A Beautiful Afternoon

My husband and I rarely go on outings. Unless it's something pretty spectacular then we don't bother so much.  I like going out, being in the car, but my husband doesn't like driving.  However yesterday was quite different for him.  He enjoyed the drive.

We decided to go to the "Pineapple Beach".  I guess it's called that because there is a lone palm tree there that sort of looks like the top of a pineapple.  The beach is very secluded and there is a gorgeous cliff. I didn't get the best angle but this is still quite nice.

 It was late in the afternoon.  The sun was almost past the stage where you would get a sunburn. Being as white as my husband is we have to avoid getting burnt at all times!  Achilles was very happy to be there. He ran to the water, let his feet touch and run back to shore.  I had a swiw with Derek, my hubby, which I had not done since a month before Chaya was born.  It felt immaculate!

The water was warm and crystal blue.  I thought to myself, " I could stay here in Oman for a couple more  years"; in Salalah that is.  The rest of Oman has nothing like this..well...maybe Muscat, but that's about it.  The weather is alot more pleasant down here than Muscat!

Chaya slept for most of the time on the beach and it was relaxing.  It was the perfect end to the weekend( in the middle east the weekend begins Wednesday afternoon and you're back to work on Saturday).

Hope to have lots more of these!

Growing Basil

"This will be an easy task" , or so I thought. I decided to try to grow basil on my porch. Here in Salalah there are lots of people with plantations growing food and basil is supposed to be very easy to grow.

I attempted to grow some with seeds from a friend's plant. After weeks of trying to grow that nothing happened. Then I attempted to grow it from cuttings.  They all died. I thought to myself that it was impossible to grow basil where I lived because we didn't get enough sun on my side of the building.

Today after seeing a blog where people grew plants on their root tops I thought to myself if those people could do it on their roofs, why couldn't I? I had thought of it before but I was too lazy to go to the top of the building and water the plants, or that the plant would get stolen.  There are lots of people living in my complex.

I went out to the pot, which from a far looked like nothing was going on.  To my surprise I looked in the pot and there were about 10 little basil plants looking straight at me!

So after about 6 weeks this is what I got. I'm quite pleased.  I look forward to taking care of it in the upcoming weeks and seeing it grow bigger and give me some delicious basil leaves.  Can't wait!
I will update you all on the status of the plant is subsequent entries.

CouchSurfing

Whilst back in Dominica a couple years ago my husband and I discovered couchsurfing. It is an organization you can join where people allow you to stay at their place while you're travelling.  Whether you're doing a massive trip, trying to see alot of countries or you're just getting from one place to another just because you happen to be there, its an option.

Since then my family and I have hosted alot of people from all over the world. Some are great guests, others; not so much. It's nice to meet people from so many backgrounds.

This week Ida Skogstad stayed with us. She is from Norway and is a wonderful guest. She came to Oman on photograhy assignment; I think and has been in Oman for over 2 weeks now.

The children bonded with her very well and its very sad that she has to leave today. I was loving the company!  Well hopefully there will be lots more like her and I can relax a bit when the kids go crazy.

Until next time...