Both our Babies Fly the Nest...

As you know last night we went down to Emba and spent a very pleasant evening round at Janice and Ray's.  Mum, Dad, John and I were joined by Rosie and Dave who also live in Lakoudia Street (next to Mum and Dad)  and their landlord Costas and his wife.  For once I didn't take my camera or the bloody Blackberry because I think people can get a little fed up with my happy snapping!!!

There was a great spread put on with everyone contributing something - as you know I did honey and mustard sausages, sausage rolls and an orange cake.  Mum had made some lovely mulled Brandy and Orange, her famous corned beef and potato pie and an apple cake.  Rosie came armed with a chilli and Janice had done sandwiches and chicken pieces and salad and prawns and dips and duck spring rolls and and and!!!

Ray had taken the time to put together a quiz to keep us occupied and although the teams were chosen at random John and I ended up as partners - all I can say is thank God there was a music round because in the end we came good and took the honours!  We also played a greyhound racing game and having been drag-ass charlies all the way through did what we did at Nicosia Races and backed an outsider with good odds in the last race to end up victorious!!

We didn't stay over - the cats can do too much damage if they are left for too long unsupervised and then there is the small matter of the litter trays and Chivers increasing interest in Minnie Mou!

Our Sunday morning lie-in lasted until about 8.00am woohoo but you know what Sunday means... the Cypriots go hunting and we got several dogs running up to our boundary before disappearing off over into the area behind the hoardings.

It was a stunning day and I took the opportunity to get some washing done (and out on the line and dried but not ironed!) and then decided I would give some of the plants in the garden a bit of a haircut.  It is considerably warmer outside than in at the moment so it is no hardship to be out gardening.  The campsis got a trim and the old solanum's got a good old pom-pomming and the tree that we don't know what it is but which smells like turps got a severe cut because we realise that it is casting shade onto the side of the house which gets the most sunshine this time of the year.  We have now been left with a rather phallic looking stump which John says we should make a feature of!

We have a really grotty old tree in the field next door which looks like it has died and which John has always wanted to get rid of - it will probably go sooner rather than later if they start building as it seems to be in a prime spot for putting a house!  

It has however become Chivers' raison d'etre and given the slightest opportunity he is out and over the fence and up the tree - you can see him making a rather undignified descent in the picture even though he was trying to impress Minnie Mou.  He calls for her all the time and she is so besotted with him that she cries when she cannot see him and makes a HUGE fuss of him when he eventually returns to our garden.

We knew that it would only be a matter of time before she followed him but she is such a little tacker that whilst she could get out of the garden quite easily it would not be so simple getting back and of course the first time these things happen your heart is in your mouth as there are so many dangers - gung-ho hunters just across the road with their dogs for one thing, snakes, cars, poison (big problem over here) and unfriendly feral cats to name a few more.  Well as you can see today she was off and there was no stopping her - we had found her on the fence a couple of times but taken her off and put her down in the garden - we know she has to go but we would have quite liked for her to have been done first.

Once in the field they were off exploring - in fairness Chivers is always either visible or we can hear his bell so know that he isn't really too far away - Minnie Mou was just off, oblivious and on a mission moving further and further away from the house.  In the end John had to resort to bribery and corruption by way of Whiskas treats to get her to come near the house so we could show her how to get back into the garden.  I don't know which is worse - allowing her to go out and explore or listen to her plaintive crying when Chivers has gone without her.

Having eventually got the kids back indoors safe and sound we decided to confine them to barracks (they were tired out anyway) and we tidied up the garden and took time out to enjoy the remainder of the sunshine and our surroundings.  It has been a really beautiful day today and John was keen to take a photograph of the bay using the big lens so that you can see how beautiful it looks.  In fact  the whole area looks beautiful - but doesn't everywhere when the sun shines?

There was nothing left for it but to have a quiet drink outside (now that the tree has been cut down so the table is no longer in shade) whilst waiting for the dinner to cook.  It is Sunday so Yorkshire puddings are obligatory - today they are being filled with sausages in an onion and red wine gravy with mustard mash, creamed carrots and leeks and petit pois.