All posts filed under: Competitions

#SummerLove with James Villas

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How do you choose a favourite from a host of beautiful summer holiday memories, created over the course of over 9 years? I suppose condensing is the name of the game, but how do you bottle up and concentrate millions of happy moments and fragments made of evenings spent with friends chattering away; splashing in the sea way past sunset; tens of cones of delicious ice-cream and too much tiropita, the delicious yet so fattening Greek cheese pie ? For Alex, who is originally from Greece and who suffers from severe SAD (seasonal affective disorder) during the winter months, a perfect holiday will always mean loads and loads of sunshine, getting tanned and looking like a berry by September. His ideal habitat would have two common elements, the blue sky and the even bluer sea. Holidays are, for him, designated to recharging batteries, enjoying loads of yummy, fresh food and catching up with friends and relatives we hadn’t seen for a whole year. Emma is her father’s daughter and LOVES the sun and the water …

Elinens Bedding For Life Competition

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I grew up with the smell of freshly ironed linen tightly interwoven with memories of celebrations, joy and fun. No matter how busy she would have been preparing for Christmas, my mum always ensured there was fresh linen smelling divinely on the beds on Christmas Eve. To us, as children, fresh, crisp bedding linen would have marked the beginning of the best season of the year, which entailed loads of home cooking, present opening and snow fighting. When I moved to the UK and especially after having Emma, I tried to instill the same sensory association in our little family. I change our bedding often and love to have it all tidily ironed and crisp when it goes on the beds. To me, for a fraction of a second, it is like being back in time and the delight of fresh linen never goes away. Elinens are a company after my own heart in this regard, as they do understand the powerful associations fresh linen can create and the sense of well being it can …

#Glorious Adventures: Dreaming of Mumbai

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If I could squeeze my human self into a bouncy molecule transcending time and space I would embark onto a trip to the ends of the earth. We dreamt so many times with Alex of travelling to India so Mumbai would be a good place to start. Mumbai is huge and its population vast, over 18 million souls, but I would fit perfectly in travelling as a speck of dust. I would not want to do sightseeing, in the touristy sense of the word, although I am sure the views would be spectacular… A speck of dust has other dreams… I would love, instead of hastily overloading my senses with almost palpable but somewhat artificial beauty, to just be… I would love to be the dirt that rests for a while on, old, well-travelled shoes. Listen to their stories;  bask in the richness of experience they carry of places visited… I would love to be the tear that stains imperceptibly the cheek of the old, sweet lady who guards the even older temple. The emotional …

#MilkDrinkersMilk: Challenge with Cravendale

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I strive, each and every day, to make my daughter understand that she is a Super Girl. I do it because I love her, I believe in her abilities and also, because I know her! She is compassionate and caring and loving. And feisty and clever and sassy. Sometimes, I reinforce my belief in her abilities by buying her the right books and toys that I know would enhance her already vast knowledge of the world. Other times, I tell her she is clever and smart and that I am proud of her. On yet other occasions, when we roar at each other (anyone else having a girl who is nearly 6, going on 16 :-)?) she knows that her words have power  to bring comfort or to hurt and that she is the one with the ability to choose what to do with them. Most of the times, I show her my love in the simple things: helping with homework, giving her a bath, reading her a story at bed time, organising a play …

Win Christmas 2015 at Coombe Mill

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I have known of Coombe Mill for years, probably ever since I started blogging. I have always dreamt of spending a holiday in the heart of Cornwall and felt even more drawn to the farm when I realised that Farmer Nick is actually Farmer Nico, Greek descendant and that Alex and him would probably get on quite well, since they share the same country of origin and love for good food and Greek feasts :-). When Georgie was born, I imagined a holiday as a complete family at Coombe Mill but it was never meant to be, Georgie never made it to Christmas and what should have been a magical holiday last year transformed into a dreary and endless season of mourning. I dread the thought of another Christmas at home now. I would love us to be able to win a Christmas stay at Coombe Mill and stay in their cozy Trevarno Scandinavian lodge this year. I imagine ourselves arriving to a fairyland of lights and snow. (Yes, they had snow last year and …