Sunday - Sea Rays

Lots of pictures today because it has been an interesting day!  It started with an education for my Uncle David who is a confirmed Luddite - he and Aunty Joyce have no interest in technology even though their children are involved in IT!!! No computers and no mobiles in their household but today John introduced Uncle David to the wonders of an I-Pad and the facility to read the news, watch the TV and to catch up with Uncle David's beloved Reading FC.  He was fascinated and terrified all at the same time!!

It was another bright and beautiful morning and another opportunity to take our breakfast outside - something light today as we were going to be having lunch out although not until later and trying a venue we had not tried before - Sea Rays down on the edge of the Akamas - we thought this would be a good choice as it was not too far for Mum and Dad to come across and join us and then they would take Joyce and David back with them - their little weekend break with us done and dusted.

It was the Farmers Market at Akourdaleia today and I thought it would be nice to take Aunty Joyce down and try and catch Elaine in so that she could see the garden.  We were lucky to find a parking space directly outside Elaine's and although it challenged my parallel parking capabilities a little I did manage to get in without hitting either Elaine's truck or Paul's Volvo!!  Elaine and Paul have been away for a trip to Crete and Elaine has returned to find that the garden has run wild - well she says it has run wild - we still thought it looked outstanding - there is still so much colour even now in the Autumn it is very inspirational and I have dug out my gardening books because I really need to get to grips with some succession planting so that I get more colour all the year round.

Elaine's garden has a bit of everything - it really is a haven - there are shady resting places, ponds, a beautiful new courtyard seating area, sculptures and artifacts, Buddhas and metal chickens - all perfectly positioned with thought and care.  I on the other-hand just shove all the things I like in the garden willy-nilly so if it goes then it is just a happy accident rather than by design - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but as both John and I suffer from the ability to throw anything away the effect is more mishmash than designer!

Having perused the garden we then wandered down to the farmers market which was in full swing.  Blimey it has come a long way from its humble beginnings and is clearly a regular date in people's diaries - this market concentrates on local produce so if you are looking for fresh, homemade, organic and healthy this is the place to come - plus you have the added bonus of Caroline Evans on tap - she is the herbalist and her enthusiasm is catching - she knows all there is to know about herbs and their respective qualities as she runs Heaven on Earth Herbals from the herb garden and her lovely husband Clement is the local osteopath.

There is so much colour at the market - there is so much fun and there is so much friendship it is worth going for the feel-good factor alone even if you are not tempted by the lovely food that is on offer!

Clearly this area of the island grows an abundance of fruit and veg of all shapes and sizes - add to that the honey and the olive oil and then the wizardry of the cooks and bakers living here and you have a bit of a gastronomic heaven!

We returned from the market and enjoyed a couple of hours sitting in the conservatory with all the windows flung wide open reading, sipping coffee and listening to some classical music before getting ready to go down the hill to meet for lunch.

As I said we were trying a new venue today - Sea Rays on the edge of the Akamas.  This was quite fortunately located at the finish of the Akamas Mountainbike Challenge so we were able to get to see some of the riders and speak to some of those who had just completed the challenge.  John and I do a little cycling - we are not nearly as committed (or crazy) as some of our friends but we thought that this would be something we would aim for next year.  The woman I spoke to was clearly a now-and-again cyclist like me but had enjoyed the challenge and her son had come second in his class so they were really chuffed with their achievements.

Following our lunch we shot off down to Paphos to catch up with Paul's brother-in-law Mike who we met a couple of years ago at Paul and Elaine's wedding.

Mike is a fellow Sheffielder and the other Blades Supporter so he and John like to catch up when Mike is on the island.  He is only here for a week so this had to be a flying visit.  He is staying at the Athena Beach - a place that we know well as other friends of ours Barry, Lynne and Joseph stay here every year.  It was good that we got the opportunity to see him even if it was only for an hour - it was enough time for he and John to be-moan the fate of the Blades and their poor performance yesterday!

On driving back to Drouseia we were treated to the most amazing sunset as the sun slipped down below a bank of quite threatening cloud.  We were looking forward to a little quiet time at the end of a busy week!