Saturday 2 April 2016

Saturday at home...

Happy 61st Anniversary to my Mum and Dad



I had a sense of deja vu this morning when I got out the slow cooker and started to slow cook the minted lamb in readiness for tomorrow's Easter Sunday lunch with Mum and Dad.  This is the same recipe that I used for Jane's special 70th birthday meal in the Yurt - a Mongolian Yurt so it seemed only right that I cooked lamb!!!  I got the lamb prepared and I also prepared a Bailey's Bread and Butter Pudding which I know is a favourite of Mum's.

It is a bank holiday weekend here in Cyprus, not because it is Easter but because yesterday they celebrated Greek Independence Day so what else should you do on a Bank Holiday weekend but clean your cooker????

I didn't intend to have a cleaning day but John was busy in the pool and out in the garden and I took one look into the black hole of Droushia and thought enough was enough and got the oven cleaner out and the elbow grease and gave it a go.  The Microwave got it too.  Very cathartic oven cleaning but not good for the hands.

I got everything ready for tomorrow and then turned my attention to the garden, sadly the weather forecast was pretty accurate and we had a very cool and overcast day which threatened rain although we didn't actually get any.

Everything is springing to life in the garden - the osteospurmum are flowering, the Californian poppies are flowering, the gazanias are flowering and the wild garlic is flowering which means that after the weariness of winter the garden looks lovely.

We had a list of things we wanted to get achieved today but that sort of went out of the window as other things took over.  John started to tidy up his shed - I think this is because so much has been thrown inside the front door he could not longer gain access so this had become a necessity and then having started that job we decided that we would tackle the area under the carport next to where the car is parked.  We have a box there where we store all the beach things but we haven't had a good look at what is in there for ages.


Whenever we do a tidy the cats just have to be involved - often getting in our way and later in the day when we realise we haven't seen one or other of them we have to retrace our steps to make sure we haven't locked one in somewhere without noticing.  Today Chivers was interested in the brown box!


The carport area desperately needed a clean up - the weeds have started to grow and the Olive trees in Gregoris's garden constantly shed their leaves and they accumulate on the drive.  I took the opportunity to give it a good sweep up and in so doing disturbed a spider (John always claims they are baby tarantulas!!) this one was carrying its babies like a golf-ball in its mouth.


We were surprised when a man came up into the estate - although it is a bank holiday weekend and there are a couple more people around this one had a knapsack on his back - it transpired that he was spraying weeds although he didn't seem to recognise what was and what was not a weed although it did look like he did the stray ones in the pavement which will save us a job!


We were knackered when we finally finished our jobs and I hadn't really thought about what we were going to have for our supper so I hastily cobbled together a brie and bacon salad which is a bit of a favourite of mine plus it gave me the opportunity for a bit more food photography.


This was followed by a slice of Diana's luscious chocolate cake with some strawberries and cream for John.  I am not a great lover of chocolate cake but I had a sliver and have to say it was delicious.  By the time John had this we were slobbing out on the sofas watching Series 3 of Mad Dogs and it drove the cats wild...


John had to fight off Chivers and Charlie who were determined to get a piece of the action - John did not relent and they were disappointed on this occasion!!

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