Post Comment Love 21st-23rd January 2022

Welcome back to #pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I. It's a weekly linky where you can link up and share any post you've written this week.

It's been a good week for me. I was offered a job at a local secondary school, I start mid February. 

Work is progressing on the kitchen, we've been managing with the microwave, gas stove and the slow cooker and occasional use of the neighbours oven. I have been offered the use of two neighbours washing machine, but I visited the local laundrette on foot with my shopping trolley to get everything there and back. Took an hour and cost £6 plus everything was dry.

I had a trip to Gloucester to see our DIL and grandchild for a wander around the shops yesterday, always good to spend time with family.

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Does everyone have good neighbours?

I mention my neighbours a lot. The ones to the right we only met in January 2020 when I moved back to the UK, I've borrowed their lawn mower, had my sofa stored in their garage for several months and they looked after the cat for 3 months and had the dog for a few nights. My other neighbour lives 2 doors down on the left and we've known each other since 2002, her and her husband came out to Dubai in March 2020 with me, just before lockdown hit. She's kept an eye on the house, walked the dog, shopped for me when I didn't have a car and within the rules has been my main person of contact with for social distanced garden visits with wine and chips on a Friday night.

When I mention my neighbours (or should that be friends) people quite often respond with 'I wish we had good neighbours' I just assumed everyone did.

In my first house when my kids were young, we relied on the neighbours for everything. From baby sitting to food shops, to lifts, to being looked after when we were ill to nights out in the local pub and I'm still in touch with them today, watching their families grow and spending time together.

But it's always been a two way thing, not all one sided and I think good neighbours are definitely a two way thing. We've shared the good and the bad from births, deaths, marriages to lending each other dining room chairs on Christmas morning. Helping with parties, loans of washing machines, lifts to work when the car has been off the road, childminding and just providing a listening ear over a cup of tea or a bottle of wine.

I'm actually visiting a former neighbour next week while she's at work and the kids are in school to watch a movie she recorded for me over Christmas on Sky TV.

Do you have good neighbours?

Do you think TV shows could do more to represent the current pandemic?

I can't watch ITV in the mornings. Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, Philip and Holly and Loose Women. I can't stand the shouting, the over talking and the scientific facts presented with little or no research.

However ITV are doing very well with their programs in the evenings.

Whether you're a fan of soaps or not, in my opinion the writers of Coronation Street are doing an excellent job of reflecting the current crisis during the Covid pandemic. I know some of their stuff is out of date, which will be due to how far ahead they are filming, but their mask wearing, hand sanitising, social distancing and references to missing cast members whose characters are shielding, is excellent even if some of their plot lines are a bit far fetched.

I don't watch Emmerdale, but i did watch a couple of episodes when they resumed filming and at the time they were representing the current pandemic also, dealing with isolation.

Eastenders seems to be lacking quite a bit in reflecting the pandemic, there are references to Covid, but often in a manner that indicates the writers and characters are inconvenienced by the whole thing, which may represent how a lot of the population are feeling, but there's not a mask in sight and I read an interview with Danny Dyer where he said the camera crew were using clever filming techniques and perspex screens to make it appear the characters are closer than they really are, therefore not even indicating any social distancing is going on.

If you watch Neighbours you wouldn't even know the pandemic included Australia, no mention of covid, no social distancing indoors or out and bringing in the actors partners for any kissing scenes.

Whilst covid safety measures are being put in place for filming, I feel it could be represented more a bit on TV. I know camera angles can be deceiving, and I appreciate wearing a mask when acting doesn't make for good TV viewing but it does help when cast members of Coronation Street walk into a scene wearing a mask, I feel it's more representative of the Pandemic, although I  realise that soaps often aren't representative of a lot of society, people watch and people imitate.

My garden in June

I'm still getting used to there being no tree in the front garden. it looks very bare, but the grass is growing back now.

My strawberries failed to produce more than 4 fruits and the dog ate them.

I've managed one portion of home grown peas.

The cucumber is growing well as is the pumpkin.

I've prepared space outside for them.

I've only had 3 bean plants survive and I had an obelisk for my birthday I've yet to assemble. I made mini greenhouses to protect them from the wind and the slugs. I had a green house for my birthday I'll be assembling soon.

My wild flower seeds I sprinkled were not evenly distributed and contain mostly poppies.

 We used to have trellis round the bin store, but sadly tenants neglected it. I put in a pole to attach a frame for some climbers to grow up, but my DIY skills are lacking and we're on a tilt.

I had a slight accident with the lawn mower after failing to rake up all the stones out the lawn and had a very sore and swollen arm for a few days.

I've done so much work to get the garden back to basic, but I'm bored of it now and it looks boring. But I'm not spending anymore money on it until we decide if we're moving or staying put.

I have my little quiet corner where I can sit in both the dry and wet weather. I just move the chair back into the shed if it rains.

 I bought a little Bumble Bee Gnome and some bright yellow slip ons for gardening in.

Things I need to sort out.
The neighbour dug a boundary, it's our responsibility this side. I removed the crap she put in as it was rotten, dug a new and straight trench and used treated wood to form a new boundary. I've had someone quote to continue with the fencing to the end, but it's a want, not a need. In the meantime I've told the neighbour unless she keeps her plants on her side, I will be hacking them level as it's preventing my new grass seed from growing.

The neighbour the other side, needs to sort their fence out, they're aware Bob can get into their garden, the wind keeps breaking their repairs.

And relax.......nope never seem to be able to, there's always something that needs doing every week.

Feeling vulnerable during Covid-19

I'm a 48 year old woman, fit and healthy (ish) not having to worry financially and living in a nice house in a nice town in the UK. My husband is 3000 miles away in Dubai and we're separated for the foreseeable future.
We're used to spending a lot of time apart with his job, travelling and with our family in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Australia. But we always have an end date, a flight home booked and we often meet up up and join one another on our trips.

We think nothing of booking a flight, jumping on a plane, collecting car hire, sorting hotels and travelling at the drop of a hat, on our own or together. We've had a lot of adventures living in South Africa and Dubai and in between. Raising 5 children between us, one with profound disabilities. Managing lives in different countries, maintaining homes and lives simultaneously and dealing with death.

So yes we're capable, together and on our own we are able top look after ourselves and others when needed.

We're also lonely and isolated. Peter is in Dubai on his own, he is working from home.

I'm in the UK in our former family home but on my own (cat and dog don't count when it comes to feeling vulnerable) and this post isn't about being lonely.

Last Friday morning at 6am I fell down the stairs, I banged my head, my shoulder and jarred my neck. I slipped on the last 5 steps.

Peter had conference calls and wasn't due to ring me till 9am UK time. I'm ok now but it got me thinking....what if?

We have a plan, we've never had to implement it. If I can't get hold of Peter throughout a working day or when he's travelling he will message me in response to my calls to say he's in meetings, he will then phone at the earliest opportunity. When I'm travelling I will send him messages throughout the day, notifying him of my current location and when I'm due to be back at the house or my next destination.

There have been times of minor worries such as when I've taken a 24 hour trip and haven't had access to the internet, but we've still been able to make quick short and expensive telephone calls to say we're ok.

My mum messages or facebooks me everyday, so I know she's OK, if I couldn't get hold of her my niece and her husband live in the town. I've also got a car now so I could drive down. My MIL lives near her daughter and grandchildren, so they are around to check in on her.

The rest of our family and friends live with their partner or have older children at home, or like my husband and youngest child who are working daily and their absence would be noticed.

My next door neighbour and I have joked that the Thursday night clap for key workers has turned into a roll call for the street, but even she has her sister and a nephew dropping off her shopping. I see different neighbours daily, who ask if I need anything and hear them in their gardens and I know they hear me when I'm calling the dog or the cat.

Friends are checking in with me, my friends who I have regular contact with are either abroad or don't know one another. I'm not asking for anyone to take responsibility for me. I'm not vulnerable due to health, but I'm feeling vulnerable after falling down the stairs and realising I could have lain there for about 12 hours before Peter would've put the plan into action.

Just try to remember we're all struggling with this lockdown, whether it's financially, emotionally with home schooling and our health or physically going out to as a key worker everyday that we're all feeling vulnerable right now and that includes those of us who don't have financial or physical problems, children to teach or key worker jobs, we're just going through it differently.

I often feel isolated and lonely, this is the first time I've really felt vulnerable.

A week in Melbourne

My last week in Australia was spent in Melbourne, there's so much to do here, but we just touched on the main tourist attractions, as well as getting some rest after spending 2 weeks on the road.

We stayed in an apartment overlooking the docklands which was in the free tram zone area making it easy to get around. It also wasn't far to walk, but it was winter and exceptionally cold during my visit, windy and a lot of rain.

Street entertainment

China Town

Tram stop

One of many shopping arcades

Lots of restaurants to chose from but make sure you book

Vietnamese 

Day 2
Just over an hours drive south of Melbourne and a visit to the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park to pet Victor the 3 year old Koala and feed the wallabies and kangaroos.

Day 3 St Kilda Beach

View of Melbourne

We found a penguin hidden under the rocks.

Day 4 I've watched Neighbours since it started in 1985 so I drove out to Pin Oak Court for a visit. The street is much shorter and narrower than it looks on the TV. They only film on location once a week, the rest is done in studios. It was a 20 min drive from the City.

In the afternoon we explored melbourne's street art

Finishing with a visit to the Winter Night Market.

Day 5 A day on my own as Jamie (child 3) had been out and about in the evenings with friends of his. I took the tram to the far end of the city and took a 20 min walk out to the Botanical Gardens, then back along the river to the sea life centre. We finished the trip with a meal out in the evening.

A long weekend in Sydney

Our trip from Sydney to Phillips Island

Phillips Island

Phillips Island to Port Fairy

Port Fairy to Melbourne via the Grampians

A week in Melbourne

Flora and Fauna in Australia

Accommodation in Australia

Going Green in Australia

Australia 2019

One Daily Positive - Week 7. More dentists and a migraine

WTF are the neighbours doing at home every afternoon? The bounce, bounce, bounce for almost an hour everyday is the 8 year old playing football indoors before his parents return from work, lord knows what the maid is doing and I do wish whoever it was that plays the bannister rails would stop also.

I'm not sure they realise how noisy they are, they apologise and shut up when I complain, but that's only ever after 11pm and before 6am and mostly involves the dog barking.

Peter has agreed with me, no neighbours when we next move, even if it isolates us or costs us more.

41 Sunday Dentists at 8am and driving across the city is stressful, crown prepared, more moulds taken and plate adjusted. Head was hurting before I left home, had booked pedi and manicure and hair cut. Dropped some things at a friends and straight home to bed with a migraine.

42 Monday Migraine kept me awake from 3am, spent the entire day in my pj's, in bed, in the bath, on the sofa, slept, watched TV, ate.

43 Tuesday Off to the dog park first thing, still not feeling right so a lazy afternoon, another dog walk and an early night.

44 Wednesday Took Bob out for a coffee, swept the sand off the balcony, watched TV, sorted craft stuff and paperwork.

45 Thursday Bob's 9th birthday. We had a McDonalds and cake.

46 Friday Brunch at Nara. 2 for 1 all you can eat and house drinks for a total of £30. We of course over did it and spent the afternoon and evening on the sofa binge watching The Grand Tour. The neighbours decided to make a noise until almost midnight, not impressed.

47 Sunday A lazy day, coffee out, watched TV, carried out a few jobs, hubby cooked dinner and we watched football in the afternoon. My hometown Newport kick off late here against Man City so a late night for us.

Can I please ask if you join in with the blog hop that please find the time to visit and comment on everyone who does the same for you, it's polite at the end of the day. I read and comment on every single post that links up, every single week, even if I'm on catch up. There's a few of you here who haven't been over to my posts yet.

I might not be a baby/mum blogger or even have a job, monetise my blog or be an influencer you need to follow, but I'm here, every week, taking part and have a wide range of life experiences to share.

On the blog this week:

I guess it's because the kids have left home and I'm stuck in limbo, but it's not helped with all the ill health, family deaths and losing my teeth over the past 18 months, but I'm starting to feel old.

Animal antics - Bob needs a bath and Pushkins has been exploring the balcony.

Creating a garden in the desert - my gardening in January has been all about rain and sweeping sand

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