Editor. Wife. Mother. And a fair bit more.  

I'm Helen Farmer. Previously Helen Spearman - the name change is still taking some getting used to, never mind the fact I now drive a Volvo and have a daughter. There's a husband (major legal problem living in Dubai without one of those if you choose to breed) and a couple of cocker spaniels too. One is staring at me right now. We live in a villa just over the road from the beach. We really should go to the beach more.

I've been in the Middle East for nearly nine years, including a few months in Bahrain (not my scene) and the rest in Dubai, where I work in publishing. I edit a magazine called good, and it's very good indeed. 

I start hobbies I don't finish (hello screen printing), love swimming, go to FlyWheel for the music, and love my VPN and all the UK TV it brings into my life more than I really should.

The years in Dubai have brought amazing friends, my marriage, a baby and a career, and for that I'll always be grateful. But this place is a little, umm, taxing at times. Ironic...

I'm hoping this blog sheds some light on the good and bad of real life and motherhood in the UAE.