The holiday began with us watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), which I absolutely loved and want to watch again very soon. The next day we hosted a barbeque, enjoying the company of others as well as sharing food and drinks together. When most of the friends were leaving an unexpected visitor arrived and ended up staying with us for four days. The tiny mouse proved to be as elusive as Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can (2002). UB40 should have been singing, 'Rat In Mi Kitchen,' after the Golf Open in Doha that very same night but unfortunately they were cancelled due to the death of the King of Saudi Arabia. Our Qatari flag on the Jebel flew at half-mast for three days respectfully.
I was really glad we had our very own Mr Jingles for company, (The Green Mile, 1999) and not a rat again, which we did have when we moved into this Villa last September. It had emerged from the open pipe at the back of the toilet in the en-suite bathroom. AGH! 'There's a rat in mi bathroom what am I gonna do?' I chose not to introduce myself to him, trusting the various armies of pest control and Pied Pipers of Dukhan to send him back to the sewers.
Our sweet, little mouse enjoyed his mini-break, including a manic game of hide and seek in Ellie's bedroom (where she became a total Psycho, wielding a bread knife and saying she was going to kill IT, to which I replied she had to eat IT if she did) and a piece of 'irresistibly smooth white Lindt Lindor chocolate.' Eventually, Mr Jingles was cornered, captured and let loose.
Romeo took me by surprise one day and asked me what I wanted to do. Immediately I thought 'I want to go to Antarctica for 3 months by myself'' and then said, ''Let's go and find the Richard Serra sculptures in the desert and visit the Mathaf (arab museum of modern art).'' So we did. The desert piece is called ''East-West/West-East'' and for a brief moment I could have been back in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The sandscape was blurring my mind and bringing back many memories of lovely arty walks and talks with friends. Dragging the kids around the gallery to see an Iranian artist's (Shirin Neshat) exhibition entitled ''Afterwards,''was not as peaceful as standing in the desert looking at four, 50 foot tall, steel monoliths.
I have scaled the dizzy heights of Ironing Mountain as courageously as Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson did recently climbing the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Smoothing over the creases, ironing out my worries as my mum does every week, I did not stop until I had reached the bottom of the pile.
One morning I awoke only to presume I had been flamenco dancing in my sleep as my right arm was above my head and my left arm across my body. Despite the unknown exertion, I felt relaxed and well rested. I even had enough energy to encourage Joshua to make a clay penguin and seal for his school project.
What holiday is complete without a few desert trails to find and follow (Qatar West Coast Hash House Harriers) eating a homegrown pomegranate and a refreshing dip in the currently very cold Gulf? Brrrrrrrr!
I hope you are enjoying your own adventures. Whether they are big or small they are what make you, who YOU are.
Happy February! x
I was really glad we had our very own Mr Jingles for company, (The Green Mile, 1999) and not a rat again, which we did have when we moved into this Villa last September. It had emerged from the open pipe at the back of the toilet in the en-suite bathroom. AGH! 'There's a rat in mi bathroom what am I gonna do?' I chose not to introduce myself to him, trusting the various armies of pest control and Pied Pipers of Dukhan to send him back to the sewers.
Our sweet, little mouse enjoyed his mini-break, including a manic game of hide and seek in Ellie's bedroom (where she became a total Psycho, wielding a bread knife and saying she was going to kill IT, to which I replied she had to eat IT if she did) and a piece of 'irresistibly smooth white Lindt Lindor chocolate.' Eventually, Mr Jingles was cornered, captured and let loose.
Romeo took me by surprise one day and asked me what I wanted to do. Immediately I thought 'I want to go to Antarctica for 3 months by myself'' and then said, ''Let's go and find the Richard Serra sculptures in the desert and visit the Mathaf (arab museum of modern art).'' So we did. The desert piece is called ''East-West/West-East'' and for a brief moment I could have been back in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The sandscape was blurring my mind and bringing back many memories of lovely arty walks and talks with friends. Dragging the kids around the gallery to see an Iranian artist's (Shirin Neshat) exhibition entitled ''Afterwards,''was not as peaceful as standing in the desert looking at four, 50 foot tall, steel monoliths.
I have scaled the dizzy heights of Ironing Mountain as courageously as Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson did recently climbing the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Smoothing over the creases, ironing out my worries as my mum does every week, I did not stop until I had reached the bottom of the pile.
One morning I awoke only to presume I had been flamenco dancing in my sleep as my right arm was above my head and my left arm across my body. Despite the unknown exertion, I felt relaxed and well rested. I even had enough energy to encourage Joshua to make a clay penguin and seal for his school project.
What holiday is complete without a few desert trails to find and follow (Qatar West Coast Hash House Harriers) eating a homegrown pomegranate and a refreshing dip in the currently very cold Gulf? Brrrrrrrr!
I hope you are enjoying your own adventures. Whether they are big or small they are what make you, who YOU are.
Happy February! x
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