because mine didn't go off otherwise my aunt and uncle will still be stranded at the airport!)

Peter went off to work on Saturday while I took my Aunt and Uncle to the "Mall of Emirates" - a huge shopping centre situated about 10 minutes from us and it also has Ski Dubai, the hugest indoor skiing slope in the world. Peter had Sunday off so we went to briefly have a look at the beach, do a bit more shopping and take pics of the Burj Al Arab. Monday morning I braved the Dubai traffic and drove my aunt and uncle back to the Airport - driving in Dubai is a real experience and you have to have eyes literally in the back of your head as there are some shocking drivers out there! Anyway, I got there and back safely which is what counts! It was so nice to have you here Aunty Gwen and Uncle Tommy - miss you already - see you July!

This picture at the Burj Al Arab with Peter, Logan, Aunty Gwen and Uncle Tommy.
I have also been creative the last few days, making cards but will add them to the blog shortly so you can see. On Friday I went to an Art & Crafts day, did my first cardmaking workshop for one person but I suppose it is was a start! Got a few leads so lets see where that will "lead" me.

Anyway, that is it from me for a while...until later...

The saga continues...

2008-05-01T09:13:00.002+04:00

Well, the good news is that I eventually got my resident visa! Woo hoo! Which now means that I can get my drivers license! Double woo hoo! Except...the saga continues...

Yesterday morning Peter and I went off to the Dubai traffic department to get my drivers license only to be told that they will not issue it because my resident visa is issued in Abu Dhabi, another UAE Emirate which is about 140 km's drive away. Peter's office is based in Abu Dhabi and therefore, the reason why it was issued there. Peter and I were absolute sure that there was a law that came through at the beginning of March that you can get your license issued in any Emirate but obviously not!

So Peter decides we will take the drive to Abu Dhabi after work as the Licensing Department in Abu Dhabi closes at 20h00. So if we left around 17h30 we should make it in time before they close. Well, how wrong were we! We did get there at around 18h45, got some forms in Arabic and trying to understand the procedure that the information desk was giving us we eventually find out from a very nice Emirate man that we need to get my driver's license typed into Arabic at a typing office. Okay! So off we rush to find a typing office - one thing about the UAE is that no one uses a physical address here - it blows my mind! Basically, if you follow that road, you will get a building and if you turn right there after the next building you will find it, etc. What more can I say...easy to find! No problem! Wrong again!

So off we head to a typing office, to get what we think are the right documents and head back to the Licensing Department at around 19h30 (traffic is a nightmare and isn't it so true that when you want a traffic light to change it takes forever!) only to be told by the very nice Emirate man that it is the wrong documents! So fustration reigns! We now have half an hour to get to the right typing office in the middle of Abu Dhabi city centre which is about a 10 km drive there and back and be back by 20h00! So we get back into the car and head off to try and find the right typing office! Well, you can just imagine how we were feeling at this stage! Peter and I both felt we were part of an amazing race team trying to find clues along the way, it is still hot at 33 degrees and traffic is still a nightmare! Well, as you can imagine, the odds were against us and we never made it in time. We only found the right typing offices - there was a whole street of them - behind that building that the Emirate man told us - after stopping off at various buildings, asking various people who had no clue what we were talking about, eventually after we were just about to give up Peter spoke to another typing office who graciously explained where we needed to be - two ladies, I must add and guess what! At 20h45 we found the right typing office! Unfortunately we did not make it back to the licensing department in time!

In all this going on we still had Logan and Bryce with us, moaning that they were hungry, irritable because they are confined to the car, they are tired and each time we keep trying to put them off to explain that we have to race again time to get what we need! We eventually only managed to get them supper at 21h00 and Peter and I had a much needed Cafe Latte from Starbucks! We left Abu Dhabi - mission not accomplished! We got home at 23h00 - so what can I say, tired and fustrated we have to put it down to an UAE experience which I am sure there will be many!
This was our second trip to Abu Dhabi - the first was last week Thursday to get visa's for my aunt and uncle visiting this weekend and I took pics of the Sheik Zayed Mosque. It is the third largest mosque in the world - beautiful building - facts about the mosque which has broken a few records:

The carpet laid out on the vast expanse is the "World's Largest Carpet" made by Iran's Carpet Company. The carpet measures 5,627 square meters, and was made by around 1,200 weavers, 20 technicians, and 30 workers. The weight of this carpet is 47 tons - 35 tons of wool, and 12 tons of cotton. There are 2,268,000 knots within the carpet.

This mosque also holds the largest chandelier. There are seven imported chandeliers from Germany. The largest chandelier has a 10 meter diameter and a 15 meter height.
The Mosque is large enough to accommodate more than 30,000 worshippers.
There are four minarets on the four corners of the mosque which rise about 107 meters in height.
There are 57 domes covering the outside yard and the main building as well. The couryard is paved with floral marble designs and measures about 17,000 square meters.

Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city and true to its Arabic influences. Unlike Dubai which has these huge high rise buildings, Abu Dhabi has only a few high rises in the main city centre.

So I will update with the continued saga...

4 card ideas with one stamp!

2008-04-24T10:39:00.000+04:00

Hello again! Not much to report from the emirate of Dubai! Although tomorrow (24th) is our wedding anniversary - 9 years! Well done babes for putting up with me for so long! We both need a medal of endurance!

We will be off later on Thursday afternoon to visit another emirate called Abu Dhabi about a 140 km drive from Dubai to get my aunt and uncle their visit visa. They will be visiting us for 2 days next weekend.

So, I did more creating and came up with these 4 cards using one stamp keeping with the theme of the same colours but still managing to make 4 different looking cards.

I hope that these cards will inspire you to get creating!

Exploring Dubai...

2008-04-15T22:54:00.000+04:00

We had visitors from South Africa! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Rowly and Janet with their 4 boys (yes 4 boys!) visited us for 4 nights on their way back from a holiday in the UK. We had a wonderful but very busy time with them doing all the sightseeing we could do in their full 3 days here! The "Glanville Villa" was stretched to the limit but everyone seemed comfortable when it was time for bed. Quite an interesting thing fitting 10 people into a villa that is meant for 4, maximum 6 people but I think we did really well.

So on the first day that our visitors were here we spent a wonderful day at Dreamland (again!). The boys (including the adult men - Peter and Rowland!) love it as there was so much to do there and they spend 6 hours having races on super tubes and relaxing next to the swimming pool. As you can see by these photos - Rowly and Janet catching up on some much needed sleep!

In the evening we went to the Mall of Emirates. A huge upmarket shopping centre in Dubai where we had dinner. Not a good thing to go on a Friday night because it was extremely busy! One of the advantages about shopping in Dubai on the weekend is that all the malls stay open on a Thursday and Friday until midnight! We didn't stay that late but got home at least around 23h00 after a very long day out!

On Saturday we went around to my family so that Rowly and Janet could say hi and on our way there the adults decided to do an Arabian nights tour. What an absolute wonderful experience. My eldest nephew, Vincent was kind enough to babysit Bryce, Logan and his brothers! Well done, Vince, we really appreciated the break!

So the afternoon started where we got picked up by the tour company at 15h30. What more could we ask for to be chauffeur driven. Unfortunately, the airconditioning the car was not working too well so we did suffer a bit because it was hot! Our first stop was at a place called "The Big Red" a huge sand dune in the desert. This was the meeting point for all the cars and I think we counted around 25 landcruisers once everyone got there. Off we went, one car after the other through the sand dunes. The ride of our life! It is hard to explain but let me tell you, Janet and I were in the back seat and I think our eyes were closed most of the time and I know I screamed out a couple of times, fearing my life! It was like we were on roller coaster ride! Of course, Rowly and Peter were grining from ear to ear with all the antics that the driver was doing! A couple of times we were sliding on one side with sand spraying right over the car where you couldn't see anything and a lot more!

After about a 45 minute ride through the desert, with lovely views and sand dunes for miles! We stopped for a break so that the cars could cool down and we could take in the view. In Janet's case a desparate pee behind a sand dune! We headed off to our destination which was a reeded area with low tables, persian carpets and pillows. Before we sat down to a lovely dinner and a belly dancing show, myself, Janet and Rowland went on a camel ride. Also a very interesting experience with the camel getting up and back down to let us off. We eventually got home around 22h00 to the house still standing and most of the boys in bed. Vince you can come and babysit at anytime!

On Sunday we spent most of the day shopping at a mall called, Ibn Battuta while Peter went back to work. In the evening after supper and getting the boys to bed, myself, Rowly, Janet and Peter went on an evening, informal city tour of Dubai. We visited an area called Al Karama, which is a market but not in the sense of tables and wares but more like shops in an area of this suburb. A lot of "rip offs" of designer stuff ie, perfume, handbags, clothes, watches, etc. As we arrived so late we only had about an hour to shop before the shops started closing at around 22h30. We did some more sightseeing and got home at 00h30. Peter went straight off to bed, I watched Rowly and Janet pack and eventually got to bed at 01h30, Janet at 02h30 only to be woken at 04h45 to leave for the aiport so that they could catch their flight at 08h30! So I think we were all feeling exhausted on Monday, I know I was! I think I am still recovering!

Anyway, it was lovely to have the family around for a while. Missing you guys already! Not sure what I am going to do with myself now - anyone want to come and visit?

I am hoping my resident visa will be issued soon. I went for my blood test on Saturday last week, in amongst all the excursions so lts hope it is a step in the right direction! Holding thumbs it will be this week or sometime next week so that I can get my independency back and become more mobile!

Well thats about it for now but I'll be back!

We went fishing - well Peter went anyway!

2008-04-07T20:48:00.000+04:00

On Monday afternoon Peter, the boys and myself went fishing at an area along the Dubai Marina. We drove along a construction site to get there (wherever you go in Dubai at the moment it is a construction sight no wonder there are so many jobs available here in that type of field!). Once we were there it really was a great place - right on the beach. Peter fished along the breakwater rocks and myself, Bryce and Logan decided to take a dip in the sea. Bryce tried to do a little fishing but got a bit bored after a while. It was actually so great to get into a sea where your toes haven't frozen in the first minute! The water was cool enough to swim and not like bath water. It apparently gets like that in the middle of summer. You can also clearly see the bottom as you walk out and it takes a while before it gets deeper and there are no huge waves crashing onto the beach so very safe for the boys to swim in. It might also be because we were there during low tide.

Although the fish were elusive we had a wonderful relaxing hour and a half just being out of the house (myself and Logan anyway!).

I still don't have my resident visa which means still no chance to drive our car but I am hoping the wheels are in motion and that it will be issued soon. One thing we are looking forward to this weekend is the arrival of my brother-in-law, Rowland and sister-in-law, Janet with their 4 boys. They are staying with us for 4 nights so it will be a chance to do more touristy things with them and at least have some more family around for a little while before they get back to SA on Monday.

Here are pics of our new car (a Hyundai -Santa Fe - which I have managed to drive around the block!), some scenery shots of the Dubai Marina along the beach we were at and the boys trying to fish! Logan watching the sun go down.

Me, also watching the sun going down (not my best pose but that's what you look like after a dip in the sea and the salt sticks to you like glue!) Bryce took the picture - not bad for a 7-year old photographer!

Feel free to leave any comments - it will be nice to know that someone is reading my blog!

Until later...

Doing what I do best!

2008-04-03T10:33:00.000+04:00

So, I got down to being a bit creative over the last couple of days - have my moments of being inspired as I am so out of routine that I have to get myself motivated to get things done. Let me know what you think...

Still not sure what I am going to be doing with my business. At the moment I am still waiting for my resident visa to be issued (I have been speaking to a few people and it has sometimes taken up to 6 months for their visas to be issued!). Not sure if I am going to survive that long without having a car!
Peter is hoping to go fishing with the boys tomorrow so that will be a lot of fun for them. I will sit on the side, relax and read my book. That is if I can survive the weather. It is getting hotter here - today it supposed to be 33 degrees (feels like 40!) with humidity of 54 %! I heard Cape Town is also having a heat wave! Don't know if I am going to survive the summer! Thank goodness for airconditioning!!

Until later...

So its off to the zoo we go...and some other stuff...

2008-03-26T19:30:00.000+04:00

Off to the zoo we go... in a town called Al Ain which is about an hours drive from Dubai. This is what we did last week Thursday! It was lots of fun but extremely hot! The days are getting hotter and hotter here so I am starting to experience what everyone that lives here has been talking about. On our way there the car registered 37 degrees and that was at 10h30 in the morning.

The highlight of the day was seeing the Bengal tigers - beautiful animals and HUGE in real life! I would hate to come across this animal in the wild! Don't think I would stand a chance! So after our stroll around the park seeing lions, pumas, South African gemsbok, rhino, giraffe, an ostrich and many more animals we went off to Rowan and Fiona's for some takeaways of pizza and chinese and we ended up watching the movie Hairspray. Must say Peter and my brother Vaughanweren't very impressed with the movie, I can't say it is the best I have seen but at least I can see I have seen it.

Bryce, Logan and Peter inside the reptile house
Vaughan and Ella Rose
On Saturday our stuff arrived from SA after about a week of red tape nightmare! The company here in Dubai would not release the shipment because we did not have the original bill of loading papers and after back and forthing to the company in SA we eventually got the right papers! (Ever need a shipping company in SA I can highly recommed the one we used) However, Peter spend about 5 hours at customs going from one cue to the other to get it released but it eventually all worked out! The only problem now is to store the stuff! There are no cupboards in the villa so we have had to do a bit more shopping for a cupboards to store all my scrapbooking and cardmaking goodies!
Some of the boxes!

Yesterday I was being creative and made 7 cards which I will post on my blog tomorrow!

Today we have had no water since 11h00 (so all countries have their problems!). It is now around 19h00 and when I phoned a few minutes ago they say it might take about another 8 - 10 hours! Fustration reigns!!! I don't know which is worse - having no electricity or no water!

My best friend Cheryl is probably in labour as I write this blog in Toronto! She has had to be induced! This is the first grandchild on both sides of the family so I am sure everyone is going to be excited when the new additoin arrives! I will post some pics as soon as the new little person has made its way into this world! Good luck Che, hope that you made it through the experience with very happy memories to follow!

So I think that's it for now...until later...

Okay, I am a bit behind on news...

2008-03-13T11:19:00.000+04:00

Last week Friday (which a weekend day here in Dubai for some of you who don't know that), the boys, Peter, myself and my brothers with their wives went to a wonderful waterpark called Dreamland. It is situated about 1 hour's drive from Dubai but really worth the visit! Lots to do, so many supertubes to choose from and swim, swim, swim! The weather was really great - not too hot, no wind and the water park was not so busy which made the experience even more pleasurable!

So here are some pics which will give you some idea what we were up to!

Overview of the park

Bryce

Logan Fiona and cutie-pie Ella-Rose

Nicky and Vaughan

As you can see I am having a bit of difficulty getting onto my tube!

We did get our new car on Monday but haven't had a chance to take pics yet so will tomorrow. I am being also creative today so will try and get some pics up soon. I am off to a craft show tomorrow which will be interesting to see how things are run in Dubai and what sort of crafts are out there.

Chat soon...

Celine Dion was awesome...

2008-03-06T13:38:00.000+04:00

I was extremely lucky to see Celine Dion last night in the golden circle (would never afford this luxury in SA) and in Dubai on top of that! It was an awesome concert and well worth the wait. I went with my very pregnant sister-in-law, Fiona (well done Fi for managing to stand so long and endure the wait!). Fiona and I set out at 16h30 by taxi to the Four Seasons Golf Club, near Dubai Festival City where Celine Dion was performing. The concert only started at 20h30 but we thought we would leave a little (a lot!) earlier to avoid the traffic, the queue's and the crowds! Well, there was no traffic, only a small queue and the crowds only arrived later! The advantage was that when they eventually let us through the gates at around 18h00 we got to be about 10 metres from the stage!

Fiona and I waiting patiently!

Albeit a very cold evening where the wind made the chill factor go up - socks and long sleeves where definitely the order of the day - Celine Dion sang her heart out. At least both Fiona and I brought along our jackets otherwise we would have been sitting in the public toilets listening from there! The time just flew by (unlike the last hour we had to wait for her to sing - that seemed to drag on forever!). She sang some news songs ie, "Taking Chances", "Alone", some tributes like the "Show must go on", "We will rock you" by Queen and some classics, "The Power of Love", "My heart will go on" which was her closing song for the evening in a beautiful flowing yellow dress to close the evening!

Hopefully this will be the first of many concerts to come in Dubai and I think next time I might just arrive only a hour before the concert! I suppose each one is different!

If anyone in SA saw the concert please give us your comments on how you experienced it! I heard that the organisation on the first night was attrocious! There were still a few people stuck in traffic still on the highway when the concert started!!

Tomorrow we are off to a water park for the day so I will let you know what we were up to there!

Our first sightseeing day...

2008-03-02T09:30:00.000+04:00

While Peter had to unfortunately work yesterday, Saturday, the boys and I took advantage and went sightseeing. Our first stop was at Children's City, a eductional project that offers children their own learning zone, they had lots of fun because there was a lot of interactiveness with different projects that the venue had to offer. Surrounding Children's City are beautiful, well maintained gardens with big trees and areas where you can picnic and the kids can play on the various jungle gyms scattered throughout the park.

After our visit we walked in the park and then went on the cable car which is also situated in the park. It runs along the creek side of the park and stretches about 2.5 km, it took about 35 minutes. Wonderful views of the creek and the park and as far as the eye could see!

After all this fun and excitement we set off for Jumeirah beach, our first trip to the beach since we arrived! Bryce and Logan passed out in the back seat for a catnap along the way but as soon as the car stopped they both perked up to see where we were.

Here is a pic of some lucky person who owns that beautiful boat in the background. Logan was the only one who decided he wanted to swim - I must admit the water was lovely. Not like Cape Town where your toes just about freeze and fall off! It was cool and clear - we will be definitely returning for another visit.

So a busy day all in all - oh yes, we also bought a new car last night. After we picked Peter up from work we decided to go car shopping. We have a hired car at the moment. First time we have a car "out of the box" so to speak so very exciting stuff! Details to follow as soon as the details have them finalised.

I can't believe we are into March already! Until next time...

We have arrived...

2008-02-24T10:42:00.000+04:00

The boys on the flight

The back and front of the house. The park where the boys play.

I know, I know you have all been patiently waiting for me to give you some details about our move to Dubai, well here you go...

The boys and I heard that we would be flying from Cape Town to Dubai on 06 February 2008 after our visas were eventually issued. We had two days notice! So sorry to those people who wanted me to say goodbye but there really wasn't any time left. I was panicking slightly about the luggage because I had 3 big suitcases and 3 overnight bags which I would have as carry on luggage. Having, which I thought, was 20 kilograms each we might be in for a bit of a trying time to persuade the check-in counter person not to charge us. My Dad and I weighed the luggage before we left and the 3 big suitcases were 69 kilograms and that was just the check in luggage! Not, bad I thought considering we are moving to another country! Overweight a bit but was still feeling nervous about it we left for the airport. When we got there, nothing to feel nervous about at all, I found out we had 30 kilograms each and sighed a huge sigh of relief! I even managed to check one of the extra pieces of overnight bags through as well!

We flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg and had a lot of walking to do between the domestic and international departure halls to fly from Johannesburg to Dubai. Once you are through customs there is no trolley! So the boys had to walk all the way to the gate we were leaving from, with a lot of moaning going with it! It's too far, I am tired, etc.

We flew Emirates and what a lovely plane and airline to fly with! Very spacious and each seat had its own TV with a lot of video channels and games to keep the boys entertained! I eventually got them settled at around 22h30 only to wake them about 4 hours later so that we could get ready for the landing. I think I slept about a half an hour. So you can imagine how tired we all were when we arrived! Going through customs was also a experience with 2 very tired boys and not knowing the airport. Luckily Peter organised a company to meet us off the plane and they were fantastic! It took about an hour and a half to get through though even with their help!

Eventually waiting for us on the other side was Peter and my two brothers, Rowan and Vaughan (who now both live in Dubai as well, Rowan for the past 3 years and Vaughan arrived the middle of January). It so great arriving in a country where there is family waiting for you! We went to Rowan's house first as he lives in an area called Mirdiff which is near the Airport - he drives a Chryslar Voyager so we managed to get all our 6 pieces of luggage and 5 people in!

From Rowan's, after seeing my two sister-in-laws and my 1 year old niece, we then set off to our new home in The Springs area - we stay in The Springs 3. It is a lovely area with palm trees lining the streets. We stay in a 2 bedroomed villa with a very small study/3rd bedroom. Downstairs is the study with lounge and kitchen area and upstairs are the two bedrooms both with en-suite bathrooms. Although it sounds very luxurious the bathrooms are very small with showers above the baths. Our bedroom is quite large though. We have a very nice enclosed garden which is great for the boys but they are yet to play outside in it. They are mostly in the front riding their bicycles or going down to the park!

We have been so busy shopping our first two weeks for things for the house so I haven't done any sightseeing yet. So basically it has been starting from scratch. Things are reasonably priced here and prices compare quite a bit to SA. Clothes and chocolates are extremely cheap! Schooling is extremely expensive here as the schooling is mostly private.

Bryce has started in his new school and settled in nicely. He goes to school by bus in the morning and afternoon. Traffic in Dubai can be really bad! so thats why we decided to send him on a bus.

Lots and lots of development going on wherever the eye can see in Dubai with lots of desert pieces in between.

Logan is still home with me but we are looking at sending him to a nursery school as soon as we can find one in our area. The way of life is very different here. In South African you get used to the Pick 'n Pay down the road, Mr Price home stores for duffets, etc and a Post Office (there is apparently one about a 20 minutes drive away - in SA there are at least 3 to choose from that are near you). I am still waiting for a resident permit to be issued so I cannot drive at the moment unless it is a hired car. As soon as my recidency permit is through we are hoping to get a car so at least I will have more independency! Driving is on the opposite side to SA and I had to drive for the first time yesterday by myself to Bryce's sports day at school - an experience but I made it back to home without any incidents. Drivers in Dubai have a very bad reputation!

So that is it in a nutshell for now! I am putting my feelers out to see what the arts and crafts scene is like here in Dubai, so will keep you posted as to what I will be getting up to creatively. I cannot wait for my boxes to arrive from SA so that I can get going!

Until next time...

Still moving...

2008-02-02T18:55:00.000+04:00

Okay, so I still haven't a clue as to when we will be leaving for Dubai. The moving company came to collect the boxes this past Monday and myself and the boys are still waiting in limbo. I am hoping that we will eventually know in the next day or two when we will be flying! In the meantime I am figuring out how to use my blog so that I can keep you updated as to what is happening in Dubai and our experiences. I will keep you posted...

Simply Creative...on the move

2008-01-15T01:01:00.001+04:00

Here I am! Madly trying to pack up, get the boys sorted, get the house moved, get the shop cleared and moved - oh, and have some sleep too.

Dubai or bust!