RSDT

Here are a few photos showing our family, our house, and life here in Cyprus in 2000. You should be able to click on any of them to get bigger pictures, or follow the links in the text if you want to read more about what we did that month.

Daniel's bed in our Birmingham house

In January we were still in the UK after spending Christmas 1999 and the Millennium with relatives. We were able to live in our own home in Birmingham, in between renters, and did some renovations and tidying. This photo shows Daniel's bed, built by Richard, and apparently very comfortable.

Tim's bed in our Birmingham house

Tim also had a cabin bed in Birmingham, one that we bought second-hand, so it wasn't as sturdy as Daniel's.  It was fine for him while he was younger, but wouldn't last him much longer. We didn't plan to bring it to Cyprus.

Weeds in our Cyprus garden!

In February we returned to Cyprus, to find that there had been a lot of rain in our absence.  The weeds in our back garden were almost waist-high in places, and covered almost everything.

Jemima on our patio in Cyprus

Thankfully the cats had not forgotten us, and were very pleased to see us home again.  Jemima tended to follow me around the house - here she is on the patio enjoying some sunshine, probably not at all concerned about the weeds...

Our new TV unit

We had only originally agreed to rent our home for two years, but the contract was renewed.  In March Richard built a TV unit, which looked rather better than the old trunk we had used for our first two years.

Showing the other end of our living room

Other than the central atrium - which isn't very usable - we have one large living room.  We've set it up so the dining area is at one end - this photo shows an idea of how it works, taken from the sitting room/TV area.

Mosaic in Kurium

In April we had some relatives to visit us, so Richard took time off and we visited various places of interest including Kurium.  Here's one of the better patches of mosaic to be found at the site.

The beach in April

We also enjoyed some time at the beach.  While our visitors thought it was pleasantly warm, and were happy to sunbathe in swimsuits, or even paddle in the sea, Richard and Daniel were still feeling chilly, so sat - fully clothed - looking at a book.

Easter Monday party

One of the unusual features of Cyprus is that in most years there are two Easter celebrations - one for the Western, and one for the Eastern. Eastern Easter this year was on April 30tn, so on  May 1st we attended a joint church lunch and party, with the Greek Evangelical Church (who celebrate the Eastern Easter).

Flowers on our front porch

In Cyprus, bedding plants can go out in about October, once the worst of the summer heat is over, and will then bloom fairly continuously until around June or July the following year . Our petunias on the front porch were doing very nicely, since I was remembering to water them.

Boule at the beach

By June the temperatures were climbing, and we had sunshine every day.  We went to the beach with a visiting friend during the daytime, and he showed us how to play a version of 'boule' using suitable sized stones.

Drama presentation by the home educators' group

We tried to meet every month with the island-wide home educators' group.  Here are two of them in Limassol, taking part in a dramatic production which they reheased while the adults hung out together and chatted.

Two cats on Daniel's lap

By July Daniel was almost 14, and had been growing fast.  His lap is plenty big enough for both Cleo and Sophia, although Cleo's claws can be somewhat unpredictable, which isn't a lot of fun when wearing shorts.

Cat and computer

Of all the cats, Jemima seems to be the most interested in the computer.  Here she is, watching as paper emerges from the printer, probably wondering what the point is of paper going in one end and out another...

Cadbury World - not in Cyprus

In August we were back in the UK.  Richard went to a conference, the rest of us spent time with our family.  We had an outing to our much-loved Cadbury World one morning, which was very enjoyable.  Here's Tim and his cousin sampling some chocolate.

Croquet in the UK

Summer in the UK isn't as warm as Summer in Cyprus, but that's all to the good... the weather was still quite reasonable, and we enjoyed some evenings playing croquet on my parents' large lawn.

Completed jigsaws

Despite being away for much of the summer, we managed to do a few jigsaws during the summer, using our dining table as usual. At mealtimes we simply covered them over with a big tablecloth. By September we wanted to use the table in the mornings for home education work so we put the puzzles away - after I'd taken a photo!

Tim working on his home ed coursework

Tim is quite structured in his approach to learning, and was enthusiastic about the idea of using a curriculum, even one as formal and (at times) rigid as the ACE 'National Christian Schools Certficate' programme that we have embarked on.

Trip to see Kurium in Cyprus

In October we had yet more visitors, and spent a day at Kurium seeing mosaics and the remants of a large villa as well as exploring the amphitheatre. The sky was blue and the sun shone, which was a good thing as it rained during some of their visit.

Still mostly warm enough for the beach

Although we don't go to the beach very often, even in the summer, and not at all in the Autumn when we don't have visitors, the weather is still pleasant at this time of year, and our guests were eager for some sunshine.  We were surprised how crowded the Larnaka sea-front beach was.

Visit of the MV Logos II

Daniel was excited by the visit of the bookship 'Logos II' in November.  We visited, and bought some books.  I didn't take this photo - it's the only example of a stock photograph from the GBA Ships website, since I didn't take many photos at all during November.

Car - in the rain

November was a very wet month, which was good for the reservoirs.  We finally bought a car - a Lancer Estate for £500, which seemed like a good deal, and then struggled with Cyprus bureaucracy while trying to register it.

Kite-flying on the beach

We had more visitors - family members, this time - in early December The weather was surprisingly mild, and we enjoyed some walks along the beach at Kiti, with some kite-flying on a suitably windy day.

Christmas tree and cat

We stayed in Cyprus for Christmas this year... and the cats were very interested in our Christmas tree. Here's Sophia trying to get one of the glass baubles which was evidently a cat toy...