Saturday 5 December 2015

Project 365 - Week 49

It's been a busy couple of months, what with my volunteer trip to South Africa and returning to work after a 5 year break. Hubby is working in South Africa and I'm home alone until next week when child 5 of 5 arrives for the holidays. 

Sunday was a long day at work after a busy weekend. there was a massive accident on the Sheik Zayed Road so I decided I may as well stop at the DIY shop to buy compost and cat food and grab a coffee on my way home. I ended up buying a dressing table in the sale, it ended up as My Sunday Photo, that was flat packed. By the time I'd assembled it, eaten, had a cold shower as I forgot to put the water on, it was midnight before I got to bed. 

Day 333 #onedailypositive #black #fmsphotoaday #kids #snaphappybritmums #project365 having spent a lot of time over the weekend removing grubby finger prints from my clothing I shall now only wear dark clothes to school.

Monday was Martyrs Day in the UAE and school marked the occasion with a minutes silence in the play ground. Schools across the UAE are closed Tuesday till Thursday for National Day to mark the 44th year of independence from the UK, so my working week is over until Sunday. I decided to drive home via the Al Khail Road and visit the Ras Al Khor bird sanctuary, where I spent a couple of hours and met some really interesting people/twitchers. I cooked chicken with rice and veg in a honey and mustard sauce, did the washing up and spent the next few hours reading and commenting on blog posts.

Day 334 #onedailypositive #fire #fmsphotoaday #inspire #snaphappybritmums #project365 I pulled up in a lay by on my way home from work to capture the sun setting in Dubai

Tuesday I went to Dubai Mall to buy hubbies Christmas presents and visit the Aquarium. I took my notebook as it also involved lots of planning all focusing around photo and blogging prompts. I'm running out of steam with posting photos daily, especially as I've been combining two daily photo prompts. I've decided I will continue with Project 365 next year as a weekly blog post, but I'll take the pressure off myself by selecting my favourite photos of the week which will hopefully sum my week up as I find a lot of the photo prompts don't actually reflect what I've done during the week. I'm also carrying on with Animal Tales and HDYGG and I'll join them up weekly to form a travel post on where I live or have visited. For this weeks Animal Tales I took a visit into the desert last week and I'm amazed at the variety of birds I saw. 

Day 335 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎community‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎ThankYou‬‪ #‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ this photo is a couple of years old now but really sums up today's photo prompts from the charities I worked with over the last two months in South Africa and the previous 4 years when I lived there. This was a thank you message to me, but I'd like to thank the charities and companies for making me feel so welcome over the years @fordsouthafrica @stor_age @fordsouthafrica @santashoebox @kwo_org @vivafoundationsa ‪#‎ssb2015‬ ‪#‎presentsintransit‬ ‪#‎you decide‬


Wednesday was a lovely, yet long day. I started off on the bus to Kite beach to see the flags for UAE National Day 44, next stop was the yacht club for the boat parade, followed by a late lunch at the Marina. I caught the train home and went back out to Box Park and then to City Walk to see the firework display. You can see the photos in today's post for #TravelAtHome UAE National Day Celebrations.

Day 336 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎pastel‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎up‬‪#‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ as you enter @thedubaimall from valet parking, not that I valet park my car, I arrived by taxi.

Thursday started with an impromptu walk along the beach and coffee with a friend, followed by finally clearing out the garage of paperwork after a flood a few months back. The afternoon and evening was spent with the same friend at the Rugby 7's. Today's blog post for HDYGG? is Winter Gardening in Dubai.

Day 337 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎behind‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎toy‬‪#‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ behind this door is my teddy bear collection. I collect them when I travel to a new destination. Left: bear from Canada. Right: bear from Crater Lake, Oregon, USA. Centre back: Hippo from South Africa.

Friday started as normal with a trip into the desert with Bob, I played around with my alternative to Elf on the Shelf, which involved toy panda's and bottles of booze. I washed, tidied and cleaned the house, with breaks sitting in the garden drinking iced tea and spent the evening at The Beach watching the LED shows and fireworks and treated myself to dinner.

Day 338 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎ThingIdTakeToADesertedIsland‬‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎chill‬ ‪#‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ I'm in the desert, there's an island in the man made lake, but it's not deserted. I've brought with me my camera, a book, table and chair, camping stove, tea with milk and sugar, breakfast and my dog Bob and a ball.

Saturday involved a lie in, my first one all week, there have been too many late nights, but that always happens when hubby is away. This afternoon I'm off to the garden centre in search of some strawberry plants then onto Miracle Gardens to check out this years planting.

Day 339 #onedailypositive #MyHero #fmsphotoaday #WIDN #snaphappybritmums #project365 I don't actually have a hero or a heroine, I admire people for different aspects of their lives at different stages of their lives. For #WIDN I'm uploading this weeks blog post. You can also see whose blog posts I'm currently reading.




20 comments:

  1. goodness returning to work after 5 years away must have been quite a shock to the system! and wearing dark colours is a good plan - i know how messy my two can make me and you have a lot more to contend with!!
    what a magnificent colour the sky is in the sunset photo! and well done on sorting out all of the paperwork ! xx

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    1. oh it has been a huge shock, how on earth i managed with 5 kids at home, ill never know

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  2. Must have been a strange few months for you. I guess it will take a little while to settle into your new routine.

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    1. i've only got 2 weeks before i break up for christmas and the kids dont go back to the uk until mid jan

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  3. You should come to Witney if you collect bears, we have a fab teddy emporium called Teddy bears of Witney. Mind you, the prices are mind boggling. Glad you decided to continue with 365, I am still not decided whether to continue as it's quite a commitment.

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    1. i can imagine in regards to the prices, i think i took on a bit too much this year with combining two photo prompts, i find i add the pictures to a post daily that way it's easier to publish on the saturday

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  4. Loved seeing your pics on instagram when you went Dubai Mall. Made me miss the place!

    Didn't realise there was a man made lake in the desert

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    1. the lakes are huge and great for dog walking

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  5. For some reason I can't comment on your blog from Chrome - weird! That sunset really looks like liquid gold.

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    1. the sunsets here are amazing even better than south africa

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  6. That sunset photo is amazing! Love the 'thank you' photo too. Good to hear you're sticking with the project next year. Two years done for me and it's no longer a hassle at all, so I will definitely be continuing!
    (Finally managed to comment!)

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  7. Hope you're loving the new job, must take a bit of getting used to when it's a whole new culture and country. I love Dubai Mall, I could wander about there all day...but I'd probably buy a whole lot of stuff I don't actually need!

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    1. im loving the new job, i often wander around dubai mall all day but only because i keep getting lost

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  8. That sunset is amazing, and I love the thank you photo. The man-made lake looks pretty amazing!

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    1. there are loads of the man made lakes in the desert, some are private and we've been kicked off quite a few

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  9. Nice that you have got the paper work sorted, this sort of thing annoys me when I want to get things done and dont have the time.
    Bet you cant wait for child 5 to come home.
    Love you table and chair and "picnic" looks like great unwinding time.

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    1. i do this most weeks when i go out with Bob, usually hubby joins me but he's been away so much recently

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  10. thank you Soosie, i've realised if i drop the photo prompts the actual project 365 will be simpler and i'll have the time for it

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