Is life better in the sun?

For 12 years whilst living abroad in South Africa and Dubai all we heard was 'at least the sun shines' whenever we dared to complain about anything.

We'd reply with we may be living in the sun but we still have the same things to do everyday, like work, washing, housework, food shopping etc.

And the response would be 'but life is better when the sunshines'

And our response would be 'the grass may look greener, but it's actually spray painted.

'But these hot countries are built for the weather, with air con'

'Nope not in South Africa and in the winter when the temps dropped to below zero, there was no heating either'

'But the sun in Dubai is a dry heat'

No it's not, it's on the bloody coast.

In Dubai from June-September, it was that hot, there was condensation on the outside of the windows. The cold water tap ran at 40c, we'd shower after 10pm or before 9am when it was cooler. The aircon was blowing cold air on you 24/7 and cardigans and socks were worn in the house.

Our air con didn't cool below 28c and opening the front door to get to the car was like stepping into an oven, wearing full winter gear with a hairdryer blowing on your neck.

If you could manage to be outside and the hot sand on the beach, burning your feet even through trainers, you'd get in the sea and it would be 36c. Not refreshing and you'd feel worse.

The air temperature in the summer didn't drop below 36c, so dog walking was done around 4am.

Walking from the front door to the car and from the car into the mall, you'd be dripping in sweat.

My phone was constantly over heating, even sitting in my bag.

But, despite telling you all of this we'd still get 'I'd love some of that sun'

We weren't on holiday, sitting by a pool all day, with room service and air conditioned taxis picking us door to door. 

When the air con in the house broke and also in my car, it was unbearable. Both took a week to get fixed.

Summer temps reached 53c while we were there. The car temps would read up to 57c.

But now you're experiencing several weeks of hot weather, it's clammy, humid and it's making you tired, you're craving cooler temps and even some summer rain.

But for us - we got used to it. We've got 3 large fans on the go around the house, have a covered outdoor area to sit under in the shade. I have a wardrobe full of airy clothing bought in Dubai that keeps me cool and quite frankly I'm fed up of hearing how oppressive this heat wave is, it's topped 34c in some parts of the country, we know it won't last long. 

Just get on with and enjoy it as 'life is always better when the sun shines'

Michael Macintyre explains it.

I do appreciate that there are some people struggling and the effects this heat can have on people's health and how dangerous it can be to certain members of society and you are of course exempt from the above commentary.

Creating a Garden in the Desert in Summer in Dubai

Summer in Dubai is hot, don't let this fool you. It was 30c at 7am and the fog means you can't actually see more than 500ms.

1pm in the desert and car temp on leaving the dog park. it took 20 mins to get home with air con on and the temp dropped only to 48c, it was actually 44c outside.

And don't forget the humidity

So this all means we don't sit outside in the garden day or night, we go outside only for short periods of time and we shower and change clothes after most trips out.

The garden suffers, surprisingly due to the humidity it means there is lots of moisture in the air and we water late at night.

June.

 Midday sun, in fact most the day there is very little shade

Some shade in the afternoon briefly when the sun is blocked by the house for a few hours

Early morning shade

Despite us living in the desert out cactus does need watering still and we do so with a slow drip feed

I bring the chair pod in for the summer to protect it from the sun and so I can use it

July

I brought these flowers back with me from the UK, they were from family and friends for my birthday. This is after the flight, sadly the air con in the house meant they didn't make it through the night

Surprise sunflower in the garden on my return

Climbing plants have faired well

Our cactus had a baby

Some rare time outside, but the dog will insist on going out so to ensure he doesn't over heat and I don't forget him, I sit out there with him.

Local date trees. Did you know these palms need 40ltrs of water a day to fruit

The occasional clouds, very rarely does it rain during summer

August

Been away for 3 weeks, the grass has grown

The sand sweeping is back on again, it's the bane of my life, gets in the house also

Climbing plants need more water than Peter was giving them

The outside/communal areas really need tidying up, but they do provide additional shade for the garden and the house

A thunder storm over head, looked promising but came to nothing, 5km further inland it chucked it down

So there's our garden for the summer, I'm back in the UK now and Peter will join me for the last 3 weeks, there's no one to water the garden so it'll be interesting to see what survives with the humidity levels dropping also

One Daily Positive - Week 14

More dental work, more medication. Temps hit 36c this week and the humidity levels are climbing. I'm spending most of summer in Dubai this year, although I have 2 weeks out during Ramadan, which will help and 2 weeks the end of June.

I'm so bored. It always seems like I do an awful lot in the day, but I don't have kids or the mess that comes with it, or a job to switch off from and with Peter out the house every day for 10 hours, there's a lot of time to fill, even more so this week with him away.

Dubai isn't a big place, the furthest distance I'd drive is from home to The Creek, the other end of the city which is 35km/21miles. Time of day, ie work/school runs depends on whether it takes me 30 mins or an hour.

Dental work went well, but I really felt the effects of the time I've spent in the dental chair with my chronic neck pain and had felt really ill a couple of times with migraine and dizzy spells.

90 Sunday Next phase of dental surgery, only 2 hours this time and 8 stitches in my lower jaw. The most painful part to date was the removal of the stitches from the upper gum. I cried. Home and spent the day snuggled on the sofa. Peter flew to Saudi for most of the week, he bought me flowers for Mother's Day.

91 Monday I walked Bob then took myself off to City Walk where I wanted to blog and drink coffee, sadly no where to just sit and relax other than benches in the sun, so I came home, made lunch and set the garden up to sit outside, but it got too hot. Made some soup for dinner, watched TV, did some blogging and paid some more bills. Peter phoned and said he was actually home tomorrow, not Wednesday

92 Tuesday Took Bob to the dog park, coffee and natter for us humans. Called in at doggy day care  for Bob to have a bath on the way home. Spent the afternoon in bed and read a whole book. Went to bed early with a migraine. Peter arrived home late afternoon, i didn't thik he was back till Wednesday.

93 Wednesday Bloody raining again, everything brought indoors, did some washing, went out for coffee and back to bed with the migraine. We need a new gas meter at our rental house in the UK, another thing to sort grrrrrrrr.

94 Thursday A visit to the dentist to have the final stitches removed, booked the dates for the next part of the surgery. I have 2 months rest now for graft and implants to settle/heal. I stopped off for a coffee and had a gel mani and pedi. Ended the day with a walk on the beach.

95 Friday Back to the beach with Peter for the morning, then stopped for lunch on the way home. Out early evening for a food shop and a coffee and spent the rest of the evening watching TV and snacking.

96 Saturday Coffee at the garden centre, looked at getting a new car, popped in at a mall for a bit of shopping, I picked up some new books, then home to chill out, watch movies and have dinner. neither of us feeling too well. Peter with heavy cold and sore throat, me, just me and constantly ill or in pain.

On the blog this week:

The return of #mysundayphoto and that means more construction photography. Dubai Water Canal and Tolerance Bridge.

Creating a garden in the desert. Finally the sand and rain has gone.

Does your face fit? Can you play the game to fit in?

My Dental Implant journey Half way there now.

What to blog about when your teens say 'no more'

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Do you get to enjoy your garden?

Do you ever just sit in your garden and relax? Or like me, find there is always something that needs doing and by the time you've finished, you realise you've spent all day in the garden but working, not relaxing.

This is the garden at the end of summer. it's very humid in Dubai and the plants, tree's and grass just grow and grow.

We've installed an irrigation system to allow us to water next summer without standing out in the heat

The climbing plants are taking hold now providing some privacy in the garden from people walking past

Upstairs balcony is set up, but cushions etc have to come inside every night or they get covered in sand and there has been some rain here this winter.

Seeds planted in November are now producing fruit, veg and flowers. They germinate really quickly in this climate.

4 days later.

Now.

The lawn has been reseeded, twice, it doesn't help that we have a dog who likes to dig.

Whilst the garden looks relaxing and inviting, it takes time and effort every day to set it up, especially having to sweep the sand and clean the table and chairs daily.

The balconies get covered with sand, the windows too and I seem to spend all my time cleaning and setting up just to be able to sit outside for 5 minutes to drink my now cold cup of tea.

So this is what I use most of the time, this balcony area off our bedroom, you can see the sand on the floor, swept only 3 days ago, it gets in the bedroom.

I can't be bothered with taking the pod cushions outside unless I'm spending the day at home and only put the chair cushions out when we have guests in the garden and we BBQ.

 The garden today after sweeping and hosing the patio down.

When the summer comes everything gets put away and covered to protect it from the sun. I can't be bothered to spend the time setting the garden up just to show you what it can look like, just for a photo.

The idea of a lovely garden with cushions, umbrellas and decorations is nothing but hard work and therefore it rarely happens. A lot of our neighbours have maids whose job it is to set it all up and put it all away at the end of the day on their behalf.

Do you spend much time in your garden? When you do are you just relaxing or working in it to create a relaxing environment that you rarely use?

Creating a garden in the desert - getting ready for winter in Dubai

Winter in Dubai, means getting outdoors. I spend the summers in the UK as that's where our families live and as I don't work there's no need for me to get cabin fever stuck indoors when temperatures reach 50c.

Summer is very humid in Dubai of which the moisture helps the plants, shrubs and trees to grow. Peter mowed the lawn a couple of times.

The garden was overgrown, covered in sand and several repairs needed carrying out, the umbrella cover had disintegrated.

I lost several plants, the tree had to be cut back after a couple of days of high winds and some rain, typically after I'd cleaned all the sand up and had to do it all again....grrrrrr.

New shrubs were purchased, seeds have been sown, umbrella repaired and we're now enjoying the outdoor space again. That was until we had our annual storm and everything got covered in sand again, however it did help the grass seed to grow.