Today we were having what is of late a rare thing in house, an at home day - although to be fair we were not actually going to be in all day as we had offered to help George and Pam cut back their garden before they return to the UK. It is unbelievable how the plants grown with absolutely no help whatsoever and George always likes to have it tidy before he leaves. He used to do it all himself but as he is getting older and as he hurt his back during the Pomos Escapade he needed some assistance.
We seem to have a million and one jobs needing to be done and John frets that we wont get them completed before the weather changes so we made a list of priorities and decided to start tackling them today - not top of the list but one which we could get completed today was to be the shelving in the pump house so John measured up and shot off down to the wood yard.
Whilst I was waiting for his return I tackled a few little things I wanted to do because I knew that once John was back I would be required to be his part IV and I know I drive him nuts because I have the attention span of a goldfish and am always thinking about other things rather than handing him the correct tool or anticipating his next requirement!!!
Anyway I have finally got round to getting a frame for the cat picture I did months and months ago. I think he is looking rather smart! I now need to find a frame for the hermit crab picture I did - unfortunately that one is too small for this frame and mount so I will need to look again to see if there is anything suitable. It is amazing how a good frame brings a picture to life.
I managed to get in a little gardening whilst waiting for John. The climbing plant I bought yesterday has been put in - fortunately the spot I had chosen yielded some fairly good soil once I had got through the shingle - the same could not be said for across the way where I had wanted to put a passion flower and was faced with a lump of concrete and no chance of planting anything which is a bit of a bugger.
The olive AKA the Singing Ringing Tree got its annual scalping. Lovely to have a traditional olive tree but they make such a mess - always dropping something and this one always seems to get a bug in it. We like to have it cut as tightly as possible to limit the fall out!! We call it the Singing Ringing Tree because it is a great place to hang all the various bits and bobs that we have accumulated or that people have given us and at least it makes the skinheaded poorly shaped tree more interesting!
John returned with his wood and we started to do the shelving - just around the back where the pump-house is located we were working in full sun and it was blooming boiling!
As I said I am a particularly rubbish Part IV and so easily distracted it drives John absolutely nuts!
Today my attention wandered to the bee eaters which were massing on the wires in the field next door. They are so beautiful and it will only be a very short while before they have gone and I wanted to try and get a better picture of them but didn't have time to go and get the good camera so these are not brilliant but at least you can see the wonderful colours of their plumage.
Anyway in between sneaking off to take some photographs and handing John screws and rawl-plugs we managed to get the shelves erected. Yay a tick in the box and one job off of the list!
We have so little storage
at our house I cannot begin to explain the excitement that shelves can bring. Now we have somewhere to store all the pool equipment safely and somewhere dry to put the duvets when they are not in use and it is all locked away in a beautiful natural stone building that looks so much better than the grey plastic Keter sheds/cupboards we used to have dotted around. We still have some as additional wood stores and when they die we are going to replace them with something more permanent and aesthetically pleasing - boo another job to add to the list so now the list is the same length as it was before!
I had a little time before going round to George and Pams so I spent it sorting out the I-Pods which belong to Amoura and Rabia (Elena's elder daughter and son).
Rabia has been mithering Elena on a daily basis to get his I-Pod sorted and I had promised that I would do it by the weekend. Fortunately they both wanted much the same music so having got the play list sorted for one it was easy to get the play list sorted for the other. Blimey you realise you are getting old when none of the songs or the artists mean anything to you. On Rabia's list was just a song with no artist so I have absolutely no idea if I have given him what he was expecting - he will probably be singing along and then think "What the Hell is this song?" Actually I was quite tempted to slip in a totally random track that Elena and I would have enjoyed just to see his face! Anyway he was absolutely delighted when I took the I-Pods back all done this afternoon and was keen to show me his posh new ear-phones that he bought from Tiger in the Mall. Why is it when people wear head-phones they shout????? Anyway I am very sad to report that Drousia will be a little less attractive from today when Bassam's rather easy-on-the-eye nephew Ali returns to the Lebanon! To console ourselves Elena and I are planning a girlie night out together! In the meantime a freshly baked slice of Elena's flapjack had to suffice but it was a poor substitute.
On my return from Elena's we went round to George and Pam's to tackle the garden. When they were here at Easter the weather had been so bad that we honestly thought that some of the plants had died. Apart from the Lemon Tree that Stelios cares for non of the rest of the plants receive any additional water other than what the elements provide. To give you an idea of how much things had grown the lantana was an uninteresting stump in May and yesterday had a spread over over 2 metres growth.
Cutting back the plants isn't really the issue although John managed to break the handle on his pick-axe and bend the blade on his rip-saw - it is bagging up and getting rid of all the rubbish that takes the time and effort. The bin men will be faced with a mountain of green bags when they next come and as we ran out of bags one or two little bits of biodegradable waste was lobbed over the side to decompose.
On the subject of decomposing I encountered the remains of a rat - probably the partner to the one which ended up under the dining room table. At least some of the cats in the neighbourhood are doing their job but I somehow doubt that it is ours!
The final job was to tackle the bay tree which had grown from a nice little ornamental tree to something with about four big trunks - we decided to take it back to one - this is how the rip-saw blade got bent as it was greener and stronger than we had realised. John had to climb up and balance precariously on George's wall to be able to take down the height but eventually we got it all done and cleared away. We were all knackered and filthy but the thought of a Fitos takeaway with a glass of Vasilikon wine kept us all going.
George and Pam treated us to the meal and it was absolutely fantastic - why is it that sometimes it is the simplest of food that tastes the best? I ordered chicken fillet - I rarely do as I find chicken can often be bland and dry but this was absolutely melt in your mouth tender, served with a simple salad and some chips - DELICIOUS
As we sat chatting we were joined by Sean and Sharon - so we had 10b, 11b and 12b residents all together which is lovely as we spend the best part of the year with no-one else around. At some point in the evening Chivers, Charlie and (unusually) Minnie all passed through. Unfortunately the cats think that all the houses are their own personal territory and they visit all the neighbours - generally this is not a problem as most like our cats. I am just wondering if someone did not appreciate Boris visiting on Sunday - who knows?
Clearly I was tired when I got home - a combination of the sun, the Part IV-ing, the gardening and the wine as I don't remember this picture being taken I just found it on the camera this morning.
I think I am going to have to re-watch whatever it was we were watching on the TV at the time because I have no recollection of that either.
It is another at-home day tomorrow and John will be waving THE LIST at me but I reckon it will be a bit of a slow start in the morning!
Whilst I was waiting for his return I tackled a few little things I wanted to do because I knew that once John was back I would be required to be his part IV and I know I drive him nuts because I have the attention span of a goldfish and am always thinking about other things rather than handing him the correct tool or anticipating his next requirement!!!
Anyway I have finally got round to getting a frame for the cat picture I did months and months ago. I think he is looking rather smart! I now need to find a frame for the hermit crab picture I did - unfortunately that one is too small for this frame and mount so I will need to look again to see if there is anything suitable. It is amazing how a good frame brings a picture to life.
I managed to get in a little gardening whilst waiting for John. The climbing plant I bought yesterday has been put in - fortunately the spot I had chosen yielded some fairly good soil once I had got through the shingle - the same could not be said for across the way where I had wanted to put a passion flower and was faced with a lump of concrete and no chance of planting anything which is a bit of a bugger.The olive AKA the Singing Ringing Tree got its annual scalping. Lovely to have a traditional olive tree but they make such a mess - always dropping something and this one always seems to get a bug in it. We like to have it cut as tightly as possible to limit the fall out!! We call it the Singing Ringing Tree because it is a great place to hang all the various bits and bobs that we have accumulated or that people have given us and at least it makes the skinheaded poorly shaped tree more interesting!
John returned with his wood and we started to do the shelving - just around the back where the pump-house is located we were working in full sun and it was blooming boiling!As I said I am a particularly rubbish Part IV and so easily distracted it drives John absolutely nuts!
Today my attention wandered to the bee eaters which were massing on the wires in the field next door. They are so beautiful and it will only be a very short while before they have gone and I wanted to try and get a better picture of them but didn't have time to go and get the good camera so these are not brilliant but at least you can see the wonderful colours of their plumage.Anyway in between sneaking off to take some photographs and handing John screws and rawl-plugs we managed to get the shelves erected. Yay a tick in the box and one job off of the list!
We have so little storage
at our house I cannot begin to explain the excitement that shelves can bring. Now we have somewhere to store all the pool equipment safely and somewhere dry to put the duvets when they are not in use and it is all locked away in a beautiful natural stone building that looks so much better than the grey plastic Keter sheds/cupboards we used to have dotted around. We still have some as additional wood stores and when they die we are going to replace them with something more permanent and aesthetically pleasing - boo another job to add to the list so now the list is the same length as it was before!
I had a little time before going round to George and Pams so I spent it sorting out the I-Pods which belong to Amoura and Rabia (Elena's elder daughter and son).Rabia has been mithering Elena on a daily basis to get his I-Pod sorted and I had promised that I would do it by the weekend. Fortunately they both wanted much the same music so having got the play list sorted for one it was easy to get the play list sorted for the other. Blimey you realise you are getting old when none of the songs or the artists mean anything to you. On Rabia's list was just a song with no artist so I have absolutely no idea if I have given him what he was expecting - he will probably be singing along and then think "What the Hell is this song?" Actually I was quite tempted to slip in a totally random track that Elena and I would have enjoyed just to see his face! Anyway he was absolutely delighted when I took the I-Pods back all done this afternoon and was keen to show me his posh new ear-phones that he bought from Tiger in the Mall. Why is it when people wear head-phones they shout????? Anyway I am very sad to report that Drousia will be a little less attractive from today when Bassam's rather easy-on-the-eye nephew Ali returns to the Lebanon! To console ourselves Elena and I are planning a girlie night out together! In the meantime a freshly baked slice of Elena's flapjack had to suffice but it was a poor substitute.
On my return from Elena's we went round to George and Pam's to tackle the garden. When they were here at Easter the weather had been so bad that we honestly thought that some of the plants had died. Apart from the Lemon Tree that Stelios cares for non of the rest of the plants receive any additional water other than what the elements provide. To give you an idea of how much things had grown the lantana was an uninteresting stump in May and yesterday had a spread over over 2 metres growth.
Cutting back the plants isn't really the issue although John managed to break the handle on his pick-axe and bend the blade on his rip-saw - it is bagging up and getting rid of all the rubbish that takes the time and effort. The bin men will be faced with a mountain of green bags when they next come and as we ran out of bags one or two little bits of biodegradable waste was lobbed over the side to decompose.On the subject of decomposing I encountered the remains of a rat - probably the partner to the one which ended up under the dining room table. At least some of the cats in the neighbourhood are doing their job but I somehow doubt that it is ours!
The final job was to tackle the bay tree which had grown from a nice little ornamental tree to something with about four big trunks - we decided to take it back to one - this is how the rip-saw blade got bent as it was greener and stronger than we had realised. John had to climb up and balance precariously on George's wall to be able to take down the height but eventually we got it all done and cleared away. We were all knackered and filthy but the thought of a Fitos takeaway with a glass of Vasilikon wine kept us all going.
George and Pam treated us to the meal and it was absolutely fantastic - why is it that sometimes it is the simplest of food that tastes the best? I ordered chicken fillet - I rarely do as I find chicken can often be bland and dry but this was absolutely melt in your mouth tender, served with a simple salad and some chips - DELICIOUS
As we sat chatting we were joined by Sean and Sharon - so we had 10b, 11b and 12b residents all together which is lovely as we spend the best part of the year with no-one else around. At some point in the evening Chivers, Charlie and (unusually) Minnie all passed through. Unfortunately the cats think that all the houses are their own personal territory and they visit all the neighbours - generally this is not a problem as most like our cats. I am just wondering if someone did not appreciate Boris visiting on Sunday - who knows?
Clearly I was tired when I got home - a combination of the sun, the Part IV-ing, the gardening and the wine as I don't remember this picture being taken I just found it on the camera this morning.
I think I am going to have to re-watch whatever it was we were watching on the TV at the time because I have no recollection of that either.
It is another at-home day tomorrow and John will be waving THE LIST at me but I reckon it will be a bit of a slow start in the morning!
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