Stitch a Little ,Stash a Lot

This is what I have been doing last month...
I lost my mojo towards end of July, then we were on vacation and as soon as I came back to Kuwait , I was in bed for two days because of severe cold.
I actually managed to stitch 4 days on my 15 days vacation which I think is decent.
So here is my August Check-in for Flower of the Month SAL hosted by Alyssa
Very little progress ,just some border and start of March flower

Its time for some show off some stash

Me and Diya were casually chatting on facebook and then she says "Hey, do you know Rainbow gallery is having a clearance sale?"
"No" said me "but I will have a look"...She is such a enabler..Look what I got:

 Lizzie Kate,Mill hill Kits,Bohin Needles and fat quarter of 28 ct misty blue linen.
God knows when I will start stitching on something other than Aida...I just keep buying different fabrics.

















Of course you must buy some supplies whenever you go to a new country. So off we went to Nifty Needles in Linlithgow ,dragging our big bags from the train station ,bought the stuff and caught another train to Stirling. OH is such a darling he didn't fuss even once though being sleep deprived .


I bought two DMC skeins to complete my floss collection at the outrageous price of 95p with some free Anchor designs.

Charity shops were the next destination:

Great finds form Charity shop in Bridge of Allan

Some magazines from Charity Shop in Tarbert

Justine was selling some stash of hers on her blog and I wished to buy this cute Soda Stitch pattern . She generously sent me this pattern, refusing to take any payment. Thank you Justine

 I'm ashamed to show my monthly pie chart

 Hoping to do some recovery during upcoming public holidays.

Edited: Question for all you experienced bloggers:
If I reply to comments on my blog post to a person who has a email associated with their blog thru the reply option, does that go into their mail box?

Bens,Glenns and Lochs-Oh Caledonia

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

A most appropriate quote I found in one of the magazine onboard Etihad airways.
I'm back from an amazing holiday in Scotland ... a country which nature has blessed in abundance .
I feel rejuvenated and so calm after spending time in valleys ,on hill tops ,on the Misty Skye, listening to tales of Vikings, Jacobites , bag piper music .

I don't think any words can do justice to the beauty of Caledonia( Latin name for Scotland) , so I will let the pictures do the talking.

Gardens at Dunrobin castle

Forth bridge



Beauly Village- beauly is French word for beautiful place

Scotland has many beautiful historical buildings however today I chose to show you pictures mainly of the natural wonders because that's what mesmerized me.

Last but not the least...a picture of bagpipers performing. No tour of Scotland is complete if you don't experience the bagpiper music



Bagpipers performing in Inverness



I hope you like what you see...

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL August Update

Hello Friends...
Here is my late post for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL ...late for good reasons.
I'm on vacation these days..right now as i write this post sitting in bed, i can see a lighthouse from my window. .pure bliss.
I am so delighted to show you what Jo , the hostess of Gifted gorgeousness sal herself , has sent me as part of our exchange.Jo carefully selected so many things which match my taste , however my favorite is the coaster.She has stitched flowers for my birth month and my intial ..i love it.

The picture above doesn't do justice to the beautifully stitched coaster..hop onto Jo's blog to get a better look.  The packet includes a mystery novel, charms, madeira threads, iron on transfer patterns, design booklet, cards and tin to keep needles and threads, perfect to carry on a vacation.
Here's what i stitched for Jo..Autumn is her favourite season.

As i wasn't able to get an appropriate magnet i tried making one..

Both the patterns above are freebies , link to which i will add in my finishes page.

I also want to show you my latest stash acquisition but may be in my next post.

Till then happy stitching.

The Alphabet Club - A is for Aarambh & Asha...

Its the first Saturday of the Month and time to post first entry for the Alphabet Club hosted by Chiara at the Grey Tail.

In June, when Chiara and Jo came up with this idea, I literally jumped on the wagon. I thought this can be a great opportunity to introduce my fellow bloggers to the rich culture of India , my home land; and Kuwait, the country I now call home. Also I can talk about my hobbies such as cross stitch, travel and food using the Alphabets of languages I know (except English): Hindi, Punjabi and Marathi. Hindi is the main language of India and is written in Devanagiri script.

So here is my choice of words :

Aarambh (आरंभ , aa-rum-bh) is a Hindi word for beginning. I chose this word as I feel life is series of beginnings. Birth, first day at school, first day of college, marriage ,moving to a new location... aren't these all small beginnings. Beginnings bring "Asha" .
Asha (आशा , aa-sha) is a Hindi word for Hope. Hope of learning new things at school and College. Hope of a beautiful/life long/secure relationship through marriage.Don't you agree Aarambh and Asha go hand in hand ?

Amritsar ( pronunciation (help·info); Punjabi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤਸਰ; Punjabi pronunciation: [əmːɾɪt̪səɾ]) : One of my favourite cities in India, it is home to the Harmandir Sahib (commonly known as the Golden Temple), the spiritual and cultural center for the Sikh religion.

Image source:Wikipedia

I like being at Golden temple not because of religious reasons but the calm and peace which surrounds me whenever I'm there. The temple domes may be covered with gold sheets but its the place where people act most selflessly- cleaning shoes of visitors, mopping the floor, cooking food for strangers. The Langar (community kitchen) at the temple serves free food to millions of people from every race, religion, creed everyday.


A traditional local market for buying cloth in Amritsar. Image source:Internet

Not to forget the yummylicious street food available in Amritsar- kulche (naturally fermented flat bread), pinni (a sweet made of roasted lentils), bun tikki (Indian version of burger) and Aabu Challi (corn on the cob roasted in sand).Oh taking about these reminds me of wonderful time spent I had there during childhood.
It's also the best place to buy ethnic Indian attire Salwar kameez.


Oh yes I can also show you a cross stitch related item, I thinks this entry should qualify as the text starts with an "A" ;)

I hope I have not bored you with a long post ....I'm off to check out what other members of the club are up to

FOTM SAL July Check in

Hello Friends,
Here is my progress for the Flower of the Month SAL hosted by Alyssa at Brownie's Chair. This piece was my main focus for the month of July. I completed stitching 2 more flowers and the gaps you see in the flowers are due to floss shortage.

I think I have lost my stitching mojo. All I do the whole day is keep thinking of stitching and when I actually sit to stitch, I can't put more than 15 stitches in the piece. I don't know what's wrong , the project I'm working on doesn't have many color changes or confetti, still I ended up making two mistakes .

 

I really hope I find my stitching mojo back soon, as I will be on vacation on the later part of August, giving me lesser time to stitch.

Here's how my Monthly Stitchy pie chart looks like:

Have a great weekend .

Exploring Kuwait

I just realized that its been almost one and half years that I moved to Kuwait for better career opportunities and never have written a post dedicated to my experiences here about the food/travel and other interests of mine .

To tell you the truth when I was shifting here I never made any queries about the country :its culture, food, society . I was more than happy to know that I will be able to work here and wear the type of clothes I want to ...which not many middle eastern countries allow for.

Kuwait being a desert doesn't have bountiful nature, which leaves Shopping Malls as the main places of attraction. I am not a  brand shopper so that kept me away from the big Shopping malls here. However, I never stopped looking for places of my interest and now that I have found some, thanks to internet and social network, I have started liking this place more than I used to like it last year :)

While roaming around in one of the sea side malls, I stumbled upon on this café called "Color me Mine". The café has a collection of plain ceramic/POP figurines/vases/bowls etc. The idea is to select a piece and paint it there with poster colors. Once the piece is painted, it is baked to add shine and then the person can take it home. The Café mainly attracts kids, who paint the pieces with help of lady instructor of the café, while having muffins or cakes. Isn't that cute? The Café  also displayed few pieces to be sold for charity and I was able to pick some lovely stuff .

One of the walls of the Café



Below paintings were displayed in the covered bridge connecting the mall and the marina.



Medium scale model of Dhow

Last Thursday I attended Eid celebration at TIES center and visited the Second chance charity and handmade shop there. I can now guess what charity shops and thrift stores in the UK & USA would be like. I was able to find some nice stuff there-small table ware items , stationery and beautiful crochet doilies which some of the local ladies had donated for charity. Sorry I didn't take any pictures.

Now about my second passion food

Me & DH were treated in a contemporary Indian restaurant Asha's few days back.This is a chain of restaurant at multiple locations around the world run by famous Bollywood Singer Asha Bhonsale.



Ordered Mai's favourite.Image courtesy:Internet

The food quality was up to my expectations, a bit spicy though, however I feel they should offer more vegetarian options being an Indian restaurant.

On Sunday , B&B had a sudden urge to eat Thai food and search for Thai restaurants in Kuwait began. We were so surprised to find a branch of famous Thai chain Sabaidee  near our house..




Som Tum



Pad Thai & Pad Wood Sen

The food was delicious and great value for money. They won my heart by making a vegetarian version of Pad Thai. 

The idea of this post is not to review any food or shopping joint. Its my way of sharing my life here in Kuwait and also to help new expats . I am thankful to many local bloggers about providing useful information about the country on their blogs from which I have benefited.

Do you guys like exploring new places? Do you search for online reviews of restaurants/cities/tourist places before you visit them?

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL July update and my first ever Stitchy exchange

Hello Friends,
Its been a month I haven't posted on my blog...I have been busy with stitching and socializing.
I didn't post for TUSAL as I wasn't feeling inspired to continue with this SAL and have bowed out of it now.
Before I write any further, I would like to welcome my new followers and thank them and other blog visitors for commenting. I really appreciate that.

Well, this is going to be a picture heavy post as I have lot to show.

First of all, I would like to show you how my stitchy friend Diya pampered with me her gifts. I have known Diya for a few months now, we met on facebook in a cross stitch group. Since then, as we interacted we discovered, we had similar interests and some of her family/friends visit Kuwait for work or personal reasons.

Last month, I asked Diya would she be interested in a Stitchy Exchange, the answer of course was Yes! This is what she sent me

See how the packets are numbered as each of them had a gift related to one of my hobbies.

Look at the Cute Penguin she stitched for me, isn't it adorable. She has been so generous to include gifts from her trip to Thailand ...painting, hand cream, soap, cross stitch kits. Also she added a book for baby gifts with some linen and Aida...Oh Diya, I can't express how I feel about these...Thank you Sweetie.

Here is what I sent her

 

Yes, that's an ornament..my first one and I'm tiny meeny proud how it turned out. Herez a side look

Another gift which I stitched for first anniversary of my friend couple is a cover kit that came with Cross Stitch crazy 202.

This is my first time stitching a cover kit and I was really surprised by the stiffness of aida that came in it. Initially I thought I will break the needle and was stitching at snail speed. Then I realized its because I use the sewing method rather than stab method for stitching .The lengths of threads were too short to use loop start, so I switched to stab method and used knots to get comfortable. However, I'm really happy how the finished piece looks like and the recipients liked it too.

Did you notice so many firsts in these post- first exchange, first cover kit, first ornament :)

Other than stitching, I haven't really tried any new recipes in cooking. However, I did explore few new cafes and restaurants and will post about my experience later. I also have few other crafty things to share ...so watch this space.

As promised about sharing a picture of my life in Kuwait in each blog post, here's a pic of view of water front from one of the sea side malls in Kuwait.

Hope you are having a good stitching time