A Matter of Choice

My Sunday photos today were taken earlier this week on a walk along the beach path in Pernera.  I walked alone with the plan to listen to music along the way but ended up enjoying the sound of the sea too much, it turns out I also don't really like not knowing what's happening around me, it really makes me jump if someone walks up behind me!  There was a lovely feel of spring in the air, and lovely to see a few gorgeous yellow flowers along the way and feel some real warmth in the sun.   I love this time of year in Cyprus,  when it starts to warm up a little and the promise of everything coming back to life.  Winter is always quiet and I always feel that this time of year is full of anticipation - Carnival and Green Monday is usually around now, or very soon,   and after that it all seems to begin.  Of course this year like last is looking to be very different, but we can only hope better days will be here soon. 

It's my favourite time of year! After cold winter spring seems to appear suddenly, almost overnight. You can feel a real warmth in the sun and you start to remember the kind of heat that will be on the way in the next couple of months. Unless you also live in Cyprus I expect you are thinking 'Cold winter? She doesn't know the meaning of cold' etc etc, but living here in winter is a whole different kind of cold.   While it might nice enough outside, indoors can be uncomfortably cold. The houses are really hard to heat and we end up wearing so many layers and snuggling under blankets all the time!    This year has also seen an amazing amount of rainfall, the most I think in over 100 years I'm sure I read somewhere.   The country is just not good at dealing with this and there are been roads collapsing and property damage all over the place. But Spring has sprung and I just love it! Carnival week always seems to be the start of it, everything s...

I love this time of year in Cyprus!  Over the last month the tourist areas have become a hive of activity as restaurants, hotels and bars prepare to reopen after the winter.  Carnival, Green Monday and the bank holidays, Easter and the anticipation of the summer season just around the corner gives us a spring in our step and a sense of optimism. It all begins with Tsiknopempti (which literally translates to 'Thursday of the smoke of grilled meat', due to the gorgeous aroma of meat being barbequed all over the island).   It's not widely celebrated by many expats here, I knew nothing about it until the boys started school but for me it now marks the start of the celebrations.  Last year I joined Leo at school to watch the celebrations and enjoy the BBQ laid on the for the parents, staff and children.  This year Leo is in big school and once again I went in to join the fun. It was a little strange as I was (as always) the only English Mum there, but...

My lovely boys on Mother's Day.  Leo is now getting 'homework'. They choose a book each week to take home and read, then to draw a picture or something relating to it.  I'm helping him as much a I can but they are REALLY hard to read! Having a go on the see-saw together in the park opposite school, every day he wants to play before we go home, we do usually stop for a quick play! This is the cute little face I woke up to on Wednesday, it was probably the first time he has woken up happy and it had been possibly the best nights sleep he's ever had! We had a lovely afternoon on Thursday in the sunshine when we went for a walk along a stretch of the beach path we've not explored before. It's not the best photo ever as he wouldn't keep still, but Leo was so very happy to get a Spiderman costume yesterday. He has been saying he would like one for ages and every day has asked us to go to the 'Spiderman costume shop'!...

This week we have had several days of gorgeous weather, spring arrived suddenly and t-shirts and flip flops made a re-appearance.  The summer season starts in just a couple of weeks and I've noticed people starting to get excited about it.  Of course for us, and many people here once the summer starts in April life changes as people go back to work for the season so now is a good time to get out and about to do things together. On Thursday we went for a walk and picnic after school on the Agia Napa - Protaras beach path, a section we've never walked before. Not being able to resist a deserted beach Leo and I had a walk on the sand too, but as we weren't really prepared for a beach trip he ended up in his pants while I rolled up my trousers and tried to explain why I was not taking mine off too! I tried to get some nice photos of Leo but he was mainly running ahead so it wasn't too successful! It was a lovely afternoon, gorgeous views, lovely warm weathe...

This weeks reasons to be cheerful.... 1. Spring has arrived here in Cyprus and the weather is starting to change, it won't be long before the shorts and dresses are unearthed from the back of my wardrobe and we can hit the beaches again. Also we will have a few months of lower electricity bills as we can stop trying to heat our uninsulated apartment, I love the bit in between needing the heating on and having to use the air conditioning! 2. I'm going out with the girls on Saturday night, and having a lie in on Sunday morning - yay! We are going to one of my local pubs so I don't even have to drive, looks like I might be needing the lie in :) 3. Leo is back to drinking water during the day after weeks of refusing anything but milk . It was starting to become a problem as he was filling up on it and eating less. Still won't drink out of anything but a bottle but it's only water so I'm not too bothered at this stage. He thinks it's juice though bless ...