Sunday - can't sleep

Today I was up even before the sparrows - for some reason I couldn't sleep and Charlie was making a nuisance of himself at about 5.00am.  I think it was because I am usually very organised when it is my turn to cook Sunday lunch for Mum and Dad and I don't know what had happened this week so I guess it was playing on my mind so I got up and decided to get lunch prepared so it wouldn't be such a rush - I had taken some meat out of the freezer - I wasn't sure exactly what it was because it was all wrapped up but thought it was some turkey that Mum had bought for Christmas and then we had decided to have something else.  I was more than a little surprised to find that I had in fact defrosted two shark steaks - not enough for four of us and certainly not high on Mum's list of favourite foods.  Fortunately I managed to find some chicken in the freezer so had to quickly rethink my menu!!!!

We were having a quiet morning before Mum and Dad arrived - not enough time to get stuck into some serious DIY so it gave me a chance to catch up on my blog and for John to have some down time sat in the conservatory with some lovely sunshine coming through,  Thank God for the conservatory on days like today when the sun is shining but the wind is very keen.

We are beginning to get the garden into shape ready for Debra's arrival in just less than four weeks' time.  It is a shame that the beautiful jasmine, which is now in full flower, will be over by then but this year it has been a real picture and the smell is unbelievable so many thanks Aunty Friday for the plant.

I have purchased a new doormat for outside the guest bedroom - I liked it and thought the colours went well with the rest of the garden but John wasn't overly impressed which is about par for the course as he and I have such different tastes!!!

We have had a couple of wallflowers growing in the border by the kitchen window - they were looking beautiful but the flowers were dropping all the time and most of them had ended up in the newly filled pool and in places had stained the grout so after giving it a good clean we removed the offending plants and replaced them with some osteospurmum and gazanias which we know will flower but not drop in the pool.

We had a visit this morning from Bassam and the children before they went off to Nicosia to visit Elena who is being fattened up like a Christmas Turkey!!!  Amoura had kindly bought us an apple cake which she had made but was worried that it would not be any good because it had risen and then sunk.  She need not have worried because it tasted absolutely divine - she is certainly a chip off the old block in terms of her cooking ability.  Lola spotted that the pool had been filled but declared it to be freezing and took herself off up onto the roof terrace and Rabia came to scrutinise John's wall building capabilities to see if John had made a good apprentice.

Although I ws concerned about my make-do and mend lunch it turned out really well and my roast potatoes were a triumph - almost as good as Klaus makes!!!  We had a chicken, bacon and leek casserole made with cider and served with carrots, leeks and peas, roast potatoes and spiced white cabbage.  My pudding was cast aside in favour of Amoura's apple cake with some cream!

Mum and I went for a walk after lunch - we took a stroll up to the top of the village and had a coffee with Eleni in Kaponas's Grill House where she had several tourists taking lunch which was good to see - we stopped and chatted with them for a while before they got back into their buggies and went on their way.

After Mum and Dad went on their way John settled down to watch the footie and I started making some Father's Day cards which I had promised to make for Rebecca - cards for men are so difficult - it took a while to find any inspiration!