Friday

I woke up feeling less than 100% - I have a feeling that the rich food I had eaten the night before (pork in a lovely sauce) coupled with the carafe of Kolios Wine I shared with Dad had lain heavy on my stomach overnight - thank goodness I hadn't joined in with the meze eaters!!!  In fact I had woken at 4.00pm feeling like Billy Bunter and hadn't slept since!!!  I just couldn't face the thought of exerting myself in the gym so sadly I decided I was going to have to wimp out and let Diana know as soon as I could!  I languished in bed like a stuck pig although not for long as the cats wanted feeding and as John is quick to point out Sympathy is between Shit and Syphilis in the dictionary!!

The weather this month has been incredible - so much warmer than we would expect for this time of the year.  The island is desperate for rain I know but we would just like it to hold off until after our visitors have been in mid November - apparently we should be wary of drinking the water from the drinking water tap and expect cuts shortly.  In spite of this or because of this we have the most fabulous view from the sun terrace at the moment with the horses out to the front of our house with the hills in the background behind them.

The estate, which is normally so very quiet, is a hive of activity at the moment.  It is a bank holiday today so the Nicosian contingency are all around.  Today is Ochi Day  - the word Ochi means NO.  It is the word Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas used in 1940 to Mussolini's spokesperson when asked if Axis forces could use Greek territory to gain access to areas of Europe not already occupied by Hitler and Mussolini.  Metaxas simply said NO!  Apparently he had deliberately done his best to keep Greece neutral in the early months of World War II but the ultimatum tipped any chance of allegiance and Greece became allied with Great Britain.  The ultimatum changed everything and Greece turned out to be a strong force against the Germans and Italians.

As I said it being a long weekend has seen the Nicosian holiday home owners up here for the weekend so Galatia and Charalambous arrived and our immediate neighbours Gregoris and Theodora pitched up and then even more surprisingly Paul who owns the house next door.  He says that he intends to do it up and come and be our neighbour every now and again.  We have had about five and a half years without anyone living next door so that came as a bit of a shock but if he is going to do what he says then that wont be so bad and to be honest it will be so nice to have the front garden tidied because it looks a right eyesore - not much can be done about his hideous house and its illegal second floor extension but a lick of paint will help.

I managed to run round and play pickleball which was good - whilst John went off to badminton Mum and I had an abortive attempt at trying to find Let Them Eat Cake - the roadworks up near Kennedy Square sent us round and round in circles - we managed to go to housing estates we have never been to before nor would wish to visit again and we drew a complete blank!!!  We shall try again but may have to wait until the road system is a little less confusing.

We finished our day with yet more food - oh my aching stomach!!!  Newbies on the block Lakis, Argi and her mum had invited us for a meal - they will be leaving shortly having spent many months this year doing up their holiday home.  We had a bit of confusion as we thought we were meeting them there and they thought we were all going together - we met up eventually about 10 minutes later than planned!  It was packed in there and mainly with Cypriots who were dressed in jumpers and jeans and no longer wishing to sit outside - our spare seats were eyed with great desire and clearly people wondered why there were only two Brits sitting on a table for six so we were glad when the others did turn up!!!