A Matter of Choice

It's almost mid September and you can feel the change in seasons approaching, the skies are still blue, the sun is still hot and temperature are still high during the day, but the schools have gone back and the tourists numbers slowly start to decrease, there is more of a breeze in the air and the white fluffy clouds start to reappear in the sky. The swimming pools start to cool, and the wind gives you goose bumps when you get out, the sea no longer feels like stepping in a too warm bath.  The nights are drawing in but it no longer makes me sad like it did many years ago, it makes me look forward to a Cyprus autumn with its slightly cooler days and the chance to wear clothes long discarded to the back of the wardrobe. It's a chance to walk again, to go to the park and to not worry about the intensity of the sun and to always be on the lookout for a bit of shade. It's the chance to enjoy the beautiful September skies..... Linking to The Gallery - this week...

After promising to get back to blogging basics what better timing to join in with the Gallery for the first time in goodness knows how long, with the perfect prompt for the moment 'A younger me' Last week I had the surprise of my life when Aaron came home late Sunday night with my friend of 33 years!  I last saw her on my very short trip to England in February 2013 and the other time I went to the UK in August 2010. I constantly badger her to stay in contact via skype but hadn't thought for a second she would be able to actually come and visit, with family, work and voluntary commitments, plus the cost of flights, and the fact that she'd never traveled before, I always thought it was a far off possibility. Let me share with you, the younger 'us' From pre-school, to primary, secondary and then (briefly) college we did it all together. Five children between us, with her eldest and my youngest having almost a 17 year old age gap, makes no difference, a ...

I never used to consider myself a morning person, when I started work at 17 in my local Safeways I often used to have 6am starts and they killed me. My Dad worked shift work and was often coming home as I was leaving and was always annoying cheerful whilst I would mumble a reply and leave the house. These days due to the incredible non-sleeping child , and the fact that his brother was not much better mornings start much much earlier than I would have once imagined. After more than four years of very early starts and forced early nights as I cannot deal with being tired, the morning is not such a bad thing to me,  (the broken sleep preceding it is the bit I don't like!) Many times I am rudely awoken and dragged out of bed by a screaming toddler - he has not once woken up happy in his 16 months, but for most of the year there is a sight that always cheers me up. It's much harder to be annoyed at the early alarm call when you step onto the balcony and see this When ...

This is the younger me.... It's certainly the younger me - taken after my 30th birthday party when 2 of my friends who were sleeping the night at our house and we decided to carry on the party when we got home. The younger me, who went out drinking and didn't worry how bad her head would be in the morning or how many times she would have to get up in the night. Who could spend the whole day on the sofa watching tv or sleeping or having a 2 hour bath. (ok I never did that but I could have!) Who could wear heels and not only walk but also dance (well kind of!) Who had just lost 4 stone and was looking and feeling better than ever before. Who sat staring at her birthday cards unable to believe she had just turned 30 and felt old. Who still used to celebrate her birthdays in style. Who lived in England Who had a few best friends that she could never imagine being out of close contact with. Who could never have imagined what the next few years were going t...

Two years ago I published a blog post ' The many faces of Leo'  where I had a series of photos of him pulling different faces for me, so when I saw this weeks Gallery theme was expressions it was the first thing that came to mind. I showed him the original photos and the blog post and explained that I wanted to write a new one and he was very happy to oblige, although he had to choose the faces he made this time!

I burn my candle at both ends,  It will not last the night.  But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends,  It gives a lovely light. My Dad grew up with his Dad telling him not to 'burn the candle at both ends' and he often said it to me too. Although I quite like the quote now at the time it drove me mad! Then I thought it a load of rubbish and decided that I'd rather pour petrol on the bloody candle and have a huge flame - that sounded much more fun! The thing is, a youthful candle is much longer lasting! This is one of my all time favourite photos of me, although my Mum hated it! It was taken in 1994 in Minorca on my last holiday with my parents. I loved that dress although I didn't ever have the confidence to wear it anywhere other than on holiday. Not sure why looking at the photo, I wish I'd realised I was that slim at the time! Once upon a time I could drink, party and stay up late and still get up for work in the morning, nowadays I ...

This week's Gallery prompt is The Letter C.   It was fairly obvious which C I was going to use, I did think for a while but it HAD to be C yprus really! but the problem was choosing the photo as I have hundreds! I decided to narrow it down by picking something in Cyprus beginning with C. So, here's  Cape Greco  (It's actually Kavo Greko, in Greek but most of the English signs say Cape, and that starts with C!)  I love Cape Greco, its one place we have taken every single visitor to.  Cape Greco is the headland between Agia Napa and Protaras and is the eastern most point of Europe (the Karpas peninsula would be but that is in northern Cyprus and therefore not officially recognised as being in Europe).  I still couldn't choose just one photo, I struggled even choosing which photo to use in the collages! It's such a beautiful area you just can't help taking photos every time you go. Cape Greco sea caves Depending o...

I've not joined in with many Gallery prompts this year so far except last weeks which was 'Girls' when I wrote about my best girlies who I'll be off to see later today for the first time in years (did I mention I'm quite excited!) Obviously the logical prompt to follow that was going to be Boys and I couldn't miss that one, especially as I'll be leaving them behind while I make my flying visit to the UK! If you'd have asked me many years ago what my preference would be I'd have no doubt said I'd like  girl, especially if I had already had a boy, but I really couldn't imagine it any other way now. I love my boys to bits and couldn't imagine a girly world of pink and fluffy anymore. I never expected I'd know all the engines from Thomas or be so familiar with Bob and Mike the Knight and I hate to admit it but Aaron may have a point - boys stuff is cooler than girls! It's going to be very strange spending five days awa...

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...

When Aaron and I got our first house together it wasn't long before we got our first dog... I say first because one day hopefully we will live in a place big enough to have our second! Ellie was a very timid dog when she arrived with us and quickly turned into a 'Daddy's girl' We never really knew how old she was but she was madder than a box of frogs and acted like she was still a pup , so much so that she became known as 'The puppy dog' all the time.   Well, that and her gorgeous puppy dog eyes..... When we decided to move to Cyprus we debated for ages whether to bring her with us but I think we really knew the answer straight away.  Living in a 1 bedroom 3rd floor apartment was not the best option for a dog and she never did well in the heat at the best of times.   She was still a little nervous at times and we were not sure she'd even make the flight.  It was sad to see her go but she went to a good home with a friend of a friend. ...

Love it or hate it even in Cyprus where it's not widely acknowledged you can't avoid the fact it's Halloween, so it's no surprise that this weeks Gallery theme is 'Frightful'  It didn't take me long to figure out what photo to dig out the archives... Meet Scary Clown, aka my husband in his favourite fancy dress costume of all time!  This was his outfit of choice on a adult party weekend at Butlins several years ago. I tried to disown him for the night but as much as we tried we couldn't lose him even in a packed nightclub, you could always tell where he was by the screams coming from random people as they ran away!   

This week's Gallery theme is 'Books' I can't remember a time when I didn't read. There have been so many books over the years I'd loved, I have no idea how many books I've read but for each time of life there are always a few which stick out in your mind, even as far back as  I can remember, back to my play-school days.... No prizes for guessing which classic book we were characters from... It was our playschools end of year show, I was the butterfly and all I had to do was crawl out of the cocoon (a table covered in brown paper)  after my friend the hungry caterpillar had crawled into the other side. I was very shy anyway and wasn't very happy about doing it probably but unfortunately, I hit my head on the table as I came out - I can still remember the pain!    I saw my Mum in the audience and ran straight to her crying! No amount of persuasion could get me back on stage, I think in the end my Mum came up to...

This week's Gallery theme is old. When my Mother in law got married she spent £5 on her bridal veil........   Five WHOLE pounds.  Her Mum was not happy and thought it was far too much to spend on something she would just wear once. It's a good job then that my sister in law borrowed it from her Mum for her own wedding and then..... I think it was money well spent, don't you?

Today I dug out my great collection of fitness DVDs, they've been gathering dust for quite a while now due to pregnancy, the heat and general laziness!  But believe it or not most of them have been very well used in their time.  Before I amassed this collection exercise was not a word in my vocabulary, growing up I hated sport (unless it was an excuse to go out drinking) When I started Slimming World back in 2006 I was pleased to hear you didn't HAVE to exercise but it didn't take me long to realise that it would make a huge difference to my weight loss and that I would actually start to get fit for probably the first time in my life! My first purchase was the Ministry of Sound Pump it Up DVD, I loved the music and thought it would be fun - but I nearly died when I tried to do it, It was impossible, I couldn't breathe and couldn't get anywhere close to what they were doing on screen. I dismissed it as gimmicky and thought them just an...

Years ago, my 8pm was once a time for finishing work or getting ready to go out, in some ways the start of the day, or at least the best bit! 8pm  - just down the road in Agia Napa, you can still see people heading back to their hotels after a day at the beach, it's not even a time for many of the holiday makers there to even be going out for the evening,  well when lots of places don't even open until 1am you can't peak too early! My 8pm for the last few years has been the time Aaron gets home from work, it's usually when I would have dinner ready for. Leo would have been in bed for an hour having gone to bed dead on 7pm almost every night for a long time now.  He's always been a very early riser and making his bedtime later usually means he gets up even earlier  (WHY, what is that all about?!) so I like to stick to it. Also he's a big stickler for routine so it's easier not to mess with it - anything for a quiet life! Saying that, I've always be...

I wasn't planning on joining in with the Gallery this week, figuring I'd be a little busy, but last Friday just as I was preparing to go into hospital for my induction I spotted the theme for this week...... Movies.    Well, when you get engaged at a production of the brilliant production of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and then several years later actually get to picnic at the site the film was shot it just has to be done. Aaron and I have been Rocky fans for a long time and when I realised that the fan club held an annual picnic at Oakley Court Hotel in Windsor on August bank holiday which just happens to fall on the weekend after our wedding anniversary we couldn't resist getting ourselves some tickets. "Over at the Frankenstein Place" It was a brilliant, if not slightly surreal weekend. Full of fans of all ages enjoying the sunshine, food and of course the fact that we were at Oakley Court! There was an extra surprise when the Richar...

This week's Gallery theme is Sky - well, when all the doors in your home (we have no windows!) open to this view you tend to amass quite a collection of photos of the sky. During the summer the skies are usually cloud free which doesn't make for the most interesting photographs, as lovely as wall to wall blue sky can be it's the differences in the sky at different times of the year that make the most stunning shots.  We've taken so many since living here it's impossible to choose just one. There is sunrise... We've had clouds.... Stormy.... Amazing rainbows... and stunning sunsets... I don't think I'll ever get bored of our balcony view!

For a long time now the council here have been doing roadworks (actually I can't remember a time in the 3 years we've been here that there hasn't been some somewhere) in our area.  The roads surrounding our apartment at the moment! Even without the roadworks it is a very dusty place to live, as there is a lot of empty ground around us and obviously this gets very dry in the summer. You kind of have to give up in the end as you can dust and mop the apartment  / balcony in the morning and then less than an hour later it looks like you haven't bothered, but it's a hundred times worse at the moment, even the slightest gust of wind whips up a dust storm you can hardly see through - which is nice when our patio doors are open (which is most of the time!) The way they carry out the works is amazing, there seems to be no pattern at all to the work or the hours in which they do it. They also seem to do a little bit everywhere at once so the whole village is a little...

Many people say that they go off their food in the heat of the summer, unfortunately this is not something that's ever affected me!  There is very little (if anything) that puts me off my food. However what I can't stand is the  extra heat created by cooking so given the choice I turn to meals that need less oven time or, even better - BBQ's (also, because that's a 'man thing' it means I just have to make salad!)  One of my staple dishes in the summer is this....    blatantly stolen from my friend Kelly, who made it for us not long after we moved over 3 years ago, I've been making it ever since! Cucumber, tomato, onion, with a little bit of lemon juice, salt and mint. I use it with many meals but one of my favourites, and easiest if there are a group of us is this.... Jacket potatoes,  vegetable rice,  fried halloumi, chicken, warm pitta bread and tzatziki,  preferably washed down with copious amounts ...

This weeks Gallery prompt got me thinking.... 'The Everyday'   What do we do everyday?   We get up everyday usually before 7am for Leo and I,    Aaron works everyday till the end of the summer season,  We eat,   We clean - (oh hang on we're talking EVERY day, so maybe not!)  We watch tv/ use the laptop  We see my Mum and Dad. There are lots of things we do sometimes... Swim, paint, visit friends, bake, go to the beach, go shopping and go to nursery school (but not on the 'end-week' as Leo calls it) But then I realised the thing we do EVERY day.... 'The Everyday' We build a track, often first thing in the morning and hopefully at the moment with help from Daddy, as getting on and off the floor is proving to be quite tricky at the moment!  Removing the element of discomfort from crawling around the floor with a 7 month baby bump I do quite enjoy making the tracks and get quite a worrying sense of achievement ...