Just a Normal Day after all the Festivities...

It is the day after Boxing Day and things have returned to normal here in Droushia.  The bin men woke me when they came early to empty our bin and then deep joy Angela's builders have returned and started work at dead on 7.30am!!  As it happens we were awake and just about to get up but blimey an extra half hour before the cement mixer started would have been nice.

It was the most beautiful day here and such a shame that it couldn't have been like that yesterday when we were out walking.  So beautiful in fact that I managed to get a load of washing out, dried and (I must be sickening for something) ironed all in a day!  You know that Christmas is well and truly over when the festive tablecloth is laundered and packed away!  

Laundry has opened up a whole new world for Minnie who has discovered the washing machine and is absolutely mesmerised by what it is doing - it could keep her entertained for hours!  The washing line broke today - the end where you hook it to the fence had got age hardened - fortunately I was pegging washing at the time so managed to keep hold of it before it dragged on the floor - John had to come to my rescue and put the line back up again.  My pegs have also got age hardened so they keep breaking - I will have to treat myself to some new ones.  That is a problem out here - plastic and the sun - not a match made in heaven.

Our neighbours were returning to Nicosia today so Galadia, Elena and George came round to see the cats so we needed to make sure that they were on hand and not roaming the fields.  The work that is going on at Angela's provides a great talking point.  We cannot really see how the building is going to flow - there appear to be lots of little rooms now and four bedrooms all with en-suite but one has no windows and another only seems to be able to be accessed by walking round the pool - god help you if you have had one or two glasses of wine too many!  All will become clear in due course I am sure.

John took the opportunity to do a little DIY as we had bought some new bulkhead lights to replace the ones that we have at the moment.  The only trouble is we aren't sure if we really like them now that they are up and our dusk till dawn bulb wont fit inside so the jury is out so John has only put up two and left the other two for the time being.

We enjoyed big bowls of Christmas Stew today - all the leftovers from the Christmas lunch (including some mulled wine) shoved in the pressure cooker and allowed to cook for an hour or so.  It was delicious and a great way to use up the turkey without getting bored with it.  We are planning a menu for New Year's Day as we have asked Mum and Dad to come up and eat with us.  We have decided to stay at home here in Droushia for New Year's Eve.  I am not a lover of NYE personally and although I have enjoyed some good one's in the past it is not something that I look forward to and what with the cats and their cat-flap ineptitude plus the fact that we are unsure as to whether there will be fireworks about - it is quite traditional here in Cyprus for big firework displays on New Year's Eve, although unlikely in our little village admittedly except that there is a gala evening at the Akamas Spa which is not a million miles away.

It is great to be able to spend time outside - in the sun it was pleasantly warm and the weather station was showing a very commendable 20.2 degrees which is probably a bit of an exaggeration due to the sensor position but it certainly was warmer today than yesterday.

Make no mistake though it has been cold and as I looked out across the fields towards the Troodos I thought I could see a smattering of snow on Mount Olympus.  It is just a smattering - I wont be getting my skis and salopettes out just yet!

Our bright day has led to a rather chilly evening so we are snuggled up with the fire on and apparently I am a lucky girl because Sheffield United are on the TV playing Notts County.  It is currently 1-1 and John has remained fairly calm!

Update it is 2-1 to the Mighty Blades and John is chirpy but with 40 minutes left to play anything could happen!

Minnie has come in again with various bits of detritus hanging from the magnet on her collar - I don't know why this doesn't seem to happen to Chivers - but today it is a bit of garden wire and an old bell.  We are considering shoving a broom up her backside and taking her to the beach where we can sweep her over the pebbles and search for treasure using her as a metal detector!!

Those of you that watched the football will know that the 5 minutes of time added were tense but SUFC were victorious and John is a happy man as the team moves into second place.