Friday 18th January - Ladies Lunch...

I have done two posts today because I missed posting last night!

Today was the first Ladies Lunch of 2013 which I had delayed until after all the festive celebrations had finished.  To be honest what with all of those who were away and those who were probably fed up with eating and on a new regime I hadn't anticipated many wanting to go to Fitos's for a simple lunch - how wrong could I be?  The headcount last night was 21 - It was going to be a tight squeeze!!!! We had one cry off first thing through illness but that was it 20 ladies of a certain age descending on Joanna and Fitos!

John had to be up and out this morning to go to have his new crown fitted.  He shot off down to Polis to see the Dentist and within half an hour his new tooth was in place.  It had been a relatively stress free experience for someone who hates going to the dentist and I have to admit that the new tooth looks absolutely fine - John says it feels the size of a gob stopper at the moment but that is just because he had got used to the stump and temporary filling being there.  Fortunately the Dentist has carefully worded the receipt to show that the work was essential and not cosmetic so hopefully we wont have any problem getting the money back from the insurance company having phoned to make sure we had enough money remaining in the scheme to cover it.

Mum and Dad were coming up as Mum was joining the lunching ladies and it was John's turn to treat Dad to lunch somewhere in Polis/Latchi and in view of the indifferent weather this morning John had decided upon Zouk's in Latchi where he could more or less guarantee some heat and Dad did seem to enjoy the Shepherd's Pie when we went in there over Christmas.  As we waited for them to arrive John sat in the conservatory reading his book accompanied by Chivers who is about 95%  back to his old self.  He needs a bit of fattening up because underneath all that fur he still feels rather boney and his fur is still a bit clumpy in places and lacking that smooth and silky feel it always used to have.

The sun eventually broke through the hazy cloud that had been around all morning and I sat overlooking the pool trying to work out the jigsaw that is my new gecko project.  John and I had collected some stones from the beach near Argaka that have a strange molten appearance which is perfect for creating the skeleton outline.  John calls them 'Jurassic' stones.

We wanted to make sure we have the right shaped stones in the right place and having sorted them and placed them and moved them and replaced them and debated about them and argued and agreed and disagreed we eventually came up with this attempt and realise that we need to go and get some more little long ones to finish off the limbs.  That's good because that means another trip to the beach and I love going to the beach in winter.

Mum and Dad arrived and unusually declared that it was warmer up here in Droushia than it had been down in Emba - this is a first!!!  Wheelie Helen was kindly giving us girlies a lift to Fitos's.  She nearly had to cancel because husband Al has been poorly with dizzy spells and had to shoot off to the Doctors this morning but fortunately was back in time.  John and Dad went off on their Boys lunch and here we ladies are about to take up almost the whole of one side of Fitos's Kiosk.

Amazingly as well as feeding the twenty of us there was the regular old boys table at the end and three or four other tables inside plus several people who came in for take-aways.

You can imagine that the noise from that many women was quite loud!  Still we made the place look busy and they managed reasonably well to make sure that one end of the table hadn't finished before the other end had been served.

We started with Salad, Pitta, Dips, Olives, Pickled Veg and Coleslaw before choosing from the grill menu.  I had organised a vegetarian option as Crafty Jane had wanted Veggie as she was going out for a posh meal later that evening but somehow when it came to making her choice Joanna did not mention it or Jane did not hear it so she opted for grilled chicken. After the main course we were given plates of fresh orange and fresh apple then a mousse/cheesecake type thing that was light and not sickly.

For some reason Mum managed to get into conversation with some of the local guys who were sitting at the end table - the concession to the No Smoking policy here is that they sit at the end and Joanna opens the door!!!  This is common over here - if the door is open then it is not a confined space therefore they can smoke - in some places the policy is ignored altogether and they just smoke anyway.  The man waving is called Gabe and he has suggested that at some point the ladies try the Argakiko grill in Argaka (funnily enough) and we are to tell them that it has been recommended by Gabe and if the meal is not good then he will go and sort them out!!! 

I think people enjoyed themselves.  Like I say I don't recommend these places I merely go in and book it up and try and negotiate a reasonable price if I can.  The ladies can decide if they want to go or not!  Mum enjoyed it and feels very much part of the group which is great. John and Dad went to Zouk's.  John now has his loyalty discount card!!  They seemed to enjoy themselves too which is good.

Big day tomorrow - we have decided to surprise Trevor and Vicky by meeting them at the airport when they arrive - if they arrive - today the UK is snowbound and Bristol Airport has been closed for long periods.  Let's hope they make it safely to the airport - the forecast looks like they might get a window of milder weather to enable them to get there.