Another glorious day here in Droushia - dare we hope that we have now seen the last of the persistent rain? we certainly hope so. It is amazing how much better we feel and how much better everything looks in the sunshine.
Unfortunately the warm weather has woken up the flies from their winter slumbers. Even with fly screens the nasty little buggers still manage to find their way into the house and Minnie Mou is forever on Fly Watch (a possible new series for Bill Oddie and BBC2 to go with Spring Watch perhaps?). She is mesmerized - as is Chivers.
They can both successfully catch flies and have the disgusting habit of eating them - no wonder Chivers is such a martyr to his stomach and Minnie suffers with wind! When one of our visitors said they had never heard a cat belch before (cheers Chivers) I thought to myself that they were lucky if that was the worst they had experienced - ask Marian!
As I am writing this we have the workmen here for the conservatory - it is a bit disconcerting hearing their shouts as they are lifting massive pieces of glass - good job John is there to help and supervise. I am hearing lots and lots of Hellas and Opas and grunting and groaning - I cant bear to look as the merits of any form of health and safety seem to have completely passed them by!
I had a really pleasant drive down to Paphos and pickleball. For once all the slow moving lorries and trucks moved aside as I made my way down to pick up Mum. I called into the EuroShop on the way to stock up on some chocolate supplies (the cheapest place to go) and various other bits and pieces. You can tell it was warm down on the court as everyone was in shorts and short sleeves today unlike previous weeks when we have been swathed in layers. I really felt I had some good games today and it is great to see Mum back giving me a hard time with her dinky serves and spinning balls - what she may now lack in strength she makes up for in finesse and I hope that when I am her age I will still be able to run round a court like she does.
Dad has found out that there is an eighteen month waiting list to have his cataract done at Paphos Hospital and as he still enjoys driving around this would seem a bit too long to wait whilst his eyesight deteriorates further so he has decided to bite the bullet and go privately with all its associated costs. I am hoping that he can get it done and dusted before my sister Kaye and family are over - fingers crossed.
It must have been warm today because when I returned to Droushia the car was still showing an outside temperature of 18 degrees at 4.30pm. Just think of all that warmth captured in the conservatory at this time of year - it will make it a great place to have an evening drink when the rest of the garden is, unfortunately, in shade. Now that people are emerging from their winter hibernation we shall probably spend a bit more time socialising and more importantly socialising outside. Tonight we had Nicky and Mark coming up for a meal and whilst we contemplated sitting outside with the patio heater on as the clear skies meant that temperatures were dropping fast we canned that idea in favour of lighting the fire and cosying up inside!
John has perfected the fire lighting thing - and now that days are warmer and the house is therefore that bit warmer inside once he has got it going we tend to only burn one or two serious logs. Dad provided us with some more today as he scrounged some orange from the trees that have been cut down opposite their house - this will need to get a bit more seasoned but John has burned some of the first lot and it burns well - slow and hot. Last night whilst the outside was a clear and chilly six degrees inside was a balmy twenty-one!
We had intended to go out last night for a cheap and cheerful meal like fish and chips but I had some pork that needed eating up so made a thai-style lemongrass and ginger pork dish which I served with noodles. This seemed to go down pretty well - it has a slight kick to it but nothing too fierce as I know that Nicky is a bit like me - a Korma girl!
John and I have obviously been watching too much masterchef as we concocted a very pretty pudding which consisted of a square of my banana and yoghurt cake with some brandy preserved kumquats, a shot glass filled with my citrus curd with a caramelised peanut, sugar and chocolate 'snap' finger and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The Jury is out on the kumquats - they either need more brandy or sugar or both or they need longer to soften - they were still rather tart and tough - I didn't mind them as I liked the sharpness against the very sweet snap finger.
We haven't seen Nicky and Mark for quite a while so it was lovely to catch up before Nicky gets stuck in to her numerous photography assignments - mainly weddings but I know she has just done a round of school photos as well. They are easy company as we just catch up where we left off.
I had a really pleasant drive down to Paphos and pickleball. For once all the slow moving lorries and trucks moved aside as I made my way down to pick up Mum. I called into the EuroShop on the way to stock up on some chocolate supplies (the cheapest place to go) and various other bits and pieces. You can tell it was warm down on the court as everyone was in shorts and short sleeves today unlike previous weeks when we have been swathed in layers. I really felt I had some good games today and it is great to see Mum back giving me a hard time with her dinky serves and spinning balls - what she may now lack in strength she makes up for in finesse and I hope that when I am her age I will still be able to run round a court like she does.Dad has found out that there is an eighteen month waiting list to have his cataract done at Paphos Hospital and as he still enjoys driving around this would seem a bit too long to wait whilst his eyesight deteriorates further so he has decided to bite the bullet and go privately with all its associated costs. I am hoping that he can get it done and dusted before my sister Kaye and family are over - fingers crossed.
John has perfected the fire lighting thing - and now that days are warmer and the house is therefore that bit warmer inside once he has got it going we tend to only burn one or two serious logs. Dad provided us with some more today as he scrounged some orange from the trees that have been cut down opposite their house - this will need to get a bit more seasoned but John has burned some of the first lot and it burns well - slow and hot. Last night whilst the outside was a clear and chilly six degrees inside was a balmy twenty-one!
John and I have obviously been watching too much masterchef as we concocted a very pretty pudding which consisted of a square of my banana and yoghurt cake with some brandy preserved kumquats, a shot glass filled with my citrus curd with a caramelised peanut, sugar and chocolate 'snap' finger and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The Jury is out on the kumquats - they either need more brandy or sugar or both or they need longer to soften - they were still rather tart and tough - I didn't mind them as I liked the sharpness against the very sweet snap finger.
We haven't seen Nicky and Mark for quite a while so it was lovely to catch up before Nicky gets stuck in to her numerous photography assignments - mainly weddings but I know she has just done a round of school photos as well. They are easy company as we just catch up where we left off.
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