Friday 19 October 2012

Friday - Getting Ready for Winter...

Every morning we have to do a recce round the house to find the presents that the cats leave - I seem to think it is probably Chivers that is the culprit but I may be doing him a disservice.  We just wish that it wasn't the little shrews that they leave - dead but otherwise untouched - it seems such a shame and it is not as if we starve the cats - on the contrary they are 'treated' up to the max and are costing us a small fortune in premium cat food, biscuits and treats as we have allowed them to be picky (which we said we were never going to do!).
 
As I said in the title we are getting ready for winter although the storms from last week have gone the temperature is considerably cooler than it was for the same time last year when we had Laura and Mark out to stay.  I see that we braved the swimming pool then but no chance this year as the water is well below 70 degrees which is my limit.  It means that we now leave the cover off at all times and John does whatever it is that he does to over-winter - of course with the cover off it means that all sorts of crap finds its way into the pool which is a source of great angst to John and means that I have to make sure that all the plants which drop flowers and leaves are kept in check otherwise he will be hoiking them out!

On the subject of the garden the heavy rain followed by bright sunshine has meant that it has had a new lease of life with a million and one dormant seeds springing to life - deep joy as dormant seeds + rain = mucho weeding.  There are still enough flowers valiantly blooming to provide the bees with pollen and this little chap had collected so much that he could hardly get airborne!  The damp conditions overnight mean that we are treated to a heady perfume in and around the estate from all the herbs and my all but dead Mint has just gone crazy which is good because I thought I had lost it.  I can see that we will be entering a period of regular tidying if we are to keep the garden looking reasonable.  I hate it when it begins to look sad and neglected.

We took delivery of some logs this afternoon.  We decided to use the same chap as last time and asked him to bring lemon again as it seemed to burn well and did not have the termite issues that came with the first load we had - we don't want logs that turn out to be fresh air inside and John certainly doesn't want to encounter one of those whichetty grub things again because it was disgusting - you need to be able to store a certain amount of wood indoors but as a result you don't want any bugs making a meal of your furniture, kitchen units or structure of the house!  At least we can be happy that when Mum and Dad are up here we will be able to keep them warm and NASA will be able to pinpoint our house from space if John stokes up the fire like he normally does!
 
We had been invited out this evening to have a meal with Jane and John who are staying in an apartment down in Emba.  This is not the same one as they stayed in earlier in the year (ground floor, next to the pool) but is on the same complex and my sister and husband have stayed in this one previously (although John and I hadn't been there then).  It is a nice light and airy apartment which is nicely furnished and has a balcony that affords them a lovely sea view, the afternoon sun and a wonderful sunset to follow.  Hats off to the Pages for providing a lovely meal in a kitchen which they were unfamiliar with - the pork was delicious!  It was John's turn to drive so I able to enjoy a glass or two of wine - clearly this severely hampered my ability to play Mexican Trains as I was Arse End Charlie by a country mile!


 
If anyone is looking for a holiday apartment to rent near Paphos then give me a shout and I can pass on the details of those which Jane and John have stayed in.  They are located in the village of Emba, are furnished and have a pool but you do need a car - otherwise it is a bit of a long walk to the local Supermarket and the Sea!

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