Week 22 - One Daily Positive, Project 366 and SnapHappyBritMums

It's too hot, the short walk from the garage to the kitchen door every afternoon at 4pm is a killer, coupled with a 30 minute drive home towards the setting sun, is not long enough for the air con to kick in fully and cool the car interior below 40c. This time last year, we were having a heat wave and the temps were 10c hotter than they are at the moment. It's Ramadan next week Monday/Tuesday depending on the moon and I have reduced working hours. Starting an hour later in the morning and finishing 90 minutes earlier in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to having an extra hour in bed in the mornings and it still being cool enough to sit outside to eat my breakfast.

On the blog this week:

#PoCoLo Planning International Travel
#MySundayPhoto The Burj Khalifa Day and Night
#AnimalTales Dogs on the beach in Dubai
#PhotalifeFUN Vanity Case
#HDYGG Our garden in South Africa

Sunday
Day 150 ‪#‎OneDailyPositive‬ ‪#‎Project366‬ ‪#‎may‬ ‪#‎home‬‪#‎SnapHappyBritMums‬ whoops forgot to post this last Sunday, now altering the dates on the rest of the weeks posts. Current home Dubai, via South Africa, originating in the UK.

Monday
Day 151 ‪#‎OneDailyPositive‬ ‪#‎Project366‬ ‪#‎happy‬ ‪#‎may ‬‪#‎SnapHappyBritMums‬ Gifts for the ‪#‎teachingassistant‬ ‪#‎cleaner‬‪#‎learningmentor‬ ‪#‎arabicteacher‬ and ‪#‎babyshower‬ for ‪#‎school‬ tomorrow‪#‎endofterm‬ ‪#‎ramadankareem‬ ‪#‎ramadan‬ ‪#‎ramadan2016‬

Tuesday
Day 152 #OneDailyPositive #Project366 #vintage#may #SnapHappyBritMums I collect #glass, not any old glass and rare for me to buy 'new' pieces, but 'old' pieces, from drinking glasses, animals to#paperweights. My mother gifted the majority of the animals to me as a child, which were pieces my father bought her as gifts on his travels. I purchased most of the paperweights with my pocket money as a child from a junk shop opposite my Grans house in#Brighton #collectables #hobby #glassware151

Wednesday
Day 153 #OneDailyPositive #Project366 #0600 #june2016 #SnapHappyBritMums My 6am routine having fed the dog and walked him, I locate the cat after her night time travels and then step around her, over her and sometimes on her as I prepare her food. #cat #catsofinstagram #pets #feedme

Thursday
Day 154 #OneDailyPositive #Project366 #dog #june2016 #SnapHappyBritMums I had a bit of a shock today, I took the cat for an X-ray on her paw to discover after 4 years that she is actually a he. It's like watching #bcfc get relegated from the Premiership again. I'm gutted, but there's nothing I can do about it. Meanwhile Bob is laughing his head off at the recent discovery. #dogsofinstagram #dog#vet #pets #catsofinstagram

Friday
Day 155 #OneDailyPositive #Project366 #sun #june2016 #SnapHappyBritMums it's that time of year in Dubai, they call summer, when as many people as possible hope on a plane and fly away from the sun. I'm out of here on July 2nd. I've reduced working hours this month for#ramadan2016 #ramadan #ramadankareem which makes it easier.

Saturday
Day 156 #OneDailyPositive #Project366 #road #june2016 #SnapHappyBritMums one of the many new roads being built in Dubai.

Getting the garden looking nice for summer with #HDYGG

There was a cool breeze this evening in Dubai, the temperature was still 32c, but the sun had set and the wind felt cooler, than it had done all day.

To get an idea of what it feels like to live in Dubai in the summer, stick the central heating on to 30c, as that's what we're battling to cool our villa down to, wrap yourself in cling film to represent the humidity, sit in front of the hot oven with the door open and aim a hairdryer at the back of your neck, then remember it's not the height of summer yet and it's going to be at least 10c hotter.

Anyway, I took advantage of the cooler air and decided to do some gardening, I've noticed quite a few triffid like weeds and the sand is covered in green ground cover and scraggly grass.

                 

        I opted to uproot the tall spiky plants as on closer inspection there was a lot of colour underneath their foliage that I wasn't getting to see. i may have made a mistake, it may have only been flowering due to the protection from the leaves from the sun, but I've nothing to lose, I wasn't benefitting from the underneath, so only time will tell.

                 

             What I found is 2 plants and a tray of bedding that I forgot all about, as well as a lot of shrubs, that are still in flower.

                

                        

                       

                     

And grass, more suited to the side of a motorway than a lawn, thick, strong, lanky grass, with roots that go down forever. Today's high was 35c, the rest of the week it's 38c+. It's under 30c at 5am when I get up for work in the morning, so I'm going to set the alarm 30 minutes early next week so I can finish tidying up, before it gets too hot to go out in.

   

                   

                  

The remains of the spiky plants will have to sit by garage door until the gardener comes on Saturday.

I say gardener, but what I mean is 'tidy upper' sweeper' and 'waterer of the sand'.

I'm in the UK in July and August and I'm really looking forward to the cooler weather there, despite it looking like it's going to be a hot summer by UK standards. I'm staying in Hertfordshire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, South Wales, Somerset and Dorest, so if you're around and fancy visiting a stately home or public gardens with me do let me know. But first I have winter in South Africa and a week in Germany to see as much of the outdoors as possible, whilst catching up with friends.

What a difference 3 weeks make with the heat in Dubai

Three weeks ago in Dubai we were having hot showers from the cold water tap, we didn't need to put the water heater on to do the washing up and we were having to fill plastic tubs with water and leaving them outside so they'd cool down in the shade to water the plants and wash the dog.

The water temps in the outside cold taps were reaching 46c. The air temps were reaching 50c.

Now for some reason the water is brown again, we drink bottled water anyway but washing up and showering in it, is a bit off putting.

The water pipes in the house provided us with 30 seconds of cold water as they're out of the sun, now the shower is cool for the whole duration and it won't be long before we need to heat the water again.

June, July and August were spent indoors, apart from a 3 week vacation to Canada during Ramadan, we spent little time outside, we took the dog to the lakes in the desert early on a Friday morning and he had a short walk around the block around 8pm. I did make a point of getting out the house everyday to escape from cabin fever, but I could only manage a very short walk to the bus stop before becoming drenched in sweat. We managed the odd day on the beach in the evenings, with the sea temps around 36c it was hardly refreshing and cooling.

I've finally been able to open the curtains in the house during the day and some natural sunlight is most welcome. The sun no longer streams in through the windows in the morning, which means the house is much cooler. 

It does however still hit the front of the house and if I go behind those closed curtains it's like getting in a sauna, you can see how the curtains are being sucked backwards by the extreme heat.

This weekend I managed to finish tidying the camping equipment in one of the out buildings, although I was very hot, I wasn't drenched with sweat within minutes and abandoning the sort out like I'd done 3 weeks earlier.

The air con temp has been turned up and during the early hours of the morning we've been switching it off as it's got a bit chilly. Our electricity bill has been around £500 a month for the past 3 months.

The average day time temps are now in the mid 30's instead of the mid 40's, although the humidity can catch us off guard every now and then making it feel hotter than the thermometer reads sometimes.

I'm off to South Africa in 3 weeks time and it will be summer down there, I've not had a winter since June/July 2014. I was in the UK April/May and again in September and had some lovely warm weather. I'm looking forward to the winter in Dubai which is similar to a UK summer, but with far less rain.

What happens in the garden when you leave hubby in charge for 3 weeks

This is what happens when you leave hubby in charge of the garden for 3 weeks.

Okay it was just one plant that is hanging under the eaves of the house

The tomato plants never survived the move from the direct sunlight to the more shaded area.

Only 4 of my seedlings survived the heat, they are basil.

The petunias flowered forever but came to a natural end.

I had no idea what I had planted out in the sand pit, I thought they were Petunias but it appears they are Celosia and have different coloured feathery bits on the ends.

There was a sale on at the Garden Centre so I picked up a selection of perennials for around 20p a plant.

Again the weeds seem to be growing nicely. The roots grow much deeper than the plants and that seems to ensure their survival.

It has been so hot the past month around 42c and with the humidity being high the ground just isn't drying out in-between watering, which can only benefit the plants.

There is something funny going on with the Bougainvillea, this plant is changing from white into pink over the 3 weeks I was away.

         Apparently this is caused by changes in temperature as well as soil nutrition and/or disease.

Apart from watering, this is the end of Creating a Garden in the Desert until late November. I have a trip booked to the UK in September and in October and November I will be working on charity projects in South Africa and on my return I will start sewing a wider variety of flower seeds and I'm going to attempt to grow potatoes, beans and strawberries.

How to keep cool at home in Dubai?

Before we moved to Dubai we were informed that EVERYONE leaves Dubai for the summer.

Everyone? Seriously? Dubai doesn't shut down for summer, hubby doesn't have 3 months leave every year. We can't afford to rent someone in the UK for 3 months and maintain our villa that we rent in Dubai also. What about the cat and dog? Kennels would cost £3,600 for 3 months. So the other option is I leave Dubai for 3 months, seems a lot of expat spouses do that. But I'd still need somewhere to live and although staying with family and friends is good, I can't spend 3 months on sofas and living out of a suitcase in spare rooms.

I can understand why so many people leave though. Until I experienced the relentless heat I thought 'it can't be THAT bad' but it is, it's worse.

In the day it's an average of 42c, going as high as 50c early in June and not dropping below 33c at night. It's not cooler in the shade, the only place to get any respite is under the air conditioning. Humidity is high and the 'real feel' is up to 10c higher.

I'm still going out, I spend most days in the house on various projects, I tend to get up before sunset to water the garden, walk the dog, do the washing, cleaning etc and around midday I sleep for a couple of hours, before a second flurry of activity kicks in around 5pm, when I go to the beach, walk the dog, food shop and cook dinner.

I go out for coffee everyday, whether its a 5 minute walk over the road or a short trip on an air conditioned bus to an air conditioned mall.

When I'm indoors at home I do the following as it really makes a huge difference to the temperature inside the house.

Keep the curtains closed in the day time, it keeps the direct sunlight from damaging the wooden furniture and leather sofas and keeps the heat out of the room.

You can see how hot it is outside, this is condensation on the outside of the window

The drafts excludes are used to stop the cold escaping and the heat out, rather than the other way round

Keep containers of water outside, so they cool down during the day to be used to water the plants and wash the dog.

Water from the outside cold tap comes out the ground at 46c

Wear cotton and loose clothing, these are cheap and available to buy from the large supermarkets and the souks and perfect for wearing around the home

Keep doors closed during the day, if you're not using a room, If I'm at home alone I tend to only use the bedroom, dining room and kitchen during the day

Drink plenty of bottled water. I'm never more than a couple of feet from a bottle of water.

Make sure every window is covered. With floor to ceiling windows there's a lot of heat that can get into the house, these light weight panels are actually being sucked back towards the window by the heat from outside, imagine how hot the room would be without them

Hubby has been able to plan quite a few trips abroad with work, there are countries he needs to spend time in with his job, so it makes sense to be away during the hottest months. I spent 3 weeks in Canada in June/July which coincided with Ramadan. It's not just the heat that causes me a problem, but during Ramadan I am limited with my day light hour activities also, It is illegal for me to smoke, drink or eat in public during the day and most restaurants and cafes are closed during this period until Iftar when the fast is broken at sunset. It really limited my ability to cope with such high temperatures when I'm out, without being able to drink water.

Ramadan 2016 is earlier around 5th June till the 6th July, when it's not usually so hot and I will probably spend the month in the UK, although I'm yet to experience August in Dubai, so I'll wait till summer is over before I book any flights.

In the meantime I will just continue to live an indoors life at a slow pace, drink plenty of water, sleep during the hottest parts of the day, keep the cat and dog inside during daylight hours, read and hopefully try and make some headway with writing my book while I have the time.