New venues...

We had the day at home today before we were going out trying somewhere very different to eat this evening - more of that later...

There is a familiar pattern now to the start of our day as we brace ourselves for an invigorating dip in the pool but it is good that the beautifully warm days have ensured that the temperature has remained just above 60 degrees Fahrenheit which is a figure so small in Celsius that it is almost not worth mentioning.  John is so much braver than me - he actually puts his whole body underneath the water - I just don't want to do that!!!  Our early morning constitutional was followed by breakfast and then a day at home doing things around the house and garden.  I love these days and when the weather is so lovely who could wish to be anywhere else - in fact I managed to top my tan up today whilst tackling the borders!

It has been good to be able to give the garden a tidy -  and in so doing was absolutely thrilled to see that my corkscrew vine had actually flowered.  The bloom was hidden up in the olive tree!  When I bought the plant from the garden centre place on the road going down to the main post office in Paphos the girl didn't know exactly what it was - I hoped it was a corkscrew vine as Elaine has them in her garden and I have always admired them - I have asked in the London Road and Kikkos nurseries but they have never had them when I asked.  It didn't cost much so I took it and hoped - I planted it to grow up the olive tree and it seemed to be doing well and then the leaves started to yellow and drop off - maybe that is just normal behaviour for this time of year I don't know so I thought maybe it was on its way out, not liking the conditions in Droushia until I saw the bloom.  These are also called Snail Vines and you can see why when you look at the shape of the flowers.  I am hopeful that it will survive with the protection of the olive tree that and the fact that Elaine has had them in her garden for years and the weather in Akourdaleia is not dissimilar to Droushia - a little warmer granted but the clock vine survives here and I didn't expect that to happen.  Also I think I may have germinated one of the snail vine seeds Elaine have me - I certainly have something growing which looks like it.

John decided to give the panels a good clean - all this extra sunshine has meant that October has been a good month so far for generating electricity and we should have a fair amount 'in the bank' for the cold winter days and nights.

He also started to sort out the corner of the garden where the permanent ladder to give access to the roof is going to go.  We are going to have to get one made and will probably use the same man that made our railings as he did a good job.  Having a permanent ladder would be so helpful for John as he will be able to get on and off the roof with ease whenever he needs to do so.  At the moment he either has to get his zigzag ladder out which is difficult to manoueuvre in a confined space or the long ladder and I have to hold on to the bottom to make sure he doesn't fall off.

Anyway thanks to the Bobster for the loan of the brush as the panels all got a really good clean and so we will be maximising the amount of electricity we can generate.

We did all our chores and then had a quite hour or so before getting ready for our night out.  We were going to Kika's Garden in Kallepia to celebrate Di and Rob's 33rd Wedding Anniversary (tomorrow) and Liselotte's 50th birthday (in November).  I was really worried about it as normally we eat somewhere first before taking others and this was a little more expensive than we normally pay but we were having the meal cooked exclusively for our group.

We took The Pug as it could seat all six of us and John drove there and I drove back.  The journey into the wilds was not without a little detour in Polemi as the road to Kallepia is easy to miss in the dark!  We had recce'd the trip a couple of days' ago so once on the right road we were fine and the car did brilliantly up and down the hills with all six of us in it.

We arrived at the venue to be taken into the newly enclosed sun terrace and our meal - which we had kept as a surprise to the other four.  Kika's has only been open for two months and so we were the first group to use the sunroom in the evening and the first group to opt for a curry supper.  I had created vouchers for Liselotte (from Mum and Dad) and Di and Rob (from John and I) as gifts for their respective celebrations.

We had a lovely evening - the experience was unique and reminded me of when we used to go to The Gables for a roast when we lived in England and the tea room would open specially for you of an evening.

It is early days for Kika's and there were a couple of things which we thought might improve the experience for future diners like having something to keep the curry hot at the table but you could not fault the quality and quantity of the food which came to our table and we loved the fact that the meal was accompanied by the Tsangarides Wines we had tasted when we went for John's 50th birthday and we ate so much of the curry and its accompaniments that we failed to do justice to the pudding which arrived afterwards.  Kika and her daughter are charming hosts and they deserve to do well - I really fancy trying the brunch next time and sitting out in their beautiful garden with views stretching across the valley.

I don't really know where the time went because at one point I was looking at my watch and it was about 9.00pm and then the evening just went!

We really hope that Di and Rob and John and Liselotte enjoyed themselves as it had been our suggestion to go but we like doing something different and we like doing things that other people may not have done.  There didn't seem to be any lack of conversation this evening which is always a good sign.

The drive home was without incident or detour and hopefully and hopefully not too uncomfortable for Liselotte's John who opted to sit in the baby seat in the boot for some reason but he seemed to enjoy it!

We hope Di and Rob have a lovely day tomorrow for their anniversary and that Liselotte enjoys her extended 50th birthday celebrations.