A Matter of Choice

Here we are in the second month of 2021. I hope you all made it through January relatively unscathed? What a strange time it is,  and what a strange mood I find myself in now it's February.    I'm happy to say I'm ok, which is pretty good I think considering.  I'm neither sad or bouncing off the walls happy, we are plodding along in our own little world and getting through it ok.  Home school isn't the best thing of course but the last 2 weeks have been a thousand times better than the previous lockdown so I'm feeling very grateful for that.  We have fallen into a routine of sorts with Leo getting on with his online lessons,  he's not really enjoying them but does it all without fuss and I'm proud of how he's handling it all.    Louka generally has worksheets to complete, and I usually have to sit with him to give him encouragement the whole time but if I give him 100% then we are muddling though them together with a bit of  Google trans...

Recently I was asked to contribute to the HiFX Expat page , which offers advice to those looking to move abroad. After contributing to their campaign, I realised that I have lots of useful information which I could offer future expats and my favourite... Let your new country become your home. People always say that 'Home is where the heart is', this has never been truer than when moving abroad, because if you still consider England to be your home, then that is where your heart will be. The day we arrived in Cyprus back in 2009 was the day it became our home, from the moment we stepped off the plane we made the conscious decision not to refer to England as 'home'. I figured that every time I thought of it as home I would feel like I didn't belong here and for me at least I didn't think I would be able to settle well if that was the case. I've met many expats who still refer to England as home even after many years here, they go back 'home...

Here in Cyprus Epiphany is celebrated on the 6th and it's a big bank holiday so today, January 7th was the first day back to 'normal' after the Christmas and New Year break. Leo woke up refusing to go to school at first but soon got over it when I let him have breakfast in a proper bowl 'like Mummy'  He looked a little shy going in and looked blankly at his teacher when she spoke to him, I understood what she said and helped him out but I guess he's just been used to hearing only English for the last 2 weeks and was confused! It felt strange coming home without him and Aaron went out just after I arrived, leaving Louka and I on our own for the first time in ages. Although it was chilly indoors the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm outside, I hung the washing out, while Louka ran around the balcony and tried to play swing ball with a brush, then we headed inside and I did almost an hour of exercise dancing and cardio boxing on the Wii while Louka d...

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 ...

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...

Welcome to week 2 of the new Flashback Friday, last week I was pleased to see seven of you lovely bloggers joining in, not bad at all for the first week!  This week I thought I'd help you out (hopefully!) and give you a theme...  Home. I've lived in 6 different places but they haven't all felt like 'home' I'm not sure what was missing and what a house actually needs to really feel like home but maybe I spent many years missing my childhood home! We moved into the house I grew up when I was 2 years old so it's the first house I remember. I moved out when I was 18 so its where I've spent the most time living so far.  I have so many memories from there and even after I moved out I still considered it more homely than the place I went to. (maybe because there was heating and food in the fridge there and Mum would do my washing!) In the early 90s my Dad redecorated my bedroom - the part of the house that was 'mine'. Looking back the colour does...

There's nothing like a very productive week to leave you feeling cheerful is there, and this week has been more productive than most. After more than two years we* have now painted every wall in our house.  Leo's room was finished  earlier this year, and this week Aaron's, with a little 'assistance' from Leo been on a decorating mission.  In just three days he has painted the front room, bedroom and bathroom, and it looks great. In the process we've also had a  rearrange of furniture and a big clear out. It's a perfect Januray activity for me as it's very productive and makes you feel like you're getting somewhere! The only thing left to be done is one wall in our bedroom which will be our 'feature wall' and then we have a fully decorated house.  I have a sneaky suspicion there will be changes again early next year and more rearranging as I once again lose patience with things being pulled off low shelves and move it all high up aga...

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 be...

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,...

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...

We are now officially Cyprus residents! We have our "pink slips" which for some reason are actually yellow, (I'm guessing that they used to e pink?) and that now enables us to claim child benefit and get medical cards so we can get reduced or free health care and prescriptions as a Cypriot would. Contrary to what I had been led to believe it was a very painless process, although that may be due to having a screaming baby while they were processing our application. At our appointment with immigration Leo was due for a nap and wasn't best pleased about it, he was so loud and so upset that the very nice lady dealing with our application said we could leave our paperwork and just come back later for our forms! I'm quite pleased we have sorted it all out just before my UK trip as when I return to Cyprus I really will be coming home. Not only that but it means I have completed the first item on my  101 list

 This photo was taken on the last "proper holiday" that AJ and I took, before the arrival of Leo. It was taken from a cliff side restaurant at my all time favourite beach - Konnos Bay in Cyprus. Funnily enough I was there again last week, You see our last holiday was an unusual one, we had come to see the progress of our new apartment and explore what would be our new village. This was in July 2008 almost two years ago to the day. Yesterday we took Leo to meet some friends at a local pool, it is on an apartment complex but is open to non-residents. It is also where we stayed back in 2008. It's a very surreal feeling still to go back (and we regularly do - it's a lovely pool for babies!) and sit among the holiday makers and to know that we are not cramming in the sun and the cocktails in a panic before our 2 weeks are up.  (or was that just me back then!) Are we on a permanent holiday? Of course we're not... AJ works long hours and is usually knackered...

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 ...