Girlie Shopping instead of Pickleball...

It was a difficult night's sleep - the stresses of the day had taken their toll and we continued to worry about Chivers and his health.  Both cats came to sleep with us for a while during the night, went out, came back in, jumped around the bed, went out, came back in, attacked our feet and then peered at us nose to nose to see if we were getting up.  We were optimistic that Chivers had improved but this morning he wouldn't eat anything I put down for him and he was sick after eating grass - not to go into too much detail but he still has the squits and all this is not good for his dehydration.

I was going down to Paphos for pickleball this afternoon so we decided I should go early and (a) go into the vets to discuss calmly where we are with Chivers after the trauma of yesterday and before we decide whether or not we continue going there for his care (b) replenish John's Super Sunday Soccer Cider and (c) go to the bank in Kissonerga to transfer over some money so that John can get cracking with building the carport.

After 21 years of living here Mum and Dad were going to immigration today because they had been told that new regulations meant that, despite gaining 'permanent residency' and having it stamped in their passports, they  needed to re-register and get a yellow slip.  This has involved them getting together all sorts of paperwork and photocopying it and worrying a bit about the implications not to mention the fact that they had paid for this previously and were having to pay again.  Their appointment was first thing this morning but as everyone is given the same time this meant that they could have a long old wait.  Would you believe it but only today the immigration authority have been told that the old permanent residency paperwork and stamp in the passport is sufficient and there is no need to re-register - this is bound to open a right old can of worms for all those 'permanent residents' who re-registered prior to today.

I decided to drive down to the vets via Peyia where the cider is sold (although I have since found out that Mum can also get this in Chlorakas at the same price).  Poor John deserves to have his stocks replenished particularly as the mighty Blades are being televised Saturday and we all know what that means - Kiss of Death normally - there are only two games left to the season and if SUFC continue to win their promotion is not in doubt but life as a Blades supporter is like living on a knife-edge - boring never, disappointing often.

The next stop was to the vets - if nothing else I needed to get Chivers' book uptodate because we didn't know what the tablets were that John had picked up from Kathikas yesterday and we wanted a copy of his blood test.  We also wanted to discuss the care he had had prior to him escaping from the cage.  Yesterday was not the day to do it obviously, and at the end of the day all we want is what is best for him.  Our immediate concern is to get his constitution working properly so that he is hydrated and happy to eat - the vet wants to do a whole load of other tests but at this stage providing he is not in danger we want to keep him as stress-free as possible and we have yet to decide if we take him back to that surgery.  John has been with him all day.  He says that he has been quiet but drinking and eating a little and has taken his medication although he did spit it out three times tonight!  It has been exceptionally hot today so I am not surprised he is not rushing around like a mad thing.

I called into the bank at Kissonerga - it is technically our branch because that is where we started out but we rarely go in there now as the Polis branch is nearer.  It tickles me that the guy behind the counter always recognises me and could tell me that my Dad had been in earlier in the morning.  The exchange rate today was nearly €1.24 which is the highest for about four years.  Having sorted the transaction I said to blokey (don't know his name) saying he looked well, he told me that he was bored and he didn' like routine and was looking for some excitement in his life - at which point I felt it was a good time to leave just in case he was hoping that I might be able to provide some!

En route I found out that we had insufficient players for pickleball today so I took the opportunity to call in and catch up with Nicky and then swung by Mum and Dad's and after a quick spot of lunch took Mum out shopping.  We started off at Next and Debenhams - both of which are at the end of their sales so sometimes there are bargains to be had and, if nothing else, Debenhams is a nice store to wander round.  John wanted me to see if there were any Mantaray Polo Shirts on offer but unfortunately not and at full price he would have had a coronary still we did find one or two nice things and someone is going to benefit when it is their birthday but I can't say who!

We decided to go down to Kata Paphos and the Harbour to see the shop which has taken over where Peacocks used to be - we had noticed it had changed hands when we drove back from pickleball on Tuesday and it is opposite another branch of Debenhams.

Cyprus has hopped on the Garra Rufa craze which is sweeping the world it would seem and today we walked past people having dead skin nibbled off by hundreds of fish.  Mum said 'never in a million years' but I wouldn't mind giving it a go although I pity the poor fish that get my smelly piggies.  In fact Laura and I had planned to go when they introduced this service at a salon in Ilchester but the fish weren't 'ready' in time for me to go before I left the UK.  The woman on the left assured me that (a) she didn't mind having her photograph randomly put on my blog and therefore on the internet (so thanks lady on the left) and (b) that is was quite a nice relaxing experience. 

I have no idea how much this costs back in the UK but today it was €18 for 15 minutes - that seems like a rather long time to me particularly if you have ticklish feet as I do so I would probably opt for the €7 for 5 minutes - when you think that a coffee can be as much as €4 that seems quite a bargain to me.

On the subject of coffee I persuaded Mum to hang the expense and live a little so we did the tourist thing and sat at the cafe on the corner.  Yes I know that the coffee was twice the cost that it would have been in Paps round the corner but the view was infinitely better!  It was very hot down there and our peace was shattered at regular intervals by a red open topped double decker bus which was ferrying a wedding party around the harbour and tooting its horn - now there is class for you!!

We returned home to Dad so that we could continue our Rummikub championships and then have some tea before I went back to Droushia.  John has had a day of cat sitting and DIY and fending for himself.  Hopefully he will be pleased I managed to get him another pair of trainers from the Sports Direct in E&S that was closing down - they were 20% cheaper than if I had bought them from the Mesoghi Avenue.

Chivers is in and has made a fair attempt at eating a pouch of Gourmet cat food.