A Matter of Choice

So the UK is now set to leave the EU, almost half the country voted to stay but the majority of voters wanted the hell out of it and now they will hit a long period of uncertainty, and debate and an endless stream of tripe in the news constantly. I very rarely talk about or even think about politics and I've certainly never considered writing about them but as an expat blogging Brit living in Cyprus I felt I should at least say something about the biggest political event in my lifetime so far. I've always avoided politics, having never really understood most of it and always thought it to be a load of old waffle.  (much like this blog but I'm not trying to change the world!) I did vote once, just so I could say I'd done it but I can't remember when or even be 100% sure who for.  (It may have been Lib Dem on the assumption that Tory and Labour were both talking bull and they seemed a safer vote but I couldn't be sure now) I assume that if I still lived in ...

Last week I flew back to England for four days, for the first time in nearly 3 years.  I left Aaron and the boys here, as Louka does not have a passport yet and it was going to be a whirlwind trip. I was very excited about it  and couldn't wait to see my friends again.  Over the time I was there I wasn't online much, although I did manage to keep up with my 365 project even though I took surprisingly few photos. Between us all we only ended up with one very blurry, and  unattractive picture of us all together which is not going to make it onto facebook let alone here! I shopped, I slept, I drank, talked and ate, and I was very cold! Overall it was fantastic few days and I wish I could have spent more time with the girls, but I could not handle that grey weather for much longer!   Apparently I missed some nicer days either side of my trip but it was pretty miserable the whole time I was there - cold, grey, wet and dark.   I must admit that although I...

In just three days time I'm leaving the boys behind for a whole five days and heading back to England all on my own to see my best girlies! It's been almost three years since I've been back and I'm so looking forward to it. It's going to be a busy few days as in that time I'm staying in three different places as I try to get to see all four of them but it should be lots of fun. Nic (top left) is my oldest friend as we went to playschool together 33 years ago!   Nic Nic, (how she will also be known to us, despite announcing many years ago she was now 'Niki', she can never be a 'Niki' to me!) used to live round the corner from me, she was one of the first to move away so from our twenties we didn't see as much of each other, maybe just two or three times a year - never made the slightest bit of difference though when we did meet up, it's always like we saw each other yesterday. I met Claire (top right) at secondary school but it w...

Three years ago  Aaron, Leo and I left the county we used to call home with 3 suitcases, 3 bags, a buggy and  a car seat. We arrived in Cyprus on a sunny November afternoon after almost missing our flight   (Thanks to too much packing and repacking of suitcases and negotiating the M25 in the rain!) Most of our belongings had left the UK about 6 weeks before and we didn't know how long it would be before they arrived. It turned out to be the following day which was handy as Leo was still on bottles and the Steriliser was in the shipping, along with his cot, all his toys and most of his clothes. It also meant he only had to spend one night like this... (I've used this photo before but it's a great one!) and it meant that our apartment only looked like this for less than 24 hours... The early days were very strange, Leo was brilliant and for probably the only time in his life so far was very chilled out. The day the shipping arrived he slept, ate and laid happi...

A rather random flashback but as we approach the winter season and many people here are coming to the end of their seasonal work contracts there is lots of talk of plans for home improvements (well, mainly from the women whose men will suddenly be off work, not so much from the men themselves! ) It made me think of the biggest and best home improvement we've ever done, with the possible exception of building a wall and creating a bedroom for Leo (when I say we, clearly I mean I made tea and Aaron worked!) When we moved into our first house together back in 2003 the garden needed a lot of work, so much in fact that we left it for several years while we worked out what we could do to make it better.  The problem was a raised section that was separated from the rest by a huge wall that was also on a steep slope and not really big enough to do anything with. After much debating, discussion and drawing of plans we decided that decking the whole thing would be a good ...

Ever since I can remember I've always been interested in the Royal family. At the age of 3 I attended a playgroup street party although I don't really remember it and it wasn't really until Prince Andrew married Sarah that I started to pay an interest. I used to really enjoy collecting all the newspaper cuttings about them and making them into a scrapbook!  Although I got over that childhood hobby I've still enjoyed reading about the Royals and watching all the big events on TV, last year I was very envious of those in the UK while William and Kate got married although we did get to see it here. It seems like everyone in England has got Royal fever at the moment - although I do wonder if that's just am impression I'm getting online. I know many people are not at all interested but I love all the pomp and circumstance! I'd love to arrange or go to a proper street party, although I bet that none of them will be quite like they were back in the day... ...

What does make a house a home? Furniture?  Who you live with? The decor?  The location?  or something else?    It's something I've often wondered over the years and I still can't quite put my finger on it.  I left my parents house at the age of 18, that was home and continued to be 'home' even though I'd moved out.  I then lived in a shared house with Aaron and a couple of others and although it was fun, it was never a home - there was far too much beer and not enough food to class it as such! I then lived in a flat on my own for a while, it was nice and after a shaky start I did love it but although it was 'my little place' it never felt like 'home'. In 2003 Aaron and I brought our first house, it was nice and exciting, much better than the one we first lived in, and this one was 'ours'  Over the years we decorated it, brought new furniture and also did an amazing redesign of the garden, but still I always felt something was missing...

When I saw this weeks Gallery  prompt   Landscapes , I initially thought of the huge selection of landscape photos I've got, taken in the last couple of years since we've been in Cyprus.   While trying to choose one from the collection of sea shots. beach shots and balcony views (which I have a surprising amount of considering it doesn't really change much!)  a photo from a long time ago suddenly popped into my head. I took this back in the early 90s, we were on holiday just outside of Ryde on the Isle of Wight and this was the view from the front door of our holiday chalet.  When we got home and collected our photos from being developed   (as much as I love digital photography, I really do miss the excitement of collecting your photos and looking through them in the shop as you can't wait until you get home!)  I was really pleased with how it had turned out, I was even more pleased when my parents got it enlarged and...

Way back in my early days of blogging one of the first blogs I started reading was It's all about the photos , being a bit a a photo fan (but not great photographer) myself I've been reading ever since.  I love the simplicity of her blog and the fact that it is literally 'all about the photos' I asked if she would be kind enough to guest post for me, and as so many ex-pat Brits (but not me this year) make a hasty exit from Cyprus during August I thought I'd see if she could find me a little bit of my old home. I'll hand you over to Photopuddle ..... When Emma asked me to do a guest post for her I was thrilled as I love reading her blog. She’s asked me to show you a picture which says “ English Summer ”.  I wanted to use one of my own photos and it was actually really hard to decide on which one. I was very close to using one I took of tea and scones but I thought that might be a little stereotypical. I also thought about using one I’d taken in Brighton...

When I started my A to Z posts  I knew that 'E was for England'  I had started this post in draft some time ago but couldn't quite decide how to write it. England is my country of birth, I haven't missed it too much since my move to Cyprus and I didn't want to write a post that ended up running it down for fear of offending my fellow Brits.  Aaron has been saying for ages that the country is going to s**t and he didn't want to bring our son up there. He has always said there is no discipline any more. Parents, teachers and Police have no power to stop kids and that they should bring back National service.  Health and safety has gone mad and the Government is rubbish. I hadn't planned to write about any of that in my post as  I used to generally bury my head in the sand and assume it would all be ok.  But you know what, he's right. I've been shocked by the events unfolding in London and all over the UK over the last few days. What the hell i...

This post was published way back in 2010 but I'm sharing it again J enny & Lauren's Flashback Friday This time last year it was our third day  in our new home,  and our apartment looked like this.... Our bedroom! We were very lucky that are stuff arrived so fast, as we only had the contents of 3 suitcases which is not that helpful when you have a 6 month old baby. Also in the container of our things was Leo's cot, hence why he spent his first night in Cyprus like this.... He seemed slightly confused when he woke up but not too bothered!  Unpacking didn't take too long, although a year later I'm still occasionally moving things about that weren't quite right. I think we settled in reasonably quickly considering we didn't just move a few miles down the road. We were very lucky in meeting people very quickly, and in the fact that AJ joined the local pool team straight away helped this as well.  The first few month were strange,...

"This porridge is too hot," Goldilocks exclaimed. So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl. "This porridge is too cold." So she tasted the last bowl of porridge. "Ahhh, this porridge is just right!" she said happily. And she ate it all up. Goldilocks and the three bears  It is 9pm on the 8th September and we are in the "Goldilocks Zone"  AJ has said several times this year that there is no pleasing me when it comes to the weather, I think it's too cold, too hot, too wet etc.. Well I tonight whilst sitting on the balcony I suddenly announced that I was a perfect temperature! He replied with "Not too hot, not too cold" hence the title of this post.  Before my UK trip I would sit outside after a shower and be drenched in sweat in minutes, I realised this evening that after a pleasantly hot but not too sweaty day that I was exactly the right temperature for the first time in ages.  We now slowly on our way into autumn / winter...

I found a great quote today.... "The grass may be greener on the other side, but you still have to mow it" It's very true, many people move to Cyprus (and other places) thinking that life will be suddenly great, that they will leave all their worries behind and the sun alone will make everything perfect. It is also true that a living in Cyprus doesn't work out for lots of people, I think often for this very reason. I think often people arrive on what they expect to be a permanent holiday, I would imagine that even if you were lucky enough not to have to work and you had the funds to maintain a holiday lifestyle that you would soon tire of it (well maybe not that soon, but eventually!) We never expected to be living like that, we knew with AJ at work and me looking after Leo that it wasn't going to be an option, we have bills to pay, household chores to do and general daily living like anybody else with a mortgage and a 1 year old. We had a month when we...

Hello there! Are you still with me? I'm back after my UK trip and very glad to be home again. Although it was nice to catch up with family and friends it was a lot harder than I anticipated. Strangely the bit I was most worried about was the flights but they were not that bad. The difficulty came in moving about as we stayed in four different places and Leo didn't know whether he was coming or going! I hadn't realised what a difference it makes when AJ gets home, even if it is usually after Leo's bedtime.  It was lovely to see my parents and best friends, and for them to see Leo. He learnt several things whilst away, AJ could not believe how much he had changed in 3 weeks. He has become very talkative and loving - giving everyone kisses and "high fives"   Another good thing about the trip is that I realised that a lot of the things I thought I was missing are not that important to me now. The things I love about living in Cyprus more ...

To me, a summer holiday usually means beaches, pools, and wall to wall sunshine, this year I'm doing things a little backwards as I'm leaving all of that behind and going back to England for 3 weeks.  Apart from travelling with a 14 month old baby and without the help and company of AJ I am really looking forward to it. I've been here for 8 months now and although it has flown by it does seem an age since I saw my friends and family. It's not going to be a relaxing break as I have so much packed into the time I am there, but when was holidaying with a baby ever relaxing anyway! I can't wait to catch up with my friends and family, and for them to see how much Leo has grown, he is almost walking and is developing a real little personality now, so different from when we left last November. Also (and  I know this sounds very shallow) as importantly I am so looking forward to shopping! I cannot wait to hit Primark, Asda and Matalan, and even shops I used rarely...

Wow, we've been in our new home 6 months already! Time confuses me, how can it seem that we've been here forever as well as feeling like it's happened in the blink of an eye? It doesn't really feel like 6 months since I've not seen people I saw every week but I can hardly seem to remember being anywhere other than here! I love it here, both our home and our adopted country. It took me longer than AJ to get it, it was a bigger change for me though once he started work. I went from being surrounded by people to help with Leo and friends I could ring and visit when needed, to having no car, no friends nearby and dealing with a baby for the first time on my own in a country I'd hardly spent any time in. AJ on the other hand was going to work and playing pool on a Wednesday with the boys and living in his own place for the first time in nearly two years. I did have a few low days, no regrets though even at the time, I knew I had to give it time but the days can ...