Tuesday - Badminton...

Boris seems to be settling back to is old self thank goodness as we were going to be out for  most of the day down in Paphos and if he had shown signs of being poorly we would have wanted to have got him to the vets.  It was a strange episode with him - his reactions were so extreme - god knows what happened.

We were having 'fresh hay' tonight and on a school night!  The recent wet weather meant that one or other of the cats had come in with exceptionally muddy paws and left his or her mark on the bed clothes last night.  The soil here is very red so it makes a right old mess and if left to dry leaves a mark which is a devil to get out so I whipped the bed clothes off and put on some fresh ones - you can't beat a bit of fresh hay!

We were leaving early to go down to Paphos so that we could call into the tile and marble shops to get a final price for the tiles we want to buy - we had seen a large tile outside the shop where we had our sandstone cut for the fireplace but unfortunately it was closed when we passed by on Saturday so we borrowed it and took it back today - they were completely unconcerned that we had taken it although only for a short time and told us we could keep it - so if nothing else it will make a great table top or something if we dont end up using it on the floor!

As John went off to play Badminton Mum and I had an afternoon out.  Mum had recently bought some very nice double hibiscus plants from the garden centre near Papantoniou in Chloraka with the money her friend Eileen had left for her 80th birthday.  We decided to go and take a look at what else they had to offer.  I have tried growing hibiscus with very little success - maybe because I had them in pots - my neighbour Savvas has a wonderful hedge of the bright red single ones but then again he has a fantastic bird of paradise plant and my has been in for nearly five years and does absolutely nothing!  I didn't buy a hibiscus although I was sorely tempted I chose a climber instead to plant and grown around the frame John has built to hide the shed.  Mum bought a white and purple striped solanum for a bargain €4!  Solanums do very well here and if cut regularly can be formed into interesting shapes.  We have the common purple ones so I will be interested to see how this one does.

I needed to get over to Peyia to see the two pool companies there so we decided we would go for a drink at the beach bar called Sea You at what we refer to as Banana Bay.  This has fairly recently sprung up and it is a lovely spot and the venue is making a bit of a name for itself.  Mum has been previously on a couple of occasions but neither John nor I have so it was nice to go somewhere different.

They have really made it into a nice spot with some quirky bits and pieces - the piles of pebbles as paperweights on each table is a nice touch and there is a lovely breeze there plus you have the additional bonus of the shade from the palm trees.  I don't know what the food is like as we only stopped for a tea and a frappe but I could quite happily sit there and while away a couple of hours.

The weather today down on the coast is very windy - Mum seems to think it is the first of the regular coptic storms come early and although it was windy it was very muggy as well - not at all settled.

I tried to capture the waves crashing in on the beach at Banana Bay but managed to miss the really big ones - this bit of coastline is quite dangerous at the best of times and there was some lunatic trying to swim there today - crazy!

We had quite a successful afternoon calling into the Clothing Lounge in Peyia to checkout the bargains at there is currently a sale on in there and then managing to get what I needed done with the Pool People and H2 Owen before returning to Emba and meeting back up with John.

As John and I returned home the skies got heavier.  When we reached Kathikas the cloud formation was absolutely outstanding.  I am not sure I have ever seen anything like it - it makes you realise exactly what they mean when they say 'big sky' as the village below was dwarfed in comparison.

We were having a quiet night in tonight - hooooooorah!!!  I was preparing the salad for tea and ventured out into the garden to cut some fresh basil only to realise that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face - a deep thick rolling mist was passing through.  Autumn is most definitely here.