it's been a year...

Since we started this crazy adventure!  A year of ups and downs, previously unimaginable travelling (Borneo being the most unlikely), amazing experiences, from seeing dolphins in the wild with the girls to experiencing the beauty of Bali.  And being exposed to the seemingly more mundane opportunity to swim everyday!

Christmas is certainly not the same, but we had a lovely day with friends and you can't really knock sipping bubbly by the pool on the 25th December, can you!  We are now the proud owners of an artificial tree (quite probably the best shaped one we've ever had, but definitely missing the delicious pine scent), have discovered that very few Christmas cards manage to make the journey from home, but that birthdays continue to be remembered, and Skype is a wonderful thing!

We've had a huge amount of visitors given our distance from home - my parents twice, Mr W's parents and little sister, and Pickle's friends from school.  And of course, we managed to go back home for a month in the summer to catch up properly with family and friends, and absorb everything that is the beautiful English summer.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful new year - see you in 2011! xx

show and tell...

Well, the last week has seemingly flown by, what with celebrating Christmas early with my parents before they went back home, Christmas markets and parties at school, not to mention malfunctioning cameras... I've had no time to post.  So here is my slightly over due show and tell.

So, Betsy's birthday.  To my huge disappointment, my camera decided to play up, so whilst the room we used was festooned with balloons, bunting, Charlie and Lola inspired party plates, cups and napkins and looked really magical,  I have very few photos of the actual event.  This is what I do have, and yes, I did take some of them after the event!

First up, the invitation...

On the way to decorate the room...

Betsy's sign...

Pin the hair clip on Lola, courtesy of Pickle...

A few of the snowmen and party bags...

Fairy cakes...

Much fun was had by all, lucky dip was a big hit, everyone enjoyed parcel parcel (as it is known in our family), and when it all got a bit loud, I had a flashback to playing Sleeping Lions at parties when I was little, which very much proved to be a stroke of inspiration!

Next up, the present.  

This was inspired by Lauren Child's Princess and the Pea.  I had this idea last year, but what, with moving to Singapore and all that entailed, time got the better of me.  This year, I had no such excuse.  I searched high and low for a suitable bed, and failed miserably.  Now, if we'd been at home, I like to think that Mr W would have come to my rescue, but as we only bought a handful of tools out with us, that wasn't really an option.  In the end, I found a suitable sized cardboard box, added some wooden dowels for the four poster effect, and stuck it all together with the assistance of some papier mache before painting it.  I then raided my material stash and recycled some bump from some old curtains to make the requisite 12 mattresses.  

Meanwhile, Pickle made a pom pom pea (hopefully large enough not to lose) and my mum made the princess' dress, using the same 'in her head' pattern she used to use for my Sindy doll when I was little.  I must confess to being really delighted with the end result.  Betsy seems pleased too, as are the Sylvanians, who have rather taken to playing hide and seek in it!

One last thing left.  I wanted mum to have something to remind her of us on a daily basis, and knowing that she likes a cup of tea in the afternoon, I followed this pattern and made this...

It doesn't necessarily stand up to close scrutiny, but I'm new to this knitting game, so things can only get better!  

Have a great week x

lists...

This week, I have mainly been:
1. secretly making a princess and the pea bed for Betsy's 7th birthday next week (it's nearly finished)
2. desperately trying to track down a suitable doll to become the princess (finally tracked one down yesterday - now I just need to make the dress)
3. entertaining Mr W's parents
4. making Charlie and Lola inspired party ware, hopscotch, tablecloths, party bags.... for Betsy's birthday party this weekend
5. hand painting scenery for the girls' school Christmas concert
6. knitting Merry Christmas bunting for our front door, as a wreath isn't going to work in this heat!
7. knitting a teapot for my mum's Christmas stocking - this has lead me to knitting on the bus (I can do 18 rows between home and school!)
8. generally trying to run a house

I hope to do a fabulous show and tell next week.  See you then x

spreading the word...

Sorry about not posting on Wednesday, I seem to be juggling far too many balls at the moment, what with visitors, Christmas Concerts and Markets to organise, not to mention a certain someone's birthday.  By way of relaxation, I've started several knitting projects,  (some may say too many, but that's another story), which has inspired Pickle to have a go.  She's currently knitting a scarf for Rabs, and I'm tickled pink.

Have a lovely weekend one and all x

discovering singapore's arab quarter...

So, my parents arrived on Saturday evening, and yesterday we took them to the Arab Quarter.  Pickle and I only discovered it properly last week, and it's just amazing, a real oasis.

Unlike Chinatown and Little India, it feels like a real enclave, as there aren't any tall buildings in the immediate vicinity, and it's not stuffed full of people (or it certainly wasn't when we were there).  There are lots of palm trees, cafes spilling out onto the streets and plenty of people smoking shisha pipes (I think that's what they're called), which the girls found absolutely fascinating.  The scent of the fruit tobacco wafts down the street as you walk past.  One of my girlfriends reliably informs me that if you go there in the evening, the pavements are covered in rugs and everyone sits on them smoking shisha and eating, which I suspect is a sight to behold (and smell).

There are also some lovely shops to mooch in, selling the most beautiful rugs, bolts and bolts of fabric, from intricately beaded silks to georgette, beads galore, and perfume shops selling the most beautiful array of perfume bottles, in which you can design your own scent.  My mother and the girls were in their element, and came home with some.

We also bought Congkak, which is a game we first saw in Borneo...

The rules are very complicated, although I suspect once you've got the hang of them it will be fine, and last night, Mr W and I spent about 2 hours playing just 2 games.  The rules imply that the game finishes when either someone has won all the shells and is declared the winner, or the players get fed up, so in many senses it's a little like monopoly!!  The girls are very keen to play, so tonight's task is to teach them what's what - wish me luck!

pop flowers...

Yesterday, I found myself at Ikea buying a few bits and bobs, when I wandered into the fabric department and found this gorgeous pop flower print.  Now back home, I would probably admire it but dismiss it as being too bold, but with the bright sunlight here, I thought it would make perfect cushion covers for our dining room chairs...

Needless to say, they had been in situ for less than an hour before Mr W threw a drink over one of them, so they've already been christened (and no, I didn't shout, in case you were wondering)!

Happy weekend x

sleepovers...

Well, may I just say, studying whilst juggling children and household chores, not to mention husbands, is no mean feat.  I knew I wasn't on top of things when Pickle asked where her clean socks were, given that she has about 20 pairs and only wears them on school days!  Anyway, normal service has now resumed, so there is at least enough food in the cupboards to make a meal.  Now I just need to attend to the piles of 'things' which have materialised over the past week or so!

It's a bank holiday here tomorrow (in honour of Hari Raya) so tonight the girls have got a couple of friends over for a sleepover.  Pickle made her friends the hair clips in the photo this morning before school, so they're now all sitting on the sofa in PJs with matching bows watching Parent Trap for the umpteenth time.  Which means I'm hoping to design Betsy's birthday invitation.  I realise I've left it a little late to send it out - maybe that means that not all of the twenty(!) 6/7 year olds will be able to attend.  This year, we're having a Charlie and Lola meets the funfair theme - a typical Betsy mix.  All I need to do is find shop that sells hook a duck - any ideas anyone?!?!

xx