June 21st...

Charlie is getting used to his new surroundings and Minnie Mou and Chivers are seriously unimpressed - we are worried we have made the wrong decision - not that Charlie is going to be beaten up by the others but that the other two keep running away which is not the behaviour we had expected.  Charlie is unconcerned - he has so much to learn!  One minute he is sweetness and light and the next he turns into this whirling dervish that likes to attack your feet and legs or your hands and arms - he has drawn blood on several occasions.  This has to stop because if he does that to Dad with his paper thin skin he could do some serious damage.

It was a seriously hot day today and the temperature in the conservatory was about to blow the mercury over the top.  We had thought about housing Charlie and his cage in the conservatory but this would have meant keeping all the doors shut which was clearly not an option so we allowed the little lad to crash out on our bed in the cool. We so want our three cats to  get along but it could be a slow process if you believe what you read on the internet - sometimes it can take weeks, sometimes months and sometimes it just doesn't happen at all because the cats wont gel.  We could be in for a long and tough ride!!!

We had invited our friends Melanie, Simon and their lovely daughter Jasmine to come and have some lunch and a swim at ours today as they have been spending more time up here in Droushia and do not have a pool.  John spent quite some time this morning making sure the water looked and felt its absolute best whilst I prepared lunch.  We were having tomato, basil and mozzarella salad, stuffed green bell peppers, roasted vine tomatoes and some meatballs and pasta.

I know it was a bit early because Jasmine's birthday is not until later in the Summer but I decided to give her the seahorse picture I had done at Sheila's early.  As Mel and Simon are about to decorate her bedroom here in Droushia it meant that the picture could be incorporated into the colour scheme.  They seemed to like it - Jasmine doesn't look anything other than an 'international woman of mystery' in those shades.

Jasmine flaked out almost as soon as she arrived so she was given a quiet shady corner of the garden to concentrate on her zzzz's whilst the rest of us tucked in to lunch and the opportunity for a chat before resting a while before swimming.

We all went in the pool - John has coaxed the water temperature up to a heady 27 degrees!!!!  It was positively balmy!!!  Sensible that Jasmine was in a sun suit rather than a swim suit as it is too easy to get burned when in the water.  

It was a lovely afternoon and good to catch up with the Rogers - they are hoping to be able to spend a little more time up here and we have said they are always welcome to come for a swim.

Mum and I have been invited to a birthday lunch on Monday at marmalade Annie's.  This came as a nice surprise as I haven't seen Annie for a while and we were only talking about how she was at Craft yesterday.  I felt I wanted to take a little gift for her so I decided to make a door stop for her using some of my pebbles and a wooden beach-hut that I had knocking around.  She has a lot of blue at her house so I hope she will like it.

This evening we were meeting up with Lynn and Mr Al (or should I call him Air Commodore Al?).  We met them at Elaine and Paul's wedding - in fact they allowed Elaine and Paul to have their wedding reception in their beautiful garden.  We had arranged to meet them and Elaine and Paul at Fitos's for a catch-up but Elaine and Paul have gone away on their honeymoon!

We had a lovely evening - it was so nice to get to talk to them under much less fraught circumstances.  Lynn is a good old Cornish girl and retains her good old 'Demelza' accent which is so lovely to hear - I bet if you got her and Dad together they would sound like a right pair of locals!

Good food once again and good company - what more could you want!