A Matter of Choice

Does it snow in Cyprus? You may be surprised to know that it does snow, every year but high in the mountains. You can ski from around December to February (and on a good day get to the beach for a sunbathe in the same day).   There are times when many mountain roads are closed to normal vehicles and it's a very popular day out for the novelty value of seeing the snow. We took Leo up the Troodos mountains t wo years ago which was fun for a short while until he got cold and told us he never wanted to go there again! So, snow in Cyprus is a regular event, and not surprising at all,  unless it reaches the coastal areas and then everyone goes a little bit crazy. It always amuses me when it snows in the UK and everyone (as I would!)  runs to facebook and instagram to tell the world it is snowing, when in reality they could just look out their window. The snow panic, the rush to buy bread and milk, the chaos on the roads and the schools closing left, right and cen...

Loukas started nursery this week, I think it might have all caught up with him.   I thought he was a little bit quiet and turned around to see he hadn't even managed to eat his lunch or even sit down before falling asleep!

Why don't you turn off that tv and do something less boring instead? Do you remember that program?  I may just be showing my age. but I always used to watch it in the school holidays, obviously not taking the advice from the opening credits!  (I assume they meant turn off the TV AFTER the program had finished! )  Back in the days pre-children I swore blind that they wouldn't sit in front of the television all day, it would be on for a small amount of time each day for fun but educational programs which we would watch together and talk about to see what we had learnt...... yes I know I was somewhat deluded and had no idea what would inevitably happen.  (I also thought I would only feed them nutritious and healthy home cooked meals and very strictly ration sweets, crisps and junk food but that's a whole other blog post!)  Between birth and about 6 months Leo had never watched a program, although I was quite a fan of inane daytime tv when he was tiny, ...

The story of our move to Cyprus is like many things in our lives, fairly random, and it's taken me five years to get round to writing it down. I thought it was about time considering this was the reason I started a blog in the first place! You can read part one here - Let's Move to Cyprus The idea of moving was talked about more and more and it was starting to feel like was actually something we could do, although we were still yet to ever have set foot in the country. It does seem ridiculous, especially as I knew nothing about Cyprus and could only imagine it to be somewhere between Greece and Turkey (in appearance, not just geographically!)  Which makes it more strange as I'd been to Turkey and didn't much like it, and I'd been to Greece (Corfu) and stayed in a cheap and nasty apartment on a teenage drinking holiday  so my idea of a combination of the two countries didn't fill me with confidence! My Mum and Dad however had been to Cyprus many times a...

We spent Christmas Eve having a fairly normal day but we took the boys to the park in the afternoon for a chance to burn off some energy and excitement.When we got home the Christmas countdown really began as we started to track Santa and play some festive games together on my laptop. For the third year I produced the 'Snuggle Sack' much to the delight of the boys. This year the boys had new pyjamas, we all had crisps, and chocolates to share, as well as a Christmas story and the boys stockings and our 'Santa Stop Here' sign and a new DVD.   Earlier in the day Leo had said in a random comment that one day he'd love to have a special Hot Chocolate with cream and sprinkles, like he'd seen on a Christmas game. As we sat to watch the film asked if he'd like a special hot chocolate, with cream, chocolate sprinkles, a chocolate stick and a candy cane, you should have seen his face!   He jumped for joy and said 'Thank you, thank you Mummy, I'm so ...

Last year I became aware of a fantastic charity by the name of KEPA 'St Christopher's Centre for Offering and Love'  after being involved in the Daxi Magazine Easter Collection.  I chose to donate all the money raised at the Famagusta Parents Network fun day to the collection, and was kindly invited to the foundation for a tour. The centre, based in Paralimni is run by volunteers and does a huge amount of work for so many members if all ages in the community. From the well equipped special needs school which helps more than 100 children with qualified teachers helping them to walk, speak, write and more, to the nursing home for the elderly it really covers everything. The centre provide 'Baskets of Love' and this is mainly where the Daxi Easter collection was able to help out. By the donations the centre receive they are able to distribute essentials of food and drinks for families in desperate need. Since 1998 they have been delivering food parcels to the sur...

Back in 2012 I took part in Project 52, posting a 'Silent Sunday' photo each week here on my blog, I watched many of my favourite bloggers completing the more ambitious 365 Project - a photo a day for a year and by the start of 2013 I had been tempted to join in. After Aaron telling me he'd be surprised if I lasted 2 weeks I was determined to see it through, and I did, taking at least one photo every day for the entire year. It was a struggle, especially for the last few months, not so much always taking the photos but keeping up with publishing them all, they also started to feel a bit forced at the end, like I was taking them for the sake of it.  I decided not to attempt it again for 2014, and I found I hardly took any photos during the year to what I had in previous years.  Now, armed with a new phone which has a decent camera I'm planning to change that.  Although I have bigger plans this year with blogging I'm not ready to take on the daily challe...

Happy New Year! I'm really excited about 2015 but before we get too far I'm taking the chance to look back over Christmas and the festivities leading up to it.  We had a great time and there was so much going on this year, a big difference from when we first arrived in 2009. I didn't have my 'blogging head' on this month so have fewer photos than previous years but I enjoyed it all in person without seeing it all through the camera. The festivities started early this year with Leo's school fete in the park opposite his school which was the last weekend in November. It's the third time we've attended now and as ever was a really enjoyable afternoon.  Like previous years our highlight was the trip on the Red Bus with a present from Santa, but Leo also enjoyed the craft tables and the games which were set up all around the park. There were also pony rides and a few small fairground rides but he wasn't interested in any of them! As it got dark ev...

2014 has been an interesting year, full of change for us and new beginnings. January was a quiet month for us, same old stuff and no real hint of the things to come. Looking back to remind myself of anything interesting I may have forgotten I see that I only took a handful of photos and wrote very few blog posts, something that continued all year unfortunatly. Creating with Daddy. February saw the launch of my website - the Famagusta Parents Network and I threw myself into launching the site and all that goes with it. It's been a lot of work but I've enjoyed it so much (and still am!) and I've been really pleased with the support and contributions I've received from the community. March was carnival time and we got to join our friends on the Performers Academy float in the parade which was great. Blogging was sparse again as I was spending all my free time working on the FPN site and planning the first Family Fun Day which was brilliant fun but somewh...

Over the last year I have seen some of my favourite blogs taking part in the 'Me and Mine' family portrait project, it's something I've enjoyed seeing and but not got round to taking part it.  It's rare that we get a photo of the four of us, as one of us is always behind the camera but I treasure the few photos we have together. With the start of our business Klik Photography it feels even more important to get the family shots, we had plans for a festive family photo shoot using Aaron's new mobile portratit studio but Christmas and work unfortunately distracted us. All is not lost though as we have been busy setting up our new addition to the company for 2015, Klik Photography now has the PARTY BOOTH, a digital portable photobooth for events, wedding and parties. The boys have wanted to be involved in all the excitement of unpacking the boxes and building the booth on our practice runs, and of course who could stop them from diving into all the props we ar...

Where is the time going to? How have I only managed to write 63 blog posts this year!   I know I've had the Famagusta Parents Network as well for the first time this year but still it's a huge departure from the 256 and 287 posts of 2011 and 2012! I miss my blog but the less I write, the harder it seems to get into it. I have so many posts in my head but they are vague and I am struggling to get them out there, being far to easily distracted by facebook, youtube and even the time sucking wast of time that is Buzzfeed.com! I've always dipped in and out of twitter and gone through phases of loving it and ignoring it for weeks on end but with the temperamental piece of junk that is my phone I've even lost my love of instagram, both of which keep my blogging habit up without too much effort. There's so much I want to write about, the opening of my friends new venture - 'Tiny Acorns Creativity Centre', the Christmas events we've been too,  Leo's...

Recently I was asked the question 'Are you home for Christmas?'  I replied that yes I was although for the first time we were going out for Christmas dinner.  The reply threw me, 'When do you leave?' Um, well I think they are serving dinner at 2pm? Ah.... they were asking me if I was going to England for Christmas,  I'd completely missed the point of the question! I don't have anything against going back to England for a visit, in fact I'd love to be able to go (not now, far too cold!) to meet up with friends and replenish our wardrobes but I wouldn't fancy going back for Christmas. I know that having my parents here means that I don't have the pull and the same reason for wanting to be there over the festive season which is the obvious reason for many to return. I've heard many people here say that Christmas in Cyprus just isn't the same and it doesn't feel 'Christmassy' but I disagree. Maybe it's the fact I have ...

Photo by ' FPN ' Konnos Bay, Cape Greko, Cyprus..... one of my favourite beaches. This photo was taken from the top of Konnos Bay before you negotiate the often busy, twisty turning road leading to the beautiful beach. I'd never have thought back in 2007 when this photo was taken (by Aaron I now realise after accidentally taking the credit for it for all these years!) that it would be so well used! When I started this blog I used a standard template having no idea what else I could do, and figuring it didn't matter as no-one would notice I was writing one anyway.  After sometime I figured out how to add header, and even created a posh little badge. The  blog was originally going to be called ' Why the hell not?'   but I think the quote suits me and it quite well....

We are about to spend our 5th Christmas in Cyprus, and I love it!    Many people go back to the UK for Christmas or would like to, and while I do admit it is different here I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  (Of course, it is different having my parents here, I'm sure if I had a big family in England I'd be hopping on a plane if I could!) I can't really remember the first sign of Christmas in the UK,  only that it was probably too early. I LOVE Christmas, but I love it in December (or maybe towards the end of November, but ssshhh don't tell anyone).  Having worked in retail for many years in the UK it does dilute the excitement a little. Aaron and I have slightly different views on Christmas - he is adamant that Christmas is a DAY, whereas I argue that Christmas is a 'season'  -  well it says so in the song!   I actually prefer the build up to Christmas now more so than the day itself - decorating, going to Christmas events, seeing Santa,...

This month we will have lived in Cyprus 5 years, it's not that long in the scheme of things but it feels like a lifetime ago now that I was living in England and would have once dismissed the whole idea of moving here as just a ridiculous dream. I've been blogging only slightly longer than the time I've lived here, having started the blog with the idea of recording the move. Back in the early days I posted short posts and I've often regretted not elaborating on how it all came about.  I'd only written 2 posts before we actually left the UK and then was left without internet for 3 months while CYTA attempted to locate our apartment on the map. I'd never been to Cyprus before we thought about moving here, and I suppose that makes it a slightly strange thing to do. I touched on how it all came about in my very first blog post but I didn't consider myself a 'blogger' then and I don't feel like I really captured the story, so I thought I'd pl...

As exciting as the first rain after the summer is, I'm still not a huge fan despite the long hot summers I've experienced over the last few years.  Many of my friends here love the winter and relish the novelty of snuggling up with pyjamas and watching tv,  but I'd still rather take the long summer balcony evenings given the choice! I do love my duvet though, and I do get very excited over sausage and mash for dinner - Aaron refuses to eat anything like that over the summer so winter does have some plus points! Unlike living in the UK, there is a distinct difference between summer and winter - never in England did I pack my winter wardrobe away completely for the summer months and change my whole lifestyle as the nights drew in. I find over the summer I get lazy with what I wear - it seems so much easier then!  Get up, pick some shorts and a top, or a dress, flip flops - sorted! In winter, leggings, jeans, skirt or what?   Does it still fit?   Which sh...

People have asked me why I blog and it's a question I still struggle to answer, I like to create a record of things we've been up to, but of course I could have started a scrapbook or even just not hit publish and shared it with everyone. Maybe it  because I like to think that maybe I can make a difference, that is the reason I have run the ' Discovering Cyprus' , ' Birth in Cyprus and ' All Greek to me ' sections on this blog, and why I love running the FPN - I hope it can do some good for the area and help people along the way. I spend a huge amount of time online, between the two blogs, and the other places I write for,  as well as the other things I seem to get myself into to - being on the social team at Slimming World, setting up facebook pages, arranging coffee mornings and fun days, and nearly all of it is of no financial benefit to me  - considering we need to eat and stuff it's sometimes a wonder why I do it all.    But I do, and I love ...

I am a huge fan of Christmas, I always have been but since having kids I love it even more.  I've always said that Christmas is a 'Season' not just one day - well it says so in the song 'Tis the Season to be jolly'!  and most of the enjoyment for me comes from the run up to the actual day. Christmas in Cyprus is a lot more low key than in England, and that combined with the usual blue skies and sunshine means that I like to work a bit harder to create the 'Christmas magic' Last year the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed December, starting with the ‘Advent box’ – containing the advent calendar’s, Christmas themed books and colouring pages, and continuing with many different activities, such as decorating the tree and going to the various events in the area, and of course writing a letter to Santa together.    I remember the excitement as a child of going to see Santa and the thought that he would be soon delivering presents to all the good boys a...

After the success of last years Halloween event at Cyherbia Maze and Herb Gardens I was really excited about this year's offering.... yes I know it's for the kids really but I'm just a big kid at heart! Keeping it fresh, and offering something different for this year the theme was 'Halloween in Wonderland'. Inviting everyone to 'jump down the rabbit hole' and explore the 'Magic Maze' the 'Haunted Herb Garden' and discover many more suprises along the way. The Queen ordered her Royal Guards, the Aces to keep watch in the maze.  Our task was to find them, answer their question and collect a card from each of them. Leo and his friend love the maze and Louka ran around happily behind them, not having the pushchair for the first time was a huge bonus for us as pushing it around on the gravel is hard work, especially when you keep going the wrong way! As well as the Aces, the maze was hiding some spooky suprises too... Scattered ...