3rd-5th December 2021 - Post Comment Love

Welcome back to #pocolo with Stephanie from Lifeat139a and I.

I can't believe it is December already. Do you have your tree up yet? It is over here in Northern Ireland at my son and DIL's house. I had planned to have mine up this week and I have parcels to post and cards to send as well as wrapping a few presents and hand delivering them to family and friends. I should be going home this weekend to get sorted then back for a few days nearer to Christmas. 

Child 2, his wife and Grandchild are spending Christmas with us, so I'll be busy getting everything done, including a food shop and a couple of events already in the diary, I may have to juggle or just cancel.

So in between lots and lots of baby cuddles, I'm planning to spend my spare time (when baby naps and chores are done) just reading, watching TV and blogging and having a pre mini Christmas over here.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Travels around the world on the sofa

We've spent the last 10 years abroad with our sofa, we left the UK with it in January 2010, we also took 2 of our 5 children with us. When we left South Africa in December 2014 we no longer had children living at home, we now had a cat and a dog and along with our sofa we moved to Dubai.

The sofa is now back in the UK along with the cat and the dog.

UK - Morning after New Years Eve

South Africa 1st House

South Africa 2nd House

Dubai 1st House

Dubai 2nd House

UK Back where it started

That's 5 moves in 10 years and 3 countries and one well travelled sofa.

One Daily Positive - Week 8 Dubai to the UK

I arrived back in the UK on Wednesday, it's cold here. Back for around 3 weeks, no return flight booked yet. Have scheduled lots of lovely meet ups with friends and family and hopefully will have lots of down time. The local pub has closed, but other than that not much has changed since I was last here in September.

Rather boring photos this week, but they do sum up what's been going on in my week. You'd be forgiven for thinking Sunday's photo was taken in the UK, but no, it's Dubai wet, windy and on the chilly side.

48 Sunday Dentist again, to have the crown fitted and a new plate adjusted so I don't look like one of the Proclaimers. Called in at a friends, cleaned the garden and balconies (again)

49 Monday Took Peter to the airport. He won't get back until after I leave on Wednesday morning. Met a friend briefly in IKEA, assembled this unit and cleaned upstairs in the house and got the spare room ready for a visitor Peter has over the weekend.

50 Tuesday Took the cat with me and Bob to the dog park, then off to boarding for the next 10 days, as when Peter returns he'll be off again and it's too much of a hassle for him to pick up and drop off again just for 2 nights. Had my nails and eyebrows done on my way home and stopped at the car wash also. I washed all the dog and human bedding, cleaned the litter tray, ironed and cleaned downstairs.

So weird eating my lunch without the cat and dog filling the gap in this photo.

51 Wednesday up at 4am and taxi to the airport. A none eventful flight arriving in the UK around mid day, collected car hire, drove to South Wales, unpacked, went for coffee, topped up my phone and dinner in the pub with a friend.

Fridge stocked with essentials from above friend. Milk, tea bags and chocolate.

52 Thursday Drove to Newport for a food shop, the flat was devoid of everything other than toiletries and cleaning products as it's not been used since October. Batch cooked in the afternoons so I can eat easily after being out for long days with family and friends. Popped into see the Things and fell asleep on the sofa.

Forgot I had to climb a flight of stairs.

53 Friday Picked up child 3 and went to Gloucester to visit child 1, took her for a walk locally then off to the care home offices to demand why I've learnt all this new stuff from the staff yet no one had emailed to say what was going on. It's a constant battle to find stuff out.

54 Saturday Coffee with my nephew and his partner and they announced their pregnancy, around 22-24 weeks and only found out a few days ago. Popped into see child 2 briefly and called in at my old neighbours who I first met in 1994. 25 years just melted away and whilst helping one strip wall paper it felt like time had stood still.

The only photo I took today.

On the blog this week:

A visit to Dubai Miracle Gardens and Butterfly centre

Coming back to the UK and meeting up with friends of 25 years, has made me realise we really don't make friends in the same we as we used to. Do we make real friends anymore?

Photos and plans from around the home this month in Dubai

An InLinkz Link-up

A UK Family Wedding and a year of travel.

Apart from a week in September and a stop over this Wednesday, I've not been back in Dubai since May, so I've been taking a break from the construction photography, although Peter has been taking weekly photo's of the metro stations for me, the glass panels are going on now.

I've been travelling a lot over the summer, Northern Ireland, Germany, Greece and South Africa visiting family and friends and it's lovely to be back in the UK for our 3rd and final wedding of the year. Sadly we've also had 3 funerals this year, my SIL, my uncle and Peter's uncle also, but 2018 will be remembered for the weddings as well. Our eldest son got married in June, best friends in July and our niece yesterday.

Whilst I'm looking forward to returning to Dubai in a week or two, I'm really going to miss the UK as my next visit isn't until March 2019. My mother is joining us in Dubai for Christmas also, but that's not the end of my travels for this year, we're going to Cairo in November and back to South Africa in December.

Prepared for all weathers and the reception was in a field. If you look closely at the dress, it's covered with umbrellas.

My Sunday Photo's for 2018.

Week 158 Dubai Bluewater Islands and Dubai Eye. Man made island a 210m high Big Wheel
Week 159 Dubai Dubai Marina - Reflections
Week 160 Dubai Dubai Frame. A window between the Old and New Dubai and a 150m high glass floor.

Week 161 Dubai Dubai Marina 3 years apart.

Week 162 Dubai Dubai Water Canal Bridge Construction and reconfiguration of roads

Week 163 Dubai New Metro Line for Expo 2020
Week 164 Arizona and Nevada Hoover Dam 2002 - 2010
Week 165 Dubai Dubai Opera House What a difference a year makes
Week 166 Dubai Unfinished buildings. The Pentominium
Week 167 Coventry Mixing the old and the new. Coventry Catherdral
Week 168 Dubai New Dubai Metro Station 
Week 169 Dubai The new extension of the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa 
Week 170 Dubai Hotel fire After the Address fire 
Week 171 Dubai Unusual designs The Opus Building
Week 172 Dubai District Cooling. Keeping the desert cool.
Week 173 Dubai Can I visit the Burj Al Arab
Week 174 Dubai The Almas Tower
Week 175 Dubai The Cayan Tower
Week 176 Toronto The CN Tower
Week 177 Nevada The Paris Hotel 
Week 178 Dubai Ibn Battuta Gate
Week 179 A Wedding Our first child got married
Week 180 Dubai The World's Tallest Tower
Week 181 Dubai and Wales Al Fahidi Fort and Chepstow Castle 
Week 182 Dubai New Metro Station in Al Furjan 
Week 183 Dubai Ski Dubai
Week 184 Another Wedding
Week 185 South Africa Life in a township
Week 186 Austria Ski Jump 
Week 187 Dubai Green Plant Bio Dome 
Week 188 Dubai Update on the Metro Station
Week 189 Dubai My view from the balcony changed in 8 months
Week 190 Greece Just how instagramable is it?
Week 191-192 Dubai Before and After. 3 months out of Dubai
Week 193 Dubai Building a boat in the sky
Week 194 An African Sunset
Week 195 Building with boxes Charity work in South Africa

When your kids spread their wings.

OK so I can finally share 2 bits of news. It's not been my news to share. But that of 2 of my children. Children 3 and 4. It's been causing me quite a bit of stress in regards to the impact it will have on my life as a mum and the worries I have for my children. But they've now told all the family and their friends about their plans and travels so there is no stopping mum now.

My kids tell me everything (well what they think I need to know and enough to keep me off their backs)

My kids tell me everything before they tell anyone else (after they've told their girlfriends, best mates, cousins, bloke in the pub etc)

My kids tell me everything that will have an impact on my life life (when they need to borrow money)

Child 4 is now 22 and happily settled in Northern Ireland. I'm flying to Belfast on Saturday for 4 days to say goodbye before he goes on his first tour of duty with the British Army for the next 7 months in the Middle East. He actually won't be that far from me in Dubai as the crow flies, but he may as well be on the moon for a while. As a mum it's hard when your child leaves home, he has a new life now, with his girlfriend and her family on a daily basis, but I'm still mum and still a very important part of his life, even if I do say so myself.

My 2nd piece of news is that 3 weeks ago, child 3 who left home in 2010 aged 18, 3 months before we moved to South Africa has announced that on July 31st he is moving with his girlfriend to Australia, initially on a 1 year working visa, but the plan is to extend it and stay out there for a long as they can, if not forever. His first comment upon telling us was that we couldn't complain about the distance as we currently live in Dubai and we left him when he was 18 and moved 6000 miles away to South Africa. He made a fair point.

I see all my children between 2-4 times a year, either through visiting the UK or them coming over to Dubai to visit us. When I'm in the UK, I focus my visits around them, but with child 3 in Leeds and child 4 in Northern Ireland, the last couple of years it's been getting harder to see them together. In fact the last time all 7 of us were together in the same country was in 2007 and the last family photo was in 2003. This Spring we managed to get all 7 of us together in a car park in Cheltenham for half an hour where we took this photo.

I doubt we'll ever get all of us together again, I know we'll all see one another, in various places around the world, but as a family of 7? especially now they have long term girlfriends and are involved in their lives with plans to settle down, holiday plans will change, Christmas and birthday's will be shared, it's just life and with us living in 3 different continents it's going to be virtually impossible from now on.

As for the rest of the kids:

The eldest child, child 1, is in a residential home in the UK, she is now 29 and profoundly disabled, we aren't involved in her day to day life, but every 2 years we are invited to take part in an assessment and are involved in her financial planning and any budget changes and the impacts on the services provided. When this process takes place it is a full time job for around 4-6 weeks, form filling and negotiating back and forth to ensure there is no disruption in the care she receives.

Child 2 left home at 18 and joined the British Army also, he was based in Germany for 4 years and now lives with his girlfriend and works in the Forest of Dean, he is 27.

Child 5 left home aged 13 and returned to boarding school in the UK in 2013 aged 14, he leaves school in 2 weeks time and he is currently applying for apprenticeships. I'm back in the UK to support him through this process and assist with housing and moving and attending interviews. We have no idea at this point in time where abouts in the UK he'll end up, but for now we're looking at Gloucestershire.

For the foreseeable future our family visits will be as a family of 5 as that's all we will be able to manage to get together, but we'll make the most of of it and carry on making memories and adding photo's to our wall. I'll just need to learn to photo shop.

Parenting highlights

Well that's it, this year marks my end of being a mum to kids, as the youngest turns 18 and enters the world of work.

I've been parenting for 25 years this May. In a way I'll never stop parenting, I'm still and hopefully always will be the first point of call when the 5 kidults need advice and support.

Over the years, we've managed to lose children, had battles with schools, illnesses and a few broken bones, hearts broken, disappointment, falling-out with friends and dealt with petty squabbles that have escalated beyond our control.

When we manage to get a few of us together we spend hours talking about holidays and days out and general events that have happened in our lives. At times it's been hard work and often felt like the end of the world, but we now reflect and laugh about certain events, that we've shared over the years.

Our best holiday escapades are summed up in one blog post, Peter and I are both crying with laughing reliving these times. Peter and I have tears rolling down our eyes reading this post from 2010 'when holidays go wrong?'  

Losing various kids has never been funny, but these incidents are ingrained in our memories and we often talk about these situations also.

Child 4 wandered off in San Francisco, he was missing for an hour, found on Pier 39, none the worse for wear and oblivious to our panic.

Child 5 has always wandered off in various locations and the one we've had to call the police out to on several occasions. He walked out the toilets whilst under the supervision of child 2, aged 18, and was found an hour later wandering over the Golden Gate Bridge.
He ran away aged 2 in France and was found by the boys after a frantic 20 minutes, hiding under an ice cream sign. The police were called in Abergavenny and the park sealed off, whilst I left him in the care of child 2, aged 13, while I went to the loo. And once for 2 hours he was missing on Perranporth beach aged 8. BBC seaside rescue were politely told to go away after following me around with a camera no less than 2 inches from my face, he was finally found by one of his cousins wearing a black wet suit with a turquoise spider on it, that they'd given him earlier that day and I had no idea what he was actually wearing, he'd been safe the entire time, but I hand't known that of course, again I'd left him in the care of someone else while I went to the loo.

In no particular order here are some of our funnier times:

Child 5, aged 8, drinking fizzy pop as we drove from Oregon to San Francisco, a 9 hour journey plus stops. Eventually Peter got fed up with endless stops and the child being so desperate to pee, in moving traffic, opened the side door and proceeded to take a pee as we were driving, child 2 grabbed hold of the back of his trousers, for dear life.

Child 5, aged 3, wanted to buy a large fire truck while in France, we said there was no where to put it, he said we could leave child 2 behind and spent the rest of the holiday shouting 'you're a crap mummy'

Child 5, aged 5, in France, go this head stuck in a bench, was yelling 'mummy I'm a duck' it was 10 minutes before I fully investigated to discover his head was wedged into the A frame of the bench, he soon learnt to say the letter 'S'.

Child 2, aged 10, arguing that as the oldest child he should have his own room on holiday and a fight broke out, in the morning he willingly offered the room to child 3 who he'd beat up the previous night, because it was next to the cesspit and smelt like chicken shit.

Child 3, aged 10, who got left behind at home and locked in the house when we went on holiday and we got a mile down the road before child 2 asked where his brother was.

Child 4, aged 5, who refused a bath and was unceremoniously dumped in the bath fully clothed and turned into the tasmanian devil, spinning around in the bath and screaming his head off for half an hour, yet refusing to get out once he had been washed yelling 'you can't do this to me'

Child 2, aged 17, coming home at 2am drunk one night, denying he'd been drinking and he's fallen in the fountain and it was chlorine I could smell, was woken at 6am, made to clean up his mess and sent to collage. Following weekend same occurred and rather than face a telling off he opted to sleep in the shed.

Child 2, aged 10, asked at every meal time for ketchup, before the meal was brought out, despite refusing to help lay the table, so one day when all the plates were served, apart from his, I just squirted the ketchup directly onto his placemat, full melt down ensued.

Child 3, aged 13, the police turned up in the street, assuming they were there for the neighbours child (again) we were shocked to hear our bell ring. Son had witnessed a friend throw a tennis ball, almost 100m's hitting a teacher on the side of the head and knocking him out.

Child 3, aged 16, got into a fight with a mate and was punched in the face and was on route to the hospital, husband dispatched after ambulance crew informed me son was adamant I wasn't to attend so he didn't get a telling off.

Child 4, aged 13, phone call to say son had been in rugby scrum, which had collapsed and he needed hospitalising, the first of 3 occasions where new sports kit was cut off and had to be replaced.

Child 4, aged 13, phone call from school at a rugby match. 'Your son is Ok, we're just waiting for the air ambulance to arrive'

Child 4, aged 15, phone call from paramedics 'we need permission to give your son a tracheotomy' after he was hit in the neck by a cricket ball.

Child 5, aged 11, fell over his own feet and broke his wrist, I gave him 2 paracetamol and an ice pack and finished drying my hair before taking him to hospital.

Child 5, aged 12, got a black eye after crashing on his heelies (wheeled shoes) whilst being towed by a golf cart.

Oh and the poo accidents, where I'll not assign a child number, they know who they are.

Week 27 - One Daily Positive and Project 366 Dubai to South Africa

I'm late with posting this week as I've been in South Africa visiting friends for just over a week, I didn't have enough time to do everything on my list but I did manage to see most people and a few extra. I also went on a road trip with my friends and spent a day in Kruger National park, where we saw 4 of the Big 5. Elephant, Buffalo, Rhino and Lion, sadly no Leopard on this trip.

Blogging has taken a back seat and all I have for you this week is Photalife Buildings (week 26) and My Sunday Photo (week 79) According to staff at OR Tambo in Johannesburg, I'd over filled my bag, causing it to split. But if you look at the picture you'll see my bag has been run over for sure, as this and several other damaged items were packed in the middle of the case.

Day 185 #onedailypositive #project366 #swim#snaphappybritmums I'm in South Africa, I'm tired and cold, can't muster up the energy for the photo prompt so here's a cat....you're welcome

Day 186 #onedailypositive #project366 #door#july2016 #snaphappybritmums saw this print and thought 'why not?'

Day 187 #onedailypositive #project366 #instagram#july2016 #snaphappybritmums today's photos#solo #travel #expat #explore #friends #roadtrip#tourist #tourism #southafrica #adventure #safari#krugernationalpark #wildlife #animals #animaltales

Day 188 #onedailypositive #project366 #sparkle#july2016 #snaphappybritmums can't beat a South African #sunset #solo #travel #expat #explore#friends #roadtrip #tourist #tourism #southafrica #adventure

Day 189 #onedailypositive #project366#WhatImLookingAt #july2016 #snaphappybritmumsA shack in #Mamelodi in the Alaskan Informal Settlement that I painted 3 years ago as part of an arts project #solo #travel #expat #explore #friends#roadtrip #tourist #tourism #southafrica #adventure#safari #charity #education #poverty@vivafoundationsa

Day 190 #onedailypositive #project366 #july2016#dinner #snaphappybritmums sorry mother but NO ONE makes chips quite like Cheryl can.

Day 191 #onedailypositive #project366 #clothes#july2016 #snaphappybritmums been doing a lot of shopping this week with donations for #christmasboxes for #teens boys and girls #solo #travel #expat#explore #friends #roadtrip #tourist #tourism#southafrica #adventure #safari #charity #education#township #poverty