Phyl's Blog

Bilingualism can have amusing consequences.  There's a Danish rhyme Thomas is forever singing to the kids that goes: Hop, hop, hop,...

My ex was a very negative person. The glass was always half empty, or worse! One of the things I love about Thomas is his positive nature -...

I'm missing my boys. My beautiful boys. I miss Marcel as a friend - we have lovely chats, he's such a lovely young man, an intere...

We've just been over in Italy, where like most hot countries, fresh milk is not easy to keep and UHT is omnipresent. Léon describes UHT...

Léon is such a sweet wee guy. He's not always the most on-the-ball when it comes to detail but that can have amusing consequences... ...

  Thomas has bought a new science nerd coffee gadget just like this. It is great fun to watch but if he thinks for one minute it's going...

Well if someone was going to cock up big time at the Olympics, it might as well be us, on the first night - D'oh! Annoyed to be working ...

I've just had a call from France where my two boys are visiting their grandmother to say Léon has fallen and broken his left arm. Th...

Avis in Arezzo seems only to rent out automatic drive cars for some reason. I've never booked one, but I've also never not got one...

I really like taking the odd sepia photo. Warmer than b&w, it still manages to focus you more on the subject all the same. I found mysel...

We went to Cortona for the day when we were in Tuscany. Surprisingly I had never been there before. I went to Perugia uni when I was 18, ...

All of my kids are half foreign, despite the change of husbands midway. (Yes I have heard Marcel's teenage friends come out with - ...

I love the way I caught Léon's reflection here jumping into the clear calm water of the Arno for a nice swim. He really enjoyed his div...

I think my favourite Amaia word at the moment is ' tandal shoes '. She never just says ' tandals ' for sandals, always ...

I love the size of old Fiat 500s. I often think when I see Léon ans Anna (6&4) standing beside one that they look just the right size ...

Glad I'm European - give me a nice slice of comté any day!

I bet you think this is a fir cone? According to Amaia it is in fact a ' pinkle '. It is such a sweet word, I have a feeling it is ...

I'm kicking myself a bit. What with bloody Ryanair and their baggage allowance of 10kg which needs to incorporate all your clothe...

I've been counting 'Chuggies' aka original Fiat 500s in Italy since I first lived there in 1986. Back then, they were by far ...

 I didn't discover her till just before Back to Black was released. I'd heard the odd track from Frank , but hadn't really s...