All about V.

V.  continues to enjoy her Art and her creative writing and will most commonly be found engaged working on her latest drawing project on her IPad in her bedroom. 

After a long period of remote learning, she is now back at school and, while she is still finding it a challenge, she seems to be a gradually getting used to the routine of in person teaching although due to the long periods that she was out of the classroom, she has a lot of ground to make up in terms of GCSE materials that she has missed. 

For someone who has always prided herself on doing well in class this has proved a major cause of anxiety particularly with her mocks coming up after Christmas and her Exams in May - she is making good progress but there is a lot to be done so fingers crossed that she is able to continue on her upward trajectory.

She has maintained her close circle of friends (although most of their interactions are on line) and as the weather gets cooler she will hopefully feel more inclined to venture out and about a bit more and I am looking forward to resuming our rides together. 

In terms of school subjects, English and Art remain favourites although most recently she has been full of anecdotes from her chemistry classes - as mentioned in an earlier blog, the interaction between students and various practical experiments has been a rich source of excitement and potential jeopardy which seems to delight and appall her in equal measure!

All about A.

So our eldest and tallest child has flown the nest and headed off 3000 miles North to University after a very successful set of A level results in the Summer which allowed him to get into his first choice. We were obviously delighted with his results and he was clearly relishing the chance to spread his wings.

Due to V. starting the new term at the beginning of September, E had to remain in Dubai so A. and I headed to UK for a week’s worth of quarantine down in Devon with my Sister and her family and then a rather hectic couple of weeks catching up with everyone after over 18 months of pandemic induced absence in Dubai. This included Grandparents and my Cousin C who had contracted a very nasty immune system virus which reduced him to a wheelchair (fortunately walking again now).

A. is attending the same University where E and I met and it was a real trip down memory lane (he is also in the same Hall of Residence where I started off). The weather and campus were at their best and I managed to look up some of my old haunts - it was quite piquant to say goodbye to him in his new room surrounded by unwrapped duvet covers/new cups and kettles, and assorted other paraphernalia of student life. 

He seems to have settled in well although all of us remaining back in Dubai (including the cat) have missed his presence - they always say that nothing prepares you for a new baby but I think the same can be said for the departure (even if temporary) of your first born.

Boosterism

Readers of this blog who have even following my adventures of late will have surmised that my Covid test (undertaken in the wilds of Crayford) was negative given my reappearance in the sandpit and there was more Covid related news today when we finally received our notification of eligibility for the Pfizer booster shot. 

My original vaccination was completed in March and I had rather hoped to have had the booster before going back to the UK and had been following the various updates on eligibility and availability avidly. 

To date, the Pfizer booster had been limited to various at-risk categories of people and to those who had originally been vaccinated with Sinopharm so the text both E and I received this afternoon advertising the booster was welcome news and so we have both booked in to get our shots tomorrow afternoon - sadly the vaccination centre next to my office has closed but the alternative near Mirdiff is reasonably convenient so we will be meeting there.

In other news, A. sent a photo of him sitting in the snow outside his Hall of a Residence at University looking very pleased with himself and V. spent 6 hours in her Art mock GCSE today (with 4 more hours tomorrow).

Bicycle race

 

Early start this morning, but as the pictures show, this morning’s practice ride at Al Qudra

was played out in near perfect riding conditions. There were over 400 participants following a 45

km loop in the desert passing various wild-life including Oryx. Managed to keep up with the rest of the team - this was the second practice ride with two more to come followed by the main race in February next year over 92km so still a lot of work to be done but given the fact that I have spent the last week eating and drinking for England on holiday, reasonably pleased with the days work.

Lounging around

As I was flying overnight, I decided to upgrade my economy seat for business class for some airmiles and £90. The Emirates lounge at Heathrow was open so I was able to enjoy some nice food and a couple of glasses of champagne - definitely worth the investment and I was able to enjoy the bar on the A380 as well as a foldout bed. 

Whilst the 6 hour flight was not really long enough for a proper sleep, I certainly arrived back at DXB more relaxed than normal,

Taxi for Mr M

Apologies for the lack of posting yesterday but I was travelling back from UK. I was in fact intending to try to write something in the airport lounge but got caught up with some work so will do something on that as a “bonus” blog later today but for now I though I would talk about my trip to the airport and in particular the fascinating taxi driver who took me.

We used to have a driver who we would religiously use to take us to the airport but he retired a number of years ago and so subsequently we have tended to use one of the local firms. However, we were introduced by some friends to their regular cabbie and so I was given the opportunity to chat to him on the way to Heathrow. 

There was not a dull moment. From hearing about his son and his “accidental” religious journey to being a tour guide for pilgrims to the rest of his family with their various interests and businesses, I said that he had enough material to write a soap opera. Very nice chap and a certainty someone we will be using again.

‘astings

I am sure that I have previously written about our love affair with Hastings but I hope my reader (s) will forgive another pean to it’s continuing position as a source of delight and (excellent) crabs. 

Whilst my early relationship with the town was somewhat rocky - mainly in consequence of it being the location of the White Rock Pavilion where I was required to play piano in various competitions in front of an audience (a hugely stressful but ultimately character forming experience from around my 9th to 12  birthdays) - over the years it has become a source of pleasant days out, good food and happy memories. 

Today was no exception as Dad, B and I headed down on a fairly mild and slightly overcast day pitching up a Roc-a- Nore at around lunchtime and meeting an old childhood friend J who has recently started working there - definitely a chance to kill two birds with one stone as I had not seen J for a couple of years due to the pandemic (and his mother sadly just past away so wanted to pass on condolences) as well as renewing our acquaintance with the various seafood shops next to the Old Town 

Our usual haunt Whites was closed for the day so we ate at a place called Taylor’s - opposite the Adventure golf - which did excellent mussels and Clam chowder and then had a brisk walk to the pier (Dad whizzing along on his scooter) for a cup of tea before heading back to the seafood shop to pick up a couple of huge crabs and a pint of prawns. 

Due to heading up the A21 and the school run, it took us a while to get back home but the crabs and prawns were definitely worth waiting for and a perfect day was topped off with a re-run of the weekends rugby.