Life with Chickenruby: travels

Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts

Sunday, 14 March 2021

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.

Sunday, 24 February 2019

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

Monday, 6 February 2017

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.

Monday, 11 July 2016

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