Again some catch-up photos. My drive back from school today.

To ensure that my guilt doesn't become too extreme over driving a somewhat larger car than I would normally choose, I thought I would post some photos of my trip home from school today.  Coming home, I drive via the western side of Doha where there is a lot of construction.  This route avoids some of the roundabouts that can get a bit congested and gets me home a little faster.


I have some friends coming to stay shortly.  The smallest of the three (who is 2.5 yrs old) will no doubt get huge pleasure out of the vast construction activities... I am sure I will have no trouble having him help me with Teagan's school runs during the day.

Some catch-up photos: completed craft projects

Val had asked that I show some of my completed work. And I wanted to put some more photos on the blog showing my drive to school. So here goes:


My completed projects.  

I have finished a capelet that I modified from a guideline by "Ann Budd".  For this, I adjusted the size and added a panel of classic aran knitting down the front.  For the yarn, I used Cleckeaton Country Naturals 8ply.

Yarn is a fairly precious item here in Doha.   Any decent yarn must be purchased on-line and freighted here.  I was lucky enough to be gifted some really cute fingering weight yarn and decided to make a pair of inside slippers for some little feet.  Here is the result.  Again, I modified the pattern somewhat to get what I wanted.  The original pattern can be found on Ravelry under "Raspberry Bed Socks".

Of course it is Teagan's 5th birthday in two days.  When we visited a dear friend just prior to leaving NZ (Mrs Mac) , she had a darling Jean Greenhowe Topsy Turvy knitted doll on her bed and Teagan was taken by it.  So naturally, I decided to employ my skills in making her one for her birthday.  I had a lot of help from Pins and Needles out of the UK.  Carole managed to help me gather the most appropriate mix of yarns to make the "base model" Jean Greenhowe Topsy Turvy doll.  Teagan has kept her eye on progress and has been happy to see the wrapped parcel of which she isn't touching until her birthday.

Teagan's circle skirt is finished.  Well, it has been finished for some time now but I haven't posted a photo.  To add to it, I have again adjusted patterns found on the internet and made a little book bag for Teagan's birthday.  You will see that it is lined and has a gusset.  I modified the pattern from one found on a fabulous blog site called Tiny Happy (Base shoulder bag tutorial)where a very talented woman has provided a tutorial.  If you are interested in making one of this size: it is 16.5 inches top to bottom and 5 inches across the bottom.  I have also modified the instructions so that you do not trim off the excess after pinching the corners out, rather you fold them under and top-stitch, this step provides extra definition to the base of the bag. And to fully finish, I will knit a small vest with a pattern I am yet to sort out!

In the bag I have two books of a four book series by Debi Gliori: The Witch Baby and Me.  Teagan found the books in Hatchards (of London) and proceeded to sit down on the ground and have it read outloud.  So when Ross when to London, I ordered the books via email (the series) and had Ross collect them from their mail order department.  The author is Scottish and the books look just glorious.  I hope these keep our reading going until our next bookshop stop.

Of - do you want a new car or a used one?

The stingy household needed cars.  One thought that one car would do until reality hit; how much time could One spend driving per day and actually taking themselves absolutely nowhere?  Apparently, One could spend four hours driving and end up back at home, minus or plus a body or two.  Clearly this was an inefficient option when One has many many more interesting things to do.


Second step.  Buy used of course!  Apparently not.  Buy new.  New is nearly cheaper than the impending disaster of a used.  Clearly, a second hand two year old Kia Picanto will cost the investment funds NZD6,400.00 plus the costs of inspection, insurance and massive steam clean to rid the vehicle of the oppressive cigarette smoke, whereas a brand new Kia Picanto will cost the funds NZD10,000.00 all inclusive (and by inclusive, this means plus the funky little first aid kit and dinky key ring).  Go figure that cost differential.  Never mind the calculations - darling husband is happy imbedded into his small blue sardine tin that qualifies as a car!


One doea not settle for a Kia Picanto to really drive.  Unfortunately, One does not have the photos of the back roads enroute to school, however, it does involve actual 4WD use and considerable dust.  So One has a 2.4L Nissan X-trail (base model of course).  How much did this set the investment money back?  Well, it hurts a little at NZD30,000 but compare that to our new Suzuki Swift SX4 in NZ that cost us NZD22,000 and the difference is clearly indicative of a significantly cheaper new car market here.


Now we get to the real question, what is depreciation like.  Actually, it is rather favourable to the Nissan, Toyota and Honda owner and absolutely disastrous for the European luxury car market.  For the Nissan, only a minor depreciation will be expected but the luxury cars can see a 40-50% devaluation over a two or three year period.  


Why just settle for what we have bought.  I do believe that I should have got a Hummer.  In NZD in July, this would only have cost NZD40,000.  So if you want to drive a base model Hummer - come over here and you can "for real" drive and own a Hummer and possibly even justify it if you need to drive around the edge of the city.

Off to school in the desert ...

I have been cogitating for some time over this blog post, so it is time I sorted it out and moved it out of its draft status.  So, why so much cogitation?  Firstly, I needed to check how to spell "cogitate" and finally, I needed to reconcile in my own mind the differences in the schooling here versus what Teagan would have had in New Zealand and that has taken a whole weekend.


Sherborne follows the curriculum of England and Wales and was our first choice in schools for three key reasons.  Firstly, when we looked around the school, the children were all happy, they were running up to the principal and shaking his hand and hugging, the same sentiment was evident with the other teachers.  Secondly, it follows a curriculum that looked fairly standard to us and easily transferable back to NZ.  And thirdly, we loved the idea and presentation of the music suite, art, and language facilities all of which looked to align with Teagan's loves (not directly obtained via her scientific parents).  We are sure that of the other two or three schools we looked at all would have fitted nicely, however, we were really happy to get into Sherborne.


The English approach (well the curriculum that Sherborne provides) is different to what I was expecting.  Teagan is just a fraction off five years old and will be amongst the oldest in her class.  Children enter school on the first day of the year depending on their age on September 1st (the Reception year).  This means that as Teagan is 4 years old (albeit plus 11 months) she starts with children at the other age extreme who may only be 4 years and 1 month old. The English curriculum appears to be more like a NZ kindergarten with a focus  on the academic angle via play (clearly suitable to their ages of 4 and 5 years).  This will suit Teagan exceedingly well as she is a capable learner and has learned to read phonically (fundamental stage) at home via some games we have been playing over the long hot summer indoor months. 


The academic year is quite different to New Zealand.  It begins on September 1st (although this is variable depending on Ramadan) and runs through three distinct terms broken up by breaks of two weeks with a two month (or longer) summer break from the end of June until the start of September.  For us this will be spent in New Zealand enjoying extended family time.  The school day for all but the first year students begins at 7:30am (for Teagan it will be 8:00am) and finishes at 2pm with optional after school activities for older children.  On summation, the "time" spent at school seems to equate with that of New Zealand.


The overall curriculum at Sherborne appears to be exciting.  Along with the standard subjects, Teagan will learn Arabic and the appreciation of the Arabic culture (in fact the classes have Arabic speaking Teacher Assistants, one full-time per class), French and an emphasis on music with private lessons built in (if desired) - they have a full music suite including individual sound-proofed music rooms.  We will keep Teagan's extra activities light for the first year and may permit her to do gymnastics (our couches are suffering here at home as she loves to do "gym") but will keep her enjoying her compound based play (compound is where we live) which includes a heap of swimming.  Hopefully, we will have a happy learner.


I think Teagan will benefit from the full Reception year; hopefully Sherborne will turn out a well rounded, happy learner in all key areas and the school will have two supportive parents behind them.

Further distractions...

It has just turned 10pm on Sunday night and I am STILL WAITING on Teagan to go to sleep. What planet is the child from? She forces herself to stay awake and then once asleep refuses to wake up! Never mind, she is having an extremely long discussion with herself (obviously interesting) and I am outside working on the computer wondering what the impact tiredness will have on our day tomorrow.....

Previously I wrote that I would discuss some of my other distractions.  Well a moderately active distraction at this time is my delightful sewing machine.  One cannot say it is one of One's greatest pleasures, however, the end product, especially when neatly finished is worth the enduring the construction.  

Yes, correctly finished One has said.  So say "I", the finishing is the reason for the sewing.  I do deplore poorly constructed items and have recently fallen in love with french seams and thick well stiffened quality cottons.

Two recent articles have been a viella cotton shirt (fabric ex. Annie's Sewing Room in Dunedin) with bindings courtesy of the Taliban shop (yes, "for real", it is the Taliban shop) and a knitting needle roll (self designed pattern) with fabrics courtesy of Grandmother's Garden some eight or so years ago and again bindings from the Taliban shop.  To complement both items, I have more to things to make...another circle skirt for Teagan but this time I will seriously cut down on the width and increase the length and some project bags to go with the knitting needle holder.  

Doha is packed full of interesting shops for fabrics and notions.  Whilst the shops full of notions are a haven for the deprived Kiwi sewer (exceptionally cheap and full of glorious colours and variety), the fabric shops are the exact opposite when it comes to the items I like to make.  Hence, I am gradually becoming a seasoned international shopper.  As I type, I am also shopping on two websites:
http://www.fatquartershop.com/ and http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/  coupled with Ross's Aramex account, I am merely 10 days away from my next project.


As a sideline giggle, I am "tracked" in my spending.  The banks places a notification on all credit card purchases; as we only have the one credit card and it is Ross's he is notified on every purchase made - it is called the "wife tracker".


Now it is Monday morning and yes, Teagan is tired.  That said, she has put herself to work mopping the kitchen floor and cupboard doors for some "wet entertainment".  I will not complain as the water dries very fast and she has found something that she can do herself - although I am not sure that Raisin is enjoying her now wet paws!