Tuesday - a morning in Polis

Isn't it fabulous when you efforts are appreciated?

Last night Elena gave me a gift bag and inside was a beautifully made Thank You card from her elder daughter Amoura thanking me for everything I have done but in particular for putting her favourite songs on her i-pod.

When my sister and I were children we were always made to write thank-you notes but with today's more electronic age these things have normally been replaced by texts or emails or a message on Facebook so it's lovely that Elena is continuing the tradition and encouraging her children to use the good old fashioned method!

So a bit of a different morning this morning as I needed to go down to Polis and catch up with Lou's Mum Pat who was leaving today and she had asked me to make a plaque for Lou.  We were supposed to be having a morning together yesterday but Pat's plans changed so I still had the plaque!!!  Anyway Pat was spending some time at Saddles whilst Lou and H were grooming some dogs locally.

Anyway we managed to catch up and safely hand over the gift and sometime later on Facebook Louise posted this picture and a thank-you so I am guessing it went down well.

We had spotted Sheila who was doing her regular Tuesday morning stint manning (or should that be womanning) That Nice Shop in Polis and said we would join her for a quick coffee.  Her friends Bob and Maggie from Tremithousa were also there and a fair few tourists browsing the goodies inside the shop.

We took coffee at the newly re-opened Kings Cafe.  It is such a lovely venue we are really pleased that it has reopened and it looks like it might have got its act together this time with reasonably priced sandwiches and drinks available. We were all issued with a loyalty card and sat down outside enjoying the coffees and the sunshine.

Poor Bob is waiting to have some stitches removed from his chest.  He was bitten a few weeks back whilst helping Klaus in the garden - he didn't think much of it initially but then the bite started to grow and move!  He eventually had to have a largish area cut out and several internal and external stitches plus they found a sac which would have held eggs/young and they are going to be able to tell him on Saturday exactly what had made a home in his body - how gross is that???????

We finished our bit of shopping and returned home.  John was going down to Emba to trim some Lemon trees for Mum and Dad and to say Hi to my Aunt and Uncle who arrived safely yesterday.  I was staying home doing cleaning and ironing as Aunty Joyce and Uncle David will be staying with us over the weekend.

I was going to start off by doing the ironing but Charlie clearly had other ideas and had snuggled down on top of John's soft toweling shorts and made himself very very comfortable.

I don't know what it was with the cats today as both Charlie and Boris were dead to the world with legs akimbo and Minnie-Mou was asleep under the tub chair in the conservatory.  Only Chivers was out and about.

I left Charlie alone in the laundry basket - to be fair there wasn't a huge amount in there that needed doing and did cleaning instead - although the weather is much cooler at the moment it is still hot and sticky if you are doing housework!

Chivers did pitch up sadly with a tiny yellow bird in his jaws - the poor thing was dead and I quickly wrapped it in kitchen roll and removed it which confused Chivers who then went searching under the sofa's for his prize.

I did have a little spare time whilst waiting for John to return and made a few garden signs trying out some new flat canvasses that I bought recently and using some of the tissues that Lynne and Barry had brought over.

This evening our lovely friends and neighbours Sharon and Sean were taking us out for a meal.  Sean had promised us the best steaks we had ever eaten and we were a bit skeptical at first because we have learned through bitter experience that very often restaurant quality can be inconsistent to say the least - that is why we never recommend anywhere!

Tonight we were being taken to Neo's Sports Club in Peyia/Coral Bay and yes I know my hair looks different but I will explain all about that in my post tomorrow!

I have never eaten at Neo's but John has eaten there with Dad with his walking group so we didn't know what to expect.

The 'fine dining' area isn't too big and there is a lovely terrace from which you could see the sunset and a band was setting up which played traditional-ish music but at a nice level so it didn't overpower the conversation.

Sean was explaining that if we ordered steaks they would be cooked at our table exactly to our liking so we were looking forward to that - poor Sharon neither drinks nor eats meat so I felt a bit guilty about making her sit in a carnivor's paradise but she said she didn't mind!



John and I decided to share a starter and I chose the deep fried camembert with a blackberry coulis which was very nice although probably could have done with a little more green to accompany it but that was just personal choice - the cheese was lovely and the sauce went with it really well and it wasn't so heavy that it would spoil my main course.


I had chosen a fillet steak cooked in a madeira and cream sauce with mushrooms which was to be served with chips and a salad.  I am really fussy about steaks because we have them pretty often and I cook them exactly how we like them and very often when we go out we are really disappointed but I have to say that steak was absolutely superb - Sean was right - it was cooked to perfection and was tender and full of flavour - impressive.



My dessert was also cooked at the table - I had chosen crepes Suzettes - pancakes are an absolute favourite of mine and I blame my Austrian Aunty, Aunty Margaret because she always cooked them for Kaye and I when we were kids!

The pancakes were delicious - really really delicious.  The whole meal was delicious and we had a lovely evening.  It was so kind of Sean and Sharon to take us but we have agreed that when they are out here living the cost of all meals when we go out will be shared otherwise it isn't fair!

Thank you so much - it really lived up to the hype!