Week 53 2020 - One Daily Positive

Everyone seems to be saying goodbye to 2020 like we've turned a page or opened a new door. It never makes sense to me and no one ever seems to have a good year anyway. It's just the end of another week for me everything has been up in the air and unpredictable for me for the past 10 years anyway.

I've no idea what day it is most of the time, it doesn't seem to matter. I know I have certain things to do tomorrow then 2 days from now then the 10th January and I fly back to the UK on the 26th. It's actually quite liberating, not having to involve others with planning and keeping them updated on where I'm going, when I'll be visiting next and what I want for tea a week on Tuesday. It's been a long two weeks without Peter. I've seen other people, pub quiz, coffee dates etc. It's been a long 9 months since the borders first closed leaving me in the UK and Peter in Dubai. Peter had work and contact with colleagues, I had the dog to walk, coffees to drink and social distanced garden visits. The past two weeks have been painful though, mainly because we haven't had an end date to look forward to and it's been completely out of our control.

362 Sunday Spent all day thinking it was Saturday. Popped out to Ibn Battuta for a coffee and change of scenery and the rest of the day on the sofa watching Netflix or in the kitchen batch cooking.

The Christmas Tree at Ibn Battuta.

363 Monday Early morning start for pre op assessment and PCR test, rest of the day spent at home, waiting to see if Peter was going to make it home. Until his flight actually took off, I wasn't convinced he'd make it back. I prepared dinner, he got to open his presents and we watched TV.

364 Tuesday At home all day. I have to isolate until my surgery tomorrow. Peter had a PCR on arrival and had to wait till early afternoon before his negative result came through and he could leave the house to pop to the shops, we spent the day watching movies and had a BBQ.

Everyone else was doing their Top Nine.

365 Wednesday Surgery was cancelled, no issues, so instead we headed off to Dubai Mall, Peter finally got chance to do his Christmas shopping (lucky me) and we watched Wonder Woman 84 at the cinema which we both enjoyed. Started fighting a migraine, my iron levels are dipping again and I've had a chronic pain flare up, just in a lot of discomfort.

366 Thursday Spent the morning on the sofa, then off to Mall of the Emirates for a coffee and some food shopping, then rest of the day spent on the sofa. We're walking round the corner from the Villa at 11.50pm to watch the fireworks from a distance.

Other than this one Christmas shop still open, there's not a sign that Christmas was ever here.

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Week 52 - One daily Positive. Our Covid Christmas.

Things are much more relaxed in Dubai with covid than they are in the UK, although they did have total lockdown at the beginning, they closed the borders, introduced PCR testing prior to departure (now available on arrival) and enforce social distancing and the wearing of masks, including outdoors. However, I've witnessed large groups of people hugging and shaking hands, of all nationalities, people with noses hanging out of masks and if you leave a gap in front of you, either a whole family will try to fill it or the person behind breathes down your neck. As a result I spend as much time as possible outdoors and it is the reason my husband is stuck in Saudi until the New Year.

355 Sunday Swept and mopped downstairs, watched Burlesque and About a Boy. Took a walk to the local shopping centre to buy ingredients to make a pizza for dinner and get a take out coffee and to take more photos of the ever changing construction projects in our neighbourhood. Evening spent watching Emily in Paris, blogging, commenting and sorting photos.

356 Monday Woke to the news Saudi have closed their borders, no one in, no one out. Guess where Peter is right now. After a morning of feeling sorry for myself, I headed off to the Souk Madinat for a coffee and a walk, thought about some retail therapy but there was nothing I wanted. Afternoon spent sorting out files on laptop, TV on in the back ground and waiting to hear from Peter.

357 Tuesday Spent the morning on the only remaining beach that hasn't been commercialised, won't be long though as there are now life guard towers and it is a prime location, by The Palm and the Burj Al Arab. In the evening off to the Marina to meet my friend Cindy, from South Wales who moved here with her husband and daughter in August, Cindy arrived in October. We met through facebook and covid cancelled our UK plans for meeting. We had coffee and a snack and a long chat. 

358 Wednesday Popped to the local mall for coffee and a bit of food shopping. The rest of the day just happened with TV, packing, washing and ironing and then off to the Polo Club for the pub quiz. 4th tonight. 

359 Thursday Managed to sleep solidly for 7 hours, stayed in bed till around 10am then Starbucks for a coffee, called in at friends to drop/swop Christmas gifts and a natter, then onto the hotel. Check in was at 4pm so I spent time on the beach had a picnic then a swim and a walk around the area. Checked in, set up Christmas decorations, unpacked, went for a swim, shower and drank G&T in bed with a box of after 8 mints.

Had the shock of my life at 9.15pm when I was woken by a man entering my room to clean it. FFS, I've never been so frightened in my life. Hotel was noisy, I was overlooking the pool and I'd already been moved once. The hotel was basic but did have a restaurant/bar (service was slow) and popular due to it's beach front location

360 Friday Early morning wake up call when the sound system at the beach started up, full volume, demanding I dispose of my rubbish correctly. Drank tea, unwrapped presents my lovely friends gave me when I was in the UK, walked on the beach at sunrise and an early breakfast. I spent the morning on the beach reading and swimming, then back to my room to make the Christmas calls, then out for a festive (ish) lunch. Afternoon nap then an evening stroll and watched the fireworks.

361 Saturday Too cold to swim in the sea, the sun rise was gorgeous, I ate breakfast and read my book on the beach, followed by a stroll along the sea front, had a coffee, returned to the hotel for a swim in the pool, before showering and checking out. Met a friend for coffee down at the Marina for a coffee on the way home.

On the blog this week - My Balcony View 2 years on.

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Week 50 - One Daily Positive. The Race to Dubai with The European Tour

Our tree went up on Saturday, half the decorations are in boxes in the UK and I figure you can never have too much at Christmas anyway so I bought a new tree topper and another set of lights. I'm seeing many of my friends are having issues with which family they see over Christmas. For the past 10 years since we've been abroad, family haven't included us in their plans anyway and prior to that the kids would always go to their other parents for Christmas Eve and return Boxing Day night. However our kids are grown up now, with partners, married and child of their own, living close to their in laws, so even without covid on the scene, I don't think much will change for us. 

We're looking at booking a hotel stay for the Christmas period, usually we go out for a brunch, but a few nights away will do us both some good and we'll unwrap presents when we get back for the New Year.

341 Sunday I spent the day at home, I finished decorating the tree and tidied up and hoovered all the glitter and stray bits of tinsel.

342 Monday Off to the Drs for my pneumonia jab, meds and a blood test, then onto the hair dressers and nail bar.

343 Tuesday Festival City Mall in the morning to do some shopping, sent emails to all involved in regards to the shipping but everyone passing the buck and blaming each other, I collected accreditation ready for the golf on Thursday and in the evening we went to Global Village for dinner. It's all outside, but we left at 7.30pm as it was getting too busy for us.

344 Wednesday I spent the day at home, getting no where with the shipping. I swept and mopped the patio and garden and in the evening we went to the Polo club for quiz night and dinner, which we won (again) We were outside all evening, this is the beauty of Dubai at this time of the year.

345 Thursday First day of the golf and with the TV again. The Race to Dubai has the World's top golfers playing for a share of $8,000,000 and is part of the Rolex Series. I'm walking round with the top players with a live TV crew recording the sound of the caddies speaking to the golfers, up close and personal on the tee's, fairway and edge of the greens. It's hard work, the kit weighs around 3kg with the battery packs, I have an ear piece to get instructions and to be able to radio back in for a ref etc, head phones so I can hear what sound I'm picking up, then add a mask, back pack with food and drink, sunglasses and a hat and I'm my own game of buckaroo or if you're older, I could try balancing a cabbage for my own episode of Crackerjack. Today I walked round with Victor Perez and Christian Bezuidenhout.

346 Friday Golf again and out with Tyrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, ranked 10th and 15th in the world. I caught too much sun and had a headache, we spent the evening watching the Queen's Gambit, it's really good.

347 Saturday Golf and out with Lee Westwood and Branden Grace, evening spent in front of the TV. Last day of the golf tomorrow. 

On the blog this week:

I think TV shows should be doing more to represent the current situation with Covid, some soaps aren't even referencing it. What's your thoughts on it?

Construction Photography - The pods are on the World's Tallest Ferris Wheel in Dubai

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Week 49 - One Daily Positive. Back in Dubai and the Golf

Back in Dubai early hours of Tuesday morning, it's been a long week and all happened very fast, considering last Friday at 4.50pm I'd given up on my container ever being delivered. I will be sorting the issues out with the company here in Dubai, but I'm not hopeful anything will be achieved as everyone was passing responsibility back and forth. I'm really pleased I got back in time to work on the European Golf Tour, it won't be long before I resume working back in the UK and I really need to have some more areas of interest on a CV that has been fairly empty for the past 10 years.

334 Sunday Not a word from the moving company till 1pm 'we're on our way' from Greenwich. They arrived at 7pm, it took 2 hours to unload. The sofa that came out the house almost 10 years ago to the date, is now in the neighbours garage, because it won't go back in, they unwrapped the oven smaller sofa, fridge freezer and that was it. I'd paid for a full unpack and removal of waste on same day. But if I wanted my container now, that was the deal. Another complaint to add to my list.

335 Monday Up early, said good bye to the cat and dog. House sitters were still sleeping when I left. Caught the train into Paddington, which was so quiet, I could've cried. It's only when I travel that the enormity of covid really hits home, that and the 'Clap for Keyworkers' I'd booked the evening flight as I was unsure I could get to Heathrow for the earlier one, but I had plenty of time and transferred to the earlier flight. No fees payable to rebook during covid. I had a row to myself, an uneventful flight, got some sleep and had no anxiety at all.

An empty Paddington Station.

336 Tuesday On arrival had a PCR test and now playing the waiting game for results. Peter had his within 8 hours when he returned from Saudi the other week. I arrived during a busy time for transit passengers and it's a public holiday so I had to wait longer. Most of the day spent in bed, only had 4 hours sleep during the night, body clock in regards to meal times is confused. While I was having breakfast, Peter was already at lunch time and asking me what I wanted for dinner. I unpacked and got ready for the golf tomorrow.

View from the bedroom window.

337 Wednesday 1st day at the golf. I was assigned a spotters role, basically counting the number of shots made by a golfer on each hole and radioing the scores back into the TV studios to provide information for their live commentary. I was bitten whilst hiding from the TV cameras in the rough (long grass) and got sunburnt. Came home, showered and off to the Polo Club for dinner and pub quiz with friends, which we won.

338 Thursday More golf and another long day outside in the sun, The TV compound is off site so we found ourselves sitting by the driving range for an hour whilst there was a break in live TV, it was nice to have a rest. Some of the golfers, but mainly the caddies start to recognise us now.

We went to a small baby shower and BBQ for the evening

339 Friday Golf again, just one round of 18 holes walked today, TV finished at 3pm, so home early. We went for a walk along the beach, had dinner and an early night.

The pods are finally on the wheel.

340 Saturday Up early again, did some blogging and headed off to the final day of the golf for this week. I've been walking an average of 8 to 10 miles a day in a circle, round 18 holes of golf, I know the course like the back of my hand now. The afternoon was spent putting up the Christmas Tree and decorations.

More golf next week with the finale of The Race to Dubai where a prize fund of $8 million. This weeks Golf in Dubai Championship was a mere $2.3 million.

On the Blog this week:

The role of a scorer at the golf.

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Week 48 - One Daily Positive. The saga of the shipping container.

I can't make this stuff up quick enough and if I wrote it as a book, everyone would think it was fiction with a comedy angle thrown in for good measure.

Lets just say I've been on the phone, emailing, whatsapp and generally shouting, crying and pulling my hair out all this week trying to unravel the mystery of why I paid professionals to ship a container on my behalf, when it appears it only takes 3 days to learn the ropes and sort the issue yourself.

I won't be getting back to Dubai until mid December at this rate, but on the positive I am getting to spend time with my son and his wife in Northern Ireland, although my son has threatened to send me to his in laws who have said I'm more than welcome top stay with them as long as I like.

Thank heavens for having such a supportive family in the form of all our adult children.

Anyway on to what else I've been up to this week, other than ironing, cooking and cleaning, which I've loved helping out with, it's been a long time since I've had to think of anyone else other than myself.

327 Sunday Morning spent walking the dog at Hillsborough with our DIL while son went mountain biking. Full Sunday roast in the afternoon.

328 Monday Day at home and then off to the Parent in Laws for dinner in the evening, via a quick visit to the outlet centre in Antrim.

329 Tuesday Collected by the Parent in laws and off to Belfast for the day. In the evening we went for a drive thru McDonald's and ate in the car park.

330 Wednesday The Christmas decorations went up.

331 Thursday Last day before lock down, so remaining gifts bought, then I took Molly for a walk in the afternoon to explore the estate where son and DIL live.

332 Friday Off to Glenarrif for a long walk to see the waterfalls. I then prepped the bathroom for painting, sanding down walls, filling cracks and removing old paint from frames and tiles. Parent in Laws came to say goodbye. Booked flight and packed for the morning. Found out at 5.20pm that my container is being delivered over the weekend.

333 Saturday Early morning flight to Birmingham, train back to Malvern. Unpacked, repacked, washing on, gluten free food bought and an evening in watching Netflix.

Arrivals Hall at Birmingham Airport.

On the blog this week:

The shipping container saga.

My Garden in November.

The Palm Jumeriah, Dubai from the air.

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Week 47 - One Daily Positive - A week in Northern Ireland

A very quiet week for me staying with my son Child 4 and daughter 4a and their dog Molly in Northern Ireland. Household bubbles exist of 6 people here, so I have been able to join in with the parent in laws who live nearby.

NI has had a sort of lockdown with hospitality and hairdressers etc being closed but all shops have remained open, however they reopened hospitality etc on Friday for it to close down again on the 27th and none essential shops/businesses must close this time.

I've been keeping busy with housework, reading, making some Christmas decorations, binge watching the Crown and Pam Am,  as well as reliving my childhood memories with The Amazing Mr Blunden.

The weather has been wet, cold and windy so not a lot of time spent outside, but I'm feeling nice and relaxed and it's great to have some company.

Still no word on the container, so no idea how long I'm staying her for, my DIL is happy to have me here, my son is suggesting I maybe stay with his in laws for a few nights....lol.

320 Sunday Off for a drive to walk the dog with child 4 and 4a in Northern Ireland where I'm staying for the next few weeks. We got absolutely soaked, but it was great to be out in the woods and just have some company, called in at the Parent in Laws, followed by dinner, tv and I went to bed early.

321 Monday I woke around 3am despite all the walking, my day was spent walking around the village, helping with the housework while everyone was out and cooking dinner. In between I spent the rest of the day dealing with the 'white screen of death' on my i phone 8+.

322 Tuesday Ordered a new phone online should be delivered by Thursday. Went food shopping and to run some errands with son, did some housework, blogged, watched TV, bath and bed.

Molly and I were home alone for part of the day, she missed her humans.

323 Wednesday Spent the day in while 4 and 4a were at work, helped out with some household chores for them.

324 Thursday New phone arrived, had to set it up from i tunes so spent the day signing back into apps, resetting passwords and back up emails and OTP codes.

325 Friday Met up with sons MIL in town for a walk, a bit of shopping and a coffee.

326 Saturday Off to do the weekly food shop, the Parent in Laws came round for dinner. DIL gave me a manicure and gel polish.

On the blog this week:

Flying during Covid

Construction Photography - Housing development in Malvern

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Week 46 One Daily Positive - Off to Northern Ireland

So this weeks drama was the central heating system packing in on Sunday night. If the hot water is on at the same time as the heating, then the hot water tank sounds like it's ready to blast off to explore Mars. Hot water is also coming on at random times during the day with no explanation. Also heating is not turning it self off at the time selected. Thankfully boiler is under warranty, it's only 2 years old and call out booked for Wednesday morning. Can't help thinking that fitting a new boiler to a heating and water system that is 22 years old might have something to do with it. 

I've not eaten very well this week, just not feeling hungry then craving sugary food, lockdown helps as I would normally just pop to the local shop to buy chocolate/sweets.

313 Sunday Spent the morning in my pjs, made a chicken curry for lunch and prepared some gluten free bread dough. I found a clothes airer full of dry washing in the dining room, completed a few more jobs on my to do list, cleaned the oven and hob. Walked Bob into town for a take away coffee and to look at the poppy displays. Baked the bread when I got home, watched Nanny McPhee, painted some pebbles and read and commented on blog posts.

314 Monday Cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen cupboards, dusted throughout the house, cleaned windows, changed the beds and washed it all and towels, packed my case for Northern Ireland, booked flight and checked in. Started packing for Dubai also 2 different sets of clothes needed so easy to pack for, just need to remember to pick up the correct suitcase. Nipped out to purchase gluten free foods/flours I can take to NI and back to Dubai with me. Walked Bob, had a bath with the last of the hot water, don't care. Sat and watched TV.

Issue with the boiler, timer coming on at random times for the water and if the heating is on at the same time it sounded like the tank was preparing for a launch to Mars.

315 Tuesday Stuck all Bobs beds/blankets in the wash, changed the litter tray and sterilised it. 

Attempted a Christmas wreath decoration involving the cat and paint, it didn't end well.

Took Bob for a walk then to the vets to get him registered and check on his 'foreign' injections. The cat came along, we call the cat 'she' but have been told she is a he and I asked the vet to confirm today, plus her age and general health. A tooth has to come out, she needs an injection in the UK she wasn't required to have in Dubai. Good news, cat didn't run away and dog didn't bite the vet.

Cleaned the kitchen floor and hoovered throughout the house. Hoovered the car out, sorted the washing, Re hung the conservatory curtains for the 100th time, the flexible rail keeps retaining its rolled up memory and pings off the fittings when you look at it, so it's been rolled and tied the opposite way for 24 hours.

Touched up the paint work on a couple of internal doors. 

Took a walk with Bob along the canal in Worcester.

316 Wednesday Boiler repaired, faulty control panel and water tank temperature set too high. Cleaned my bedroom and bathroom, did some painting on the top floor. Pet sitters arrived, settled in while I walked Bob and we had tea. Bit of a kerfuffle over the road at the flats around 11pm, in the end I called the police. 3 cars, 6 police officers and arrived with sirens and lights within 10 mins and were in attendance for over half an hour.

Love still being able to sit outside in November.

317 Thursday Sent an email to the local housing association about last night. Didn't really do much today, house sitters took Bob out up the hills for the day, the cat and I went back to bed, stuck 2 loads of washing on, had dinner and bed.

Peas, beans and sweetcorn for an early planting out in Spring and some cauliflower.

318 Friday House sitters took Bob out for the day, I wrote some letters, had a bit of a tidy round and started my journey to Northern Ireland. Quite a few more people on the train and at the main stations of Worcester and Birmingham, Airport station was empty as was the terminal, a ghost town, only 15 flights max each day at the moment. Sat outside with a coffee from the vending machine in the Spar shop, after checking in, access to Departures was closed until 2 hours before the flight and departures was empty, closed and dark. it was rather dismal and depressing, but I guess this the reality of living in a pandemic. 

Almost had a heart attack when I saw the plane had propellors.

319 Saturday Off to do a food shop, home for lunch then to the Parent in Laws, apparently that is the correct term for ours son's in laws. Lockdown here is different from England, basically hospitality and hairdressers closed, but all other stores open. Evening spent in front of the TV after dinner, with wine and chocolate.

On the blog this week:

My garden in October and plans for November

I'm not bored, I'm lonely

Construction photography - The Museum of the Future, Dubai

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Week 45 - One Daily Positive. I'm waiting for my ship to come in.

I'm finding it harder to find a One Daily Positive at the moment. I was almost thrown over the edge on Tuesday when I saw the alternative John Lewis ad, his dog ran off and died and then he collapsed and died in the snow. My dog and cat are the only things keeping me going at the moment and it brought back horrendous memories of the night my father died also.

The tenant in the flat stopped paying rent after 1 month. Turns out it was an admin error (fault of agents) but it caused me immense stress for 24 hours. There was still no word from the UK agents in regards to the shipping container as the moving company in Dubai didn't pass on my UK contact details and it's due in on Saturday. I've tracked them down after the Dubai side stopped replying to me and now have the info I need, should be with me end of the month, then I can go back to Dubai.

The beta blockers seem to be doing their job. I think the chest pains were due to anxiety, I queried pneumonia because I've had it a couple of times. The last time it was walking pneumonia, it's when you don't know you've got it and I needed antibiotics.

306 Sunday Child 2, DIL and grandchild visited in the afternoon for Sunday dinner, this will be the last time I see them until the beginning of February. A planned visit prior to the lock down announcement.

Drinking my coffee outside still when I can.

307 Monday Spent the day back at my friends in the Forest of Dean part 2 of helping her clear her fathers home of 50 years after his death last week. I did runs with my car filled of things she wants to keep back to her home in the village where I used to live and first met her, back in 1994. I started cleaning my dad's antique desk I inherited, the wood was smelling, I discovered fine dust in the drawers, but no other sign of woodworm, but I'll keep a close eye on it.

The Wye Valley at Lydbrook.

308 Tuesday Took Bob for a socially distanced garden visit and walk with @mustntgrumble, we last met in 2010. We've been penpals ever since. We'd planned this prior to the lockdown announcement. Finished cleaning the desk with white vinegar and water and put it all back together.

309 Wednesday Morning spent sorting out registering the cat and dog with a vets and registering their microchips, I only found out recently this was compulsory, when we moved them to Dubai, we were given all the info we needed when they were delivered to the house. Bob and I went to Croome in the afternoon, via picking up a highchair off facebook. Hope, washing on, in pjs and ate dinner in front of the TV, not getting dressed now will tomorrow evening. 

Round 1 of the fireworks.

310 Thursday Peter is in Saudi for a couple of weeks, he has to isolate for 3 days, then have a covid test and wait 24 hours before the results come in, until then he had to install an app on his phone and he's not allowed to leave the hotel. I spent the day chasing news about the shipping container and the insurance, finished writing the pets routine up and providing a list of how things work in the house for the pet sitters arriving on the 11th. I made a bird box, painted the cold frame and did the ironing. 

Round 2 of the fireworks. By Friday they were used to the noise and it didn't bother them anymore.

311 Friday Completely forgot my #PoCoLo linky post this week until I woke up, so spent the day catching up with comments and posting links and scheduling posts for the next few weeks. Took Bob for a walk mid afternoon to break the day up. Started a list of things I need to do before the house sitters arrive on Wednesday so plenty to occupy me, just all a bit daunting with how much I have to do between now and then, most of it can't/won't be done till Tuesday though. I started some Christmas crafts, including Bob's footprint on a canvas.

312 Saturday Spent the morning on the laptop, tidied a few things away and went to the post office to send child 1's Christmas gift from my mum as I won't be able to see either of them again now until I come back from Dubai in February. Met up with a friend to walk the dogs, out for almost 3 hours, it was really muddy. Home to mow the lawns, clean the mower and strimmer and wash the garden wheelie bin as well as preparing the compost heap for winter. 

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Batsford Arboretum Day out with my dog.

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