Day 25...

This morning John and I had some admin to do before we went up to Droushia.  We are struggling to get our heads around the opening times here in Cyprus.  Things seem to open much earlier (except the man that sells the fans who doesn't open until 9.30am) and then they seem to close lunchtime for three or four hours and then open later in the afternoon, except the banks, or if it is a Wednesday or Saturday afternoon or, if you are a hairdresser, all day Thursday apparently! 

Anyway we managed to get to the garage because we are still waiting for the log book for the car ('no problem') and we seem to have a slight issue with the slow running - actually it seems to fast run every now and again - so it is going to be checked out on Monday.  Next stop the bank.  So odd to be able to speak to a cashier without glass in front of you or to be able to speak to the manager without an appointment.  We seemed to be there a very long time but we have managed to put some of our savings into a fixed rate deposit account with the interest paid up front and then reinvested the interest in another fixed rate deposit again with the interest paid up front!  We now have some income - woohoo!!

After a quick bit of grocery shopping at Paps (Papantoniou Supermarket) we picked up Mum and Dad and set off to Droushia via the fan man. We needed to order a new fan for our lounge/dining area as we moved the one which was there into our bedroom.  We eventually chose an antique brass one which should match the curtain poles and lights - it has to be ordered in but we should be able to pick it up tomorrow.

No exciting insects to greet us at Droushia today, David Cameron the PM (praying mantis) had moved on with his cabinet and even my pretty little green leaf moth had moved elsewhere so I couldn't skive off taking photographs.

We were up at the Villa getting ready for the furniture to be delivered tomorrow.  We just wanted to get the house clear and the windows cleaned so that the furniture could go straight in.

John and Dad were doing technical things like sorting out labelling the two fuse boxes.  Thanks to Gemma for getting us some dymo labels.  What makes you think that it was hot and sticky up at the villa today??

John also blagged some polystyrene off of the Fan Man and put that and the packing boxes that had held the hob, oven and extractor up into the roof void in the lounge/diner.

Mum and I were given the more practical tasks like cleaning!!  Mum is a dab hand at windows and has taught me everything I know.  I just like her to have a refresher every now and then so that she doesn't lose the knack!  Actually in fairness this is the second time she has cleaned the windows and I bet when I do them they wont be up to her standard!

We had several emails from friends today - it is lovely to hear from them and know what they are doing.  It looks like our party in Ilchester has put people in contact that havent seen one another for years!

Take a last look at the inside of the villa looking like a dumping ground - hopefully by the end of tomorrow we will have it in some semblance of order.  We need to be up early to move everything outside and then wait for the furniture which is supposed to be arriving at about 12.00.  Mum and Dad are coming up to help - again! 

The two most important jobs will be (a) to get the shed erected as this is going to provide all our storage and just about everything I mention John says will 'go in the shed' and (b) get our bed constructed to that we have somewhere to sleep!! 

John and I will spend the night up there tomorrow night so that we can crack on - unbelievably there is rain forecast for the weekend and we cant afford to have our stuff sat outside open to the elements.

Mum and Dad will probably be up again but will definitely be up on Sunday as we are going to a concert in Polis so they will come up to us and then we will all travel back to Emba for the night as we need to take our car to the garage early on Monday.

It was very hot and humid today and so we finished quite early and decided to patronise the local taverna and have a long cold beer.  It didnt actually touch the sides and was very welcome indeed. 

 I dont know if Liam Gallagher is aware that two of his hats are now missing but John is beginning to morph into my Dad!!! Could it be something to do with them sharing the same birthday??

The view to the right is downtown Droushia on a Thursday afternoon - busy busy busy.  Our local 'supermarket' is on the left hand side next to the Co-Op bank.  The supermarket is no bigger than someone's front room and I spend my time trying to find sell-by dates on the items!!! The Co-Op bank is open everyday and Mira speaks very good English (fortunately).  We have opened an account there so that we can go in and pay our utility bills and support a local facility because it is so handy to have one there rather than have to go into Polis when we need a bank.

All in all a good day.  Just sat outside in the sunshine and had my hair cut at long last.  Rosie did exactly what I wanted so I shouldnt need to have it cut for another month or so - John says he is just going to run the clippers over it and if times get hard he may well have to do that!