A matter of choice

Christmas was always going to be strange for many people this year, for some a little strange would be more than they could hope for of course but I'm staying away from the absolute sadness and horrors of the world like I've always done on my blog.     I'm talking about the people I know and know off in Cyprus, those who would have traveled back to the UK, or elsewhere,  those who were expecting family to come here, those who would have met friends for Christmas dinner in a restaurant, or had a large gathering at home.  Our restrictions changed mid December and a 9 pm curfew came into place. Soon after  all bars and restaurants had to close.   We were allowed to have up to 10 people in our houses  (but randomly only 2 people could meet outside).   Most Christmas events had been cancelled, so no markets, school shows, parties etc.   All the towns still put up the Christmas lights which were lovely to see as long as you were home by 9 pm. We went to Paralimni on Christmas Eve

Here we are in what is usually the strange week of the year between Christmas and New Year, when you you're not quite sure what day it is, and you feel vaguely guilty about sitting around doing nothing, feeling like you should probably be eating more healthily, drinking less and getting outside more.  2020 may not have given us much but it's made me feel a lot less bothered by this week!  I love Christmas and the whole run up but every year around this time I feel a little uncomfortable,  happy but also like I *should* be doing something - getting outside for a lovely winter walk,  especially when people are doing in through snow and frost and we usually have gorgeous blue skies over Christmas (the rain comes in the next couple of months)  But this year I am not being lazy, I'm just being sensible by staying home!  I've made peace with over eating and drinking,  assuming we are about to enter into another full lockdown we can reacquaint ourselves with Joe Wicks and take

Last year we went to a great Christmas party at a friends house, as well as yummy food, silly games and a few drinks we took part in my first ever proper 'Secret Santa' Our Santa's all did well,  my gift was a Memory Jar along with a fancy pen and colourful papers to record our best memories throughout the year.  Of course this time last year I'm sure my secret Santa had no idea of what was to come, assuming that I would easily fill the jar with days out, parties, weddings and memorable moments.   It would have been all to easy to leave the jar empty, I'm sure after all that many people have started a similar jar in more 'normal' years and failed to fill it as the months go by, and 2020 hasn't given itself the best of times for people to look back on with fondness.  However, I have managed to pop quite a few memories in there since January. They are mostly simple things that made me smile on the day they happened,  things like meeting a friend, or everyo

I used to join in with many blog link ups and tags but they either happen less or I read fewer blogs these days.  However I came across this from Life As Kim  and thought I'd relive the good ol' blogging days.  How did you spend last Christmas? As we usually do, at home with the boys and my parents. For the last few years we've had Christmas at ours rather than my Mum and Dads,  they live in the same apartment building so it's not a massive change but as soon as we got a dining table large enough for us to all sit round I declared that Christmas would be ours! How are you spending this Christmas? Same as usual,  we are lucky here in Cyprus that although pubs and restaurants are closed until 31st December we are able to meet in groups of up to 10 people in private residences so the 6 of us are fine  and our day will be the same as it would be in a normal year.  What’s your most memorable Christmas memory? Well, that's an impossible question as there are just so many

Christmas is coming,  whether you like it or not, covid isn't going to stop it. It's going to be a strange one for many this year of course but it's still going to happen regardless. Lots of people have had sudden changes to make with the latest lot of Covid restrictions meaning all bars and restaurants have to close (unless offering takeaway) in Cyprus, and many have known for a while they would have to make changes to their usual plans.   I hate seeing that 'Christmas is cancelled'  though there has been a lot online to be sad about this year but that is the most depressing thing yet.   Christmas plans may have changed either a little or a lot but the 25th December will roll around regardless!  I love Christmas, and the month of December and I feel so very lucky that our Christmas will not look much different to usual.   Apart from school celebrations being cancelled (which one of the boys is very happy not to have to take part in) and a few events that we would u

Whilst going through some old blog posts I came across this little gem from 2011,  it was part of a 'Blog meme' where lots of bloggers would tag their blogging buddies and everyone would join in and write a post on a certain theme. It was part of a longer post which is not relevant now so I thought I'd update it .  Back in 2011 I asked Leo what he would like to be when he grows up at several different times in the hope I would eventually get an answer that made some sort of sense. (Don't forget he was not yet two years old!)  Replies included table,  bebums (raisins), look Mummy dirty feet,  a circle.  Eventually I got the crayons and paper out to immense excitement from him as it is possibly his favourite activity and asked him to draw what he would like to be.... "is kerkles an lines mummy" I also rephrased the question and asked him what he wanted to be when he was bigger..... He replied (with arms waving above his head)   'BIG.

Our girls day out for Sam's birthday was a surprise for  her but was also a mystery road trip for me in some ways.  It has all been organised by our friend Lucy and I'd not seen her before the day to hear about any of the plans so it was great just jumping in the car and having nothing to do with the organising - not something I am used to!  You can read about the first part of the day in my earlier post - Girls Day Out. For lunch we stopped at a lovely forest picnic site in the village of Mosfiloti called the Agia Thekla Excursion Area,  it was well equipped with toilets, bbq areas, lots of benches and a play area and even wheelchair access and benches designated accessible, which is very good for Cyprus, apparently according to the website there is also photovoltaic cell systems to provide lighting at night but we weren't there that long to find out.  We didn't explore much of the area, in fact we just headed to a bench and started eating - moving once as the sun came

How much magic happens in your house?   Does the Tooth Fairy visit?  Is the Easter Bunny an annual visitor?   Does Santa leave magical snowy footprints, eat mince pies and drink whisky?  (He ALWAYS has mince pies and whisky - no cookies and milk here!)    Will you have carrots left out  for hungry sleigh pullers or sparkly reindeer food scattered outside on Christmas Eve? Do you have a magical Elf that sits on your shelf, and gets up to all kinds of mischief throughout December?  I'm sure it varies but the Easter Bunny passes us by - luckily I'm always on hand to supply chocolate eggs.   The Tooth Fairy is pretty reliable here - only missing one tooth collection due to being ever so busy that night, and of course Santa wouldn't miss his whisky and mince pies in exchange for a couple of stockings here.  No Elf for us though, it was questioned once as to why someone else had an Elf  and I dodged the issue by being really surprised and saying I had absolutely no idea it was ev

In July I had a great day out with the girls, this time a birthday present for Sam, in fact it was a present from Lucy but Rachel and I got to tag along too so it was a bonus for us!  It was great to have a day out that I had no part in arranging at all.  I had a vague idea of one of the places we were to stop at but the rest was just as much of a mystery to me as it was to Sam.    First stop was just off the Larna ca - Limassol highway just before the village of Klavdia to see the wind turbines.  This is something that Sam has wanted to do for ages and she was absurdly excited about it.   I do admit it was pretty cool though, and not something I would have ever even considered doing so it was great.  The turbines are really difficult to get a photo of, especially to demonstrate just how big they are.  Below you can see Sam standing at the base of one.  Next stop, Panagia Stazousa ,  a medieval monastery in the village of Klavdia itself.  We had come prepared with cover ups assuming