Carpets and Cooking

A week back in the Kingdom and it was fairly quiet. I eased slowly back into the office and with Paul and Jamal still out, the beginning of the week was actually productive. I also made a point of leaving work by 6:00 most every day so that I could go to the gym and relax a bit. Things picked up by th eend of the week and on Tuesday we had two royals visit- His Royal Highness Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud Crown Prince. I was very excited until I learned he was born in 1928 and already has three wives. and one of the Princesses visted later on the same day. I was trying to look up her name but King Abdullah has 15 daughters and I am not really sure which one of them was here. They did close the road that I need to cross to get from my office building to the square to go home so I was waiting while her motorcade drove by- 26 vehicles- most black or white Mercedes and several really big vehicles. I am not really sure if that many people are in her entourage? Have they not heard of car pooling?

Anyway, I know I mentioed that I acquired some carpets while in the US and they have most definitely made my house more of a home. I met my friend Hasan while I was in Istanbul in 2001. I was in the Grand Bazaar shopping for a hall runner for Melissa and John and happended upon his shop. The tradition of buying a carpet in Turkey is somthing very unique- you are invited to sit in a room surrounded by piles of carpets and drink apple tea while an endless number of young men carry carpets through. A really good salesman will tell you the history of each carpet, what it is made of, how old it is, where it is from etc. It is typical to narrow your choices and then bargain for the best price. Hasan sold me a runner that day and we have stayed in touch ever since-- seeing each other whenever we are fortunate enough to be in the same part of the world. He spends most of his time in the US now and specifically New York. The carpet in the front hall with the medallion is from Iran and the ones in the living room and my bedroom are from Turkey.

I also acquired some new art work while I was in the US. The hanging butterfiles are designed by Emily and Alexis Reed, my cousin Jennifer's daughters. And the new drawings added to my wall of art are by Emily and my nephew, Cooper. Note the difference in subject between the male and female artists. I also love that Cooper used his 'formal' name, Henry, in signing his art.

I spent today in the kitchen. My mom had given me a recipe for pizza dough that I wanted to try- it was so easy! I made a tomato sauce and pesto so did one pizza with tomato sauce, peppers and mozarella cheese and the other with pesto and mushrooms. A garden salad and please note the awesome serving utensils my Uncle Leaonard carved for me-- thank you! What a gift you have and a treasure for me! It is apricot season in this region so I bought a kilo of them and made an apricot tart too. I would make a few improvisions to the tart next time- it needed to be juicier. But my guests Yvette and Jeremy enjoyed. Jeremy is a post-doc from the UK and Yvette is from Texas. She typically teaches but had a baby- Sierra, in October so has been home with her. Sierra is adorable and very social. She loves to be out and about visiting.

Went to the beach today so will try to post some pictures before next weekend. I am off to London Wednesday for a program at Oxford University Thursday and return to KAUST Friday- quick trip but I am looking forward to seeing several friends around the work! Have a great weekend all...