Why I love September!

Why do I love September?  September is the changing of times for many parents and other people.  It signifies the end of summer, through the end of holidays and the cooling of the days.  September, I would imagine when the job markets start to buzz after everyone has had their holidays.  September is a time for new things, new starts!  A time of change for parents with children starting school, getting used to a new routine of school hours and homework.

For me this September means several things, mostly when all the tourists leave (well the vast majority) and the beaches become quiet, restaurants not overly busy and the supermarket is accessible once again (without trolley-rage).  It also means the temperature becomes more comfortable, still hot but not stupidly hot, although this summer has been quite brezzy and not as hot as previous years, but I have still managed to get sunburnt.  The night become cool and you need to put a cardigan on if outside.

This year is particular significant, as my eldest daughter starts pre-school or what we call in England 'reception' year, to prepare for primary school next september, which is the start of 5 day schooling.  I am also putting my youngest into kindergarten three days a year and for two years we have been together every day!  That will be a wrench for both of us im sure.  To me those are big developments for both my children and one Im sure will bring new situations and worries.

But with them starting school brings me something new, a bit of a break from the constant childcaring and time to do something for myself.  I am going to start to teach english online, carry on with my Tots work and hopefully, start a small business with my husband.  So lots to do for everyone, hopefully a time of positive change and development for all!

September can be a funny time for many as the holidays end, some are pleased to have the kids back at school, but also feel a bit of loss at the family time gone and the long, dull winter ahead of them.  It is definately a time of change, for all parents, some good, some bad, but should be embraced. 

The Gallery: World Photography Day

This week's theme on the Gallery is World Photography Day, I love taking photos but dont do it as much as I should.  This week Tara asked us to take a photo from this weekend to celebrate World Photography Day. 

We had a pretty quiet weekend but one thing we did do was find a new park. One thing I really miss from england is the woodland parks, where you can walk and have picnics etc.  Here, in Portugal it can be quite difficult to find those kind of areas, and the beach can become abit samey, not to mention the sand in the sandwiches! But finally we found one, near my home there are signs for a 'parque de lazer' (leisure park) and I had tried to find it but couldnt, (signage is not always the best here), but I thought I would give it another try and we found it.  Where I grew up, we had lots of woods and I spent many a happy hour playing in the woods and fields, and its something I want my kids to have.

Its nice, with small pine and eucalyptus trees and paths to discover.  Lots of space for picnics and for little people to run and a play park.  What we also saw was a family of deer, (I did take a photo but my lens wasnt long enough), something familiar to me but not my children.  It is quite and peaceful, a nice place to spend time as a family and teach my children about nature.   And the views are great, you can see for miles.

Here they are with a quite random model of a cow, not so unusual in Portugal.

On a mission, in their stride

We are looking forward to many more hours spent discovering our newly found 'parque de lazer'.

Come over and see the other entries on The Gallery this week.

Guest posting: A matter of choice

Im not here today, but I am guest posting over at A matter of choice for Emma.  Emma is a fellow expat mum living in East Cyprus with her husband and little boy. 

Not having done many guest posts, I was really pleased when Emma asked me to do this.  My post is looking at the differences you find in expat friendships.  So come over and see what I've got to say, and let me know what you think. 

See you there.

Black & White: A family view

Having been inspired by The Gallery theme this week at Sticky Fingers, I wanted to share some more black & white prints of my family, great memories and nice views.  Hope you like it,



My baby, 3 days old, so peaceful, so innocent and beautiful

My baby, 2 years later!

My older baby, 5 and half years

Yeh, cowgirl!

From the interior of the Algarve, do you see the moon?



Blogging: 'Cyber Scrapbooking'?

A little while ago I read something that Tara Cain from Sticky Fingers wrote about why she blogged - she said one of the reasons she did it was to provide a record of her children's childhood, for herself but more for them.

And it got me thinking, does that make a blog, a kind of 'cyber scrapbook'?  Just like a scrapbook, most people keep pictures, with captions or short written pieces.  Each pages has a theme or subject.  But instead of putting it in a book, we put it into cyberspace to last forever. 

Is that not one of the reasons we make our blogs, for prosperity, I know I do.  Before computers and internet people would make scrapbooks and keep photo albums of everything.  Now we are more likely to photoshare with Flikr or Picassa or keep a blog or some kind of record, where we enter the information we want to keep.  And the great thing about this, is it (should) last forever and can be shared with people anywhere in the World.

What do you think?  Do you keep a blog as a kind of memory 'keepsake'?

Please note, I do not do scrapbooking (my stepmum does) but I am in no way saying it is outdated or not a great thing to do.

The Gallery: Black & White

This weeks theme at The Gallery on Sticky Fingers is Black & White.  

These pictures where taken on a wander around our part of the Algarve a few weeks ago.  This was taken from one of the old forts in a very small typical Algarvian village with small, whitewashed houses with blue shutters, and the views are great!     

A typical image in the sultry climate of the Algarve, never quite imagined I would live in a place with palm trees.

I love these pictures, but love them even more now I put them in Black & White, it gives a whole different look, and reminds me I should take more in Black & White.

Why not come and see what else is on The Gallery this week. 

Interview with an Expat Mum

Today I thought I would do something a bit different for me anyway, and to follow on from the post I wrote for Tots to Travel on expat mums and give an insight into an Expat Mum's life. 

I interviewed Sara Kinge, 38, who has three children aged between 9 years and less than a year.  She lives with her family in  Benidoleig on the Costa Blanca in Spain


Why did you leave the Uk?

We left the UK to have a baby! I had two miscarriages before I fell pregnant the third time and put the miscarriages down to the stressful and busy lives we led, all work and no play! We were very fortunate enough to both be able to take a year out, move to Spain, reform our house and have a baby.

Thankfully we did as William was born prematurely on Christmas Day just a month after arriving in Spain. I am sure if I had stayed working in the UK I would have miscarried again. Since William, Megan and Freddie have arrived without any problems so I really do believe our lives in the UK were just way too stressful

How long have you been an expat?
We have lived here now for eight and a half years.

What is the best thing about being an expat?
Not having to live in the rat race where we were in the UK!

What is the most difficult thing?
There are a few things for me, firstly finding specialists for William (he is profoundly deaf but has the huge advantage of a cochlear implant) especially English speaking speech therapists! The other thing is the language barrier, learning a language as an adult I have found so much harder than when I was at school. And of course, leaving family and friends behind, although having said that we are really lucky that we have visitors almost every month!

Is expat life how you imagined it?
Expat life is great and we are so glad we escaped the rat race and stressful life in the UK. Having been coming to our family holiday home in Spain for over 25 years we knew the area well before we moved here which I think is really important otherwise you could be in for a real culture shock as expat life although great isn't the same as a holiday!

Would you ever consider to go back?
Even now there are times when "home" calls. Especially for me with William's profound deafness I often wonder if we should have returned to the UK. However having said that he has his cochlear implant something we were not guaranteed in the UK and he is happy, which to us is more important than anything.

How did you decide where you moved to?
My parents bought a parcel of land over 26 years ago and had the villa built, we have been coming here on holiday ever since. When my husband and I were here on holiday we never ever wanted to go home as Spain feels more home than the UK. We knew the area so the decision was easy.

How long did you plan the move before doing it, ie from the point of discussing it to making it a reality?
It didn't take us long at all. We had thought about it for years and when I suffered two miscarriages and found out I was pregnant for the third time that is when we knew we need to get out of the rat race. We put the house on the market, it sold within two weeks at full asking price. We moved out of ours in the March, found a property in Spain to reform which we completed on in the April and I left work in the June. We were backwards and forwards over the summer for various family events but permanently moved here in the November. So from start to finish about 9 months.

What advice would you give to others who are thinking of doing the 'expat' thing?
My advice would be to ensure you know where you are going and understand that living somewhere is definitely not the same as going on holiday there. Make sure that if you need employment you have a job lined up and its certainly not always cheaper living abroad.

Thanks Sara.

Next week: Interview with a 5 and a half year old!

What is the right time?

As I sit here writing this at 9.15pm, I can hear a baby crying, no sorry screaming, and its not the first time this week that I have heard the same child crying about this time of night.  And either the child is in pain or is just plain tired. 

Here in Portugal, they have the habit of keeping children up later, it's just the way they live.  But when I hear that at this time of night I cant help but think if it is a good thing for child or parent.  I know people who's youngest children are aged within weeks of ours and as ours goes to bed at 7/7.30, theirs goes to bed at 11, yes 11pm!! That's almost later than my bedtime.  I put my toddler to bed as she shows me she is tired, which is normally between 7 and 7.30pm.  But also apart from being better for the child, what parent wants to be up with their child until late, dont they want a break, a little peace in the evening, I sure do!

I feel sorry for these obviously tired children that either the parents cannot see or dont care or the child just adjusts to it. When both my children were in their first weeks, their bedtimes were later as they learnt their days from nights, but once they did, I learnt to see the pattern, especially with my second of when they were getting tired.  And they both formed good sleeping habits, going down around 7-8pm and sleeping a minimum of 12 hours, perfect for me!

Personally I have never understood how a child can keep what are to me, 'adult hours', I dont think you should drag a child out late at night just because it suits you.  Get a babysitter or dont go out.  But this is just my opinion, obviously some parents see no harm in it, but what happens when a child reaches school age and is still keeping the same hours or even later, as normally it goes that as a child grows their bedtime gets later?  So a child goes to bed at 11pm to get up for school at 7 - that's not enough sleep for a learning/growing child, barely even me.     

The Gallery: Water

This week's theme for The Gallery is Water.  This is my youngest daughter playing with the water on a hot day.  She hates having water on her face in the bath, but is more than happy to pour water on her own head and face - go figure!  I always love to see my children playing with water, its such a childhood thing I think.  

Pop over to Sticky Fingers and see more of The Gallery