Shit Weather

There is no other way to describe the conditions today - the weather is absolutely shite.  Thunder, lightning and high winds and it is cold and I mean really cold not just relatively cold to when it is hot.

Nobody likes the weather when it is like this - not least the cats who have decamped onto our bed to keep us warm - we are not complaining at least we know where they are and what they are doing.  We feel sorry for holiday-makers who have come to the island of 340+ days of sunshine each year to be faced with a monsoon.

The garden wont need a water but it is hitting the hell out of the plants and we are having to walk through a sea of honeysuckle flowers which have been blown off and are filling the pathway to our gate.  I only cleared them up yesterday and there are twice as many there today.

We have given up bringing the cushions indoors - they have been left outside to fend for themselves - we don't really have the space for them and with visitors coming tomorrow we need to give the house a clean.

We had planned for a barbeque tomorrow but even if the weather perks up I don't think it is going to be warm enough to sit outside for Dad's liking so we had to have a rethink - I opted for something that would allow me to be sociable so a simple halloumi starter followed by something from the slow cooker and a deconstructed crumble for afters.  This necessitated a visit down to Polis and shopping at Papantonious and dodging the sometimes heavy showers to get to the car.

As Di and Rob are currently away and we are on garden watch we decided to call into their on the way down.  Their normally fabulous view was obscured by low cloud and a storm passing over  on its way to the coast.  At this point the heavens opened and having ensured everything was safe and secure we made a dash for the sanctuary of Kenny and our trip to the coast.

Normally as we drive down to Polis the weather improves and we realise what a different world it is up in the hills but today the weather deteriorated the further way we drove from Droushia by the time we got to Polis it was like a winter's day.  We ran into Paps as it began to absolutely bucket down and inside they were merrily playing Mungo Jerry 'In the Summertime when the Weather is Fine' which was wishful thinking and you couldn't help but feel sorry for all those flip-flop wearing visitors looking totally bemused by it all.

I set about getting everything prepared for lunch tomorrow when Mum and Dad will bring Janet and Alan up with them.  I was kept company by the cats who are ever hopeful of some sort of treat and today they were lucky as I was cutting the rubbish off of some chicken breasts and they had that.

It was Bassam's birthday today - hard to believe that last year we hosted his 50th and the kids came for a swim and then we had a barbeque when Elena returned from hospital - we weren't sure we were going to see him today so were chuffed when Amoura phoned to see if we were in so that they could all come and visit along with Elena's old professor who said she had heard so much about us from Elena and wanted to put a face to a name.

Lola is like having a whirling dervish in your house and I was so glad I had cleaned the conservatory floor and hoovered the rugs when she stomped in with her muddy trainers and managed to tread biscuit all over the place!  She redeemed herself though but opting to sit and cuddle me saying she hadn't had a cuddle from me for a while.  I have offered to entertain her some days over the school holidays to give Bassam a bit of a break - I know that if you give her something to do on her own she is as good as gold.

Everything is prepared for tomorrow so looking forward to having everyone here - fingers crossed it wont rain.