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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
In the UK we say Merry Christmas, however for all my US friends, Happy Holidays!!! It's Christmas Eve here in Thailand and as we're getting set for tomorrow,...
When a pet dies – how to tell your children
Unfortunately over the last year, I’ve become experienced in supporting my child when a pet dies. Having rescued four cats within the same year of us moving...
Pug life. Chats with Boris
It’s not easy telling a pug he needs to lose weight…
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Blog Planner This free blog planner will help you to manage your time! It's absolutely perfect for a beginner blogger. Someone's who's just started out and...
Island Paradise – Covid alternative summer
So here we are on the island paradise of Koh Chang. And what a beautiful place it is!
Bye bye lockdown, hello ‘new normal’
So here we are over halfway through 2020 and what a bloody disaster it’s been! Would be handy if we could just write it off and come back afresh in Jan 2021!! As we are well and truly saying goodbye to lockdown, it’s a chance for me to reflect on the past 6 months.
Boys will be boys (unless they’re girls)
I once lied about my children. Completely lied. All to save someone’s feelings.
Goodbye EleAid – our Asian elephant charity
Today’s a bit of a sad day. It’s the day Chas and I have decided we were going to close the Asian elephant charity we’ve been running since 2003, EleAid.
It’s been a super fun ride and along the way, we’ve helped hundreds of elephants from across Asia but it’s got to the point where we no longer have the ability to physically check out projects we would like to support and don’t have the time to ensure the charity is running the best it can be.
Homeschool – Locked in and locked down
So… here we are, Day 6873(!?!?!) of lockdown and all is as expected at Begley primary.
Covid-19: Stay the f*ck at home
My mum’s just texted my sister and I. One of her friends’ daughters has just died from Covid-19. The text ended:
…don’t get complacent. I love you both so much.
Don’t become a statistic and don’t put others at risk because you got complacent.
Esther the Easter cat
So here we are, week 4 in isolation having just enjoyed a quiet Easter with the family. I’m learning a lot about myself including what perhaps my days before lockdown really consisted of.
Self-isolation – a blessing or a curse?
So here we are, just started our third week of self-isolation and so far so good. There has been fun, laughter, tears, tantrums, school work, Chas’s work, my work, computer games, YouTube videos, arts, crafts, baking (badly), drinking, eating, movies, more eating, online shopping and some very unusual bedtime routines!
Let loose and enjoy the ride
Today I was taught a lesson by my kids. It’s a lesson I already know but one that I really need to remember.
Road trip hell. Adventure awaits.
I’m writing this blog in the dark with three kids snoring in the background having pushed me out of the bed they insisted we all shared – despite my road trip skills today!
Shopping, Coffee, Home, Repeat
I was feeling very smug earlier as I had finished the last few bits of birthday and party shopping with a whole couple of days to spare!! My car was in the garage after an earlier ‘prang’ so I ordered a taxi and got a coffee while I waited.
Bat out of hell – Oh what a night!
One night a few years ago, Chas was at a conference in Bangkok and I found myself alone with two young children. Ella was no older than about 2½ and Ariya about 6 months. It was fairly late, the girls were asleep and I was enjoying a bit of a chill. There I was sat on the sofa when I felt something fall on me. I jumped up in horror as I saw these two feet sticking out on the ledge at the back of the chair.
Nativity nightmare with a hangover
It was the last day of term and time for the long-awaited school nativity before the Christmas break and I was horribly hungover after enjoying a few too many wines at a friend’s leaving party the night before. I’d woken up late, so literally only had time to throw some clothes on, brush my teeth and wipe the mascara away from under my eyes. No time to shower away the smell of stale wine!
Language difficulties – What’s in a name?
It seems my grasp of the Thai language still leaves much to be desired despite living here for 14 years!
Pinterest fail…. and proud!
Sometimes in a world full of parenting blogs teaching us how to be simply delightful and how to perfect parenting we need to take a stand! We need to turn around and say ‘I’m a Pinterest fail!’ I’ve tried your way and it doesn’t work.
Losing a pet. RIP Cleo
Saying goodbye to a pet is never easy, but saying goodbye to one I had hand-reared and had given us so much joy and unconditional love for 13 years broke my heart.
Stray cat rescue fail… ME-OW!
There’s a stray cat that’s been dumped in our mooban (village), it has a collar but the collar’s stuck round its paw and neck. I’ve taken it upon myself to...
Flying with a newborn baby – a tale of karma
There I was, once again flying with a newborn baby. This time it was Ariya. She was a month old and I needed to renew my visa so off we flew. I was taking...
Flying with a baby – Under attack
If I thought the first flight to the UK on my own with Ella was hard, the one back to Thailand was unbelievably worse!
Flying solo with a baby
My first long haul flight (on my own) with Ella should have been pretty straightforward. Despite being a little over a year old, this was already her third long haul flight. However it (unsurprisingly) got off to the worst start possible as I managed to leave my purse with all my money in it at the pharmacy in Chiang Mai Airport.
My Life – Summed up in one school run
This is literally my life right now summed up in one little school run.
Fabulous at 40 – enjoying every moment
With less than a week to go before the big 4-0 I find myself in somewhat of a dilemma. My grand plan aged 39 was to be this fitness Goddess and completely fabulous at 40, but unfortunately, I’m running slightly behind schedule – 11 months and three weeks behind to be precise. Oops!
Blogging – On a whim
A friend, who also happens to be a super successful blogger, told me not to let my job as an editor get in the way of my blogging. I nodded and smiled, clearly not fully understanding until now!
What was I thinking?
During the course of many (most) days, I can be heard telling someone Facebook a little story that usually starts… ‘So today I tried/forgot/lost/fell etc. I always seem to find myself in situations that I really didn’t need to be in. They undoubtedly include something I’ve done by accident and almost always make me look stupid.
Who Am I?
If anyone happens to be reading this blog who doesn’t know me (which is doubtful) I guess the sensible place to start would be with an introduction. I’ll try to keep it brief, although I am known for speaking 30 words when 3 would suffice!
My name’s Rachel and I’m a wife to Chas and a mummy to Ella, Ariya and Connor. We’re an expat family in Thailand