A matter of choice

When I was pregnant, I planned to have Leo sleep in a moses basket for some time. We borrowed a gorgeous one from my Mother in law, the one in fact that Aaron had slept in.  Leo however ended up sleeping in it for just a few days, he was a big baby (9lb 9oz making him the biggest of all of my Mother in law's 3 children and 9 grandchildren at birth)  and as he moved the noise of the wicker moving used to wake him up.

So at just a few days old he slept in his cot for the first time, he took to it perfectly and slept brilliantly even though it seemed like such a huge place to put such a little man, even though he seemed so much happier. It was lucky it was so warm at the time as from day one he hated being swaddled, covered by a blanket or wearing too many clothes - good job we ended up in Cyprus really!

Apart from various nights in a travel cot, a make shift cot / bed on a narrow boat and a suitcase on our first night in Cyprus, Leo has always slept in this same cot. At first the d…

A new house becomes a home when a well-loved picture goes back up on the wall, or when treasured possessions come out of the bubble wrap. When it gradually fills with all the things you know and love as they emerge from their boxes, things that were long ago packed away to make a very long journey across the world.

A house becomes a family home when there are toys scattered about, and fingerprints are on the TV (and doors, and everything else!)

And a nondescript living room becomes a proper 'big boy's bedroom when it is transformed from this...

to this...

Leo has finally got his bedroom finished, it's been a while coming but was worth the wait. Last year Aaron transformed what was an open plan living area into a bedroom and yesterday it was finished off. Leo now has a lovely bedroom, decorated and with a new 'big boy bed'! 
We surprised him with it yesterday and he was over the moon. Today he's been telling everyone he had a new bedroom and it has 'Mickey …

Gravesend, according to Wikipedia is a town in northwest Kent in England on the south bank of the river Thames opposite Tilbury in Essex.

This photo of Gravesend is courtesy of TripAdvisor
Gravesend, according to many people who live there is a bit of a s**thole. 
Gravesend, according to me is a place full of many fond memories (and some bad ones but we ignore those!) 
I lived in Gravesend from 1997 until 2003 and then continued to go back for the next six years after moving away until we eventually left the country. We met a fantastic crowd of people there and had more brilliant drunken nights out than I could possibly count, or remember!  It's the first place I lived when I left home to first live with Aaron, we had a great year sharing a house with two others, - all men, I was the only girl!  Looking back it was great fun but I could never do it again!

I later moved into my own flat in one of our 'not a couple' phases. Although at first I was unhappy I loved my little flat …

Officially my idea of a brilliant evening includes lots of drinking dancing and coming home at silly o'clock in the morning but coming in a very close second is a good old games night, it's much cheaper, and you're not likely to lose your handbag and get sore feet. (although it doesn't guarantee you won't still have a fuzzy head in the morning!)
Saturday night was BBQ and Game night, and we had some games to try out courstesy of TACTIC games. 

First up was Dotto - a race against time to match the coloured dice to the patterns on the card.  On initially reading the instructions we thought it it looked a bit dull but how wrong we were!  It actually turned out to be mine and my Mum's favourite.   The timer is unpredictable so you have no idea who will get buzzed and it is hilarious as everyone starts getting a bit competitive, and addition of 'skip' and 'reverse' cards mean it can be your turn at any time!
We all loved it, it is aimed at age 7 and up,…

One of the things we are trying to teach Leo at the moment is how to ask for things without whining. I know whining tends to come naturally to a 2 yr old but we're starting to get there slowly, with a little prompting he has started to change the whine (you know the tone of voice!) into 'Peease can I have sausage and pasta peease Mummy' or 'Leo like to watch Thomas now peease Mum'

It only seems like yesterday that he was smearing food over his face (oh wait, that was yesterday) and learning that there was a lot more exciting things than milk.

I decided when he was very small that 'Baby led Weaning' was the way forward. I had a few doubts at first, and endlessly stressed about what I should feed him or whether I 'should' be pureeing and spoon feeding.  At the time I didn't have internet access which I found really hard, I'd previously spent a long time reading though the Baby led weaning site and couldn't use it when I needed it most.

In t…

I'm enjoying the Expat Blog hop hosted by Tales from Windmill Fields  which I have taken part in the last couple of weeks. This week we are invited to...

Tell us about a bit of history from your Expat country that fascinates you, impacts your life there, means something to you.


I live in Derynia, a very well known village in Cyprus as it is right on the Green Line, the line that partitions the island of Cyprus into the southern area known as the Republic of Cyprus and the northern area controlled by the Turkish Army. The Green line came into being in 1964 originally drawn up as a ceasefire line but then became impassable after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.   


Derynia is home to the Cultural Centre of Occupied Famagusta, situated at the road block at to the occupied area. It is where the all the demonstrations against the occupation take place and attracts many visitors from all over the world as well as students from all over Cyprus. From here you can take binoculars to th…

I am very lucky to have a wonderful Mum, we are very close, have always got on well and although over the years she may have driven me slightly mad (but that's including going back to live with her twice as an adult so it's not bad!) you cannot fault the way she powers on through any obstacles that come her way.

One of the obstacles she has to face is the fact that she suffers from Meniere's disease, a disorder of the inner ear


Meniere’s Disease (Syndrome)  equals  Tinnitus - Vertigo - Deafness
People say they: Have a fuzzy head, feel light-headed, feel woozy, have eye pains, noise or pressure in their head or ears, double vision or blurred vision. See moving objects and rooms spinning. Sickness, nausea, have burping. Feel they are in a virtual reality, have a sensation of not being in the room when they are, become forgetful and lose concentration. Have a drunken feeling, a staggering walk and veer from side to side. Bump into doors, have feelings of falling all the time an…