Yesterday I realised that I may not have told you about another irritation about being female and living here.
We went to Splash yesterday morning to have a look around. They sell clothing for both male and female. It isn't the best that you are likely to see but it's adequate. Phil browsed through the mens gear and I headed for the back area where female clothing is housed. It wasn't long before Phil paraded in front of me with some 'cool' striped linen pants and a top. He then proceeded to go back into the changing room (FOR MEN)to try on more things.
I picked up a few items but the sizing was confusing and my normal size didn't look as if it would fit. When I asked if they had a female changing room I was told no but I could hide in a corner of the shop and try things on under my abya!(the black 'cover every inch of you' abomination all women have to wear out here in public)
Well as you can imagine by the evening we were back to exchange all of the items of clothing that I had purchased in the morning. This does my head in.

Well that should get me a few Google searches tomorrow!
Just finished watching the new Bridget Jones on the Edge of something or whatever! Now I know I've said it all before but it really is the sort of thing you should experience with female friends! When Hugey Grant fumbles for Renee's BIG knickers, I just couldn't stop laughing. And then there was poor Darcey and the 'big girls' fight in the fountain.
Come on girls, round to my place and we'll watch it again tomorrow night.

In the Benneton shop window in Dhahran the large display photograph of the couple and their baby had been defaced. The man was untouched. The female had been totally obliterated with black felt marker and the beautiful baby had it's eyes blacked out!
It was the wiping out of the babies eyes that upset me so much. And the crime? He/she had blue eyes.
I have reported exactly what I saw that day. However, I am living here as a GUEST! I accept the culture and religion and everything that goes with it because of my status here. I respect my hosts. I abide by their rules.
So please tell me why large billboards displaying females are being replaced in Birmingham (UK) because they offend the visitors from overseas who are not Christian? Should they not accept the culture of the country that they decide to live and work in? Are they not guests? Shouldn't they just get on with their lives there and be very thankful that they can actually practice their religion in a Christian country?
You read between the lines.

Now I know that I have told you all that I'm off to Thailand in 3 weeks time, what you may not know is that I am going to Koh Samui now and not Phuket.
We are staying in a boutique type hotel with spa treatments every day. Now the thing that amazes me is that each room has 3 little tropical fish so that you have pets to....pat??? Well, OK not quite pat but maybe pet.
Truth is I am a little concerned that the welfare of these fish may be down to me for a week. You see I'm not all that good at this. For example I took over a pair of gerbils from a colleague who was leaving. He assured me that this was a wonderful opportunity for the children in my class. Well I had to pass these little balls of fur on, when the cage began rocking and the children informed me that our pets were 'bonking'!!! They were at it all day and concentration spans plummeted.
Next I inherited a tank full of stick insects. Now these were inoffensive critters who required a few leaves and they seemed to...just get on with life. Obviously I was not too observant because one of the children pointed out to me that several stick insects were disabled because they were hobbling round the tank. On closer inspection I was horrified to see that these sweet creatures had started to eat each others LEGS!!!! How horrific is that?
So now you know why I am concerned for those little fishes.

...stop killing time. Let's live it to the full instead.

Does anyone else enjoy watching the television programme "Location, Location"? Considering that I live most of the year in one of the most repressive countries for women, it's not really all that surprising that a little weekly escapism is in order.
Now there isn't anything wrong with chasing dreams but I often wonder how many people think that they are running towards something when in actual fact they are running away?
I am at a place in my head at the moment that has taken me a very long and painful journey to reach. My desires are for the more simple and easily obtainable pleasures in life. The smile you get from a child when you've helped them, a beautiful day, a thriving plant in your garden that you notice properly for the first time, a text from your son telling you that he's fine, a shared joke that no one else would understand, the smell of rain, finding the right piece of driftwood on the beach...I could go on and on.
Often when we feel that we have reached rock bottom we fail to appreciate that instead of trying to claw our way back up, we should realise that it is a solid foundation on which to sit for some time and quietly reflect on what we really want from life.

The computer told me I had 6 spare ports but simply finding them, left me all at sea! Any port in a storm would have done but I had to wait until Phil got back from Riyadh to flick open a little plastic cover and there they were, row upon row of empty ports.
Photographs downloaded and here are 2 for Tuesday:
This first one shows just how high up in the clouds our villa is in Cyprus.



It's amazing what you can find growing in a corner of a garden.

If travelling was as easy as the journey we made back here on Wednesday, then I wouldn't perhaps view it with such trepidation.
The taxi arrived at precisely 4.00am, the flight was on time, the croissants and brioche were hot, we were first in the queue to get our Jordanian transit visa's, our luggage was the first to come round the conveyor belt, a car from the hotel was waiting for us, the wagon started first time and (most importantly of all) the Saudi border took 20 minutes and NO body search for me!
Having been back for 2 days now it seems an appropriate time for reflection on the 3 weeks we have just been away. Uppermost in my thoughts are our friends (neighbours/Jill and Merv)who made Christmas so very special for us; a host of traditions we have already established these last few years and which we aim to keep in the future.
Time in Cyprus wouldn't be complete without a visit to Bob and Jenny. It is amazing that you can know someone for 7 years and discover something about them years later. Jenny is an accomplished artist and I commented on a painting that she had done of Bob (we giggled about it because she had hung throbbing fairy lights all round it!). Phil had also noticed that the painting showed a medal on Bob's chest. He asked about it and Bob dismissed it as 'Oh, that's my OBE'! Absolutely wonderful and knowing him I can understand why he was given such a great honour.
Everyone brings their own unique talents into this world but my friends seem to have them in abundance. The marvellous thing is that no one can dim the light that shines from within them.

Yes, I know it's late and I've since been to a few more social 'hoolies' but you just have to cram it all in before the return to the Magic Kingdom!
New Year was taken at Coral Bay Hotel with 15 others for too much food, fun and funky dancing (the latter done by Phil as every time he twirled me he sent me spinning and crashing into the nearest tables, so he had to do a bit of solo improvisation until I had returned to be flung yet again!)On one such brief encounter my lovely new spangly top caught on his button and became a bungy rope. I was flung, a thread caught and I ended up in a shower of beads, sequins and silver thread.
And then when it was the kissy, kissy, each cheek and Hiccy New Year, someone grabbed Phil, who was drinking red wine at the time, and the contents of the glass went all over his lovely Boss evening shirt. I tried to mop him up with ordinary water, mineral water, gin and tonic, white wine, a bread roll and a party popper (you don't want to know!).
So I think you get the picture, it was a fabulous time all round.