Post Comment Love 25th - 27th March 2022. Happy Mother's Day

Welcome back to #pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I. It's lovely to have you back and to see new people joining in.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone who identifies as a Mum, I'm a mum of 3, but a mum to 5 and a Granny of 2. I've been used to having Mother's Day in May in South Africa and Dubai.

We/re both fully recovered from covid now. It wasn't nice, we've still got snotty noses, but have tested negative now. I did have a blip back at work when I thought that the only thing I'd done differently over the past two years was start work, but with so many of our friends and family having it at the same time (people we'd not been in contact with for at least a month, I've realised it's more to do with other people not wearing masks (mask mandate dropped the same time I started work)

Hopefully we'll be spending more time outdoors now the weather here is improving. I've actually gone bare footed for the first time in ages (no socks)

We're off to visit our daughter in her care home on Sunday then off to see MIL, SIL, niece and great nephew for his 1st birthday on Sunday, so a nice family day out to look forward to.

Do you have plans for this weekend? Do you 'do' Mother's Day? Now or in May?

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2021 Week 10 One Daily Positive - To do lists and organising myself.

I'm on the countdown now to return to Dubai, assuming I get permission to leave the UK and I get the export papers for the dog sorted to travel to Northern Ireland, export needed due to Brexit. So I'm back to my 'to do' list of things I've been putting off or just haven't got round to.

We brought the animals over to the UK last year with the intention of me travelling back and forth and getting house sitters lined up. The dog is really frightened of the vets and gets a bit cross with it all. So we flew him to the UK while his inoculations were still in date to save us both the stress. But thanks to everyone who voted Brexit, my dog has had to go through the whole process again, heavily medicated, at a considerable cost around £500 and extreme stress to myself and him. We had planned to travel to Northern Ireland with the dog frequently to visit child 4 and his wife, now it looks like this we will have to get a 'fit to travel' certificate, chip scan and up to date jabs for each trip as pet passports are no longer valid from Great Britain. At this point in time I have no idea how we'll get him back to the mainland in July. I just don't need this level of stress.

65 Saturday Met my friend with her dog for a socially distanced walk. bob had some time off the lead, his recall is really good these days. We walked about 4 miles mainly in mud, few people out. Home to do some more weeding, watched TV and blogging. Awake most of the night with severe cramps in my left calf and thigh.

View of the Malvern Hills.

66 Sunday Woke with a headache, but one round of meds cleared it within the hour. The cramp in my leg continued through the day. I decided to get a newspaper today, I'm really trying to avoid indoor spaces as much as possible and really keeping shop trips as essentials as much as possible. Did some gardening, dinner, bath, wine, TV then bed.

The cat and I have been enjoying the afternoon sun in the conservatory.

67 Monday Woke with a horrendous cold, just can't stop sniffing and sneezing, but no other symptoms. Leg and head now ok so I'm assuming side effects of iron infusion, snotty and sneezing all day. Read the papers, did some gardening, gave Bob a bath, walked him, washed all the bedding Had an altercation with a driver parked on the zig zag lines in front of the school, he refused to move, reported to school again and to the police online via the anti social method. Ate an Easter Egg, got mad at myself, went to bed after watching Oprah interview, found it fascinating.

These two can be such good friends.

68 Tuesday Thought it was Monday all day, due to the Oprah Interview being advertised as Sunday (in America) and ITV changing their programs around. It was only when Corrie didn't come on at 7.30pm and I checked the TV guide on the screen that I realised. So I missed my hospital appointment for 2nd iron infusion. During the day I did some gardening, washing, renewed some rotten wood in the the garden which involved a hand saw and fence paint. Wrapped up and addressed all the Easter and Birthday parcels for April, ready to be posted, video called with child 2a and grandchild, had a bath, a nap, dinner, watched TV and bed to watch Unforgotten. Had stabbing and shooting pains in left side of neck and left arm all evening.

69 Wednesday Rearranged iron infusion for Monday, headed out to do a food shop, started in Lidl and ended up in Waitrose, really struggle shopping for GF products, all stores stock things differently. I got really irate with some people, one man restored my faith in humanity by standing aside for me to enter a shop to then walk in behind me as he said he could see I was getting frustrated with the lack of social distancing. I did some touching up of paint and plaster from moving furniture around, finished weeding the front garden and planned some work in the garden.

When the cat tries to get in the pod with me, all she succeeds in doing is spinning me round.

70 Thursday Couldn't get motivated, was supposed to be in Qatar for the golf, but due to not having anyone to look after the pets I couldn't go, so I spent the morning feeling sorry for myself. Got up at midday when the door bell rang, I tidied up the garden after the wind, did some cooking, tidying and cleaning. My friend dropped off two mirrors I'm going to hang with the two I already have to get more light into the room. 

Child 4 and 4a sent flowers for Mother's Day.

71 Friday A social distanced meet up and walk with my friend and her dog again, this time up the Malvern Hills. We got coffee and sat by the Priory for a while.  Home to do some washing, pay bills, chase payments owed and get medical aid approval, sort through emails. Evening spent in front of the TV.

Post from child 2 and 2a and grandchild.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo -  A foggy view on the Malvern Hills.

How being an expat hasn't differed much from lockdown.

Post Comment Love - Happy Mothers Day and getting organised.

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12-14th March 2021 - Post Comment Love. Happy Mothers Day.

Welcome back to PoCoLo with Stephanie and I and a Happy Mother's Day to you all. It's not something that really gets celebrated here. I've sent cards and token gifts to both our Mothers. I don't expect anything from our children, although flowers arrived from child 4 and his wife yesterday and child 2 and his wife have told me they can't post my gift, it's too fragile.

When I'm travelling back and forth to Dubai I tend to get things ready in advance and make sure they're left behind to get posted out in time. I'm back to Dubai in April, I'll be socially distancing dropping Easter Gifts after March 29th and I'm leaving stamped cards with a friend to post on my behalf for birthdays in May and June until I return.

I've have some lovely friends who will either give me my birthday gift/card to take with me or will ensure it gets posted out in time. It'll be strange being back in the UK full time and not having to think so far ahead.

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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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One Daily Positive - Week 9

What a week for weather. Monday and Tuesday I didn't wear a coat, was still wrapped up a lot warmer than most of the population in the South West and Wales were though. By Wednesday I was defrosting the car and it was -1c, but still warm in the day (coat on) and then.......

I've been getting a lot of rest and sleep despite having to sort out issues with current tenants and dealing with neighbours who rent one of the flats who seem to think they can use the communal hallway to store their stuff in. They also leave the communal door on the catch when they go out.

Sorry about the quality of photo's as I've actually been with people and occupied.

55 Sunday Out for coffee and blogging, popped in to see 2 and 2a and drove to Keynsham to visit my MIL for the night. I randomly stopped at friends we used to see an awful lot of when the kids were growing up, between 1996 and 2002, when we moved to Malvern and them to Yate. We've kept in touch over the past 16 years and just pick up where we last left off. The last time we saw each other was in 2013 on a beach in Bream Sands.

Misty morning in Monmouth

56 Monday MIL and I met with niece for a coffee, then headed off to a retail park. I drove back via Cirencester to collect child 5 from work and take him out for dinner, before getting home at 9pm and straight to bed.

Clear blue skies in Cirencester.

57 Tuesday Coffee meet up with Instagram friend @rubbishwife followed by spending the afternoon with Thing 1 for ice cream, shopping treat and the park, called in the pub to see child 3 on the way home, cooked dinner and in bed by 8pm.

58 Wednesday Woke at 3am, was nice to be able to chat with Peter for a while before he had to go to work, I sorted paperwork and by 8am I was drinking coffee in the near by town of Abergavenny, did some shopping, called in at the community centre to see Indigo Wilderness and spent the afternoon with Things 1, 2 & 3 and my niece at the park, we took a picnic.

I may ahve bought 1 Easter egg too many.

59 Thursday I was so ill all day, couldn't get out of bed until after mid day, finally managed a bath and got out for an hour just to get some fresh air and make sure I was able to sleep. Had a lovely early mothers day gift from 4 and 4a through the post.

60 Friday Child 3 has been working in the local pub while he's visiting from Australia. Sadly the landlady died in tragic circumstances a couple of weeks ago and it was the funeral today. I drove son to the Crematorium, half the town was in attendance, then immediately whisked him back to the pub so he could open up for the wake. Met friends for lunch, popped in at mums, saw the Things and had an early night.

61 Saturday Met Mum for coffee, visited child 1 in Gloucester and stopped at a friends on the way back for the evening. Another gift from 4 and 4a for Mother's Day.

On the blog this week:

I was a child of the 70's who parented in the 90's, there was little difference between my childhood and that of my children, I dread to think how my kids will manage under the glare of social media.

When I'm in the UK I stay in our flat in Monmouth, it's a small town but you'd be surprised at what you can do in Monmouth Town.

An InLinkz Link-up

One daily Positive - Week 11. Nicholas Parsons and home to Dubai

Both a sad start and end to this UK trip, arriving for my SIL's funeral and leaving 2 days after the death of my Uncle. This happened in 2016 also, when I came over for my father's youngest brothers funeral and my mother's eldest brother died the day I left. I finished the week back home in Dubai. Fell back into local time straight away, tired and had no milk, the garden had survived, one house plant was a bit worse for wear and it felt strange not being met by the cat and dog.

70 Sunday Our Easy Jet flight from Belfast was delayed by an hour, said our goodbyes to child 4 and 4a, who we'll see again in Dubai at the end of the month. Collected car hire and then the teen from Stratford and dropped him off at my mum's where he's staying till the end of the week. Mother's Day gifts from child 4, 4a and 5.

71 Monday Collected child 1 from Gloucester and hubby suggested we visit Bicester village for a day out, the roads were really misty. I took Mary's (over40andamumtoone) birthday gift with us and called her on route and she joined us for a coffee or two. I must say both Peter and I were impressed with how she handled Stephanie and dodged flying drink bottles.

72 Tuesday Collected MIL from Keynsham and headed off to Street for the day for shopping and lunch. Had the start of a migraine. I know I'm over doing it, but our remaining time in the UK is limited and I lost 4 days to the snow. I took Peter to me local pub to meet Geoff, the landlord, who bought my fathers car. I tend to treat the pub as an extension of my living room as the teen is still living in the flat.

73 Wednesday Woke to the sad news that Uncle Tim died last night. It was something we were expecting and it hit me really hard. Tim was my father's best friend from birth and I can't recall any event over my lifetime of 46 years that he and his wife, Aunty Pat who died in 2012, hadn't been part of. I had a horrendous migraine and really didn't want to go anywhere, but child 2 had his suit fitting appointment for his wedding in June and I was dragged to Gloucester, called in to see ex MIL on our way back and went straight to bed. Peter went to see my sister, mini me and Thing 1, 2 & 3. Managed to get out in the evening to see Nicholas Parsons at the local theatre, it was very good, despite the migraine.

74 Thursday Took mum to visit my cousin, Tim's son, I hadn't seen him during the hospital visits and as I won't be able to attend the funeral, we drove to Aberdare for the day. On the way back we stopped at the crematorium to order my father's memorial plaque. It was a sad time for both mum and I, first time back at the crematorium and we saw where my father's ashes were buried. In the evening Peter and I did a whistle stop tour of saying goodbyes and met friends in the pub for a quiet drink and replied to 2 of the 3 wedding invites we have to look forward to this year.

75 Friday It's not often Peter and I fly together, we joke we're like royalty. We sat together upstairs on the Airbus A380. I require a window seat when I fly so I have something to lean against. Peter was pleased with the extra legroom and storage but I was disappointed as I may as well have been sitting in an aisle seat, I had nothing to lean against and spent most of the flight in pain and tears.

76 Saturday I didn't get much sleep, woke early and fetched milk, caught up with some blogging while Peter slept as it's back to work for him tomorrow, unpacked, collected the cat and dog and had a manicure, pedicure and new gel polish while Peter did some food shopping, a relaxing day and an early night ahead.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Coventry Cathedral - Mixing the old and the new
Triumphant Tales, Tweens Teens Beyond, Best Boot Forward and PoCoLo linky
What it's like being a woman living in Dubai.

Oh I was tagged in a Mother's Day meme

I've been tagged by @kateonthinice the founder of #groovymums over at http://kateonthinice.wordpress.com/ to blog about What mother's day means to me.

I won't be tagging anyone else, as I'm a day late for the UK, as Mother's Day isn't actually until May here.

I received a facebook message from my 19 year old son wishing me a lovely day, my 17 year old tweeted me from his bedroom and the 13 year old asked hubby 'Did we get anything for mum?'
My step children haven't sent or acknowledged me, but then post may be 'lost' and step son has just moved back in with his Mother, and I doubt he's remembered her either.

Describe Motherhood in three words
Overwhelming, Challenging, Hard

Does your experience differ from your mother’s? How?.
My mum never worked when we were kids apart from 9 months when I was 14, but she always did voluntary work with the eldery, shopping, trips out and she played a lot of sport. We had regular babysitters in the evenings if my dad was away, while she played badminton and walked us to school every morning and collected us every afternoon. She run us round to all our after school activities, Brownies, Swimming, Gym, Youth Clubs and then school and youth discos.
When my children were small I had to work, we needed two incomes, I spent two years as a single parent, but never claimed any benefits. I used to work shifts around my then husbands job in care and youth work and I also did voluntary work to build my CV up alongside regular study.
I run the kids to all their activites also and like my mum I've run the home and moved on quite a few occassions with my hubbies job, like we did with my father's job.
My mother doesn't 'do' cooking, she doesn't enjoy it, she did cook a meal for us every evening, but if there was any chance we could eat out, or request fish and chips she'd be more than happy. I like cooking, I like preparing meals for the children, they like to experiment and enjoy 'tasty' food.
I'm much more relaxed with my children and their friends, we always have a house full of children, I drive miles with the kids for their activites, whereas my mum kept things local which meant I wasn't able to progress further with my activities.
My children have far more freedom than we did, I allow them to go out just for the sake of it, stay over at friends houses mid week, but I don't let them have TV's in their rooms.

I'm going to stop now, there are too many differences and I could write for ever about them.

What’s the hardest thing about being a mum?
I'm not sure there is anything 'hard' about being a mum. I can't compare it too anything else. I have single friends, childless, I don't envy their 'freedom/lonliness' I guess sometimes the hard part about being a mum is never being allowed to switch off and being judged by other parents, teachers, family and friends for the childrens behaviour.

What’s the best thing?
Well there are laughs, fun times, wonderful experiences. Companionship, friendship, achievements.

How has it changed you?
Again I'm not sure it has. I don't know what I would have been like if I hadn't had kids.

What do you hope for your children?
I hope my children are happy and I hope they continue to aim high.
I always recall my parents being disappointed that I had C for achievement, they wanted more, expected more. I had A for effort and that's all I want for my kids. I want them to do their best and that's all.

What do you fear for them?
I fear my children will struggle, that they will have to work hard and get overlooked.

What makes it all worthwhile?
Don't expect they will go down well, but it makes it worthwhile when they leave home. My first 3 kids left home aged 18, they went on into further education and training and they are happy and settled and left behind in the UK. If the last 2 can leave home at 18 then it will all have been worthwhile.

my groove is recovering nicely, thank you

Having linked up with @kateonthinice back in September http://kateonthinice.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/a-kick-up-the-bum-for-mums/ join in and link up, it's free and doesn't hurt.
I relished and looked forward to her weekly challenges for us to 'get our groove back' but the last few weeks have been hard for me and I've been blogging in general about depression. I've not been to the Doctors as I don't feel medication will help, just mask the problems I face. But some big changes in our family are afoot and although I am blogging about it all, you won't see it here for a while, in fact it may never appear in print for a long time if ever.
I do blog about my kids and hubby and they read what I write before posting it, in general they agree, sometimes hubby gets afronted, but that's usually before he's read the whole post to see how it's taken shape.

Anyway Kate's groovy mum challenges this week are as follows and remember they are all optional.

1. Body – how can you incorporate touch into your life this week? Massage or more? You decide but take time out to touch and be touched this week.
LAST WEEK I WENT FOR A MANICURE WHICH ALSO INVOLVED A HAND MASSAGE. I FELL ASLEEP ON THE SOFA SUNDAY NIGHT (PASSED OUT FROM GIN) AND WAS IN ABSOLUTE AGONY WITH AN OLD NECK INJURY BUT HUBBY HAS BEEN GIVEING ME REGULAR MASSAGES WHICH HAS HELPED.

2. Mind – your challenge this week is merely to link up a post about how you are attempting to change your life with steps whether like those of a baby or more solid ones. Any progress is to be celebrated so acknowledge how well you are doing by linking up a post.

TAKE YOUR PICK FROM ANY OVER ON http://www.chickenruby.com BUT I'VE DECIDED TO SPICE UP THE FAMILY MEALS THIS WEEK STARTING HERE http://www.chickenruby.com/2012/03/whats-for-tea.html

3. Spirit – Lent sometimes involves giving things up. What can you give up that would help you move forwards in life? This might mean delegating or accepting that some things or people no longer serve you positively. BREAD, I'VE GIVEN IT UP

4. Blogging – Did I mention that you are supposed to link up with Groovy Mums this week? There you go, two kicks up your rather lovely ass. If you are going to Britmums Live, you can also join in the blog hop mentioned in my previous post.

5. Special Days – Mother’s Day is around the corner so why not start planning just how you would like it to go. Your task is to communicate your ideal day to your nearest and dearest.
MOTHER'S DAY HAS TO WAIT TILL MAY 16TH HERE, ALTHOUGH I'VE SENT CARDS AND GIFTS FOR MY TWO MUMS BACK IN THE UK FOR MARCH

6. The Big Question – what needs to change? OK, maybe lots needs to change but identifying the big thing that needs to change might help you to prioritise what the first baby steps need to be.
CAN'T SAY AT THIS STAGE....BUT WATCH THIS SPACE

So there you go, I'm getting groovy again