Fire....

Little did I know when I posted this that there would be another fire in the vicinity again today

I woke to the unmistakable hum of helicopters - the sort that are on a mission to put out a fire.  I didn't really take a lot of notice until I realised that the clouds I thought were bubbling up over the Troodos was actually yellow smoke.  I went up onto the roof terrace to have a look - it was down in the valley between us and the other road which goes from Paphos to Polis.  It is Sunday and the hunters are out so hopefully it wasn't started by one of them.

The fire got worse and the smoke became thicker - you didn't need to look from up on the terrace to know what was happening - we could smell it in the garden and the drone of the helicopters went on and on.  Apparently at one point the fire was totally out of control but the firefighters worked all through the day and late into the evening to try and contain it.

The drone of the helicopters was joined by the hum of the spotter plane which was hovering over the scene and checking the state of the fire.  This is such a waste of money and resources particularly as the water had to be brought from nearby reservoirs as the fire was on agricultural land and apparently they don't use sea water to put out those sorts of fires.

John and his mum went off down to Latchi whilst I was getting ready for Mum and Dad to come for Sunday lunch.  Alicia had left a hoodie at the villa and the cleaners were going to be there to let John have it.  They also offered him a pair of green jeans and two canvas belts but not recognising them and not having been told that Nathan had forgotten them John didn't bring them back with him.  It will be several weeks before we are down that way again to be able to repatriate them with their owner.

I had not anticipated it being quite so hot this Sunday but it would seem we are in the midst of a mini heatwave.  I had decided earlier in the week, on the evening when it turned so chilly we ate indoors, to do sausage, mash and onion gravy and although this wasn't too onerous I still sweated my cobs off in the kitchen before bringing it out onto the table!  We had a combined age of 290 in that photograph, nearly 350 if you include me - oooooo what a rock 'n roll lifestyle we enjoy up here in Droushia.

The excitement clearly proved too much for Dad and Minnie-Mou who decided to chill under the gazebo in the shade which was a wise move as the temperature ramped up and was joined by a very warm breeze which wasn't helping the firefighters.   Next Sunday we are going out - it will be to celebrate Dad's birthday which is actually on the Saturday but as it will be overshadowed by John's 50th I thought we could do something special on the Sunday - it's not everyday you hit 86!

I was contacted by one of the girls in the village who needed to borrow a cat basket as her cat Pudding was poorly.  I was more than happy to help so took a ride out to Pittokopos to meet up with Stephanie and hand over the basket.  I sat with her for a while admiring the view from her Summer home - shortly she will move back into the village with her family having spent the summer away from it all.

On my way back I smiled at the targets that had been strung up between the signposts - clearly the hunters had been there as there were a variety of tins and cans for them to take pot shots at - makes a change from the signs themselves.