Fox spirit

Click on the image above to see a photo taken of some ancient Libyan rock art - and read the poem that was written by the photographer - brightasafig

Still doing the tile thing

Still working on buying tile for the house. There are all kinds of choices - from basic and cheap to fancy and expensive.

Tiles and plumbing supplies - an entire street filled with shop after shop.

Bathtubs and sinks come in all shapes and sizes. Some shops have toilets that are fancier than my best dishes.

We're buying some tiles from this shop - they had a lovely selection and they even had toilets made in the USA! You know, the kind with a high water level in the bowl and when you flush, the water swirls around and around as it goes down.

We are still shopping for tile. Today we purchased the laundry room tile which is a very light shade of pink with white swirls. We think we have the spare room's bathroom tile chosen {kind of art deco looking} and the bathroom next to the marbowah or traditional Arabic sitting room {natural looking smooth stone in a creamy beige}.

We are saving the kitchen for last - I did see something nice while we've been looking around, but we decided that we would wait and do the kitchen all by itself so we can really focus on it.

In the mean time we will be looking for lighting fixtures and we need doors and windows made and put in - the work for that has started. This is getting exciting - it is nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

. . .and even more tile shopping

We're still not finished picking out tile. It is frustrating to say the least.

There's a strip of shops along a main road in Suk Juma that sell nothing but tile, plumbing supplies, kitchen and bathroom fittings. This is convienient as you can park the car and walk from shop to shop, picking out and comparing.

What is inconvientient, and a huge pain in the neck (and other places) is that the shops generally don't open until about eleven o'clock in the morning. You would think that most workers, plumbers, tilefitters etc. would begin their work quite early in the day (like about 8 am), so it would make better sense if these shops opened earlier to accomodate supplying the workers. Of course the shops close up for lunch at about 2 o'clock and don't open up again until around 5:30pm. They close down for the evening not long after the sun sets.

So we are doing all our tile shopping in little jumps and starts - trying to fit it in when the shops are open and our schedules are free. Since I work in the afternoon and evenings I miss out on the evening timeslots - that leaves mornings. Mustafa is usually out overseeing the workers in the mornings. He runs home, I jump in the car, and off we go for a mad dash around the tile shops. Then it's home and an even madder dash around the house getting lunch served and myself ready for work.

My camera is back from the shop - I will drag it along next time we go tile shopping so you can get a real picture (instead of just an explaination) of what it's all about.

More shopping for the house

Mustafa and I have been out shoppping for the house. We decided on tile for the second kitchen (still haven't chosen the main kitchens tile). I told him the same tile could also be used for the laundry room but he said he wanted something different for the laundry room.

We also found some beautiful stone tiles that could be used for the wall near the entrance. They were perfect - off white and a slightly rough surface and when you looked close you could see the imprint or fossilized leaves. When we asked the salesman it turned out he didn't have enough for what we needed! We looked in all the other shops and couldn't find anyone else that sold the same thing. What a dissapointment as it was perfect. We did find something else to use but the fossilized leaves were breathtaking - I have never seen anything quite like it.

We looked at some stone border columns that we thought about using as a border/ledge for the veranda, but I think that it will make the house look too heavy. I said some simple ironwork might look nicer. We will have to think about it and I will play a bit with photoshop and some pictures of the house to see if I can find out what might look best.

I have a wedding tonite - not sure what to wear, but since I am going with a friend I have decided that I will bring a pad of paper and a pen. The music is so loud at some of these weddings that you can not have any kind of conversation. If I'm with my kids or Libyans I don't mind, but I hate to be with a friend and not be able to chat. So I am going to be bold and bring paper and a pen!

For the love of books

Lonehighlander challenged me with a book meme. I love books. I basically lived in the library when I was growing up. My father's way of punishing me when I did something wrong was to tell me I wouldn't be allowed to read for a week (but he never had the heart to carry out the punishment!). Now that I have six kids and a busy schedule it's hard to fit reading into the schedule. I do most of my reading online. Anyway, here is my answers to the book meme challenge:

Total number of books owned: Not sure how many and even if I can even count them. Last year when I thought we must be moving soon I boxed up most of them. I don't want to take them out of the boxes until we finally do move (sometime this year I hope!).

Last book bought: a thesuarus - I know it's really boring! I bought it from the bookshop on Jamahiria Street for 8.75 dinars and I use it a lot with my students.

Last book read: The TKT course - another boring book! It was for a Cambridge teaching exam I took recently. Currently I am working on Hannibal. It's a scary one and I thought I would read it since I never saw the movie. It is taking me way too long because I have way too much to do.

Five books that mean a lot to me: Besides the Quran -

1. The Little House on the Prairie, actually not one book, but a series (by Laura Ingalls Wilder) were books that I read growing up and loved. When I read them again after becoming an adult I realised that they were pretty boring, but they were soothing (another reason I was a fan of Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood - nice, quiet, and soothing).

2. Complete Guide to Symptoms, Illness and Surgery (by H. Winter Griffith) - This book has probably saved my life as I have little faith in Libyan health care, so I consider it a DIY doctor. Also it probably keeps me on the verge of becoming a hypochondriac.

3. The Herb Book (by John Lust) - For the herbalist in me (and useful when you can't find medicine in the pharmacy).

4. Clutter's Last Stand (by Don Aslett) - this book has help to control the junk situation in my house. It's a must read at least twice a year - time to drag it out again . . . sigh.

5. Various books that are just read for the fun of it. It's hard to find books in Libya and so my friends and I have a network for bringing in books to read and we trade them all back and forth. We buy books when we travel and bring them back and also sometimes friends from home will be kind enough to ship us a box of books every once in a while (Special thanks goes to Bridget who consistantly remembers us - God bless you!) There is a special rate for sending books from the USA and it's fairly cheap - Kristen - hint, hint, hint.

Tag five people: Kris, Lisa, unfettered swallow, Fatima, nzinghas

PhotoFriday - Orange

This weeks Photo Friday challenge is Orange. The earth in Libya is sandy and almost orange. Here's my husband's shib-shibs on the sand.

Pet meme

I've been given a meme challenge about pets from my blogger friend anotherlisa. I have to answer these questions and then tag three other bloggers. Here's the questions:

1. What is your favorite type of animal that you have had as a pet?
2. What is the strangest/most different name one of your pets has had?
3. Describe something bizarre that one of your pets has done.
4. Have you ever eaten dog biscuits? (or other pet related products?)
5. Have you ever let your pet sleep with you?
6. Do you take your pet on vacation with you?
7. Have you held memorials for your pets?
8. Have any of your pets worn clothing?
9. Do you feed your pets before you feed yourself?
10. Does your current pet resemble you physically or temperamentally?

Here's my answers:

1. favourite type of animal as a pet: I guess it must be our siamese cat.
2. strangest pet name: yarmulke - named for a cat that was all white except for a small round black spot on his head.
3. bizarre happening - our black cat Layla will play in the water in the toilet. At first we thought it was because she might be thirsty, but no - she is playing in there - yuck! Have to remember to put down the lid.
4. eated dog bisquits?: no way!
5. The cats sleep with us all the time. I hate it when they start licking themselves in the middle of the night. I always ask Mustafa if he is alone over there on his side of the bed - hehe.
6. Pets on vacation: we have taken the cats to the farm and for rides in the car, but not on vacation.
7. No pet memorials.
8. Jenna dresses up the cats all the time.
9. We throw the cats out on the balcony at dinner time - eat first and send them the leftovers. I hate having pets begging at the table.
10. is there a resemblance? - not that I know of!

I'm tagging Kris, Lonehighlander (I will do the book thing this weekend - I promise), and red-enclave.