Some Unusual Breakfast Guests

Monet and Lily invited a couple of guests to breakfast last week.

Molly (she's Irish) and Squeaky (she's a mouse, but recently accompanied us to Berlin and Barcelona, so she's a well traveled mouse).

They sat quietly (the guests, not the hosts) at the table on the table, and nibbled on their toast, and they had a teeny bit of bacon too, all washed down with a drop of water.

Bet you haven't had breakfast guests like that at yours before.

The Best 99 Dirham I Have Spent In The School Holidays

A few weeks back we spied these new play tents in IKEA, but being the mummy I am, I refused to buy the girls the tent without reason. So over the course of the week they 'earned' the tent and we went and bought it.  It is probably the best spent 99 dirham I have spent lately.  (99aed equals approximately $25aud).

Without much help from me, Monet erected the tent by herself.  She did a pretty corker job.

It sits in the corner of our 'play area' downstairs and the girls spend quite a bit of time playing in there, occupying themselves with lots of giggles, playing and reading.  They've even 'pretended' to have nap time in there last week.

If only they would.

Good times. =)

My Special Song...

Can't believe it has been three years already. I have healed, but I will never forget.

Mini Melody...

...in a biglittlesister skirt creation.

I wonder if you recognise (or remember) the skirt?

As my 'Bird in a cage' skirt was one of the original ones I had made, I found that the length was a little too short (instead of it being a hip number, it was always a bit of a waist number).

Monet has been banging on for weeks (and weeks) that she wanted me to make her a skirt after seeing me producing dozens of skirts for 'ladies', not little girls.  So with scissors and pins in hand I cut and pinned then sewed and you see the final result.  She was rapt!  I have made Monet a pattern now so any spare material can be made into a skirt for her.  She's already gained another, so I have another happy customer on the books.  =)

Barceloneta

Back to Barcelona...

If there is anything you need to attract attention in a foreign city, I suggest taking a blonde headed toddler with you. With our tummies rumbling one day, we found ourselves at Barceloneta, a piece of land that juts out and sits between a beautiful marina and a beautiful (kinda) beach with the Mediterranean lapping at it's shores. The area is lined with straight lane ways and many restaurants.

That day, we decided on one particular restaurant where the waiters and other diners, were all taken in with Lily's charms.  And, didn't she know it... (and yeah, that's my glass of beer, not a jug!)

Talk about being the center of attention in her special little high chair.  She had her hair ruffled so many times, she didn't care, which was most unusual.

Around the corner from this strip of restaurants was the beach.  It was there when we said that one could most easily stay in Barcelona for more than a week...

If it wasn't for the people, I could imagine ourselves paddling in the water and making castles in the sand...

I think next time I would quite to stay in this section of the city.  Yes, there will be a next time, but it won't be in the peak of summer... *wink wink*

The marina was beautiful, but I always have a soft spot for marinas.

That area of the city had a real holiday feel to it.   A big array of eateries, ice creameries, little shops, buskers, annoying people...

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, off to the sewing room I go...

So, you may remember the photo of this fabric store I took in gorgeous-I-wish-I-was-still-there Barcelona. Well the fabric I bought wasn't exactly cheap and I didn't buy a lot of it. But I did make sure there was enough to make myself this skirt...

I just love it.

Yeah, I have gone a bit 'skirt' crazy here with my little workshop going into, what seems like, overdrive. I have a good stock pile of skirts now in three different sizes.  I have the odd customer every week who has seen them on Facebook (link on side bar here) or by word of mouth - which is what I am all about.  The more I sew, the greater the choice of skirts there is.  And, bonus of all bonuses, if I feel the need to own a new skirt I can just go and help myself.  *heehee*  Now it is a case of keeping my ear to the ground on any up coming market events happening in my current home city - they are few and far between - but I am getting myself slowly organised.

Okay, back to the sewing room I go...

Butter Wouldn't Melt and Pigs Might Fly...

Don't let this cutie in the following photo fool you.

Can you believe that my baby Lily, will be two in a fortnight?  But what the age two brings, is those terrible tantrums.  And as most parents know, the 'terrible twos' can start way before the second birthday. Lily's began not really that long ago, thank goodness.  This week though, she has had a couple of goodies and why is it that the tantrums happen in public? I ask you, Why?  Lily, what do you have to say for yourself?  Yeah, butter wouldn't melt...

Even though our Monet (who turns seven a day after Lily turns two) has her own tantrums once-in-a-while, she's fantastic with Lily, she really is.  And when we are in public and Lily decides that she will sit on the supermarket floor and scream if she wants too with tears rolling down her face, big sister Monet is there to wait patiently next to her, hold her hand and calm her down.  Boy, I'm going to miss Monet (in more ways than way) when she returns to school in a fortnight after the previous 9 weeks off school!

Butt (geddit?) we adore our Lily.  She's so amusing and has a real little personality.  I see a lot of all of us in her.

The terrible twos will pass, this I know.  And then I have to battle through the 3's, 4's....rah, rah, rah....

Park Guell

One place we had been told about before heading off to Spain, was to make sure we try and get to Park Guell, nestled in the hills surrounding Barcelona.  it is quite a well known park, designed and created by Antoni Gaudi, for Count Eusebi Guell who financed the project.

We caught a bus there, which dropped us off at a foot of a very steep hill.  It was hard going, pushing a 12 kilo toddler in a stroller up a steep hill, but doing that for 10 minutes was well worth the effort.  I knew it would be something special when we saw the entrance sign...

I'm always one for arriving somewhere early, especially on holiday, to avoid the rush of the tourist masses and I, for one, was most pleased to see that the park was practically empty at 9:30am.  Through the gates we looked up at a lot of ceramic architecture - it was wonderful.

Tiny little buildings, looking like something out of a fairy tale.  I swear this building in the photo below looks like it is made out of gingerbread!

Work began on the park in 1900 and was meant to like an English style village, aimed at Barcelona's elite.  Gaudi designed and worked on the project for 14 years and when it became apparent that the project would never sell, work was abandoned.  In 1918 the local government purchased the property, finished the work and it opened to the public four years later.  I'm glad they did.

The place is pretty spectacular.  And pretty special too.  I felt privileged to be somewhere where a man, before his time, had planned and worked with a different vision.  An artist I learnt a lot about 20 years previously whilst at university.  (We kept saying that if we had chosen to visit Barcelona in 2008 instead of Venice like we did, and therefore named Lily that as her middle name, she would've been called - without a doubt, Lily Gaudi.)

What three gorgeous girls! =)

The ceramic and mosaic work is truly awesome - I'm pretty sure all four of us were impressed.  This bench below, is noted as being the longest in the world and if you saw it for yourself, you'd see why.  I'd actually vote it as being the most prettiest too.  It was very inspirational.

The house below, was once Gaudi's home.  Bit unusual that for a man who designed all his works on the curves of nature, it had a lot of straight sides (on the outside!)  It now serves as the park's museum.

The view from the walkways was amazing.  I'm so pleased we went.  I have a post coming up about the most spectacular Sagrada Familia (the building being constructed in the photo below), and to see it from this height and distant was fabulous....

One of Gaudi's most famous ceramic pieces is a mosaic gecko (or dragon as some people say it is), which I was keen to find, knowing it was housed in the park.  If only I initially realised that it was housed near the entrance, I would have steered there first before all the tourists came wandering in.  Instead I took a quick snapshot (to prove to myself that we did actually see it) with a lot of annoying strangers touching the creature.  I'm a bit pissed at myself for not seeing it before everyone else.

I do like that blonde headed chick's dress though!

I'm so glad we took the time to visit the park and considering it was free, was even better.  We spent about 2-3 hours there, wandering the paths leading up the hillside but we could've easily spent a couple more to explore.  Will do so next time. *wink wink*

A Kiss From A Stranger... ;-)

Every day when we set out on our walking adventure in Barcelona, somehow we'd always find ourselves at Placa Reial, a square in the Barri Gotic area, just off La Rambla.  Surrounded by a yellow and white building (probably apartments), a scattering of palm trees and a fountain, it was nothing too special.  Under each archway however, were restaurants so it was always nice to sit down and have a drink and 'people watch', one of my favourite hobbies...

The lamp post is a Gaudi creation!

It was here, on our second day exploring the city, where we sat down for a cool beverage.  Miss Lily was getting a little restless in her stroller and to keep her happy we gave her a 'Pop Pop' (ie Pop Pop = bribery).  She looks cute eh?

Well, we weren't the only ones who thought so.  As she was sitting there, posing and being her usual amusing self, a little Spanish boy walking with his father, about Lily's age, wandered up to her, stroked her face, smiled at her and then planted a big kiss on her forehead.  It was gorgeous!  And didn't Lily get a big ribbing from the three of us?  She had a massive grin on her face, that lasted for about a minute until she got cut with us saying "ooo Lily's got a boyfriend"...

I'm sure if you've ever been to Barcelona or you are planning on visiting the city, you too will find yourself seated and enjoying a beverage or two.  I wonder if you'll have a kiss planted on your forehead too!

Like Venice, Without The Canals.

One thing we loved about Barcelona, was the fact it did remind us of Venice, Italy, just minus the canals and 400 bridges, but with scooters added for good measure...

If you haven't been to Venice, nor Barcelona for that matter, it is made up of an array of maze-like little lane ways, dotted with little shop faces and you never quite sure what you'll discover around in the next lane way.  MrL and I loved exploring the section of Barcelona which was like this....

You find toy stores...

I love the reflection of Little Lily's face in this photo...

Chicken rotisseries out on the street...

Old Spanish men hanging around their local bar...

The Corner Store, one of which you'll find that you keep on passing...

Cute artwork on pulled-down roller-doors...

Little delicatessens....

And, out of the blue, you'll find a most awesome Japanese Fabric shop (in which you will buy some fabric to make yourself a special skirt - but that's another post!)...

Part of the fun when going on holidays is getting lost and exploring.  Pretty sure that happened to us every day in Barcelona, but we loved it.  Just awesome.

Buying the Shirt Off My Back...(sorry, I mean Skirt!)

My little business is 'booming' here in Abu Dhabi.  I haven't sold a lot like it might sound but in the past week alone, I have sold roughly eight, with five pending and I had previously sold about six before I started to let people know.   I'm pretty rapt with myself.  Considering I made up my own pattern and had help via an Aussie mate over here and my English next door neighbour in regards to sizing, I reckon I'm doing okay. 

My little sewing quarters is my sweat shop.  I do have aircon in there so that's always handy.  I can practically sew my skirt design with my eyes closed and find if I do a group of skirts of the same fabric at the same time, I feel like I achieve a lot more once they're all finished at the same time.  

I still love my little camel and have sold a couple of these skirts.  

What really set the ball rolling with my selling, is my next door neighbour returned the gate key we lent her when we were away (so she could use the pool).  I was wearing one of my skirts with the Eiffel Tower embellishment, when she stopped what she was saying and said how much she loved my skirt.  When I said I made it and then showed her my little stock pile of skirts she instantly bought one.  (Awesome neighbour hey?  She's bought another two in the meanwhile...)  She is also doing a little PR work for me (*heehee*) by wearing her skirts to where she's meeting other women and telling them to look me up.

Well today I finished sewing three skirts of this fabric below.... I call this skirt my Pop Face Skirt.  It isn't for everyone and yeah, it's bright, it's bold, but I just love it...

Maybe I should say, I loved it.

My hairdresser arrived this afternoon to cut my hair and instantly noticed my skirt and claimed at how much she loved it.  She had a look through my stock but was oohing and ahhing over the skirt I had on.  She tried on the other sizes of my remaining two Pop Face Skirts, but they didn't fit correctly.
"Would you like to try this one on?" I asked....
"Can I?" she said surprised...
It fitted perfectly.
"SOLD" we laughed.
She literally bought the shirt skirt off my back.  I am a good saleswoman.  =)

Guess I'll be off to buy more of the same fabric then.  I want one of those skirts again!  Busy, busy.

Ceramics in Barcelona Lane Ways...

Many moons ago I studied Ceramic Design and never, ever thought I would get myself over to Barcelona - a city famous for it's ceramics. Twenty years, one husband and two daughters later, I got there.  Besides all the ceramic architecture from Antoni Gaudi, there were bits of ceramic artwork dotted throughout the city, especially in the Barri Gotic area.  I have to say, it was lovely to be able to share a passion I once held, with Monet.  It was great to have her see it all first hand.

In the little backstreets and lane ways of Barri Gotic (that's another post!), we came across a fabulous ceramic shop.  And of course we had to go in and see all the work in there.  Some of the work was magnificent, others, not so magnificent, but it was still pretty awesome to come across a store loaded with ceramics.

The store, Art Escudellers, ships worldwide (for our future reference).

Just out of no where, you would see beautiful hand painted tiles plastered onto the walls - showing where a particular place was or explaining something (in Spanish).  I loved spying them...

Ceramics isn't for everybody, nor hand painted tiles for that matter, but for me, I loved seeing that side of Barcelona.

A Market Visit Along La Rambla

One thing we noticed was how nice it was to have a city full of beautiful, big, green trees. They lined the main shopping streets and covered over the main tourist mecca, called La Rambla.

 La Rambla was about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment. The first time we saw it, we were amazed and soaked it all in. Even at 9am in the morning it was getting busy. We learnt that day though,  to try and avoid the strip, due to what seemed like a million people who pounded that section of the city. Kind of our idea of hell on earth.  But without the hoards of people, it was beautiful...

There was a lot of little stalls dotted along La Rambla - selling everything from souvenirs, to sweets, to pet budgies.  There was also annoying men, trying to sell these stoopid annoying bird whistles - why anyone would want one is beyond me...

We're not really into buying a lot of souvenirs (nor sending postcards for that matter)...

We were keen to see a famous fresh food market we were told about, La Boqueria.

Located along La Rambla, I have never seen a market quite like this in all my life.  I have seen a variety of fresh food markets across certain sections of the world, but never had I seen row after row of fresh, air-dried Jamon hanging like this...  In Barcelona, you get quite used to it - it is everywhere!  I guess the market wasn't really one for die-hard vegetarians...

But the fresh fruit, ohh the fresh fruit displays were, in a word, AWESOME!

The girls selected a little platter of fresh fruit each and then we chose a fresh fruit juice each.  At 1.5 Euro, it was pretty good value.  The juices were all made on site and the varieties were irresistible.  I think Monet raved about hers for at least two hours afterwards (she chose Strawberry and Pineapple) and Lily seemed to enjoy the drink I chose for her, Strawberry and Coconut.  Yummoh.

You must visit the market if you ever find yourself in Barcelona.  No doubt you will find yourself there anyway, you don't need to me to tell you.