One Lovely Blog Award

21 Thursday Jan 2016

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one_lovely_blog_award

Alexa from Whimsical Wyvern has nominated me for One Lovely Blog Award! I’m honored, not to mention childishly pleased too 🙂 Can’t stop grinning. Thank you so much Alexa!

rules-one-lovely-blog-award

The Rules for this Award are as follows :

Thank the person that nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
List the rules.
Display the award on your post of the award.
List seven facts about yourself.
Nominate 15 bloggers for this award and comment on one of their posts to let them know you have nominated them.

(My childish side has also chosen to add a badge to my blog 🙂 )

facts-one-lovely-blog-award

7 facts about me :

I love English pop music from the 80s and the early 90s and a few current ones; all of which I listen to every night.
I hate bananas and milk – I just can’t stand the odor of either of them.
I have one major dream and that is to travel the world. I’m trying to fulfill that a little every alternate year and this year is one 🙂
I am a fan of Captain Haddock in the Tintin comic series and I’ve almost got the whole collection. Only 4 remain. But I’ll get those soon enough. I am also a Harry Potter fan (of the books, not the movies). I wish Mrs. Rowling would consider working on more sequels. And they never end.
I am afraid of all creepy-crawlies.
I love watching the rain and the smell of fresh earth after a good downpour. But I need to be indoors when this happens. Hate getting wet.
I’m addicted to Candy Crush. I am currently on level 578.

nominations-one-lovely-blog-award

And lastly, here are my nominations. Do check them out!

Musings of a 20 Something year old

Busy Mockingbird

@ShashaSelflove

When Timber Makes One Still

A Park Trip, A Glass Bowl Garden and a New Pet

16 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Life In Kuwait

≈ 4 Comments

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Al Shaheed Park, DIY, Glass Bowl Garden

We had an interesting weekend. I get a full day off on Friday and a half day on Saturday. The weather was G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S. on Friday. Which is not very often. And it would have been a shame if we didn’t take advantage of it. So we went to visit one of the newest addition to the parks we have here – The Al Shaheed Park – the largest urban park in Kuwait. Its actually a park that displays the country’s history and culture with 2 museums (which we didn’t see), gardens, lake with a musical fountain, walking and jogging tracks. It was beautifully built. They were also supposed to feature an aviary, but that’s not operational yet. I think we saw the space meant for it. So maybe in the near future.. The only downside was they didn’t have any allocated play areas for kids and they didn’t allow us to take the ball in (my 2 yr old never goes anywhere without it). So after wrestling it out of his hands and the loud screams subsided, we began to enjoy the visit. Here are some of the pics we took –

We then went to Friday Market – one of the oldest, popular, open-air market where you can get endless things; right from a needle to a pet. We went there with a purpose. My brother (an extremely creative person who doesn’t take his creativity very seriously), made a little garden in his unused fish-bowl. So we went to get a bowl and the plants to make a similar one. Here they are :

The first one is my brother’s. Very pretty isn’t it? We still need to get some decorative elements and stones to put in ours (the second one), and I have one more plant left over to put in but I have another idea forming in my mind. Not sure how it would look, so not going much into the details here. I’m currently keeping fingers crossed that first of, the plants would grow well together.

And for the finale, much to the excitement of the 2 cheeky monsters, we got ourselves another new pet. An unexciting turtle! 😀

So that’s another grand week gone by 🙂

Wish you all a great one too!

Additional Block 1 (Moogly CAL 2016)

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Crochet

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Crochet Square, Prince Protea Square

I have some 300 amazing squares pinned to my “Crochet Squares” Board on Pinterest.

Do have a look here : Crochet Squares

So since I was given a suggestion of making additional blocks for my Moogly CAL Blanket because the size of my square was comparatively smaller, I had been going through the squares on my board to see what I would like to make to compensate. And here’s the pin I wanted to do : The Prince Protea Square

Based on that pattern, I’ve made another one. And I love it!! (Please note, this one has NOTHING to do with the Moogly CAL Scheduled Squares. This is just an additional square that I’m including to this project to make a larger blanket).

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I still haven’t gotten round to blocking the first one. I don’t know what’s keeping me from trying it out. But I have to. Even this one needs to be blocked since the pink round looks curled in and needs to be stretched out a little so the stitches are properly visible. Maybe this weekend…

Block 1 – Moogly CAL 2016

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Crochet

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CAL, Crochet Along, Flame Square, Moogly CAL 2016

I’ve completed Block 1 of Moogly CAL 2016 – The Flame Square. Enjoyed it very much, I must say.

Here it is with the color combos I chose –

The pink is actually a hot Pink. And very vibrant which doesn’t reflect in my picture. I like the overall effect, though. There was a bit of imperfection in one of the corners where most of the rounds start. I doubt it will be all that noticeable when they all come together.

But, my block turned out to be only 9 inches; 3 inches short of the ideal 12 inches. I thought blocking might increase it to 12. One of the Ravelry group members explained to me that 9 to 12 is a long stretch and to just leave it be as the whole block would get distorted beyond recognition. So as long as I use the same hook and yarn for the rest of the project, it doesn’t matter. Just that my afghan will not turn out as large as everybody else’s. And I would probably have to add on more blocks if I do want a large one.

Will see about that later.

But I still need to block to straighten out the square. And that’s going to be the hard part for me. I’ve never done it before. So until the next block is revealed (can’t wait!), my eyes will be glued to You Tube to find out how blocking is done. I hope I don’t ruin this 🙂

Crochet Along (CAL 2016) with Moogly

10 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Crochet

≈ 2 Comments

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CAL, Crochet Along, Moogly CAL 2016

I decided to join in on Tamara Kelly’s Crochet Along on Moogly. This is my first time doing a CAL and I’m really excited! Those of you who’re familiar with her CALs would already know about it.

Link to it is : http://www.mooglyblog.com/mooglycal2016-block-1/

I know I had begun work on my first afghan 3-4 months ago. But, sheepishly I admit, I have lost interest and I’m ashamed of myself. I will pick it up again, but not just yet 🙂 The Moogly CAL has suddenly taken my fancy and I want to do that first. I have also decided on the colors that I want to use (as seen in the picture; I’m not too great with color combos, but keeping fingers crossed) and have started working on the first block. Should finish today.

I just might be able to stick to this project mainly because they’re all going to be different blocks which will be revealed on specific dates. I found the part of not seeing all the blocks before-hand quite appealing. Like a mystery. So that will take care of the monotony of making identical blocks like the one I’ve kept on hold. Plus, I have joined their Ravelry group and that could possibly motivate and inspire me to spur on. I’ve already found them helpful on my questions and wasn’t disappointed.

So overall, a good start. Let’s see how it goes 🙂

Learn A Stitch : Spike Stitch & Puff Spike Stitch

09 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Crochet Stitch Library

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Learn a Stitch, Puff Spike Stitch, Spike Stitch

After a pretty long break from learning new stitches, I learned 2 new ones last week – the Spike Stitch and the Puff Spike Stitch.

I made a beanie using the Spike stitch. There are quite a few ways of doing this stitch that creates pretty geometric designs. But for this beanie I used a basic one because I was in a rush. My daughter wanted me to make it for her friend who was re-locating and had only the next day as her last at school. Made this in 1 evening. I doubt its all that perfect. But she told me her friend loved it when she got back from school 🙂 So its alright!

Photo - Beanie Spike Stitch

The written instructions with pictures for the Spike Stitch is here .

The beanie follows a standard pattern : Magic Ring, 12 DCs first round, then increases of 12DCs in each round upto the 6th round where it ends with 72 DCs. The rest of the beanie has 72 DCs each round upto desired length. I added the spike stitch rounds in-between. Between 2 spike stitch rounds, there is a Half Double Crochet round. I made only a total of 4 Spike Stitch rows. The brim consists of a DC row then 3 Front Post Double Crochet rows.

The other one I learned is the Puff Spike Stitch. Followed the video to learn it and made a swatch practicing which I later turned into an ear warmer. I think its a really pretty stitch. Resembles the star stitch a little, I feel.

Photo - Ear Warmer Puff Spike Stitch

Fading Childhood..

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Family, Life In Kuwait

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Wow! Its already a week since we entered a new year!

My 10 yr old turned 11 on the 4th. Her final year as a child, I guess. No more child discounts next year 🙂

We went out for dinner to Fridays at the 360 Mall to celebrate. Just the 4 of us. Its her favorite mall, for reasons known to her alone. But we like it too. They’ve got some lovely settings in there. I feel its one of the very few aesthetically-done malls we have here. Click the name to check out the pictures for yourselves.

After dinner, we strolled around. It’s been ages since we visited this particular mall. They had some famous landmarks from around the world installed . It was supposedly on from the 17th of Dec till the 6th of Jan. We didn’t get to see all of it, though. And if you followed them on Instagram (I personally hate that app), you could end up being one of the lucky few who gets to win tickets to these destinations. So, we were just in time to see a few structures like these before they were removed –

The Big Ben was featured on their poster too. But we didn’t see it anywhere.

And there was a pretty half-wall with some plants growing out of it. Attached to it at the bottom was an infinity pool sort of granite block. Not sure how the water stays on it since its not a hollowed out block. Maybe its got holes in it. Anyhow, it looked pretty with the lights all around.

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Spent some time around their fountain too.

Finally got home around 11.

All of us then cuddled up on the bed with wishful thoughts. It quickly turned into a poignant moment.

We didn’t want any sadness creeping in, but it did. She was sad her birthday ended. I felt sad too. And so did the better half.

Sad that she grew up so fast. Realized that she soon won’t be a little girl anymore. Wished we spent more time with her. Wished we spent lesser time quarreling and arguing over silly things. We talked about how much we rush about getting busy with unimportant things instead of taking the time to make some moments special. And then when special things did happen, we just let it pass us by without a second thought. Later wishing we could go back to it and savor it more. We vowed to never let it happen again. Vowed to never have regrets.

She’ll soon enter her teenage years. She’s already starting to get moody. A lot! And I pray that we will all be able to handle it well.

We will survive.

New Year with Christ (January 2016)

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in My Faith

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Bible Verses, Christian faith

A new year always brings with it a mixture of hope and worry.

My plan is to start the year with Christ, cast all my worries and cares on Him and remain at rest in Him.

The Word has so many promises that has greatly helped me over the years that I have personally known and experienced Christ. I have made a list of verses to meditate on and see it manifest in my life. These verses have always strengthened my faith and given me hope. They have made me conscious of how much I am deeply loved, highly favored and greatly blessed by Him.

Here are my verses for the month of Jan –

Poster 1 Background Photo Courtesy – messageoftruth.com

Be Blessed!

Bessie

Cowls to Crochet

03 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Crochet

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Crochet Cowls, Zara Cowl

Ever since I crocheted 2 Infinity Scarves as gifts, I have been having the urge to make a few more. Mostly cowls.

I have completed 1 for myself (minus the decorative element) –

The Zara Cowl by Cre8tion Crochet. A paid pattern that can be found here :

Zara Cowl

And here are a few more that is definitely in my To-Do list and hopefully I’ll complete them soon enough :

These should do for now. Once I make them, I’ll just add them in my blog gallery so you can see how they turned out 🙂

Finding Me

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Life

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Change, Faith, Finding oneself, Love, Negative Thought, Positive Thoughts, Self-Analysis

2015 has come and gone.

If I were to rewind and reminisce on how my year went, I would say I had a great year.

I can’t remember what my resolutions were, but it doesn’t matter any more. And honestly, if I can’t remember it, then maybe, it wasn’t worth thinking much about or fighting for.

But I have done things that I never thought about or planned – like starting this blog – my own little space in this big world. The thought came out of the blue. It seemed like a good idea. And it still is. I got to connect with most of you through your blogs, learn, understand, admire bits and pieces about your lives and take inspiration from it that I would never have thought possible before.

In retrospect, I can see how blessed I was in many areas of my life.

But, I can also see where some really serious changes need to be made.

I have always considered myself an extremely easy-going person. I could easily forgive and forget. I could love selflessly. I could sacrifice a little of myself. Never hold grudges.

But somewhere along the road, that changed. I changed. I am now less capable of forgiving. Of letting matters go. Even the petty ones. Things that I never bothered or cared for much about before have slowly started to manifest. I have become selfish. More angry. I have let a lot of negative feelings take birth. They’ve now taken up too much space in my heart that I no longer have enough space for love.

And I do not like what I have become. I have lost sight of the person that I once was. She is now a blur.

And I must get her back.

Just like there is a source for all things good and positive, there is a source for all things negative. When those sources mostly bring out the worst in me, then, I must not entertain them any further. Time to close the door on them. Firmly. I have learned some lessons and the valuable ones, I will hold close to my heart.

The quirkier me made 2 small hearts – one for home and one for work. At work, I have kept it right next to the message of the greatest love the world will ever know. Every time I see it, it will serve to remind me of my goal. Remind me that my every word and every act creates ripples that will keep coming back at me. My eyes are once again focused on the One who showed that act of love – the great I AM. He has yet to fail me. And I know that He never will. On the days when I find it difficult to speak or act out of kindness, I shall then, choose to be silent.

To quote a few verses from one of my favorite chapters of Paul in his letter to the Corinthians :

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails.”

A new year is here again with fresher beginnings and there will be plenty of opportunities to spread some love. Selflessly.

Hopefully, I will soon find myself and be the person I once was. I think she is far nicer and worth fighting for. Doesn’t matter if she was a weaker me. I now realize that when I am weak, then I am strong. Because His power is made perfect in my weakness.

And to all of you who are in search of yourselves, those hoping to achieve what you have set out to do, I wish you every success. May all your dreams come true.

Wishing you all a truly fulfilling New Year.

Be Blessed Always!

Bessie