Around The World in 80 Days

Around the world in 80 days! How does it sound for Mr Notjustnat and I for our round-the-world trip? In early 1990 Michael Palin hosted the series Around the World in 80 Days on BBC television. I enjoyed the series until the end. Our trip won't be as interesting as Michael's, but to us it will be. 

The trip combines Mr Notjustnat's retirement and my 10 years long-service-leave. By coincidence they happened in the same year! The trip gives us the chance to visit friends and family along the way. I'm also looking forward to meeting with some online friends for the first time. Some kind souls even offered us to stay with them! 

We will begin our trip from East to West and around. First stop is United Arab Emirates where we lived for almost 7 years. We land in Dubai and then by road to Abu Dhabi. I'm so excited about going back there for the first time since we left in 2002. Below are some photos I got from the net to give you an idea. I will try to update my blog every so often when I have a chance. You can also see my daily feeds on Instagram.

The title page of the original AroundThe World in 80 Days
by Jules Verne. 

In Dubai I will catch up with my friend Becky. Another dear friend Cynthia will come to pick us up and drive us to Abu Dhabi which is about 150 kilometres from Dubai. I'm looking forward to this ride. I'm sure it will be unregonisable compared with when we lived there.

Abu Dhabi cornish where we lived in from the mid 90's to 2002

A camel train in the desert not too far from Abu Dhabi City

This photo could be any souq in the Middle East!

The highlight for me in Abu Dhabi is to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Construction of the Grand Mosque began when we still there, but with the grand scale of the project it's taken longer than planned. Apart from the Grand Mosque I would like to visit our old apartment building we used to live in. Of course I would like to see the changes that happened in Abu Dhabi. 

So please come along and follow us on our Around The World in 80 Days. 

Until next time

Nat

My Birthday

I had a birthday last week. I did not go out of my way to do anything special on my birthday but friends, colleagues and family had other ideas. I went out to 2 lunches, many morning teas and dinner. Not bad for celebrating being a year older! I received birthday presents and some e-cards from distant family and friends. Thanks everyone!

I have been busy as usual. Only 3 more weeks till we leave on our around the world trip. I'm starting to get a bit excited now! 

I did a few batches of dyeing these last weeks. The results are getting better and better, and I don't do anything different from what I did in the past. I'm so thrilled to get rich colours and patterns from my dyed fabric. 

Below are some photos from my birthday, and dyeing results. 

Birthday dinner at Steak Ministry

A selection of art journal supplies from Mel Tan

Knitted cowl-neck and other gifts from my colleagues

Bolgatanga African market baskets from DD Kitiya

Some gorgeous gifts from Myra and Cynthia.
They know I love blue!

One of a kind birthday gifts. Rusty objects from
Geo's daily walks on her farm.

Since Jacky's Create Journal Workshop at my Treehouse Studio, I reshuffled some furniture to make more space in the Treehouse. I can now have up to 6-7 people in a workshop at the Treehouse. I recently acquired a vintage silk houry/kimono from Kazari/Ziguzagu. I have the right spot to display it in the Treehouse, the only wall space available being the wall the BORO cloth was hanging. I took the BORO cloth down and hanged the houry/kimono in its place.

It looks beautiful on the wall. The designs
on this kimono was individually woven.
Finely silk woven. It's so beautiful. 

These two chairs are now replacing the long vintage
bench that was there since I moved into the Treehouse.

Baskets are now overflowing over the bookshelves,
but I love them!

Below are some results from a couple of batches of dyes I did in the last couple of weeks. Some of them are better than others. I can use all of these in stitching projects by varying colours and textures. What I need now is time to stitch! 

Jacky called them eco-roses. Collections of dyed silks

Great result dyeing with vintage Japanese wool and eucalyptus

Cotton thread I dyed a couple of weeks ago by wrapping
it around rusty tin

A tint of yellow from wattle flowers and eucalyptus

I made this gorgeous piece of milky merino into a cowl-neck

When opened this piece I thought I wouldn't be able to
do better than this!

Only half of the leaves were removed in this piece

When I opened this bundle, I thought yes, I could!

I also got domesticated last weekend. The olive tree we have in our garden produced a lot of olives this year. I was too busy to do anything about them until last weekend when I had some free time. I started by soaking them in water for a week. Even though the olives are quite small, they are the tastiest olives I have ever tasted. 

I got all necessary ingredients and was ready to bottle
them after a week of soaking. 

Using all jars available I packed and filled the jars
with brine water and a little olive oil. 

It doesn't seem like I have been doing much stitching lately, but I always have a hand stitching project or projects nearby. I keep forgetting to photograph them. I will try to remember to do that soon.

Until next time

Nat