June 17th...

So as we were getting ready for a new week I answered an emergency call from Running Susan who was in a state of panic.  Apparently yesterday when she had been cleaning she had decided to hose down the outside furniture and managed to smash the glass top of the large dining table which sits out the back.  That was bad enough but when the suppliers asked her for a photograph she got in a right old tizz and couldn't get it to go.  I tried talking her through it but there was obviously something amiss so I thought it would be easier to drive down there and see what was occurring.  To be fair to Susan she hadn't really gone too wrong and probably would have got it sussed sooner rather than later.

Even though the island is beginning to look quite dry and dusty there is still colour to be found and at the moment the artichokes are in flower and are a brilliant mauve colour. 

When they are young and fresh and before they flower the heads are quite a delicacy but it seems an awful lot of work for very ittle reward!

I got Susan sorted and then trundled back to the village as I was going to Sheila's for my regular Monday art session.  As usual I was greeted by the various cats which dine at the Knips Restaurant!  Apparently those which have recently had kittens are bringing them along for their food - fortunately Sheila says they will eat almost anything except kidney beans.

So we had a lovely morning working on our respective pieces - Sheila's carob rat is coming on a treat - read her blog to see her progress http://sheilaknips.blogspot.com/ - I have no idea how she manages to get the fur on her animals to look so lifelike!!

This is the progress that I have made on my hermit crab so far.  I said to Sheila this morning that I hadn't realised how much blending there would be!!  It's going to take several more weeks to get this finished which is good because I have no idea what my next picture is going to be!

When our friends Hilary and Keith were over playing with the Big Band she rang me because a couple of the band members had adopted a couple of stray kittens down in Paphos and she wanted to know what their options were about sponsoring them or maybe even getting them back to the UK.  As they were in walking distance from Paphiakos I told her to contact them to see if they could help.  I hadn't heard anything until today and then I got a video of them and apparently they arrive in Heathrow at the beginning of August!  There are other cat-mad people out there!!

On the subject of cats the latest rescue kitten seems to be making good progress although the poor little thing has to have tablets for its running bottom and a nasty injection for its cistitis.  Fortunately its bad eye has cleared up and when he is let out of the cage he is like a whirling dervish!  He seems to get very bored in that cage and does his utmost to wreck it!

We were a bit concerned because we hadn't seen Chivers all day and as Angela had been over staying at her house we were concerned that he might have wandered in there and got locked in.  Unfortunately he seems to think that all the houses on the estate are his personal playground.

We went off looking for him - John went out along the new road and was followed by Minnie Mou.  Lord knows where Chivers appeared from but he soon caught up with the two of them and so then all three were off on an evening stroll together! All was fine until they encountered Simon walking his two dogs.  Minnie beat a hasty retreat but Chivers decided that he was king of the road and danced around with his back arched.  The dogs paid no attention!