Our mornings do not seem quite the same now that we do not have the cold and wet rude awakening from a dip in the pool.  Having said that the weather over the last couple of days has been by no means conducive to swimming!  Today for our rearranged Village Clean is was rather cool and chilly to start but then we are nearing the end of November!   The view outside the kitchen door this morning was reminiscent of a scene from The Birds!

It is particularly difficult to know what to wear at the moment - we got layered up and armed ourselves with our litter pickers and set off for the rendez-vous point which was the Mukhtar's coffee shop.  What John and I didn't bargain for was the fact that we filled three bags full of rubbish on our way before we had even started the official clean!

The thing that bothers me most about what we pick up are the wet-wipes because unlike plastic bottles and cans which we know do disintegrate over time the hardy wet-wipe doesn't seem to deteriorate EVER.

We were a small but perfectly formed bunch today.  Marianna couldn't make it because she is laying on a Village Ladies' coffee morning at her house tomorrow and Lynda couldn't make it because she was flying back because her mother has been taken ill and the Bobster wasn't able to make it today although he was sorely missed by us all but particularly by his mucker and football co-aficionado John.

It got warmer as we cleaned and I was glad I had donned the obligatory layers required at this time of the year so I could remove my hoodie without fear of offending old men or frightening small children!  We worked methodically - we probably have some of the best views for a village clean anyone could ever wish for!  Sadly one of the worst places was directly opposite the village dustbin man's house (coals to Newcastle and all that) and even more sadly we were cleaning near where one of the ex-pat's in the village lives and she marched past us with her dogs without even passing the time of day let alone thanking us for our hard work - that rather pisses me off (pardon my French).  I can understand that if you come from a culture where dealing sensibly with litter is not on your radar then what we are doing seems alien - that's fine and even when the locals think we are alien they offer us coffee as a reward BUT when a fellow Brit just ignores our efforts that really takes the biscuit - I could name and shame but I won't - what's the point?

We finished back at the Mukhtar's and he rushed out to offer us coffee which we accepted - it was much warmer at this point although you wouldn't think so looking at John!  We always feel it is important to accept any local hospitality which is offered to us - how else are we ever going to get to know people or they get to know us?

Whilst enjoying the sunshine and our coffee and biscuits the Mukhtar's daughter in law and wife of Soteris who installed our PV panels called in and presented us with a plate of Katimeri which is a sort of pancake and absolutely delicious.  We have seen it in the shops but never been entirely sure exactly what it was or what it tasted like.

John's reward this weekend was that we decided to shoot off  to have lunch at Fitos before settling down for the rest of the day and the football, which included the televised Sheffield United game later this evening.

You cannot beat a bit of Fitos, John had mixed on a plate, which was chicken and pork souvlaki and sheftalia with chips and I had village chicken with chips - most of which got brought home and shared with the cats!

We are so very lucky to have such wonderful cheap and cheerful eating establishments right on our doorstep!  It was fairly busy in there and the clientele included the local constabulary who were more interested in their kebabs than whether or not anyone leaving had had more than the allowed number of alcoholic units!

Eva the taverna cat was outside rolling around in the shingle enjoying the sunshine and any tidbits that came her way.  I drove home - my super weak Leon shandy wouldn't have troubled any sort of breathalyser and I am useless if I drink lunchtime anyway!!


Back at home the conservatory was the best place to be - the sunshine had heated it to a lovely temperature and the cats were in taking full advantage.  Mr Boo is fully recovered from whatever happened the other week although he managed to lose his lovely cats' eyes collar this evening and so now we are getting short - so if anyone goes near a pound shop can they pick up the twin packs of quick release collars they sell there?

We watched the football - which, if you are a Blades supporter was a right old roller coaster against Birmingham and which ended in a draw and then had a First Dates-Fest - a perfect Saturday!