A Day of Visits

It was an action packed day today which started with coffee and cake at the Veaseys so that Rob and Diana could show Pam and George their beautiful home.  Pam and George were super impressed by the view, the garden and the bungalow and we enjoyed a drink and a piece of home-made cake sitting in the shade in the garden.

Walking around the back of their house and listening to the sound of the water in their water feature made me determined to try and find a feature that we can have up here - I really think our garden would benefit from that lovely sound - I am on the case and I am hopeful.

We left when Rob and Diana's visitors pitched up from Paphos and went home to do some sorting out.  I was about to put some of the beach towels away for the season but Charlie had found them and was snuggled down in the storage box - Boo Boo wanted to get in with him but that was a step too far for Charlie so Boo was hanging over the edge waiting for an opportunity to sneak in!

We needed to go to the winery today, Dad wanted a box to drink whilst Joyce and David are here and we needed a box to restock the rack and we asked Sean and he also said he could do with a box as well.  We decided to drive cross country - so glad we did because we were treated to some real rural charm - the men are working in the fields baling the hay.

There are also a number of horses either with their foals or pregnant en route.  In the first field there were two mares and two foals, then we passed a pregnant mare and finally we passed BigFoot and her foal - some of the nursing mothers look a bit on the thin side but I guess that is probably normal.

We found a route which allows us to drive out of the back of Droushia and not bother with the main road - it would make a nice bike ride or walk with a reward at the end of it.  More work has been done at the winery so that the new winebar room is ready and it has a retractable awning outside on the patio.

We haven't been for a while so we were greeted by Maria like long lost family and she ushered us into the winebar and asked if we wanted to sit inside or out.  We decided to sit inside but with the doors fully opened and as it was lunchtime we decided to order a lounza and halloumi pitta each and a little glass or two of our favourite wine.

We are pleased that they will be open when Sally and Tommy come - this is a definite on the list as they will love the building and the location and the food and the wine - what's not to like???

We used the opportunity to kick around some ideas as to what we might do with them for the very short time that they will be with us, we want to make the most of it and we want to give them a bit of a flavour of our lives here.  We are so thrilled that they are coming.

On our return home we found that a beautiful little bird had met its maker in our pool - I reckon it had flown into the conservatory glass and ended up in the water - such a shame as these are so beautiful and they risk life and limb (or maybe it should be wing) on the island at the best of times what with the hunters and the trappers so it is just really sad to find it dead in this way.  I fished it out of the pool and made absolutely absolutely sure it was dead before putting it in the field next door hidden from the cats so they didn't bring it back to us.  John then cleaned the pool and decided that he would go in it as we are trying to use if for as long as possible.  The temperature is dropping quite quickly now so I think it will only be a few more days, maybe a week!  Up here in Droushia we are lucky if we can use the pool for five months of the year so it is a bit of a luxury which we moan about in the winter and then love in the Summer!

This afternoon George and Pam wanted to take us to visit their friends Gregory and Helen who live in Inea.  What a lovely couple and so interesting and what a house!!!!  Gregory has retired from his career as a restaurateur - he owned the RELAX chain of takeaways previously and now spends his time making things out of pallets!  He showed us his workshop which is bigger than our house and kindly gave John a bag of wood for the wood burner and said there was plenty more for us where that came from.  Helen was charming and Pam says she is a bit lonely in Inea - she used to live in Paphos where she had so much more access to things.  We have promised to call round again for coffee - we have cycled passed their house on many an occasion and wondered who might live in the House of Dionysos and now we know!!!

Our final visit of the day was up the road to Sean and Sharon's where we had been invited for a meal.  It was good to catch up with them and we sat outside for a while chatting - it was a much milder evening than it had been the night before when George had resorted to jeans and a jacket to eat at Finikas!!

Sharon topped off her meal with a restaurant quality chocolate pudding which rounded off a very pleasant evening and a good day all round.  Tomorrow we are having a WLB day (Work Life Balance) and meeting up with Lou and H for a swim, and some lunch.

Lou's Mum Pat has now returned home and the 60th Birthday celebrations for H are well and truly over.