Saturday - chilling with family...

A very strange and erie start to this morning - with visitors safely tucked up in bed we wanted to allow them to sleep and wake when ready rather than be woken by something.  With the shutters shut very little light and very little noise filters through and generally people staying say the bedroom is a haven of peace and quiet.  Anyway I was up early to see the sun covered by a rolling mist - it was my mission to keep the cats from waking Aunty Joyce and Uncle David!  Charlie knows, probably because there is no ironing basket on the chest of drawers, that it is only empty or missing because of guests - he then makes it his sole mission in life to get in that bedroom and make friends with whoever is in there - this means scratching vigorously at the bedroom doors or at the bedroom windows - Boris talks as he walks announcing his arrival with every step if he was been away from the house - rather like the incredible farting vicar in Jersey (but that is another story) so he needs to be headed off at the pass if silence is to rein.  This time of year Chivers belts through the catflap at a great rate of knots usually carrying something in his mouth as a gift - it is only Minnie-Mou who waits patiently at her food bowl to weak to make any sort of sound.

Mission was accomplished, sort of, our guests did not get up too early but that was only because although they had woken earlier it was so quiet they didn't think we were up so sat chatting and reading to pass the time!!!

Eventually we were all present and correct for breakfast - the previous couple of days had been very grey and overcast and we had thought it unlikely that we would be able to sit outside but today after the mist had cleared it was hot and bright and ideal for dining al fresco.  Somehow even the humble slice of toast tastes better when eaten outside and when it is accompanied by some lovely fresh fruit (figs hand picked from the tree opposite and passion fruit from Effie's garden) local honey and yoghurt what more could you want?  We adopted the leisurely mediterranean approach to breakfast rather than our normal eat on the run method!

Once we had cleared up and got ourselves sorted we decided to take a stroll along the coast at Latchi.  We needed to go and say our goodbyes to Pam and George first just in case we were not home when they left for the airport - it is always a sad time when we have to do this as we have got used to having them around and popping in and out and I had to get my own figs today - for the past I don't know how many weeks George has delivered them to me fresh from his morning walk.

My Uncle is 83 and my Aunt is 80 and they both do really very well for their ages and enjoy a bit of a walk - nothing too strenuous particularly as my Aunt (like my mum) has a leaky heart valve and has to take it steady.  Nonetheless they walk a little everyday.  We parked at La Plage and slowly made our way along to the Marina (actually my Aunt's name is really Marina, Marina Joyce but when she was younger she insisted on being called Joyce and I find it really hard not to call her that now even though her name is Marina).  We always rib my Uncle about making sure he has his shoes on the right feet before we go anywhere because once we went out for a meal with them and he said he couldn't understand why his sandals were pinching and then when we looked he had them on the wrong feet - he said he thought it was strange that they fastened on the inside of his ankles rather than the outside!

We walked along to the end of the Marina and stopped by Waves so that we could look at how the beach has been restored after the storms of the winter which swept most of it away.  It is looking better now and hopefully if they continue with building the planned additional breakwaters this might not happen again.

We treated ourselves to ice-creams so that we would not spoil our light lunch planned at home and then walked slowly back which is where John spotted this lizard basking in the sunshine on top of one of the rustic changing rooms dotted along the beach.  By the time we got back to the car it was getting very warm indeed so we were glad of the air-con!

After lunch we spent the remainder of the afternoon chilling out before our planned night out in Polis.  Joyce and David are avid readers so were more than happy to sit with the patio doors wide open and take a coffee by the pool and relax with their books.  David is also very keen on sport so was more than happy to keep John company watching the Rugby.

We had decided to eat down in Polis this evening - we had thought about Finikas in the village but our Ladies Lunch is being held there on Wednesday and mum and Aunty Joyce are coming so we thought we should go somewhere else and decided upon Finikas in Polis because it has a wide menu and I know that Aunty Joyce really enjoys eating local fayre when she is here on holiday so likes to fit in kleftiko or stifado or moussaka when she can and she also loves fish so she could get any or all of these at Finikas.

We were amazed at how busy Finikas and Moustakalis were last night - full and squeezing more people in.  That was so good to see.  Our visitors very kindly paid for our meals last night - we had plumped for the three course set menu but failed on the dessert front because we were all too full!