Monday - Art and Dancing

If you are deemed to be 'awake' first in our house you have to go and get the morning coffees - I think sometimes there is a bit of lying still and pretending going on and not by me!!!  So needless to say it was my turn this morning to do a head-count of the cats - all four present and correct - then referee their breakfasts - Charlie bolts his down and then pushes the others off of theirs so he can get seconds or thirds - then make the coffees and then retire to the conservatory to watch the sun-rise and the day unfold.

We are going to have our pool refurbished and it is now rather too chilly to swim in it - or at least we think so (visitors would not) and so we are gradually letting the water level reduce - this means that Boris is finding it increasingly more difficult to get his after breakfast drink in and today he ventured down as far as the first step.  I just know what is going to happen as Charlie is no fool and has clocked Boris on the step and I can just see him thinking that he will just saunter past and give Boris a nudge when he is not looking!

Art today and I have been walking down to Sheila's with the camera and taking photographs of the village which I have been putting on the Droushia Facebook site so that fellow Drousians home and abroad can look at them.  I have had people in South Africa Australia and America thank me for doing this as it keeps them in touch with their home village.  It is a pleasure as I love taking photographs.

Yesterday we had fresh figs for breakfast which I had picked from a tree over the back of our house.  The figs seem to be later this year probably because of the snow and late spring storms we had earlier this year. I could have picked some which had been ready-roasted as a result of the fire that we had a couple of weeks ago!

I chose a different route this morning as I had promised Janet Jinty that I would go and take some photographs of the house which she and her husband are going to be renting out shortly when they retire over here.  I haven't met Janet in person yet but have been trying to give her information about the village and the area through the internet.

Anyway it was a lovely morning for a walk - as I passed Ktima Kannides I saw our village cleaner who now after nearly five years does say hello rather than just nod at me.  He works like a trojan in all weathers and does a good job at keeping the streets clean.

As I took this photograph I realised that there was a big fat green bin behind him and as I took more photographs on my walk I noticed how often I had to position the shot to make sure I didn't include a green bin - so many in the village it is a shame that people don't always use them plus, unlike the UK, the binmen take just about anything so there is no excuse.  Unfortunately litter is the curse of the island but at least now there is a drive to try and deal with this as there have been special waste disposal areas set up and groups like the Akamas Clean Up Team doing their bit - I confess I haven't been out with ACT recently as they were cleaning on a Sunday and we like to keep Sundays free for Mum and Dad.

My walk this morning took me past the new Mukhtar's building - I don't entirely understand the reasoning behind the requirement for such a large establishment but I am sure it will all become clear in due course.  It is just a shame that this facility is right on the edge of the village - currently Marianna (the Mukhtar's clerk) resides in an office next to the weaving museum and near to the post office so people pop their head in her door as they are going past if she moves up to the new building no-one will just go past except Janet Jinty who will be leaving nearby!  It is a bit of a shame that Drouseia has no centre, no village square and no-where really for people to park centrally if they are wanting to explore except the carpark attached to the Droushia Heights Hotel.

It is a shame because the village is relatively untouched by mass development and many of the elderly live in traditional homes and continue a traditional way of life.

Sadly many dwellings are unoccupied and are showing signs of neglect and are padlocked up either waiting for the occasional visit from family members living abroad or locked away for good.  It makes for fantastic photo opportunities but will ultimately affect the community spirit.

So onto art - my picture continues to develop.

As I said I have used a photograph which I took in Kouklia as my inspiration.  It is a challenge because the inside of the shutter of this taverna/shop is a mural with a picture of an olive tree and some pots and so I am trying to create a painting of a painting!  For this reason I have adopted some artistic licence with the colouring of the pots and it is quite different from the original photograph.

I worked really hard today but my progress doesn't seem to reflect that!!  Very little chatting occurred between Sheila and I this morning although we did stop for a slice of Klaus's very delicious plum crumble cake and I ask myself why I cannot shift the extra pounds that have accumulated over the Summer?

So on that very subject - extra pounds - I have committed myself to belly dancing on a Monday night and I have also committed Diana and Cara.  Elena would have come too but she was catering for a wedding!  I arranged to take Rabia to his football practice and then Diana and I wandered up to the Square in Polis to have a coffee at Kings Cafe and have a chat with the owner Maria (mad as a box of frogs and lovely with it) and Jeannette who was manning That Nice Shop next door with husband Graham and working on a fantastic dragon mosaic which has been commissioned as a Christmas present.

OMG as the kids say what a workout but hugely enjoyable.  If we had been wearing socks we would have danced them off - I really didn't know that I could sweat that much and so quickly!!  There were four of us this week as Jutta was there from last week and next week we should have the requisite six attendees as I have persuaded someone else to come along - Sofi only really likes to take six as we have to move around quite a bit and we are all fairly useless so by the time she has explained everything six times the hour has nearly gone!

I may have burned enough calories to enjoy one of the Lebanese sweeties that Bassam brought back for me but I probably didn't burn anything like enough to have deserved the Fitos takeaway which was my reward!!!  Village chicken, chips salad and pitta bread.  My concession was that I didn't eat the pitta bread and I didn't eat all the chips but I am not sure that will have helped much!