One Daily Positive - Week 1. Goodbye 2019 and welcome to Project 366 2020

Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Christmas was quiet, spent with friends having brunch in a local hotel. We spent the New Year on the Palm.

For all the new people I'm a married mum of 5 adults, with 1 granddaughter. I live in Dubai with my husband Peter and our cat and dog. We moved here in 2014 after 4 years in South Africa. Later this month I am relocating to the UK with our cat and dog into our former family home. Our last lot of tenants prompted this move after damage was reported to us by our agents. Work, repairs and redecorating are being carried out now. The plan is to move Peter to an apartment in April/May and ship the rest of our furniture back to the UK. Both Peter and I will be travelling between Dubai and the UK regularly. We have friends visiting Dubai in March and a wedding in the UK to attend in June. We will also be visiting our children in the UK, Northern Ireland and Australia as well as planned travel accompanying Peter with work to South Africa, Turkey and Egypt.

363 Sunday I woke up feeling a lot better so popped out to the Mall of the Emirates for a coffee. Christmas decorations are all put away now in the malls and the Dubai Shopping Festival is in full swing. I spent the afternoon in the garden and I booked Peter's UK flight for February, car hire for me, another flight for me in March and paid the council tax for the house, claimed back the council tax from the flat, the water bill and property management fees for the flat. The notifications on Peters phone for the credit card have driven him mad in work.

364 Monday Popped out to pay my friends maid on her behalf, started the process of selling my car and collected the dogs vet book. In the evening Peter and I went to the Marina to view some apartments ready for the next stage of our relocation. Migraine now in full swing.

365 Tuesday Hardly slept, Migraine kept me awake most of the night. Phoned Dr's and requested a paracetamol drip and fluids, also received a tramadol injection in my bum. Was home a few hours later, pain free, but very dozy. Managed to give Bob a bath as he stunk, but that was it for the day. went out on the Palm for New Year to a colleagues of Peters to see the fireworks.We were going to the beach but I don't think i'd have managed the night.

Happy New Year Project 366 2020.

1 Wednesday We got home at 3am, slept till 10am and out food shopping at midday. The rest of the day was spent cleaning the house, dusting, washing and bathrooms. Peter cooked and I booked child 5's fight out for the 10th he'll be flying back with me the end of the month to help me settle the cat and dog into their new lives in the UK. I took the tree down and tidied away. This was the only photo I took today, can't believe this was 20 years ago , it's also in daily use.

2 Thursday Took Bob to the dog park for the final time before we leave for the UK at the end of the month. We had the park to ourselves, threw balls with a sling for 45 minutes. Spent the rest of the day hoovering and mopping the house. I've developed a tremor in my right shoulder which made the tasks difficult and I was very breathless so lots of rest and it took me all day to do.

3 Friday Not much this morning other than food preparation, party started around 2pm with a Braai (BBQ). The cat was locked away as we had all the doors open to enjoy the outside. 

4 Saturday Up late and out to the Canal for a walk and for me to take more photos for my construction diary. I used to write a weekly post and link to #mysundayphoto documenting the changes in Dubai over the 5 years with the various building projects, I really must update these posts.
We had a BBQ for lunch, I reorganised the kitchen as part of the preparation for the move at the end of this month and started watching Don't f**k with cats on Netflix.

Nothing on the blog this week.

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One Daily Positive Week 1 2019.

I'm starting this year by including the last 2 days of last year in this weeks post also. I also went into the new year with a bloody migraine and my chronic pain has flared up, I'm aware of every part of my body hurting, including my teeth.

The thing is, resting makes no difference, it comes and it goes, it mainly stays. I came close to going to the hospital on Monday, once Mum goes home next week I'll go back to the Dr's for some more medication.

364 Sunday Having a lazy day, dropped mum at the local pool while I blogged, washed, cleaned and generally sorted stuff out in the house and measured up for new furniture on the mezzanine. Popped out in the evening to Riverland an area of restaurants and shops from which you can access Legoland, IMG world and Bollywood theme parks.

365 Monday The day's plans were cancelled as I had to give into the migraine on day 5 and spent the day in bed. Spent the new year at a friends house, to watch the fireworks for New Year from their roof top. They're in the UK for new year.

2019 Happy New Year

1 Tuesday Up at 8am and drove home. Peter and I took Bob to the dog park as he'd been stuck indoors for 15 hours, thankfully no mess, but the cat thought it was going to starve to death. I went back to bed, blogged and watched TV in the afternoon and we had a BBQ and an early night.

2 Wednesday Had my car re registered similar to a MOT, no problems. Went to Miracle Gardens with mum and called in at the Mall of Emirates, chilled out in the afternoon. Pub quiz was cancelled.

3 Thursday Mum spent the day pool side, I tidied the garden and did some batch cooking went to the Marina for dinner in the evening after Peter finished work. The Dubai Shopping Festival fireworks go off every Thursday and Friday at 8pm till the 2nd of February.

4 Friday Took a drive out to Masafi to visit the local markets, had lunch out. Drove to Fujairah and paddled in the Indian Ocean and chilled out in front of the TV in the evening.

5 Saturday Dropped my sewing machine and overlocker off at Dragon Mart for repairs and ordered a new sofa, just need to sort out a TV unit, desk and side tables, so a trip to Ikea is called for. Went to Dubai Mall to watch the LED show on the Burj Khalifa had dinner overlooking the fountains. Finally found a Christmas tree big enough for mother. All 828m's of it.

On the blog this week:
My year in pictures

An InLinkz Link-up

What does Ramadan mean to a non Muslim living in the Middle East?

There are positives and negatives of course and as an non muslim, I don't have to deal with having with going about my daily activities in the heat of summer whilst fasting. With Ramadan starting next week, I thought I'd blog about what I can and can't do here during this time and can refer people to this post rather than answering endless questions that I face every year about what people think I can't do whilst living here.

The shops go into full retail mode with sales and fantastic deals on offer to everyone. There are Iftars (breaking fast) meals, social events and gatherings. And the end of Ramadan Eid al Fitr is marked with fireworks and celebrations.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic year, in which strict fasting is observed from dawn to sunset. In 2018 Ramadan starts 16/17th May. Our first Ramadan in Dubai, in 2015 was in the middle of June. On average it is 11 days earlier each year and whilst this is an approximate date, final confirmation isn't until the new moon is sighted.

If we're still here in a few years, Ramadan will be in winter, day light hours shorter and not as hot. It's the heat I struggle with the most and not being able to drink water if I'm out in public, although as a non muslim I can carry on eating and drinking as normal. I have actually been asked If I'm actually allowed to eat and drink during this month.

However there are some restrictions placed upon me in public during daylight hours whilst I go about my everyday activites in Dubai, during Ramadan and these include:

• No eating
• No drinking (not even water)
• No chewing gum
• No smoking

I can still do the above in the privacy of my own home, my garden as it's fenced off and on our balcony. 

However if I'm out it's a bit more of a struggle. You won't find anywhere to smoke during the day, unless you sit in your car, surrounded by sun screens. Although not recommend when the car temps reach 57c.

Food halls and some cafes are open, but finding out who is and who isn't and who is available for take away only and opening times is a different matter altogether. 

Every year I find more and more places open for non muslims during Ramadan. However opening hours change, with places opening later in the day and staying open later at night. Little is advertised on the websites. But if you're in Dubai on holiday during Ramadan, then your hotel restaurant will operate as normal. However you may find alcohol is restricted during day light hours in Ramadan.

Everyone is exceptionally friendly here in Dubai during Ramadan and they will allow for mistakes. You'll be politely asked not to eat or drink in the malls, outside of restricted areas which are clearly labelled and with a list of the rules.

Muslims who are ill, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding etc are exempt from fasting and you will see muslims in non muslim areas feeding their children during the day. 

My Sunday Photo - Week 157 N is for New Year

Dubai have decided there will be NO fireworks at the Burj Khalifa this year. One of the most iconic landmarks in the world and when you think of New Year and fireworks you tend to think of Sydney, Dubai and London for staging spectacular events.

They're having a light show instead. I expect it will be spectacular for sure, but for me it's fireworks. There are fireworks at the Burj Al Arab and the Atlantis, but after 3 years of living in Dubai we've sort of 'been there, done that' so we've decided to stay in and besides getting out and about in a major city on New Year is not easy, until 4 weeks ago, we lived near the beach and in the heart of Dubai so it was easy to get anywhere.

There are no new year resolutions for me, I don't have staying power. 2018 brings a lot more travel, but all UK based. We have child 4 and 4a visiting in March/April after we visit them in the UK for Child 4's medal parade after he returns from his posting in the Middle East.

Child 2 and 2a are getting married in June. Peter is best man at a wedding in July, so two trips close together for him, but I'll be over in June and staying till the end of August to escape the summer in Dubai as normal. And we're back again in October for Peter's nieces wedding.

Hopefully we'll get to see child 3 and 3a as they pass through Dubai from Australia on their way to and from the UK, if not we'll have to fit a visit in there also and of course we'll see children 1 and 5 when we visit the UK. I'm also hoping we can get my mum out to Dubai for Christmas next year, as she'll have moved into her new home by then.

I'll leave you with my favourite photo of 2017 a picture of me and my father taken 3 days, sadly before he passed away and a collage of 2017.

January - visit from niece child 4 & 5 and a trip to Egypt

February Tour of Dubai Bike Race

March 3D Canvas Street Art

April Child 5s 18th Birthday and a trip to Hong Kong for the Rugby 7s

May Ramadan and a declined job offer from me

June Ramadan and a trip to the UK

July Northern Ireland to visit child 4 and 4a and my father died

August selling dad's stuff and making memories

September Peter visited the UK

October and a quick visit to Dubai to rent a new home

November back to the UK for 2 weeks to tie up loose ends

December a new home and Christmas in Dubai

105 My Sunday Photo January 1st 2017 - D is for Disappointment.

Dubai is growing quickly. This is our 3rd New Year here. Our 3rd night on the beach to watch the fireworks go off from the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab and the Atlantis Hotel.

I have been thoroughly spoilt living in Dubai, I have come to expect a certain standard of living, we can't afford the 'high' life, but we do sample what we can and when we can.

Every year in Dubai the New Year has just got bigger and better. 2014 we spent on the beach at JBR. The area was still not fully open and there were around 2000 people on the beach, last year some 20,000. 2015 we set up camp on the beach at the bottom of our road and watched the fireworks go off everywhere, including a 5 km display out at sea, which lasted almost 20+ minutes. It started at the Burj Khalifa, up to the creek, along the sea and finished at the Burj Al Arab. 2016 focused on the new canal area, which we could see, but the fireworks all went off at the same time this year.

We used to enjoy the more simple things in Dubai, the local park, where parking and access was easy. Our local park now forms part of the new Dubai Water Canal, the cafe which showed outdoor movies is no longer there and the park has reduced by 50%. 2 years on, I now have to fight for parking space, the park is crowded and the main entrance is a long walk from the car park.

Access to visit a friend and go to the bank now involves several U turns and driving in the opposite direction to reach our destination and since Box Park and City Walk opened the traffic is almost at standstill reaching our local supermarket.

Our visitors come to Dubai with a certain level of expectation, they fail in advance to understand why we don't own our own jet ski, why we don't go driving over the dunes every weekend and why we're not having endless Champagne brunches and why we don't get taxi's everywhere.

When they arrive they quickly find out why we don't do all this stuff. While a taxi in Dubai from the Marina to home in Jumeriah is only AED 47, the price of two coffees, they quickly realise that with the exchange rate that is still £10. Yes, it is cheap compared to living in other cities around the world, but the cost all mounts up.

But what is getting me down at the moment are the people living here, no particular nationality, just individuals rights to do what they want and when they want. The lack of thought and respect for other people.

Last night we grabbed burgers from the local restaurant to eat on the beach. A man walked out the door, cleared his throat and spat on the ground right outside the door. I had to stand and wait for him to finish spitting then step over the spit and when challenged he just looked at me with no idea what he had done or why I found it disgusting.

On the beach we set up camp at 4pm, as the evening went on another family went to sit no more than 10ft in front of us, now there was no one else around so I politely suggested they might like to move a little further away which they did. But this back fired on me later when 20 odd kids arrived to join the family and were promptly told by the parents to 'be quiet and play somewhere else' you guessed it, that somewhere else was right in front of me and I was less polite telling the girls to stop screeching and the boys to stop throwing the sand in my direction.

My final reason for why I am disappointed in Dubai, was some of the people who we shared the beach with who thought it was ok to use their camera phones to film the fireworks, nothing wrong with that you may think, but almost everyone had their back lights on their phones to enable them to get the lighting correct for their selfies and one guy came with a huge LED lamp that lit up most of the beach that he put down right in front of where we sitting, facing us on full beam. When approached he just had no idea why I asked him to turn it off, so feeling entitled also, I stood just a few feet in front of him to watch the firework display without being blinded.

Last year I shared some amazing photo's of the firework display, this year most of my pictures look like this.

I'm not sure we'll bother with New Year for 2017, I doubt we'll have any visitors next year, we may go to a different beach or the canal and just focus on one area rather than trying to see them all. We certainly won't be going to the Burj Khalifa, there were 650,000 people there queuing to get in from 5pm. The fireworks lasted 6 minutes. From watching them on the TV when we got home, there was a lot of smoke and I can only imagine it was sheer chaos trying to leave the area after the display.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. It's a New Year. hope it's a good one for you all.

My Sunday Photo - Week 53

I'm back in work on Sunday, it's the first working day of the week here in Dubai, a country that I wasn't all that keen on when we moved here, however after a year it has started to grow on me, we've made friends and more importantly I've landed myself a teaching job. I wasn't working when I booked the teens flight out and the 23 year old booked his, so I'm a little sad to be missing out on their last week here, but Peter has taken leave for the rest of their stay and I've hired a car so I can get back and forth to work while they drive off to Hatta, Ferrari World, etc.

We had an amazing New Years Eve 2016 viewed from the beach which is 1km from our home. We are 5 kms from the Burj Al Arab and 9 kms from the Burj Khalifa.

We were without internet on the beach and noticed how the Burj Khalifa was engulfed with what we thought to be cloud, sadly on our return home we discovered it was smoke from the Address Hotel.

This photo was taken at 5.30pm yesterday, 20 hours after the blaze started. The fire damage is much worse than first reported and it's the 4th major fire in Dubai in 2015.

 The firework display from the beach lasted over 40 minutes, starting at the Burj Khalifa, viewed from the back, and the Atlantis. 

Next a huge wall of fireworks were set off up near the Creek

And stretched out into the sea

Finishing with a huge finale at the Burj Al Arab

Hope you enjoyed the show, we certainly did, we thought last years fireworks were spectacular, this year's was just mind blowing, can't wait to find out how we are going to end 2016.

Week 52 and a bit - Project 365

I must sort out my date for posting each week so I only have 52 weeks next year. You can read Week 52 here.

Sunday hubby said he wanted some help trimming back the tree and not to bother showering until afterwards. I didn't shower and get dressed until 7pm and headed off out for a coffee. Hubby got distracted by rising a lock and having to go out to purchase a new lock, fix the bikes ready for a bike ride this afternoon, he never went, although the bikes did get fixed. So while I waited for him to tackle the tree I went back to bed, watched the soaps, wrote thank you letters, blogged and sorted photographs. We snacked on chocolate and sweets during the day and the teen emerged from his bedroom around 5pm to join us for dinner which was a salad with breads and cheeses. When I finally got outside I asked what day it was and he said Sunday. I had no idea, so I snapped a picture for My Sunday Photo. 

This means I only have 6 more days off before I start my new job teaching at a local school and although all my planning is done, I still have prep to do and a million and one other things to get on with.

Day 361 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎WhereIAteAMealToday‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎sleep‬‪ #‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ apart from a bit of gardening I've spent the day in bed, writing thank you letters and catching up with the soaps

Monday we took the car for a service and went looking for a new car for me, the rent/lease costs per month add up to a new car by the end of the first year, so we've decided to buy a 2nd hand car to run around back and forth to work in. The public transport doesn't start early enough to get me into work on time every day. I spent the rest of the day sorting through paperwork updating our postal address and writing thank you cards and letters. We walked back to collect the car, the other side of Sheik Zayed Road. It's only 1km from our house but a 4km walk, using Noor Bank station to cross the road or a 15km drive.

Day 362 #onedailypositive #SomethingAwesome#fmsphotoaday #stripes #snaphappybritmums#project365 my box of awesome, goodies to send back to the UK from Dubai with the #teen to my niece, great nephews and adult children.

Tuesday morning was spent in the desert with Bob, hubby says 'enough photo's' as they all look the same, week in, week out. Hubby had a few work calls while I did the washing and watched my soaps. Then we headed off to Severn Sands at The Beach for a late lunch using up one of the vouchers I won back in July on an Instagram competition. Child 3 of 5 set off from Manchester for his first visit to Dubai arriving on Thursday morning.

Day 363 #onedailypositive #sparkly #fmsphotoaday#8am #snaphappybritmums #project365 the lakes at Al Qudra this morning.

Wednesday started with collecting Jamie from the airport, we drove home along Sheikh Zayed Road for his first view of Dubai. After he unpacked and took a shower we all went to Dubai Mall, had lunch, did a bit of shopping, watched the fountains at the Burj khalifa and scouted the beach for the best place to set up tomorrow night to watch the fireworks. We had dinner, spent some time in the garden, I ironed, the teen played on his computer and hubby and Jamie fell asleep on the sofas. I'm also spending my week writing Thank You Letters, it's important to me to keep the doors of communication open when you live as an expat.

Day 364 #onedailypositive #TheWeatherToday #fmsphotoaday #new #snaphappybritmums #projectthere will be a million people here tomorrow to see in the New Year. @burjkhalifa @atthetopburjkhalifa We won't be part of it, we're watching from the beach, there's no way I'd cope with that many people around me.

Thursday and the last day of 2015. It's been a strange year, our first year completed living in Dubai. I'm now in full time work, something I never saw happening after 5 years of living abroad, I didn't hunk I'd ever pick up my career again. I'm not a huge fan of Dubai in general. It's expensive, over crowed, noisy, looks like building site, too many tourists, but we do feel at home living in our villa near the beach, we know a few neighbours, we have friends, have routines etc. We visited the desert with Bob, Jamie and the teen (he who cannot be named or photographed) in the evening we settled in on the beach at the bottom of our road, to watch the fireworks go off at the Burj Khalifa, the Burj Al Arab, the Atlantis and an amazing display over the sea. I don't have New Years Resolutions as such, I have a list of 'things I want to cut down on' instead. 

Day 365 ‪#‎onedailypositive‬ ‪#‎celebration‬ ‪#‎fmsphotoaday‬ ‪#‎clink‬‪#‎snaphappybritmums‬ ‪#‎project365‬ well I've come full circle. My first photo prompts were Sky and One and I posted a picture of the @burjkhalifa lit up against the night sky. This is where we are ending 2015 on the beach watching the fireworks. Children 3 & 5 of 5 are with us. I've enjoyed Project 365 and loved the two photo prompts from FMSPhotoADay and SnapHappyBritMums, linking both the prompts into one photo hasn't been easy some days and has required a lot of imagination and effort. For 2016 I am continuing with the prompts but running them separately, there will still be a weekly round up but it will be with photos that document my actual week rather than the prompts.

I've also loved My Sunday Photo and I'm joining in with Darren's new project on Instagram this year, with a weekly photo prompt. I'm continuing with FMS and SHBM prompts. Visit FMS over on face book you don't have to join the group to see the photo prompts and SHBM at Britmums but as separate photos on instagram and this year I'm going to focus more on my One Daily Positive. 

I've also scheduled through January and into February, posts for HDYGG and Animal Tales and I've got a few travel posts lined up from my trips to the UK, Canada and South Africa this year. There is no international travel planned for 2016, we are both so over travelling after this year, me for pleasure and hubby for work, but who knows?

UAE National Day 44 Celebrations in Dubai

Planning it all has been a little tricky and the logistics of travelling between all the venues has been very time consuming, and although I didn't didn't stay in any one place too long, I've had a lot of fun today.

I started the day by walking to Kite Beach where I stopped for a coffee and took photographs of the flags in the sand.

Next stop was Dubai Marina, via bus and train, and the yacht club to see the boat parade

After a late lunch/early dinner, I travelled home on the tram, train and by taxi to drop off my christmas shopping and headed off to Box Park.

Parking at Box Park was a bit of an issue, but it was worth the visit, beautifully lit up and lots of entertainment for both adults and children alike.

I then finished the evening by driving round to City Walk to watch the firework display. I couldn't find parking anywhere and after a bit of detour, I finally parked and got as far as the main road before the fireworks started. I had another coffee at a pavement cafe and watched the cars drive by, decorated with the UAE flag, tooting their horns and revving their engines. I also observed a local, wearing a white mask, spraying cars with foam, apparently it's a local tradition on UAE day.

I missed the Burj Khalifa lit up with the colours of the flag and tomorrow I'm heading off to The Beach at Jumeriah Beach Residence to watch the firework display and treat myself to dinner in one of the fancy restaurants there.