22nd - 24th March 2024 Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie from Bosworth.Life and I.

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week. If you're new or a regular visitor we're sure you'll find something of interest.

We're taking a 2 week break now until the 12th April, we'll tweet/x you a reminder when we're back. In the meantime, link up, leave a comment or two and we'll do the same back.

Hope you have a Happy Easter if you celebrate. Ramadan Mubarak to those of you celebrating that also.

We'd also appreciate your help spreading the #PoCoLo word on Twitter, tag us and we'll RT. You can find us on twitter here: Stephanie - @BosworthLife and Suzanne - @ChickenRuby 

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the next few days. 

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Do you have an Easter Tree?

Are Easter trees a thing?

I've seen lots of sticks and twigs decorated with Easter eggs.

But I decided to bring down the small Christmas tree out of the attic and hang the Easter decorations on it instead of buying something new or spray painting branches and making something myself.

My husband thinks I'm mad. I probably am.

We'll be spending Easter in Northern Ireland. There are eggs for the adults and our grandson as well as some Easter activity crafts and the same for our other grandchild who we'll see before we go. There's an egg for the house sitter and one for her to share with the cat and the dog egg is coming with us to Northern Ireland for child 4's dogs.

There will be a trail for the neighbours kids when they come to visit to collect their eggs and I delivered eggs to my friend's kids over the weekend.

It's not just Christmas and Easter time that I decorate, I did Valentines last month and I love Halloween also. 

I took some decorations and cakes into school for my students for Valentines.

I did the same for Easter.

Do you decorate for Easter and other occasions? 

Post Comment Love 21st - 23rd April 2023

Welcome back to #pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I.

I hope you all had a good Easter and Ramadan Kareem whatever you celebrate. We were in Dubai for Ramadan and Easter. Then I took mum to Brighton for a few days to see her family. Easter isn't a big affair in Dubai unlike Christmas and Halloween, but there are still chocolate eggs and decorations for sale in the supermarkets.

It's been two years since I've been in Dubai and as you can imagine there have been huge changes. The construction and development seems to double in size every year.

It was lovely to visit the Worlds Largest Aquarium in Dubai and then the Worlds Oldest Aquarium in Brighton over the holidays. 

Post Comment Love #PoCoLo is a friendly weekly linky where you can link up any blog post you've written this week and all we ask is that you leave a comment on either mine or Stephanie's post which you linked up through and at least one other post. We'd also love it if you could RT us on Twitter when we tag you to help us reach a wider audience.

I'll be catching up with reading your posts, sharing and commenting over the weekend.

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Post Comment Love. 29th April - 2nd May

Welcome back to #Pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139 and I where we host a weekly post where you can link up with any post, on any subject, you've written this week.

Hope you've all had a good Easter, Ramadan and a blessed Eid Al Fitr.

We were away in West Wales for 5 nights with the dog. Have you been to this part of the world? Did you go away for the Easter break.

I've been back in school for 4 days and have Monday off for the bank holiday, then just over 3 weeks till the half term holidays and we'll be off to explore the Yorkshire coast. 

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What I'm celebrating in 2022.

I like to mark the seasons with decorations and gifts. It doesn't cost a lot other than time and some of the decorations I have are years old, others are hand made or I've picked up cheaply.

There are also birthdays to celebrate throughout the year, with the dog turning 12 this month and the cat 13 next month. We're combining their parties in March as travel and then covid with others scuppered our plans. But the dog doesn't know or care and neither does the cat, if the truth be told. I'll be baking some dog and cat treats.

So far we've only acknowledged Valentines Day. I made bunting and stuffed hearts and posted a box of love to one grandchild, our eldest child and visited our grandson for a long weekend. The bedroom window was decorated.

I did travel to Birmingham to purchase the material but I picked up other things I needed at the same time.

Next up is St David's Day, because I'm Welsh and pancake day.

I'm sure I'll end up getting involved in Red Nose Day as I'll be working in a school.

We'll acknowledge Ramadan in March and Eid as we lived in Dubai for 7 years.

Then there is Easter. My neighbour gave me the grey fleece and I bought bright yellow duster for £2 which I'm going to turn into bunnies and chicks that will be sewn into bunting.

There are chocolate eggs bought, plus named bunting to be made for 2 more family members. I'll also be making easter chocolates.

Mothers Day will be a table set with a tea pot, cup and cakes. Then there's the Jubilee, which will involve at least the front of the house being covered in bunting. Then Father's Day, a Sunday roast with as many of the kids and grandkids as we can gather. We'll also be celebrating 20 years of marriage in October.

I love Halloween and Bonfire night, we'll acknowledge Remembrance Day and finally Christmas.

I enjoy making decorations from items around the house and in the garden. Collecting the pebbles is the hardest part.

9th-11th April 2021. Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #PoCoLo with Stephanie and I. You were missed when we took our Easter break, but it was lovely to catch up with you the week before and looking forward to reading more of your posts this week.

I may or may not be back in Dubai the end of the weekend. I've written this at the start of the week, I'm waiting for blood test results and phone consultations after my recent iron infusion, then need to book flights and PCR testing and check out all the requirements for this trip.

The dog has moved over to Northern Ireland with my son and his wife while I'm away as I wasn't able to get pet sitters for the whole 3 months, so the neighbour will come in to feed the cat to cover the gaps.

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Week 13 - Garden visits, visitors and vets.

A tricky week for me, had blood test results back then based on the them was sent for more tests and requested by haematologist not to leave the UK until the results are back and he's worked out what stage we're at with diagnosis and what I need to have done next. 

The weather has been glorious, I've been able to set the garden furniture up outside and leave it out and it's been great hanging the washing out, but I did have to put the heating back on over the weekend.

Child 4 and 4a arrived on Friday to collect the dog so I can return to Dubai, too far to drive up and down in one day and there is also a 6 hour ferry crossing involved. We're fortunate to have a 6 bed house with 4 bathrooms allowing everyone to have their own room and personal space, I haven't had any indoor or close contact with anyone for a long time, so this I guess is a bubble. I can't go back to Dubai without their support.

86 Saturday Morning spent in bed then a walk with the dog and a door step chat with a friend. Tidied photos and files on laptop, did the ironing, blog posts, read, watched TV. The dog ate a hyacinth bulb, will have to keep a close eye on him. (dog poo'ed none stop for 3 days)

87 Sunday A social distanced walk with a friend and the dogs up the Malvern Hills followed by a picnic of tea and biscuits at the back of the car afterwards. A late roast beef dinner and afternoon spent reading the paper, watching tv, bath and early to bed.

88 Monday Garden visit with grandchild and DIL in the afternoon and then with son when he came home from work. Weather was lovely and it was really nice to be spending time with them. I took my own lunch and drank their tea and used the loo before I went home. I handed over Easter Gifts which they opened as they'd not been touched for over a week in the boot of the car. Dropped door step gifts for Easter for friends twins on the way home.

89 Tuesday Early morning food shop and got a new disc engraved for the dog with son's contact details on, then home to mow the lawns and weed the front garden, a lovely dog walk and a birthday party late afternoon for Pushkins who is now 12 and adopted us 9 years ago. The evening was spent in front of the TV.

90 Wednesday A garden visit and lunch, took the dog with me and had a walk. I was given a clear jigsaw puzzle to entertain me before I return to Dubai. At this rate I'll not be leaving the house again. I painted some rocks in the afternoon to decorate as chickens for Easter and painted some plant pots also. Dropped off some parcels to be posted with Easter gifts for child 1 and the Things.

91 Thursday A morning of cleaning and bed making and a short dog walk as Bob is on meds for calming him before the vets in the afternoon then on to return child 5's washing and ironing to him. More garden ideas going on, would love a magnolia in the front garden.

92 Friday Child 4 and 4a arrived to collect the dog, we just chilled out for the day, a dog walk and no physical contact. I did all the cooking and making drinks, which is regardless of covid anyway as I do like to spoil my kids when I can.

Nothing on the blog this week.

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One Daily Positive - Week 16 The silence is deafening

Started the week with a wobble. The silence is deafening now. My usual conversations are at the local coffee shop and don't usually contain more content than what I want to drink. I'm not sure if it's loneliness or boredom. I'm on my own for sure other than the occasional chat with a neighbour over the fence and I'm used to the lack of verbal contact with the family due to voice over internet being blocked in Dubai and I guess everyone is just getting on with their lives.

If you ask someone how they really are, you really don't want the reply to be 'lonely or sad' A virtual cuddle just doesn't cut it, does it?

I can always find plenty to do to occupy me physically, but I struggle mentally at times.

It's funny how food has become my main focus after keeping myself well. I plan the week around round times and have to decide a day in advance what I want to eat to ensure it's defrosted in time. I'm also trying to only visit the shops every 10 days or so.

103 Sunday I made some dog friendly, chocolate animals for the cat and dog. Pottered around in the garden and prepared a few things to do later in the week, finally got dressed, did a wash, read some of my book, took Bob for a walk, ate the last bit of fresh food I have in the house, sat down at 2.30pm to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I had chicken curry for dinner, had a bath, watched more TV and went to bed.

104 Monday Baked a chocolate cake for child 5's 21st birthday tomorrow. Obviously he can't have it, so it's Gluten Free for me to enjoy. I had intended to deliver him a shop bought cake and take him out for dinner, but that can wait. Painted some tin cans with gloss paint I found in the shed, after poking holes in the base, ready to put some flowers in and hang from various trees. Found, washed and spray painted some pebbles for another project, walked Bob, had to buy some milk and posted a small parcel to my mum and a couple of change of address letters. Had an early dinner, bath and sat down to watch TV and blog. I ordered some bedding plants online from a local nursery.

105 Tuesday Not a birthday child 5 will forget in a hurry, he's 21 today. I lit 21 candles and sang happy birthday to him over facebook messenger. I spent the morning on facebook uploading pictures of my son over the years, caught up with blog comments, sat in the sun drinking coffee. I had planned to food shop on Thursday but the thought of it was making me anxious so I just decided to go today, queues were short, I noticed pasta and toilet roll back on the shelves. I also noticed people seem to think the virus can be spread through eye contact and smiling. I'm getting fed up of walking out onto the road without any acknowledgement. Spent the evening watching TV.

106 Wednesday Out in the front garden sorting through the garden waste after the bin was emptied this morning, I soon refilled it and sorted through the rest for compost, sieved soil, washed stones and put them back in the garden and have at least one more bin to fill before this waste is gone. Strimmed the front lawn and killed some weeds. Walked Bob, spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in my craft room, blogging and watching TV.

I hatched a flamingo

107 Thursday Strimmed the back garden and tidied up and potted out some peas I've been growing, it took me much longer than I thought, took Bob for a long walk, a different route to normal, he pulled all the way. Spent some time in my craft room, clapped for the NHS, bath and bed.

The view from the railway bridge.

108 Friday Pottered around for most of the day, sorting out the craft room, moving boxes and looking through more of my dad's things. I ran the hoover round and cleaned the bathrooms, there's only me here, but we've got 4 bathrooms and I've managed to use them all. Took Bob for a walk and enjoyed a roast dinner. I have no idea what day of the week it is anytime, but it felt like a Sunday.

My dad's collection of match day programmes from his professional playing days as a goalkeeper.

109 Saturday I did sod all, all day, other than walk Bob and eat and my bedding plants were delivered. The day was long and most of it was spent on the sofa, but I'm good with that.

On the blog this week:
Confusing loneliness and boredom

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Post Comment Love 17th-19th April 2020

Hope everyone had a good Easter. I'm known in my family and circle of friends as being super organised. As an expat relying on an unreliable postal service, I prepare for events well in advance and back in February I'd put together parcels with gifts ready to post on my return to the UK in March. Although the post offices were open and my self isolation had finished, I decided it was not an essential trip so I repacked into post box sized packages. This meant I had 4 Easter eggs, sweets and craft activities and seeds and bird feeders that I'd put together for my niece and great nephew and great niece to occupy myself with.

I've created a little garden in the conservatory, planting up seeds and I've finished all the work I can do in the garden without help to move heavy pots.

It was our youngest child's 21st birthday on the 14th. I hadn't had chance to get him a special card and had planned to send him a cake. So I baked some Gluten Free brownies for me, put candles on them and sang to him over messenger. I'd posted his card, banner, badge and balloons so he knew I'd made an effort and when all this is over and Peter can get to the UK, we'll take him out for dinner and sort a gift for him them.

Stephanie and I would love to hear about what you've been up to this week.

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