PickleBall Christmas Do...

Yesterday being Saturday I set myself the task of taking up the curtains that are too long - I know that an interior designer would have them dressed in waves across the floor but if John or I trip over the buggers again they are going to be consigned to the bin!!!  

Now when I say taking up I don't mean actually getting a needle and cotton out - oh no no no no no - I mean using Wonderweb (mainly because I don't have a sewing machine although I have now learned that Mum does and I can always borrow it - BUGGER that leaves me with no excuse!!!).  So Wonderweb it was and who wouldn't want to be stood outside in the sunshine at the beginning of December doing a bit of alfresco ironing???  Curtains up here are a necessity not a fashion statement I'm afraid so better that they look good as they have to be there!

Whilst I was in the mood for a spot of domestic goddessing I took five minutes to repair Pink Mouse.  Pink Mouse is the kitties absolute favourite although they have Orange Mouse and Leopard-Print Mouse as alternatives.  Pink Mouse is the original one which Irene supplied and has taken a real hammering.  We found it today with an ear missing and most of the stuffing oozing from a hole - serious action was required!!!

We are beginning to really look forward to Christmas. Although we don't really celebrate much by way of presents and cards, and this year even more so as finances and distance dictates, but we have got one or two little gifts together and we have filled our trusty pound shop Santa sack with the proceeds.  

We are having a discussion as to when we should put up the trimmings not because we are worried about doing it too early more that we are worried as to what the kitties will do with them!!!  We have got stockings for the cats but they are well locked away as they clearly contain every e-number and taste enhancer any self respecting cat enjoys.

This afternoon we travelled down to Paphos because the Pickle-ballers (I am not sure if there is a collective term for people who play pickle-ball!!) were having their Christmas meal funded from the subs that we pay each time we play.  As we made our way to Mum and Dad's the sun began to set and poor John (who was driving) had to try and find a suitable spot for me to take a photograph - which is not easy when you are still travelling and not stationary!  The resulting photograph was a happy accident but I think you can see that we are destined to have another beautiful day again tomorrow.

Our venue for this evening was Duomo's which is just off of the Tomb of the Kings Road and had been organised by Tom because he had had several good meals here over the last couple of weeks.

We certainly weren't disappointed (except Dad who kept complaining that the ambient lighting wasn't enough to see his food - honestly you would think we were subjecting him to a bushtucker trial rather than a gourmet meal!!!).

For the princely sum of €12 we had a three course meal and our first drink free.  The first drink free side of things got a bit blurred as we arrived early (surprise surprise) and ordered a bottle of our favourite wine together with a couple of soft drinks and paid for them.  

In the end the manager decided that the easiest thing to do was to allow people to order what drinks they wanted and pay half.  As we had already paid for our wine he very kindly gave us a second bottle for free - now you really cannot complain at that can you??

Our group is made up of eight players so there were sixteen of us altogether and we all agreed it was one of the best meals we have had for a very long time and BIG thanks goes to Tom for organising it and arranging a discount.  To give you an idea of what we had to eat Mum and John started with home-made chicken and home-made tomato soup respectively whilst Dad had a home-made pate and I had what was described as fried scampi - all elegantly served on beautiful crockery.

For main course Mum had grilled chicken, Dad had pork in a marsala sauce, John had chicken penne pasta and I had fillets of plaice in a lemon sauce (two!).  Although not everyone's cup of tea I am sure (but certainly more than OK with me) was that the veggies were Mediterranean char-grilled so red, yellow and green peppers, courgette, mushroom and aubergine.  Puddings were a choice of ice-cream, fresh fruit salad or chocolate cake.  We all said that we would recommend it - it is just a shame that it isn't on our doorstep - or maybe it is because I could see us going regularly - we only had the set menu last night so are intrigued to see what the a la carte is like.

We had an uneventful drive home and got back so that we could spend some time with the kitties to make sure that they settled before we went to bed.  This was not before they whizzed round the lounge like things possessed for about 45 minutes (what do they put in cat food nowadays???), scaled the curtains, kicked the shit out of pink mouse - did some foof fluffing (dont ask) and then collapsed in the big bed.

We managed Strictly and X Factor before snuggling down into our electric blanket heated bed - what bliss!!!