Day 57...

It really cooled down last night and the temperatures outside were below 20 degrees for the first time in ages.  We spent our Sunday night watching a film - Mr Woodcock - a lighthearted comedy which didn't take much effort to watch.  It was a night for catching up with friends and it was lovely to hear from Mrs Pamment (Laura) and Mark.  Mr and Mrs P were our neighbours at Greenwood Road and they now have custody of the hearse which we were pleased to learn is still on the road.

John took advantage of the outside shower this morning and then brought me coffee in bed - how lovely - he is really good about acknowledging the fact that I dont sleep half as good as he does so he leaves me to starfish in the mornings.

Mum and Dad were due to come for lunch but we didnt know whether or not they were coming with their friends Trevor and Beryl.  We decided to shoot down into Polis this morning before they arrived to do some shopping.  First off a trip to the bank to transfer over some money from the house doing up fund, then to Paps for our grocery shop.  We have been quite surprised how reasonably you can eat if you shop around - meat in particular is cheap - just as well we are not vegetarians!!  We felt almost famous this morning when we called into the GB shop and the lady behind the till told us that she had found this blog and thought she recognised us.  The power of the internet never fails to amaze me!!  Last stop Glykkis DIY to purchase the guttering for the house and where I managed to find some reasonably priced curtain poles so that the guest room can now have curtains.

Mum and Dad turned up with Trevor and Beryl (who used to live at the bottom of their garden when they lived in their house "Mandeville" in Emba).  We all spent a very pleasant lunchtime at the Karithea Taverna on the road to Polis. Trevor and Beryl are only here for a week and were delayed getting out here so they drove themselves back to Coral Bay and Mum and Dad came back for Coffee, snooze and Wimbledon before going home.

Sean and Sharon's visitors arrived early at about 3.45pm and so we showed them into their accommodation and made sure they were ok before we went out to the local DIY merchants to see about getting some stone circles for the herbs and some paving slabs for the paths we want to put into the front garden.  Driving out of the village you can see the artichokes which weren't taken for food now producing huge vibrant purple flower heads.

The DIY merchant is the the guy who bought the old furniture out of our villa when we got rid of it in November and he works out of what appears to be a couple of shipping containers.  He has a young staffy/bull mastiff cross puppy which is very exuberant and a bit temperamental so with my love (not) of dogs I dont bother to get out of the car!  If you are looking for a Kleftiko oven then this is the place for you but not apparently for yellow stone circles as they didn't have any - still they are going to get the price for the paving slabs and give us a ring tomorrow.

From there we decided to go cross-country home and were hoping to get a drink in the square in Arodes but unfortunately we must have hit it at the wrong time as all the locals were sat outside waiting for it to open.  The square is really lovely and a huge amount of work has been done here restoring it all.  Still no matter we have plenty of other days when we can come here and have a drink.

We made our way back to Droushia taking the scenic route via Inea looking at some of the really impressive properties that are being built there and then were amazed to see how they are harvesting the fields almost by hand.  It is not uncommon to see the older villagers working in the fields with very old rotavators, hand scythes and sickles in the heat of the sun all dressed in black.

We entered the village at Stathmos where we would have had a drink but there was no-where to park - perhaps God is trying to tell us something!!!  We decided we would take the opportunity to call into the Sappho Manor to see what the accommodation is like and the pricing as Helen and Pete are looking for somewhere to stay and although we have told them they are welcome to stay with us they think it will be all too much. 

As I said to Helen the accommodation is very traditional so could be considered either basic or quaint - I prefer quaint.  It is 'self catering' so there are basic cooking facilities in each room and although located directly opposite the church is probably very peaceful except on Sundays!  There were a few people staying there today.  We were quoted €50 per room per night - we dont know if that is reasonable so will be looking at some alternatives in the area so that we can compare.

We took our drink at Cristos's Taverna and had a chat with Alkisti.  Although more expensive to drink there our Keo's were accompanied by freshly picked apricots and nuts.  We are going to try and get down there on Saturday to see the commencement of the next-door neighbour's wedding when the entourage will pass through the village with a traditional fiddler.

Now back at home we are catching up on the Murray/Gasquet tennis match on the I-Player before having tea.  Off to Paphos tomorrow to see the taxman, get the tiles for the kitchen, play pickle-ball and eat out at Koloni before staying over at Mum and Dad's so no post tomorrow but a catchup on Wednesday.

I will leave you with some shots of the local flowers:

The blue on the left is Plumbago - a rambler which only really looks nice when it is in flower.

The other is a kind of houseleek which has rosettes the size of a dinner plate - I quite like this one and will see whether I can get one to give it a try in our garden!!

STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS - have just had our first Skype video call with John and Sue in Bellac in France.  My John did the walk round guided tour of the property and John B scored us a 9.5 for our efforts.  Fantastic to be able to see and hear them even if the internet kept letting us down.  If you are reading this Mr and Mrs B make sure that you send our best wishes to Jess when she embarks on her new job at Now Magazine - the girl done good xxx