Sunday 20th January...

Our new suite is due to be delivered tomorrow so we took the opportunity to move the furniture round in preparation.  Our plan is to take the table and chairs which was on the front decking and move that down to outside the kitchen door.  The old round white table and four plastic chairs which were there will now be surplus to requirements and so we will offer them to Vix and Trev - we are not sure whether they have garden furniture coming in their container - we expect so because Trev has always been keen on his outside furniture hence we were given the two chairs that now sit in T&V corner.

The furniture that is currently in the conservatory is going to be moved onto the front decking to make that a nice seating area and eventually the gazebo will be moved from the back decking to the front decking and John will have to find a way of creating some sort of roof as the wind wrecked the old cover.

Our two leather sofas and the wooden coffee table (which has always seemed a bit too big for our suite) will move out into the conservatory and then we will try and use this more often as there will be no excuse that the seats are uncomfortable.

Chivers is bemused by the changes - he cannot understand where all the furniture has gone and the lounge area temporarily looks quite big!  We don't know what time the furniture is due to arrive and more importantly we have even less idea exactly how they are going to get two very sturdy and heavy pieces of furniture up our alleyway and through the gateway that John built AFTER our existing furniture was delivered.  They then have to negotiate the pergola, conservatory and kitchen!!  I can see that John is worried about it and has a million plans running through his head - none of them entirely satisfactory.

We were off to Mum and Dad's for lunch today.  It was bright but windy and not overly warm when we left Droushia and as we got down to the road at Banana Bay the wind was whipping up the sea and the spray was drifting across the road.  I got John to stop the car so that I could take a photograph because if you looked towards Paphos the sky and sea were grey and angry but then if you turned round and looked towards Coral Bay the sea and the sky were blue giving a very strange half and half effect and I know which half I preferred!

We quickly called into the Duckpond because we wanted to get a new scratching post for the cats to encourage them not to use the new suite but the lady there only had a small one so we will have to go to the vets or one of the pet shops and get one which is suitable - in the meantime and when we are not there we will throw some throws over.

It was lovely when we arrived at Mum and Dad's until we were about to eat lunch when it started to rain - although this did not last for long.  We had a lovely lunch and came away with our own Red Cross food parcel as we will be feeding Dad periodically whilst Mum is in England.  Mum and Dad will be coming up for tea on Tuesday and staying overnight.  It will give them a chance to take a look at our new sofas.  I shall have to get their bed made up and aired and then it will be ready for Dad any time he plans on staying.

We had told Vix and Trev to call in if they were up our way when we returned from Emba.  We know they will have loads to do and that today they would want to go and see their new home to familiarise themselves with where they will be living and where their furniture will go when it arrives.  They said that they had been made very very welcome by Crafty Jane and Budgie Smuggler Mark and that the house was looking lovely after all BSM's hard work.  They certainly wont be short of storage space in their house!!  and as you can see Trevor is resolutely wearing his shorts and t-shirt but then we did have the patio heater on in the conservatory as John wants to empty the gas bottle and it was warm and toasty inside.

After a catchup on the events of the day we went with them up to Fitos Kiosk which is the nearest eating/drinking place to their home in Arodes and I can see it will probably become a regular haunt for eating out - in fact they had eaten lunch there earlier today.

It was good to see Joanna and thank her for the Ladies Lunch and to tell her that it had introduced some new people to her establishment which has to be good for her.

Whilst we were in there we bumped into Herb Garden Caroline and her fiance Clem.  They had brought their dog Shep with them but left her outside amusing herself until they were ready to leave and she was very well behaved.

We have left it that Vix and Trev will contact us if and when they  need us as they are not entirely sure how things will pan out this week.  They are planning an admin day in Polis tomorrow and then I think they are supposed to be going to Limassol to get their car on Wednesday along with their furniture.