Beautiful in Bahla @beautifulinbahla - Tumblr Blog

My Omani dresses. I don't wear very often because in my husband's village (except for weddings) women mostly wear lebdli and laysoo now, with abaya out, although in the old days they wore like in picture 7 down

:)

Omani Dress

Above, Omani dress styled for modern fashion. Below, more traditionally worn:

#omani fashion #oman #oman traditional dress #arab dress #omani traditional dress

اتتني بالصفائح تبغي دروسًا

بالملاحم دون خوف او تراخي

وكانت تأخذ العلم حثيثًا

واليوم رامت صفائحها جباهي

He danced Al Azwa in rows of men,

Shields beat raw. Blades flashing high,

Caught brazen backhand, not lost to sky.

I was trained for cotillions, wearing

White satin sashes not vermillion

Bandages. It is a different dance to try.

So worthy is the man who brings swords

Not orchids, a shield instead of gold,

Brave action instead of empty words

To me. A coward, or a hypocrite,

Who thinks of women as only

Decoration, my heart cannot hold.

Trying to make a top ten list for mudbrick related things on YouTube.

"The Nile Series: Brick-making tradition lives through centuries" on CGTN Africa via YouTube. This was the first video about mudbricks I found doing a search of the subject. Omani mudbricks are made quite similarly but aren't fired.

"How the Tudors did their Laundry" from Absolute History on YouTube. This video showed how to create a small batch of lime, and how to lay a lime Ash sour milk floor. Not a traditional Omani technique but one I am interested in.

"Laying Adobe Bricks Part 1" by Project Briggs. I found his tips for puting and storing mud mortar useful, and in another of his videos, some useful information about electrical wiring in mud brick etc.

"Our timber-frame workshop: wattle and daub. Part III. Lime Plaster" by Mr. Chickadee on YouTube. I enjoyed his whole wattle and daub series, and he's kind enough to answer questions in the comments.

Getty Conservation Institute run a workshop on mudbrick architecture conservation every few years, and they have some highlights from that up on their YouTube channel.

#mudbrick #arabian #bahla

Thinking about how to create an Omani period kitchen vibe but for a modern lifestyle. I don't think I will walk for firewood every day or grind my own wheat or barley etc...

Master Bedroom Inspiration Boards

Everyone who knows me knows that I am, a hoarder/collector, and some probably know that I struggle with being too materialistic. Part of my wanting to downsize and move into a period home, is to fight that.

However, I can't see myself managing to live in the calm palette of beige, white, and cool summer blues my husband admires, so thus far this is my colour palette for my room. I am a French-Irish girl aiming to move into a 16th-18th century Omani heritage neighborhood, and part of me wants to go full Chateau Blois on the place. I really can't help it.

Lime-washing the walls and having an excuse to use a twiggy broom on the ceiling will satisfy the Irish girl in me, with linen bedding etc., but the French woman still expects her room to be a castle of sorts. Shutters on the windows, certainly helps.

#Justmeprobably_Bahla

My own photos. Above, Bilad Sayt in Bahla near Al Hamra. Below, Muslimat in Wadi Al Ma'awil.

I love these painted rooms. Too bad they will fall down soon! :'(

#arabian #oman #rustic #mudbrick #islamic art #bahla #Painted walls #Arabian Architecture

From the "Layla and Majnoon" poems attributed to Qays of the Beni 'Amir

#arabian #arabic poetry #layla and majnun

Decorative elements from the Friday Mosque of Qalhat, in Ash Sharqiyia region, Sultanate of Oman. It was looted and razed by the Portuguese in the 16th century, but was built in the 1300s. Ibn Battuta visited it and described the tiles inside, and the Portuguese also described it.