Wednesday Babysitting

I have packed away my party frock today along with its underskirt, the fascinator and my shoes (sad face).  I felt like a princess for the day and although it was hot out in the garden the swirling skirt kept me feeling quite cool.

I don't know when I will have an opportunity to wear this again - c'mon someone get married or have a party or even fancy dress so that I can give it another airing.

For those of you who want to know where to get these amazing dress - which come in both swing and wiggle style it is from a company called Lindy Bop who I found advertising in the back of a woman's magazine and who I thought would be far too expensive for me but no no no - very reasonable and they deliver promptly to Cyprus.  And when I say very reasonable if you checkout their sale at the moment they have dresses very similar to mine for only £8!!  Bloody hell that is only the price of a cocktail and for that you get the whole damn cocktail dress!!  and they have fabulous matching shoes at reasonable prices although I didn't get my red wedges there - I thought wedges would be more suitable with our uneven pathways and shingle.  Oh god if I had money I would be all over that sale like a rash and do you know the strangest thing when I first saw these dresses I thought they would be perfect for Louise Vreony who sang for us and blow me down she already knew the company and gets dresses from there herself.

I spent several hours today preparing a photobook of our anniversary because I thought it would be nice to have a physical memory rather than a set of digital photographs that I would rarely look at.  What was clear during the preparation to TD was that photographs had been a key part of our relationship and we had such fun looking at the old ones and choosing ones to display on the day and people had a good laugh looking at them.  It will be easier if someone says they would like to see the photos to hand them a book rather than the laptop.



We have found a home for the present my sister sent us which is a Wishstick and she chose Autumn colours because she says we don't get an Autumn here so it will add a bit of colour to the garden.  It has found a home on the Singing Ringing Tree and catches the sun in the mornings casting colourful patterns in the garden - we love it.

On the subject of the garden we should never underestimate the power of the sun and the damage that it does.  I put out last Monday some colourful paper balls and by Tuesday the day of TD they had begun to fade a little and by yesterday they had faded a lot so that the pink ones are now nearly white and the purple ones are pink!

So just imagine what that sun is doing to everything else that is exposed to it for any length of time - like our skin for instance.

It is no wonder that everything we have here fades beyond belief.

So the last vestiges of TD are slowly being removed - all that preparation, planning and hard work and it is all over!  Still have the mystery as to who gave us the candle in the dome and the body butter but I guess that will be revealed in due course!

I had a stinking headache this morning - I think the heat had finally got to me either that or it was concentrating on creating the photobook ]so I actually did the Cypriot thing and went for a siesta as I had answered Elena's plea for a baby sitter this afternoon and didn't want to let her down.  This seemed to work which was good news.

I called round to see Diana on my way to Elena's and dropped off Mum and Dad's TENS machine which I hope will help her with her sciatica which is driving her nuts.  I also dropped off two newly grown moonflowers from Dad's collection to replace the original one she had which has never grown and I mean never grown!  She planted it and it put on new leaves and then they fell off and she has an interesting stick about 3 inches high with two miniscule leaves on top - nothing like how the replacements look.  There must be something in the soil either animal or mineral that is preventing the plant from growing.

We have one left which we are planning on planting somewhere in George's garden - this should be fine there as generally the moonflowers need little or no help to survive.  There is a white one which has selfseeded in George's which gets no care and attention and no water save for the condensation in the atmosphere and it looks glorious which is not what Diana wants to hear I know!!

So I went on my babysitting duties - not for Elena's children but for Elena herself as she now has a new full pot on her broken ankle.  This recent turn of events has set her back no end because she has to keep her leg immobile for about 6 weeks.  She wanted someone to sit with her so that Bassam could go to work.

I am not a natural nurse, unlike my sister who was an excellent one, I am not too good with illness and sickness but hey ho I can talk and keep someone company when they need it.

I have to say I have seen Elena looking better but then the weather doesn't help as we are all feeling drained so one minute she is boiling hot and grateful for the air conditioning and then she is freezing cold and wrapped in her duvet.

So whilst Bassam was working and the children were having fun on a boat trip to Blue Lagoon we sat in her bedroom chatting - we got severely spooked when we thought someone had come into the house and then got a phone call from Pani who was outside.  He had come in search of birthday candles - as you do!

The children returned from their boat trip and were on a quick turn round as they were being taken out for dinner in Polis.  Rabia commandeered my tablet and Lola commandeered my camera - she is currently perfecting her model pose.  She very proudly showed me the results of her sister Amoura tackling her monobrow - my God doesn't Lola look like Amoura these days!!!  Amoura took herself off for some peace and quiet before going out - she is getting so grown up these days now that she is a teenager - we discussed the pro's and con's of the eating establishments in Polis - not sure where they chose to go in the end.

My attempts at tickling Elena's tastebuds fell a bit flat but I made a jelly for her before I left - I hope I made it the right consistency so that it will set in this hot weather and I am going to knock her up some soup tomorrow.