Today we were being good children and John was taking Dad to Limassol for what we hoped would be, and which in fact turned out to be, the final visit for the cataract operation he had there and I was taking Mum for a bit of Chrimbo shopping and a wander round the Old Town before the four of us were gathering together in the Mall for the Noms Players Christmas 'Do' aka a Bargain Bucket from KFC with second bucket of hot wings free courtesy of our petrol vouchers!
We arrived down at Mum and Dad's just after 9.00am and bumped in to Graham who comes and does some fabulous gardening for Mum and Dad and commiserated with him as we had learned that his wife had fallen over yesterday and broken an arm in two places. He told us she was only just getting over the broken toes she had sustained after she asked him to move his chair and he pulled it back and firmly planted it on her foot - poor woman. He then got in his car and made his way back home with no mention of anything else...
...so a year ago last October after a day out with Mum I ended up climbing a tree over by the polytunnels the other side of the field from their bungalow because there was a kitten stuck up there and Mum seemed to think it had been up there for several days. During the course of the rescue or maybe during the trip out when we went to the Begonia Garden Centre to get Mum a clock vine I lost one of my most favourite earrings - one of a pair that John had bought me from a trip to Dubai some 20 years ago and which were heavy and expensive and I was gutted. We retraced our steps and searched and searched and returned to the tree on many occasions but the earring was never found and I was sad because I have a terrible track record with expensive jewelry and this just reinforced it.
Anyway when we arrived at Mum's having spoken to Graham, Mum told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand and in it she put my missing earring which Graham had located somewhere in their garden - I couldn't believe it - it was the best Christmas present anyone could have given me and I cannot believe Graham said nothing to me - I guess he just wanted not to spoil Mum's surprise.
So this was a brilliant start to what was a lovely day. Dad got the all clear and no longer has to make the trip to Limassol for his eye. This operation was a success and for that we are all very grateful. Mum and I parked up easily in the old sunken carpark and had a wander down towards Marks and Sparks admiring the refurbishment that is taking place and wondering what the round building with the huge terrace outside is going to be. There is a new lift being constructed from the sunken car park that will take you up to this new round building.
We had a little look around Marks and Sparks - you can't beat a bit of Magic and Sparkle at Christmas Time and a bit of good old fashioned Christmas Fayre even though it was a very warm and bright day more reminiscent of a good English Summer rather than Winter!
There is still work to be done in the Old Town - the length of time that it has taken to get it to where it is today as made it so very hard for businesses to continue to trade in the interim so there are many empty shops. Shops also moved down to the Mall before this regeneration started, hopefully some may return when the footfall grows. Having said all that there are some lovely touches and some great cafes and individual shops springing up and hopefully staying in business.
I am particularly taken by the street art which is all over the place and brightens up plain walls.
The International Woman of Mystery aka Mum and I chose a small coffee shop to stop for a cuppa as our favourite Boo-Tea-Licious is closed on a Wednesday unfortunately.
This new place was called Beatriz and the girl that served us was very friendly and nice and as Mum and I shared a teabag she only charged us for one drink.
Just around the corner we came across the 'living' wall which is a fabulous structure made up of hundreds of pot plants. If you are looking for it, it is near the entrance to the market.
We were amazed to see that Scorpios has either gone or changed its name - if you were coming up the hill from the sunken carpark looking at the tavernas in front of you Scorpios was the first one on the right and was originally run by two brothers. We had been going there on and off for years. I couldn't see either of the two brothers so guess it must have changed hands.
We all assembled in the Mall having had a successful morning and all enjoyed our KFC - in fact John and I returned home with a bucket full which we reheated later and had with a very pleasant bottle of Ruby Cabernet which we had picked up from Lidl on our last visit.
Life is good and we are lucky!
We arrived down at Mum and Dad's just after 9.00am and bumped in to Graham who comes and does some fabulous gardening for Mum and Dad and commiserated with him as we had learned that his wife had fallen over yesterday and broken an arm in two places. He told us she was only just getting over the broken toes she had sustained after she asked him to move his chair and he pulled it back and firmly planted it on her foot - poor woman. He then got in his car and made his way back home with no mention of anything else...
...so a year ago last October after a day out with Mum I ended up climbing a tree over by the polytunnels the other side of the field from their bungalow because there was a kitten stuck up there and Mum seemed to think it had been up there for several days. During the course of the rescue or maybe during the trip out when we went to the Begonia Garden Centre to get Mum a clock vine I lost one of my most favourite earrings - one of a pair that John had bought me from a trip to Dubai some 20 years ago and which were heavy and expensive and I was gutted. We retraced our steps and searched and searched and returned to the tree on many occasions but the earring was never found and I was sad because I have a terrible track record with expensive jewelry and this just reinforced it.
Anyway when we arrived at Mum's having spoken to Graham, Mum told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand and in it she put my missing earring which Graham had located somewhere in their garden - I couldn't believe it - it was the best Christmas present anyone could have given me and I cannot believe Graham said nothing to me - I guess he just wanted not to spoil Mum's surprise.
So this was a brilliant start to what was a lovely day. Dad got the all clear and no longer has to make the trip to Limassol for his eye. This operation was a success and for that we are all very grateful. Mum and I parked up easily in the old sunken carpark and had a wander down towards Marks and Sparks admiring the refurbishment that is taking place and wondering what the round building with the huge terrace outside is going to be. There is a new lift being constructed from the sunken car park that will take you up to this new round building.
We had a little look around Marks and Sparks - you can't beat a bit of Magic and Sparkle at Christmas Time and a bit of good old fashioned Christmas Fayre even though it was a very warm and bright day more reminiscent of a good English Summer rather than Winter!
There is still work to be done in the Old Town - the length of time that it has taken to get it to where it is today as made it so very hard for businesses to continue to trade in the interim so there are many empty shops. Shops also moved down to the Mall before this regeneration started, hopefully some may return when the footfall grows. Having said all that there are some lovely touches and some great cafes and individual shops springing up and hopefully staying in business.
I am particularly taken by the street art which is all over the place and brightens up plain walls.
The International Woman of Mystery aka Mum and I chose a small coffee shop to stop for a cuppa as our favourite Boo-Tea-Licious is closed on a Wednesday unfortunately.This new place was called Beatriz and the girl that served us was very friendly and nice and as Mum and I shared a teabag she only charged us for one drink.
Just around the corner we came across the 'living' wall which is a fabulous structure made up of hundreds of pot plants. If you are looking for it, it is near the entrance to the market.
We were amazed to see that Scorpios has either gone or changed its name - if you were coming up the hill from the sunken carpark looking at the tavernas in front of you Scorpios was the first one on the right and was originally run by two brothers. We had been going there on and off for years. I couldn't see either of the two brothers so guess it must have changed hands.
We all assembled in the Mall having had a successful morning and all enjoyed our KFC - in fact John and I returned home with a bucket full which we reheated later and had with a very pleasant bottle of Ruby Cabernet which we had picked up from Lidl on our last visit.
Life is good and we are lucky!
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