A Matter of Choice

This week for Flashback Friday Karin from Cafe Bebe has given us a theme.... Before and After.   I've decided to go one better - so in keeping with the reason I started this blog here is my Before, During and after! This was taken in May 2007 and was the first I saw of our new home since we had stood in the field trying to imagine what it might look like in October 2007. It was quite unnerving not even knowing if they had broken ground so getting these photos sent through by a kind neighbour was so exciting! In July 2008 we came out on holiday and stayed just down the road, one of the first things we did was to drive straight to the site and see how it looked.... Our kitchen I was a little worried as I thought it looked small (and we weren't even expecting Leo then!) but Aaron seemed more than happy and he's the expert so I was fine. It turns out that he was totally worried we had done a stupid thing but just pretended otherwise knowing that I'd panic! ...

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,...

It's been a while since my last blog due to a combination of chaos and lack of internet ! We are currently in between homes, having left my parents but staying with my very lovely friend Nic (she might be reading!) We have been to the apartment - (more on that later) and been busy sorting stuff out here and tying up lots of loose ends. This weekend will be busy, we have a leaving party at our local and also Christening / Leaving do on the Sunday. While I am looking forward to both I'm worried I'll be really upset saying goodbyes :( I almost feel it would be easier to just go now as it seems like I've already left, but obviously I wouldn't as I'm never one to miss a party! Our apartment is lovely, I suppose sounds like a strange thing to say after months of looking at the photos which of course look lovely but it's still not the same as being there. I am so pleased that we made the trip even though we'll be back there for good in a week as it gave ...

Our apartment is in the village of Derynia which is on the east coast about 2km south of what is often known as "the ghost town" of Famagusta - the old tourist town which was abandoned in the invasion of 1974 by Turkey. You can actually see some of the abandoned hotels from our balcony. It's about 5 miles from Ayia Napa and Protaras so close enough to visit but far away enough that we're not surrounded by tourists all summer long! The apartment is a large one bed penthouse appartment, I say large as it is 79 sqm and if it was 80sqm it could be classed as a 2 bed! Aaron has completely redesigned the kitchen (It's what he does!) and so we now have a lovely big kitchen / living area with a breakfast bar and big patio doors which almost take up the whole wall, opening onto a balcony where we will have our dining table. There is a lounge which will become our bedroom and the main room (as it's furthest away) will be Leo's. There is another larger b...