Word of the week - Floods

I should take up gaming. I think I'd be good at it.

Every day when I drive to work I feel like I'm in a live video game and each day is a new level with remembering where the pot holes are, looking out for new ones, learning the difference between surface water and flooding on a hill. Remembering where the road edge has collapsed but is now under water and mostly guessing how deep the floods are and trying to make sure I'm not the lead car (I prefer to take the van) and trying not to get annoyed with drivers behind me who have the easy drive as they can just follow my lead but tend to drive too close. 

Over the previous few weeks I've got to know the roads really well as we've had a lot of closures due to localised flooding which has been mainly small streams and brooks and water drainage off fields and road works.

This week we're on flood watch. Major river flooding which is going to cause big problems. I'm updating my Facebook groups and keeping an eye on the local council and agencies.

We don't have any rivers in the town where we live, but we have major rivers near by. The Avon in Tewkesbury, The Severn in Worcester, Upton and Gloucester and The Wye in Hereford and Monmouth.

Places you'll see on the news regularly, towns hit severely by flooding.

The Severn in Worcester this week. From the train.

The racecourse.

In 2007 Stephanie was living in Tewkesbury only 20 mins away. I did the route plan today, our normal route closed due to the Severn flooding at Upton, the alternative route is through country lanes.

The flooding was that severe, it took us over 2 and a half hours to reach her to bring her home for 2 weeks

We've not had flooding like that since, but we regularly get cut off from accessing Worcester, Gloucester and routes in the Forest of Dean where our family live. It was touch and go getting down for our grandsons first birthday this weekend just gone.

Two local lanes were closed over the weekend due to flash flooding, thankfully they had reopened by the time I needed to go to work on Monday, but it means now that if it happens again my options of getting to work are greatly reduced as my route via Worcester takes me on two roads with smaller rivers that have already flooded severely and involves detours on lanes only wide enough for one vehicle and if the Severn floods in Worcester it will be mayhem with all the traffic trying to reach the M5 and me travelling inn the opposite direction.  My route to Hereford is almost blocked off completely with The Frome and The Wye already in flood and road closures on the Malvern Hills, blocking my access to Ledbury and with Upton being flooded all that traffic is being diverted that way also.

The amount of water flowing down the hills made it tricky to walk down.

It also caused this road to collapse.

We had a break in the rain today and some sunshine today for a couple of hours, but more rain and flooding is due.

A visit to the Lavender fields - My Sunday Photo

I took a trip to the Lavender Fields in the Cotswolds this week.

It cost £4 entry, there were toilets and take away food and drinks available and they're open until July 16th. There's no booking required and dogs are welcomed.

Benches have been set apart to allow people to picnic to comply with social distancing measures. I took Bob's long leash as everyone dashed back to their cars due to the rain.

I was wearing a waterproof coat, trousers and wellington boots.

I was still soaked to the skin, but we had a fab time visiting.

One Daily Positive - Week 15 More rain.

Dentist, sweeping sand, more rain and a visit to the doctor. AGAIN.

Getting fed up now with the weather, although not looking forward to summer either. Also had enough of dentists, doctors and all these issues, so I got myself a plan to cheer me up.

Rejoined swimming pool and am forcing myself to go everyday. There will also be random bike rides to the coffee shop and pick up bits of shopping as well as dog walking every day. I'm going to pick something new to do each week and read more, instead of watching TV during the day (read 3 books this week)

97 Sunday Spent the morning after a dog walk in the garden, cycled to the local shop for a coffee, swept both the balconies, went for a swim. Had a BBQ for dinner and sat in the garden blogging and reading. Walked Bob again with Peter.

98 Monday Dentist early, stopped at Wafi Mall which is built like a pyramid, for a coffee, came home, sat on the sofa and read a book all day. Plans out the window having woken up to a thunderstorm and rain.

99 Tuesday Dog park, coffee and natter with human friends. Bathed Bob and then went for a swim and tidied up the house, finished another book and started the next one. Peter was off work with a heavy cold.

100 Wednesday Plans went to pot as we woke to rain, having to drag everything back inside, walked Bob and took myself off to the Marina Mall for a coffee, blogging, reading and a walk. Child 3 spent 4 hours airside in Abu Dhabi this morning on his way back to Australia. Peter was off work again, decided against the pub quiz as we're both a bit poorly. Spent the afternoon and evening watching movies.

101 Thursday Walked Bob, went to the Dr's for more blood tests, then onto the dermatologist to have a mole on my back removed that's changed in size and is catching on my bra strap. Walked Bob in the early evening. Popped in for a drink or three with one of Peter's colleagues at the Marina.

102 Friday Visited the outlet village, didn't buy anything other than a coffee. In the evening we went to the Irish Village for dinner and to see Boyzone. I've seen them before in 1995 and 1997. It was an open air venue and it rained.

103 Saturday A day of nothing, popped out for lunch. Peter flew out to Pakistan for the week. We had the biggest storm to date, thunder, lightening and torrential lane. I watched TV, did a few chores and had an early night.

Finished the week feeling just the same, so lethargic, body aches, chest pains and breathlessness, rain, more sand to sweep and more blood tests next week.

On the blog this week:

Using up all the household plastic.

Parenting highlights with the youngest child.

Wedding venues - All under one roof.

My top tips on Interior design to get your house Insta ready 

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Our Garden in Dubai this month. March 2019

We've had endless rain and wind and with it comes sand. Sand, everywhere, everyday that has to be swept up or it starts to take over the house.

The front balcony, closed now till next winter, but it will have random clean ups.

The balcony off the bedroom.

Daily sweeping of the sand.

Front door

Sand seeping in through the doors and windows.

Hose pipe to clean bedroom balcony then the patio has to be cleaned afterwards.

And then it rained the following day.

The sand carried in the rain sticks to everything like concrete.

A nice few dry, not too hot and free from wind days to do some gardening.

Lawn reseeded.

Outdoor plants thriving.

And then finally no more rain, no more wind and the garden is set up and operational. 

The only downside, it's now 36c and too hot to be sitting outside during the day.

The rest of the month is looking better and there is always the evenings, after sunset. I'll just have to light some citronella candles to ward off the mosquitos. 

The balconies will have to wait till next week.

One Daily Positive - Week 13

One day I might write a whole weekly blog post that doesn't involve sand, blood tests, scans or dental surgery, who knows when, but it's not this week for sure.

Think it's time to get new tenants and agent, since the last agent left the company, things have run as smoothly. We found the building regulations sign off sheet after the loft conversion in 2004, to prove we had fire doors and an adequate escape route. When the tenants moved in in 2017 they removed the automatic door closers that form part of the regulation requirements, we had them put them back on, but they keep asking to have them removed which would mean replacing all doors with fire doors and now mysteriously 2 of the bedroom doors slammed shut in the wind the other week and need replacing

Also I had a new boiler installed last March and it's due a service, they've rearranged the appointment 3 times now and it will invalidate my warranty if it's not carried out soon, the agents failed to inform us the service wasn't carried out on Monday as arranged.

We had tenants from hell in 2012 and a rental agent who was scared of the tenants. Our current agents keep coming down on the tenants side, even telling me the tenants are conscientious and have always taken great pride in the properties. All I've ever had is complaints about the quality of repair work that some how is always at our expense and is arranged by the agents not us.

Alarm bells are ringing and it's time for a change, before we get into another mess that we've only just financially recovered from.

83 Sunday Swept through the downstairs and mopped after de shedding the cat and dog, then off to the gynaecologist to see if irregular bleeding is the cause of my anaemia or something more sinister. My stomach doesn't absorb iron or B12 and my levels can only be maintained by infusions and injections, I've never been anaemic when my iron levels were low. Spent the afternoon in bed, I'm so tired all the time and having cognitive difficulties processing what I'm thinking, saying and doing.

One minute it's raining then blowing a sand storm, then too hot. Guess I'll spend a lot of summer dreaming of the cold.

84 Monday Dental surgery bone grafts and implants for two teeth. 4 hours in the dental chair and £3,600 lighter in my wallet. I have a mouth full of stitches. This is phase 2 of 5. Phase 3 is next week, 2 hours and one implant and bone graft in my lower jaw. Slept most of the afternoon and didn't sleep much at night. Had some rice and fish for dinner.

85 Tuesday woke early and felt absolutely fine, face swollen but no pain other than irritation with the stitches. Dentist phoned to see how I was, I was at the dog park drinking coffee, he was surprised I was out and about and was eating and drinking as normal. Had a sleep in the afternoon after doing the ironing and sewing the lining of my winter coat, then Peter came home early and we went out for coffee, had dinner, watched TV and bed.

Meet Bob, Boris, Harvey, Jade and Geoff. Some of the regulars.

86 Wednesday Peter was at a meeting all day then out for dinner with clients, so I dropped him at the hotel and I headed off to the beach for a walk, a paddle and coffee, breakfast and blogging. I forgot my purse, it was raining so I returned home, made soup and dog biscuits and watched TV. I popped out for coffee, collected Peter and had an early night while Peter went out with colleagues.

The face of dental surgery, bruised, swollen and lopsided.

87 Thursday Woke to torrential rain again, roads flooded. Dog wanted to go out then come straight back in he's not used to this rain anymore. Took myself off to the local mall for coffee, blogging and pick up a few bits and pieces. Finally it stopped raining so Bob and I went out for the afternoon.

88 Friday Took Bob for a long walk, we stopped for coffee on route and then spent the rest of the morning watching TV back in bed. Got ready around midday and headed off to Brunch, spent the evening recovering on the sofa. The stitches in my gums are really aggravating me now and making the gum sore.

89 Saturday A lovely lie in, followed by a dog walk, weather is getting quite humid and these day time walks will end soon. Watched movies all day and persuaded Peter to pop out for a McDonald's  for the cat's birthday party.

On the blog this week:

After 16 years of owning teenagers, the last one turns 20 next month. I did however stop day to day parenting almost 7 years ago, when the almost 20 year went to boarding school. So empty nest is well and truly over

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One Daily Positive - Week 12 More rain and some stunning views

It's heating up here in Dubai, not all sunshine though a couple of cloudy days and it's windy so the sand is blowing around.

Been spending as much time as a can outdoors, but in the shade after getting badly sunburnt on my back when I was doing some gardening.

We've been eating a lot more fish recently and I've been experimenting with different flavours and methods of cooking.

Blood tests show my iron levels are still stable, but my haemoglobin has dropped and I'm in danger of needing a blood transfusion by Sunday if it doesn't sort itself out and I'm now anaemic. Been headachy, body aching, very tired and getting confused easily.

76 Sunday Dentist for a 3D scan ready for bone grafts and dental implant posts next week, stopped at the hairdressers for a cut and to get my nails done then called in to see a friend for coffee.

77 Monday Back to the Doctors for more blood tests, been feeling very tired again and getting breathless doing simple activities. I think it's my iron levels dropping again. Spent the rest of the day sweeping sand out the house.

Lemon and herb foil wrapped with sweet potato.

78 Tuesday Took Bob to the dog park, met up with a few women for a chat over coffee while the dogs play, then spent the rest of the day gardening. Didn't realise how sunburnt I was until I had a shower before bed.

79 Wednesday Washer water pump on car replaced first thing then off to a friend's house for a walk along the canal and spent the afternoon ironing and catching up with blog commenting. Pub quiz with a friend and dinner out. Peter was out for the evening with colleagues.

80 Thursday Off to the Souk Madinat for the morning for coffee and blogging. Caught up with the washing in the afternoon and ran the hoover round. Cleaned the sand from the balcony and washed the patio down.

81 Friday Peter and I went to the Marina for breakfast, followed by a walk. Back home, I spent the rest of the day in bed while Peter hunted for the building regulations for a loft conversion we had 14 years ago.

82 Saturday Woke up to a thunder storm and heavy rain, I'm fed up cleaning up the sand. Off to the local mall for a coffee and a food shop and a sort out of the cupboard under the stairs.

On the blog this week:

Do your adult kids still need their mum?

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