Saturday - flippin' freezin'

People are always surprised when we tell them it gets cold here in Cyprus - they look at us dismissively and say that it is all relative - as it is so hot in the Summer then it is bound to feel cold in the Winter and then, of course, there is the thinning of the blood which is a contributing factor.  All this is true but when I got up to make the morning coffees I looked at the temperature to see it was a heady 6.5 degrees outside and only 15 degrees inside and that was thanks only to the fire that John lit last night,  That is cold in my book - I would hasten to say that is cold in most people's books and even the hardiest amongst us (namely Hywel Jones) has relented this weekend and lit a fire.  I cannot believe we managed the first winter with just the gas fire and a Superser and, what's more, we had to run across the courtyard to the bedrooms because we did not have the conservatory built.  Oh how romantic it seemed to have the bedrooms separate when we looked at the property in the summer months way back in 2004 and how impractical it became when the bad weather set in.  Yes it is cold at the moment but it is also dry and during the day it is bright and sunny and warm.  Get a couple of days when you get constant rain and little daylight and the thought of running the gauntlet just to get forty winks.

We do not have the workmen here today - yippee - but we do have loads to be getting on with so it was a relatively early start.  John has to keep an eye on the concrete as it must not dry out too quickly - this is unlikely to happen up here with the amount of condensation we get.  However hard we tried to ensure that the cats did not leave their monikers we failed miserably and they seem to have danced the light fantastic around the skimmer for some reason.

I felt like a magician this morning as I carefully removed our bedding without disturbing Boris who had settled on his blinkie.  I shall move on to whipping off the tablecloth of a fully laden dining table without disturbing the contents in due course!  You try removing a duvet from its cover without waking a cat who is firmly ensconced in the middle.  Well I managed it and go our bedding washed and on the line and dried and back on the bed within an hour or so which isn't bad for December and then when I looked round Boris had moved into the conservatory taking advantage of the sun and cuddled up to Charlie - when Boris was little he used to follow Charlie everywhere and always snuggle up on him but now he is older Charlie is far less tolerant - in fact Charlie is intolerant of most things except food and George from 11B.

Our target today was to get another wall paneled and the bathroom heater installed - it is a bit chilly when you have finished showering! The wall paneling is going well - I have whitewashed about half of the tongue and groove and the pale colour is clean and relaxing and, it is probably psychological but, the paneling makes the bedroom feel warmer.  The wall behind the bed will be painted a sort of duck-egg blue and I have some new curtains of a similar colour to put up when we have finished.  I like it and John likes it so that is all that matters.

We purchased a new bathroom heater some time ago and Sharon kindly packaged it up and got it shipped out in one of the boxes which was involved in 'box-gate' in the summer when two of her boxes did not arrive when they should have done and then four boxes arrived all at once.  We really needed it thus far so there had been no rush to get it put up plus we weren't particularly happy with the finish of the bathroom so there had been things John wanted to try and sort - one was the finish of the tiles at the top where they met the ceiling.  Anyway yesterday John decided he would fit it.  He had left a pull-wire in situ when the cable conduit had been put into the wall before the tiling was done.  It was encouraging that you could pull either end of the pull-wire and it moved up and down as planned.  It was less encouraging when the pull-wire was attached to the electrical cable of the heater and it got so far and then refused to move.  John was in the bathroom trying to balance the heater and push the cable through with his poorly hands (the cold weather has caused seriously deep splits in his thumb which are causing him all sorts of pain and problems) and I was on the other side in the bedroom pulling the cable through except I couldn't and I think John thought I was just being a wimp but he came and yanked the pull-wire and it snapped off and he was not amused.  To cut a long story short we worked out that, for a number of reasons, none of our making, the cable was never going to go through as the situation stood.  There was nothing for it but to drill out the wall on the bedroom side and try and find the conduit.  We did eventually manage to do this but what should have been a pretty simple job took hours and severely tested John's patience.  We do now have a heater in the bathroom, no marriage but a heater in the bathroom (I jest of course).  Ultimately it was a pleasure to shower in readiness for going out!

This evening we were going out to celebrate Dad and John's birthday (same day, different year).  This year their ages were palindromatic in that Dad was 84 and John was 48.  Their birthday is in September but my sister had wanted to pay for them both to have a meal and we thought we would leave it until now so they had something to look forward to when it was quieter.  We had chosen to go to Sonny's (formerly the Banana Bar) as it is one of Mum and Dad's favourites and we were guaranteed a good meal and a warm welcome (particularly as we dragged the table right up to the wood burner).

John will tell you that it was the heat from the wood burner that gave him rosy cheeks and nothing to do with the wine!!

A good time was had by all so thanks Kaye - they both really enjoyed it.