Happy Birthday Janice...

Any rain from yesterday has been confined to the underside of the shutters thank goodness and looking outside whilst making our early morning cuppa the sun is shining and it looks like it is going to be a nice day- there is plenty of blue sky and no cloud on the horizon.

Amongst the many things that I got for my birthday was a big fat stinking cold.  I am dripping and full of snot and I feel like I have been punched in the face but fortunately I have not lost my sense of smell or taste which Mum has done.  

Amazingly though it is the first time since we arrived 20-odd months ago that I have had a cold so I really shouldn't complain but of all the times to get one this is not the best!!!

Yesterday was Mum's neighbour Janice's birthday and we had been invited to join her and husband Ray down in Coral Bay at the Blue Olive restaurant for Sunday Lunch.  The Blue Olive is run by their neighbour Keith so it would be a bit of a Lakoudia Street get-together.

Chivers is not himself at the moment - he has suddenly started to get very picky about what he will eat and then he may eat something one time and not the next.  This is a bit odd and we are having to keep an eye on him particularly as the vets are likely to be closed for most of next week should he need to go.

We decided to call via the Duckpond Market to get some goodies from the pet stall to try and tempt Chivers.   We hadn't been sure it would be on and there were significantly less stalls than normal but the pet stall was open and we stocked up on treats, had a mooch around and a coffee before driving over to Coral Bay.

It really had turned into the most glorious day - I was starting to regret wearing jeans tucked into boots!!  The stretch of coastline we call Banana Bay had still calm and deep blue seas.  The weather this festive season has been considerably better than last year and, apart from having a cold, we all feel so much better for it.

We arrived at the Blue Olive and met up with Janice and Ray and their friends Fran and Dave.  The Blue Olive had sunshine pouring in and that decision to wear jeans was going to be one I really really regretted as I got hotter and hotter to point where I was happy to go out and join Ray when he sat outside for a smoke!!!

It was good to see the restaurant busy as Keith works hard and juggles the business with having a young family.  I opted for chicken liver pate and salmon in a hollandaise sauce as I really fancied fish for a change.  

You can have a two or three course Sunday lunch and the price includes a half carafe of wine between two and as the wine is from Kolios then it is pretty drinkable - we should know because we buy the big 10 litre boxes!!  I could only manage two courses myself in fact I don't think Mum, Dad or John had a pud - the constant eating is obviously taking its toll!!!

Anyway we had a lovely lunch, if not a bit on the warm side indoors and I really should have known better because when we went there for Mother's Day Lunch the same thing happened - I over dressed, the sun came out and I sweltered.

We returned home - stuffed!!!  Then once the sun went down John lit the fire and we settled down for the evening. This photograph was taken before our two little lovelies became proper poorly.  Minnie had adopted her favourite position in front of the fire getting the maximum amount of heat into her body.  

Chivers has been getting progressively more picky about his food and started to make a strange salivating noise and is more lethargic than normal.  We are quite concerned but will see how he is tomorrow.

We have a mystery night out tomorrow!!  We are going out for a special lunch on New Year's Day to marmalade Annie's so had decided not to go to a New Year's Eve bash as we would be too tired to enjoy the lunch.  I had asked Alkisti months ago whether she would be open and she said yes but then I haven't seen her since and then she phoned out of the blue to ask what time we would be going.  I plumped for 7.00pm because there was no mention of food and I thought that if there was some that would be ok and if there wasn't then John could nip to Fitos to get a kebab or something!