Coffee shop Christmas disposable cups - why i don't use them

Yes I love Christmas and all things Christmas related and I love coffee shops. But what I don't love is the disposable cups designed for takeaway drinks.

I use my own coffee cup for take aways, regardless of the coffee shop I use.

Most chains have a Christmas reusable cup out now, but I don't need to buy a new one, the one I have is perfectly adequate.

I have an issue with coffee shops in Dubai regardless of the chain. Every time I request a coffee to drink in, they automatically reach for a disposable cup.

This was obviously drunk here by a previous customer.

I've learnt to place my order as follows (size) (type of drink) and automatically add 'in a ceramic mug and don't warm it'

In the UK I always get asked 'to drink in or take away' but Dubai doesn't work like that. I think it saves on the staff having to wash up as it's easier to scoop disposable cups up and put them in the bin.

I stop regularly at the local petrol station for a latte, using my own cup. I often pick up a banana at the same time.

Whilst I ordered my coffee, asked for a banana, went to the counter and paid, then back to collect my coffee, this had happened.

Not only was my banana in a plastic bag, it was then placed in a plastic bag.

Sometimes I just give up.........

Repatriation Things we have to do

There's lots of Things to do for this move to the UK. In many ways I'm discovering it's more of a relocation and not repatriation. There is as much stuff to do as there was to move from the UK to South Africa then relocate the the UAE.

Our move to South Africa from the UK was completed within 4 months of being asked to move to our arrival. Visas had to be in place on arrival and as we later discovered the student visas for an Afrikaans school was not our best move and it dictated where we lived. We eventually sent our youngest back to the UK for boarding for his last 4 years of education and the other child finished school at almost 19 with his Matric which was only equivalent to 5 GCSE's grade C. We stayed in a furnished apartment for 6 weeks, before moving into a house, then moving again the following year.

We were in South Africa 1 month short of 4 years.

For our move to the UAE we had to be in the UK to attest and certify our documents for the visa process and once they were in place we were able to move to Dubai and apply for our visas. However there were several surprises such as the cat and dog arrived, we'd rented a villa, but were unable to set up the utilities until the visa was in place, which was almost 12 weeks later and we had to live in hotels until then. Also we were unable to ship our air freight until visas were in place and our container sat in customs in the UAE for 9 weeks. We've also moved house after 3 years.
We've been in Dubai 2 months short of 5 years now.

Both moves were organised by the company and they were not successful. For starters when I called the rental agent or the removal company I was informed the contract wasn't with me , which meant Peter had to keep stop what he was doing to contact HR for them to call the companies, report back to Peter and then to me. it was time consuming and at one point our container in South Africa was effectively lost for 3 days.

There have been many financial surprises to deal with also. The company paid for the packing and shipping of our container. They provide a housing and car allowance in both countries and they paid school fees. They also pay all costs for visa applications, including flights. But this money is paid into Peter's salary monthly, so we had to find money to purchase vehicles, pay school deposits and fees and pay the house deposit up front. On our arrival in Dubai we had to pay a full years rent up front. When we left South Africa our visa expired along with our bank accounts and we went from the end of November until the end of January with only Rand in cash to spend.

We'd arrived in South Africa with the Rand at 11:1, when we left it was 27:1. We'd depleted our UK savings setting up in SA.

5 years on and we've recovered financially, we've had tenants in our UK home. The first set stopped paying rent in 2013 and we had an expensive eviction through the courts to recover our home. In 2016 we then purchased a flat near my parents so we'd have somewhere to stay when we visit and the rent from our home covers our running costs for both UK properties.

On our last visit to the UK in September and October we discovered our current tenants had only paid the rent owed under mediation and we were advised they weren't going to pay in October on time either, so we've made the decision to action a Section 21a and claim occupancy of the property in January 2020.

As Peter is 62 and retirement age in Dubai is 65, we don't have long left here. We'd discussed our plan of action for his retirement and our repatriation to the UK, which involved giving our tenants notice in October 2021, getting the work done in the house ready for when Peter retired and it's eventual sale after he returned to the UK, for me to find work and then decide where we were going to live.

We had hoped for one more final move back to South Africa, but it hasn't happened, so we've brought our plans forward. Peter hasn't made a decision about his retirement date yet.

I'm now having to travel back to the UK in November/December as our tenants are leaving early so I can get the locks changed, set up utilities, council tax etc and get the flat rented out to cover the monthly costs. The cat and dog will move back the end of January on my next trip. I will need to be back in Dubai in March as we have friends visiting, I'll return in April for a month, then back to Dubai to organise the packing and shipping of our furniture and move Peter into a 2 bed apartment, which will be our home in Dubai when I visit alternate months.

I will return to the UK end of May to meet the container and Peter will join me in June to help with the unpacking and any jobs in the house I've been physically unable to do.

I'll stay in the UK until the end of October, then back to Dubai till February.

So what next?

One Daily Positive - Week 44 My week in photos

Wow that was a long week, Peter home early hours of Friday and back off for two weeks on Sunday. Welcome to my new life.

Made appointment for blood tests next week to check on my iron levels since going wheat free, feel much better in regards to no migraines, but the headaches and neck pain have been creeping back slowly, but this could be from stress and all the travel.

300 Sunday So back in Dubai for one day and I dropped Peter at the airport this morning for his flight to South Africa till the end of the week. To say I'm not happy with this change in job, is an understatement. But we'll make it work, we always do. I watched the Rugby and supported Wales as it's my country of birth. I started the process of the cat and dog relocation to the UK the end of January 2020. Afternoon and evening spent tidying up the garden and making long lists of things to do before my next UK trip in December, complicated with the renewal of Dubai visas.

Christmas has arrived in the stores in Dubai.

301 Monday Up early and all chores completed by 9am, went out for coffee, had my hair cut and a manicure. Afternoon spent working in the garden and cleaned the balcony, which involves running a hose pipe upwards. In the evening I was researching my family tree.

302 Tuesday New road system here in Dubai, I was away for 7 weeks, bridges, underpasses, new junctions and roads have appeared and roundabouts gone for ever. Thank fully my GPS has kept up to date with it all. Finally got to the dog park for a nice morning and catch up. In the afternoon bathed Bob and all his bedding and washed the pet bowls out. Finished tidying the garden and mowing the lawn. Paperwork completed, more appointments made and flights and car hire booked for November 26th for a week in the UK.

303 Wednesday Off to the vets to get the necessary paperwork completed for the cat and dogs move, then off to IKEA to meet a friend for the day. Spent the evening and afternoon sitting outside enjoying the cool breeze and on the laptop, sorting out issues with Mum's flat and our daughters care plan.

304 Thursday Decorated the outside of the house for halloween, it's a big event here in Dubai and all nationalities join in. Cleaned throughout the house. Popped out for coffee and a food shop.

305 Friday Peter arrived home around 7am, he's home for a few days then back to South Africa for 2 weeks. He went straight to bed, I walked the dog and packed my case for my UK trip in December, taking over all my winter clothing, a bed for Bob and food bowls. I now have a 42kg allowance with Emirates for each flight, my case weighs 21kg. I may take a second case with all our UK paperwork. I'm going to have to buy white goods for the house, as Peter will need the ones we have here and all the stuff in the flat is integral, don't think my allowance will cover them anyway lol.
Did some blogging and when Peter woke we went out for Brunch.

View from Dusit Thani of the Sheikh Zayed Road, towards the airport.

306 Saturday Go Bokke. Even though SA beat Wales on Sunday and I was born in Wales, I actually lived full time in SA longer than I did in Wales so feel I qualify to support them against England. We went to the mall in the morning, watched the rugby and took Bob on a long walk around the estate to explore the new road network, that didn't exist when we moved here 2 years ago.

On the blog this week:

What happened with our move to South Africa?

We're returning to the UK, the process of repatriation has started

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Thoughts on moving (back) to South Africa and everything you need to know about an International Move.

We're no longer moving to South Africa from Dubai, but we'd started the thought process and looking into costs, paperwork and pro's and con's of another move. So when we had difficulties with our tenants in the UK, we were already in the right frame of mind to be dealing with a relocation and as Peter's job is seeing him work half the year in South Africa, it seemed the right thing to do for me to spend that half in the UK, rather than in isolation in Dubai.

I've started to blog our repatriation here

Here is the thought process we went through:

16th February 2019
Here we go again, the 3rd time in the past 9 years we've had to ponder this question.

Should we move abroad? It's something we both asked ourselves in 2010.

The first time we were asked this question was September 2010, we said yes with no hesitation and 3 months later with 2 kids, our furniture and visas in hand we flew to South Africa to start a new life.

4 years later now with a cat and dog in tow and no kids at home anymore, we had 3 months notice to leave South Africa (government weren't renewing our visas) we sort of had the choice of the UK or Dubai, but chose Dubai because neither of us were ready to return home and Peter's job would've had him travelling to the Middle East anyway.

Both moves took us a good year to settle in fully, get to know the customs, ways things were done and to establish ourselves with friends.

The last year of our lives in South Africa, at the point where I'd settled, accepted my new identity, found my niche were spent with the will we, won't be moving until all of a sudden it was just announced and we packed up to start all over again.

To say that Peter's company caused us problems with the move was an understatement. Here's a summary of exactly what went wrong with both our moves and how things could've been improved.

HR in South Africa just assumed we would be able to do everything they did and in the same way, but no. I was not permitted to work and everything had to be in Peter's name, so dealing with a new job, 2 kids in a new school, trying to find somewhere to live and most importantly living with the fear of our personal safety it was a very trying time for us all.

The move to Dubai was much easier but HR here had no concept of what it was like moving to another country from a country that is not your place of birth and we were on expiring visas, having to make trips to the UK to get the new visa in order.

So when Peter came home from work mid February to say it was being discussed him moving to South Africa to take over the business there, the first thing I said was 'hell yes, but this time everything must be in writing and I will not allow HR top deal with the physical side of things this time other than the paperwork required for the visas, we will do the rest.'

I can pack in 2 days, our entire lives, the cat and the dog and ready to fly whenever I get the word.

We'll have to go back to the UK to obtain our new visas but once we know the move is actually going ahead, the T&C's for Peter's contract are in place, salary agreed, repatriation costs back to the UK, either when he chooses to retire (he's 65 in 2022) or the job comes to a natural end, are all in place. I can start the following:

• Look at export companies, I will itemise our contents for insurance purposes
• Speak to local animal specialists about the cat and dog, injections, paperwork and time scales for relocating the pets 
• Sell both our cars
• Give notice to the landlord
• Speak to the banks about keeping accounts open here
• Declutter the house
• Sell the garden contents (we have to return it to sand before we leave)

So here are some random thoughts on our potential move:

Pros                                                                                   Cons

Skype, voice over internet and VPN's work .                   Post doesn't work

Have friends there already .                                              Can't get PG tips or Aubergine Pickle

Time difference only 1-2 hours not 3-4 .                          Load shedding

Know how things get done .                                             Personal safety

Know where we'll live, on a golf course .                        Journey time to UK now 24 hours

Have a swimming pool .                                                   Hassles of doing the above bullet points

Cost of living much lower

Already have a sim cards, store cards, nail bar & hairdresser

Weather (apart from the winter, too cold)

Miss South Africa, always said we'd go back

27th February 2019
Haven't give the above another thought other than trying to work out how to book my return flights from the UK and include a trip to Australia to visit child 3, whilst working out how long we'd need to do a visa application from the UK and potential timescale.
We've also cancelled plans to holiday with friends in America, but there's another reason for that also. Our first grandchild was born and a son got married.
Then Peter phoned this morning to say that the 90% chance of the move had probably dropped to 70%, due to employment laws in South Africa, which we were aware of and would've been our biggest hurdle.

6th March 2019
All has gone quiet and Peter has said it's not going to be happening, it was a nice dream while it lasted but that's it, it's time to move on. I however think differently, this is what happened on 2 previous moves, lots of talk, don't say anything to anyone then all of a sudden it just happens and usually within 3 months of a decision being made, we pack and we go. So watch this space.........

15th August 2019
A move has been mentioned several times since the last update, but it's been based on assumptions. Over the past few weeks there has been a few announcements of people moving into new roles, which leaves us pondering where Peter will end up. We're due to renew our house contract in November and have to give 2 months notice if we want to move. As rent is paid upfront it's a bit worrying as to whether we'd end up paying for a house in Dubai for a year that we only live in for a few months. Moving countries is expensive, regardless of it being a company move. House allowance is paid monthly, but we'd have to find our own deposit as well as buying new cars, whilst waiting for deposits to be returned here.
I'm keen to move back to South Africa, and hoping it could potentially be a one way trip and we could retire there. I really haven't given too much thought to the job ending here and relocating back to the UK instead, but that could also be a possible outcome.

27th August 2019
A formal discussion for Peter in work, it's very frustrating. Our landlord has agreed to a 6 month or monthly contract but there's an admin fee of 7,500 AED (£1,500) Part of our rental agreement is that we return to the garden to a blank canvas so we have to demolish the fence, dig up the plants, lawn and tiling to sell. All this takes time and effort and I'm in the UK Sept 10th till the end of October. We also have to return to the UK to submit all our paperwork for our visa but need most of the documents completing here, medical and police clearance in South Africa as well as Dubai.

September 2019
We're not moving to South Africa (insert sad face) The salary offer was not good enough considering we don't pay tax in Dubai so there would be quite a drop in salary and as Peter retires in 2-3 years time, there's no reason to do so. He is however going to help out more in South Africa from Dubai, which means more travel for him, more complications with the cat and dog costs and boarding, so I'll have to curb my travelling for a while. The thought of being in Dubai now until next June is daunting.

October 2019
So I'm not staying in Dubai, things happen for a reason. We'd planned to give our tenants in the UK their notice late 2020 and for me to return to the UK, settle into the house and start looking for work. Our plans were changed on Monday (2 days ago) when the rental agents informed us there were issues with payments and the list of complaints from the tenants is getting longer, such as uneven kitchen floor tiles (they're slate and cemented) and poorly decorated (was freshly decorated prior to them moving in 2 years ago).

The plan now is I move back end of January into our family home, transfer the contents of the flat in South Wales (50 miles away) and put the flat on the rental market, buy a car. Set up utilities etc and return to Dubai in March to start organising the move to the UK with the cat and dog and sell the car. Spend April/May in the UK, board the cat and dog in the UK, return to Dubai, pack up contents, sell garden, find 2 bed furnished apartment for Peter. Return to UK with Peter joining me in June to wait for the furniture, unpack, get jobs sorted. Peter will return to Dubai in July for work and we'll decide what to do next in regards to keeping our relationship alive, will probably involve me visiting Dubai alternate months until he retires for good.

Our initial move from the UK to South Africa started on September 10th and we moved on January 18th. We will have had 9 full years outside the UK.

I've not published the post until now, as we wanted to make sure either a) the move was going ahead or b) we were staying put, in which case I've decided to share it with you anyway. At some point in time we will have to leave Dubai and go through this anyway, just back to the UK and the UK it is.

Part 1 Repatriation - Preparing for our return to the UK

Moving to a new country is difficult in terms of the language, culture and how things get done. With two international moves under our belt, to South Africa and Dubai, you'd think relocating back to the UK, our home country would be easy, but things over the past 8 years are different, things have changed since we last lived there and we are just too familiar with the way things are done in Dubai.

Each time we've relocated we've gone off into the unknown, required visa's, relied on others to prepare paperwork etc and had to re learn how to do things.

When I visit the UK, I wait in my car for the fuel to be put in the tank, wait for my shopping bags to be packed and hand over my bank card to the cashier for them to put it in the machine and since moving to Dubai, I've been known to actually give the pump attendant my PIN to save me getting out the car when it's too hot.

It takes a few moments to remember things work differently than where I'm used to.

I also have to deal with getting in the 'wrong' side of the car, pay great attention to the direction of traffic before pulling off, remembering the coins and notes and exclaiming 'how much?' after every transaction as the cost of living in the UK has definitely risen.

3 years ago we purchased a flat in the UK. I spent most of year 1 setting up accounts for water, electricity, property management, internet, council tax, TV licence, purchasing furniture, arranging delivery and equipment for the kitchen etc. Removing packaging to the local tip, finding out the bin days for various coloured bags and bins and setting up mobile phone contract.

We won't be moving back to the UK in 2-3 years time, we've started the process of reoccupying our family home and will be relocating the pets in January and the bulk of the furniture and our belongings in May. Until Peter retires, he will remain in Dubai full time and I will live between the 2 countries.

For this move we won't require a visa, which means I don't need my husbands permission as my sponsor to deal with things on my behalf and as British Citizen I've been able to provide acceptable ID, already have UK bank accounts and speak the same language. However I find myself saying on a regular basis. 'I don't live in the UK, I have no idea how these things work' which is greeted with looks of disbelief and tutting over the telephone as if I'm a simpleton.

However, I'm finding out things aren't as straight forward as I'd hoped for. I'll fill you in with further blog posts as things go.

You can read more of our Repatriation story below:

Some of these links aren't yet live and will be updated.

Repatriation or Operation Relocation

Part 1 Things we have to do

Part 2 Starting to get organised

Part 3 Transfer of Residence

Part 4 Relocating pets. Dubai to UK

Part 5 Sorting out our new home in the UK

Part 6 Bob and Pushkins arrive in the UK. What do they think of it? February 2020

Part 7 Renting an apartment in Dubai May 2020

Part 8 Vacating a Villa in Dubai May 2020

Part 9 Moving Day May 2020

Part 10 Relocation

One Daily Positive - Week 43 Back to Dubai

I never seem to be anywhere long enough to just relax. I've been in the UK for 7 weeks and it's been non stop until the last few days and just when I have a chance to relax, cases are packed and I'm back to Dubai.

I'm in Dubai for 5 weeks, then back to the UK for 10 days, then back in Dubai until January 30th. between now and the next trip I have to obtain quotes for relocating the cat and dog and our furniture to the UK and sort out our current rent renewal. I'm also working on the European Golf Tour the end of November and had to cancel my attendance at Sun City in South Africa, as there just weren't enough days in the month.

When I get to the UK in December, I have to move the contents of the flat to our Malvern House, set up utilities, council tax etc and get the flat on the rental market.

293 Sunday I met up with Mary from Over40andamumtoone at Bourton on the Water for coffee, gossip, lunch, catch up, walk, Birdland. Called in at child 5 in Cirencester to drop off a vacuum cleaner, quick cup of tea with child 1 in Gloucester and called in for a natter with @sclubbethan then called in a friends home whom I've known for 28 years, one of the few people who knew me sans kids that I'm still in touch with today. Home at 9pm, bath and bed.

294 Monday Met mum for coffee, helped her home with her shopping, met 2a and 2b at the supermarket to assist with trolley and pram and baby, then back to the flat to sort paperwork, tax return. Visited a friend for dinner.

295 Tuesday Took Thing 1 and 2 to school, coffee and finished tax return. Coffee shop visit and blogging, washing and flat cleaning and spent the evening at mums after she had an endoscope.

296 Wednesday School run again, off to Newport car shopping, carved pumpkins with the Things and visited another friend for dinner.

297 Thursday Accompanied mum to the doctors, coffee, blogging and cleaning the flat, valuation for rental market at 1pm, caught up with my nephew, his partner and baby then spent the evening with the 2's

298 Friday Up early, bedding changed and washed, bins emptied, flat shut down and said bye to mum and off to the airport for my flight home. An uneventful flight, Peter collected me and home and in bed by 2.30am (11.30pm UK time)

299 Saturday Had a good sleep, 7 hours, a bath, unpacked, watched Rugby, out for coffee and a late lunch/early dinner. Walked Bob then spent the evening watching TV and eating my Christmas quality streets I brought back with me.

On the blog this week:

With all the running around (flying) and organising I'm doing for the future I still have to remember to Live in the moment

Live in the moment

I'm a mum of 5. From 1992 till 2010 I parented and worked. I was a full time working mum.
We are a blended family, but we are The Parents. Two of our children are now married, One has a child of their own.

Now I no longer work, I don't study and I live 3000 miles away in Dubai from four of our children in the UK and both our mother's as well as the wider family. One child is in Australia so even further away.

I have a lot of time on my hands, I spend a lot of it, waiting for the next trip, next visitor, next family event.

Everytime I think about starting something, my time is limited. Waste of time setting up the sewing machine on Monday as we've people coming for dinner on Thursday and I need the table. I've lugged family photos covering decades of family time, around the world in a container then unpacked into a cupboard. That was 10 years ago, I intended to sort them out and put them in albums with all the time on my hands, but they've not been done. The same has happened with transferring the old family videos. The kids keepsake boxes, piles of old paper work from houses/cars we no longer own.

I think it's natural to feel like this, to think we always have tomorrow, next week, next year. I'm not really 'looking forward' I'm just standing still. My family have grown, flown the nest and I feel like I have a gap I need to fill, but I don't want to fill the gap, I'm actually ok right where I am right now.

I read a lot of blogs and spend a lot of time online. I read about babies, toddlers, tweens (where did that awful word come from?) I read about teenagers, worries, anxiety, depression, universary, empty nest, menopause, death, weddings, grandparents. I read them because it has been my life, I find it interesting how other people have handled situations, how they achieved 'me time' how they've cried, recovered/not recovered/dealt with things. I often nod my head in agreement, I comment that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I find support, I offer help or a shoulder to cry on.

I've realised that sometimes while I'm not actually doing much, I have actually achieved an awful lot. I manage my mum's finances, a flat of ours and our family home that we rent out in the UK. I manage our finances and our home in Dubai. I book all the travel, car hire, food shop, write birthday cards and buy gifts as well as supporting our adult children with their life events as they happen.

It doesn't matter that I'm not working, that this has been my life full time for the past 5 years. I'm living in the moment, not pining for days gone past, not racing ahead to the next adventure. I'm just letting things happen and dealing with it all as and when it arrives.

I will be sorting the photo's and the family films in November as there's another relocation ahead of us and I do tend to work best under pressure or 'last minute.com'

Oh and bloggers please note. I don't write about previous events, unless they're relevant to me now. So would you mind not writing about how you think you'll deal with the teenage years when your child is 2 or write about the menopause when you're 28 (unless you're experiencing it first hand)

One Daily Positive - Week 42 New News

Well that happened fast. Last week I told you weren't relocating to South Africa, but instead on January 30th 2020 I'm moving back to our former family home in the UK. The flat is going to be rented from mid February and the furniture I have there will move to our home to enable me to live in it. The cat and dog will arrive in March and the container of furniture in May. Peter will move into a 2 bed apartment in the Marina and I will commute between the 2 countries as well as travelling with him to South Africa for work. We're still working on a retirement date, but that will be reviewed in March 2021. Our hand has been forced by our current tenants with a late payment of rent last month and after 'Tenants from Hell' experience in 2013, we're not prepared to take any risks.


286 Sunday Peter finished the bathroom and then we went to meet twitter friends, we've known face to face for 10 years. We meet up at least once every trip. Mum wandered around Newport. Dinner at home and TV.

287 Monday Helped niece look after Thing 4 while she waited for appointment with the nurse, then took mum to Gloucester to visit child 1 and out for lunch and some shopping. Called in at the 2's on the way home, child 2 injured his back at work today, had cuddles with the baby, had dinner and watched the football.

I'm so busy I forget to take photos so todays is a screenshot of Bob in boarding in Dubai.

288 Tuesday Off to Newport with mum to the hearing clinic and a food shop at the 'big Asdaz'. Some DIY at mums, then prepared birthday tea for Thing 1 and off to visit friends for tea.

289 Wednesday Took Thing 1 and 2 to school in the morning. Thing 2 refused to walk with me 'I want Uncle Peter' Had coffee and Peter stripped the bath seal before we visited Child 1 in Gloucester, fed up of the town, we drove to Worcester to purchase some bits and bobs for flat repairs. In the evening on our way home we met friends for dinner in Ross-onWye.

290 Thursday Having booked my flights home and car hire from tomorrow I wasted an hour setting up the printer to obtain a utility bill, my DVLA code, car hire voucher and flight details. I was unsuccessful, went for coffee and blogged. Peter resealed the bath and we went to the tip, sorted out an issue at my mums and visited child 2, 2a and 2b. Called in at another friends for Peter to say his goodbyes. Spent the evening in the pub.

291 Friday Took Peter to the airport, dropped off car hire and collected a new car. Peter returned to Dubai and I'm staying in the UK for another week. Spent the afternoon tidying, sorting post, ironing and getting the tax return form ready to complete.

I'll be on the same flight next week.

292 Saturday Up at 5am and did some more research for selling my late father's stamp collection, I'm rather enjoying this new hobby. Up to mums to help rearranging her flat after my nephew moved out. Off to see Andy Parsons at the Savoy Theatre this evening.

On the blog this week: A wheat free diet.

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A wheat free diet

I've been told I have an allergy to wheat and what a difference it has made to my life. I won't find out until the end of November after 3 months being wheat free whether it's the cause of my Iron deficiency anemia, but as I had a small, slow bleed in my small intestine, I am assuming this was the cause of low ferritin stores. A blood test will reveal all.

In the meantime, fantastic news, I've not had a single headache or migraine since I started the diet and my chronic pain in my neck is considerably far less painful and in fact on some days I hardly notice it all. Having suffered with migraines since I was a baby and chronic pain for 23 years after an injury at work.

Going wheat free has been an easy choice for me. I haven't opted for going Gluten Free as I'm not coeliac, I've just eliminated wheat from my diet, so a salad or sushi on the go rather than a sandwich, grilled chicken instead of a burger when eating out and just choosing menu items without wheat, so no more pizza, burgers, sausages, pasta, bread and keeping a check on ingredients for sauces.

There's plenty of menu choices, I just didn't eat the bread.

I have ordered a couple of Gluten Free meals over the past month with all the travelling we've been doing. I can't rate The Lounges enough for their range and taste, however a pie that tasted really nice in another restaurant didn't actually look that appetizing.

When I cut the wheat from my diet, I missed the carbs, the feeling of being full and turned to Gluten Free products ti supplement my diet, I put on weight and found myself craving sugar. I also started to experience trapped wind and a bloated belly, symptoms I never had in the past. Now 2 months on, I've just adapted my diet to 'no wheat'.

I've also observed that most GF premade food is also dairy free which in my opinion makes the food taste bland, was pleased to see this range in Asda.

I've bought some Gluten Free flour mixes for banana bread, cake mixes and yorkshire puddings as well as a pot of suitable gravy granules.

I've made a few mistakes, assuming an ale was barley or hops, to discover it contained wheat, so easy switch, just drinking G&T and wine now. A salad I bought in the supermarkets contained semolina grains and now having to carry my reading glasses with me everywhere.

I was so keen to have liver and onions, I forgot to ask about the gravy.

I take a few snacks out with me most days so I have something I can eat, if I feel peckish in a coffee shop, there are few GF options.

On the whole it's been much easier than I thought, but when my health was seriously suffering as a consequence it's not that difficult to do.

One Daily Positive - Week 41 Birthday, DIY and being tourists

We've had a busy week together with family and friends and have started talking more about planning our return to the UK in the next 2-3 years. Mixed feelings after turning down the opportunity to move back to South Africa, due to the contract not being as peter would've liked, but it has provided more opportunity for me to travel there over the next few years until we relocate and who knows what will happen next.

One of our plans is for me to pick up short term contract work, purchase a camper van and travel Europe, however until this Brexit stuff calms down we have no idea how that will pan out. We change plans constantly, now 2 of the children are married and we have 1 grandchild, things could change for us anyway, so all planning is just that.

I'm certainly a lot happier when I'm in the UK, because I have friends and family around me and get out and about, however, the reality is we acknowledge we're still a bit of a novelty with living so far away and things will be very different when we return, especially as we won't be living in this area.

279 Sunday Pub lunch with a few friends, the 2's and child 5 for Peter's birthday. Peter took child 5 back to the Cotswolds and the 2's came back to the flat for some Granny/Granddaughter time. We watched crap TV and stuffed our faces with snacks.

280 Monday Harvest Festival for the Things. I snook in the back of the church, late. Did random shopping, finished photo frames from the wedding and our granddaughter, went for a walk late afternoon and a pub stop. Peter spent the day working. Emails and phone calls and fitting a heated towel rail.

In Dubai we have lots of space and do no DIY. The weather is also perfect for drying clothes. We ended up at the laundrette with the bedding and towels and tripped over one another as Peter needed space to work in. Today helped us decide what type of house we would like when we return to the UK.

281 Tuesday Meeting with Child 1's care home, to address a few issues such as staff turnover, then an appointment with HSBC in Gloucester, as Premier customers in the UK, Dubai and Offshore we actually expected better treatment than we get from them, such as when we ask to make an appointment for when we're in the UK, we should be able to do so, they keep fobbing us off with expensive phone calls saying each issue is the other sides responsibility. Visited Child 1 in the afternoon for a walk, tea and cake.

Child 2 has been my step son since 2000, but we view ourselves as a family of 7. Him and 2a had a baby girl 3 weeks ago. We have no baby photos of him or any little outfits etc to pass on to his children. The best I could do was to pass on this outfit as modelled by child 3 in 1992 and a little blanket an aunt knitted.

282 Wednesday Up early to Bath to visit MIL then onto St Albans to stay with Chrissie @mediocre_mum my twitter partner in crime from 2009. Peter treated me to a pair of Doc Martins.

283 Thursday Caught the train into London as tourists, Obligatory visit to and Harrods of course, lovely pub lunch, lots of walking and visited Trafalgar Square to witness the Extinction Rebellion. It was very calm and peaceful, although we witnessed a lot of arrests.

284 Friday Coffee and a stroll round St Albans then collected 4 and 4a from Heathrow after their honeymoon. After dropping them at my mums, they showered and changed and we met them for dinner in the local pub.

285 Saturday Off to the 2's for them to meet their niece, apart from child 1 (which needs an awful lot of planning) they've all met 2b now. $ and 4a went home.

Photo to follow.

Nothing on the blog again this week.

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Who am I?

I see it's the 'in thing' now to change social media names to real names. It makes sense if your twitter handle or blog name relates to having a young family but things move on, babies grow and you may no longer be a 'mummy of 1' or a '2 tweens and a tortoise.

I picked a name that made me and my social media anonymous, Chickenruby. Quite simple, back in 2009 we had a chicken, her name was Ruby. I'm no longer anonymous online, my family and friends discovered social media.

My real name is Suzanne, but online I'm all things Chickenruby. My blog, twitter, instagram, facebook. I have other accounts #OneDailyPositive which is set aside for my Project 365, that I've been doing since 2015 and @Letters_home on twitter, that I set up to be a little more hidden online, but everyone found me.

I'm married to Peter, we have 5 adult children between us.

We are a blended/step family. Our children give permission for their photos to be used, but they are allocated numbers rather than using their names. One of our kids and his now wife were approached in the town where my mother lives by a friend of mine who asked them if they were 4 and 4a, which was quite funny.

All 7 of us in 2003.

Child 1 is 31, she is profoundly disabled and lives in a care home. We send regular letters, gifts and visit her whenever we're in the UK. She no longer comes home to stay the night with us, we visit her home and take her out locally.

Child 2 is 30 and he is married to 2a and they have 2b, our first grandchild, a girl, born in 2019.

Child 3 is 27 and he lives in Australia.

Child 4 is 24 and he is married to 4a, they live in the UK.

Child 5 is 20 and he lives in the UK.

The last time all 7 of us were together in 2017.

Both our mothers are alive and well, we have 1 sister each and my niece is mother to The Things I often talk about online, my great nephews. Thing 1, the eldest and I are big Dr Seuss fans, hence the blog names.

I'm from South Wales, Peter is from Manchester, he supports Utd and I'm a Bluenose, Birmingham City fan. We've both moved frequently around the UK and settled in Worcestershire in 2002 after we got married. In a former life I was a teacher. Peter works in food and beverage.

In 2011 we started our expat journey to South Africa for 4 years, then relocated to Dubai 5 years ago.

In 2020 I am relocating back to the UK with the cat, dog and half our furniture to live in our former family home and Peter will be moving into an apartment in Dubai Marina. We will commute between the two countries until he retires in 2-3 years time.

I'll try anything once, currently my hobbies include swimming, dog walking, cycling and most recently I started going ice skating once a week. I love to travel, on my own or visiting family and friends in South Africa, Egypt, UK, Ireland and Australia. I've spent 110 hours in a plane this year alone

So that's it really. Not much else to tell, other than I play the clarinet, am the proud owner of a Blue Peter badge and I hate Olives.

Week 40 One Daily Positive - Back to our granddaughter

Last week I was asked why I called my great nephews and niece 'Things' This week I've been told it's a shame I've had to keep things secret.

I'll explain again.

It wasn't my baby, it wasn't my news to share. They wanted to make the announcements. They are choosing not to post her photos or name online. That is their choice. I fully respect it. I did ask why. I used to work in child protection.

My son got married this weekend, oh my word, the panic about photos getting out in advance, but again, it's their wedding, their choice when to share. They were slightly busy on the day, they posted first thing in the morning after we all sent our pictures to them. The wedding video is on my facebook, there's a blog post of mine with more pics also to come.

There seems to be an assumption that as I'm on the internet ALL the time that I'm most likely to be the one who posts, but hmmmmmmm. I will confess though, not posting photos of our granddaughter is difficult.

272 Sunday A very late night and lots of alcohol meant for a very slow, leisurely day. We left the wedding venue around midday, took a leisurely drive to MIL off and then joined 4 and 4a with her parents at their house for dinner.

273 Monday After saying our goodbyes we set of to spend the afternoon, evening and night with friends of Peters and went out for dinner and consumed more gin and wine.

274 Tuesday After breakfast we returned the car hire, checked in with Ryan air and after a delay for an hour we collected car hire and drove straight to the 2's for Peter to meet his granddaughter for the first time.

This is my pissed off face. We obviously forgot to tick the 'pay extra for customer service' box with Ryan Air and as for the car hire company, well lets just say 'we won' in the end.

275 Wednesday Nothing happened other than unpacking and washing till midday, then a food shop, late lunch and off to visit the 2's.

Watching the wedding video

276 Thursday Coffee shop and blogging visit then off to visit 2a and 2b and a walk out to their local coffee shop. Called in for Peter to meet Thing 4 and off to my mums for a catch up.

277 Friday Collected child 5 from his home in the Cotswolds, bought a new towel rail and bath panel for the flat interesting drive home with most of it on my lap. Peter shut the car boot on my head, as I dived back in to grab the umbrella. Off to visit the 2's for child 5 to meet his niece for the first time. Fish and chips at my mums for supper.

Cousins. My niece aged 8 and child 5 who is 20. Minecraft.

278 Saturday Took child 5 to visit Thing 4, then collected child 1 to join us taking 5 home to the Cotswolds, stopping for lunch and generally just taking the day easy.

Nothing on the blog this week, been too busy. But look out next week for an influx of wedding photos.

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