Christmas is over - the Easter eggs are on the shelves

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It gets earlier every year! This is the earliest I have ever seen Easter eggs in the shop. I am not complaining as I do love a cream egg and mini eggs (when not in a diet). But seeing these in the shops and all the festive treats away for the rest of the year, reminds me that Christmas is well and truly over. It's different to previous years, as this time we are still in England, heading into cold and rainy January with a view to be here for a few more months of the great British winter! With January comes a new school for Olly and a new nursery for Lucy. Both have settled in easily and once again I couldn't be prouder of their ability to adapt and take on whatever we throw at them. The little travellers amaze me every day. For me it's back to the gym, I thought about giving up wine, but that's yet to happen, one step at a time! 

Olly in his school uniform 

Wentworth Golf Club

So today I am sat having breakfast in an exclusive dining room at Wentworth looking out onto the golf course. I think I would quite like to live here if only one of those houses had my name on it.

It's a far cry from Doha Golf Club. This place has style, exclusivity, elegance and something that Doha Club is so far from ever achieving. Sitting here right now shows the arrogance of the Middle East and the people that think they are at the top of the game. Doha Golf club falls short on so many different levels. I haven't visited many golf clubs, but sitting here proves to me that we made the right decision to leave, there is a world of opportunity waiting to be explored and so many more tables with a view to sit at having breakfast.

It's 2015 - Happy New Year

It's a bit late, but happy new year! Hoping that everyone has the year they deserve. Health, happiness and love to all.

Max is back!

So the little, white, tapping dog has arrived in Sheffield. He boarded his flight in Doha and was collected in Manchester and here he is, freezing his bits off in Sheffield. Initially I was worried about how he would cope in the freezing cold, but he is loving it and has taken to it like...well, like a desert dog to snow... He seems to be enjoying not burning his feet on the tarmac and getting long dirty walks through the woods. He gets on well with Lad and Oliver loves having his dog home.

One boy and his sledge

Imagine a little boy 5 years old, born in the desert and never seeing snow (that he can remember anyway). I wish I could have bottled up the excitement as the first snow started to fall. It wasn't just the excitement of Oliver, but also of all the adults in the house and his two little friends (also from Qatar) who were visiting at the time. When it startled to settle, the boys (and men) grabbed their boots, hats and gloves and sledge and played in the newly settled snow. The ladies, clearly the more intelligent species, watched from the window and continued to drink wine. As the night unfolded, it was clear our guests weren't going to be able to leave and so the excitement continued into the night.

The next day, we hit the Derbyshire slopes. Although it took a while for him to get used to the snow spraying in his face and the tumbling off the sledge, he enjoyed his first sledging experience. There is something about the snow, that makes people smile. A once quiet and lonely winters street, becomes a community where people ditch the cars and set off on foot.

As always happens with snow, the first day is so pretty, the days that follow are trechorous ice, slush and inconvenience. The next day, the desert child wanted to hit the slopes again, this time it wasn't white powder, but as expected sheer fast ice - he loved it. The day after he built his first snowman and snow dogs, but as the temperature went up, the snowman didn't stick around and we had a few tears to deal with. So now we are back to waiting for the next snow fall, watching the weather forecast and checking for snow each morning. Mind you, it makes a change from opening the curtains to sunshine every day of his life.

An (almost) white Christmas

I love Christmas at home! Home right now being Sheffield of course. As Oliver gets older, each Christmas becomes more and more exciting, but also adds more and more pressure to getting the presents right and making the day magical. I don't think he was disappointed this year and as we went down the stairs and opened the door to the living room, his little face told me he was pleasantly surprised and excited. 

The unwrapping frenzy started shortly after 6.30am and finished around 10am. The bubbles were opened around 10.30am and finished a lot later that evening with a fuzzy head. The iPhone took a skype call around 11.30am, finished around 11.45am and died when it was dropped down the toilet around noon - gutted. Christmas dinner was lovely, despite the burnt sprouts. The whole day was great, finished off with wine baubles with the neighbours. I love Christmas at home!