Good Friday if you are in the UK...

Good Friday in the UK and if you are my Aunty V (in Canada) it is also your birthday - dare I even say your 77th Birthday - Happy Birthday Aunty V and see you very soon xxx

This morning we had a visit from Panicos to see if he could iron out some of the teething problems we have had with the conservatory.  We still haven't had any rain so we can't tell you if it is water-tight or not!  We have a bit of an issue with the sliding doors locking and it is because the frame isn't square so we have left him to try and figure out what they can or cannot do.

We have also asked Panicos to come up with a price for having metal shutters put on three of the windows, the kitchen, our bedroom and the other bedroom window that overlooks the front garden.  If we have them then, should we go away for any length of time, we can lock down the building properly and it will give a nice uniform appearance.

It has been very hot again today - how hot, well shower outside hot without any sharp intake of breath from John - in fact he said it was absolutely bouncing and this is without the extra pipework to give a longer run of hot water.

We decided that after showering we would get straight and head down to Polis for our regular Friday shop and as it was so beautiful we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at Ya-Ya's and then possibly a cold drink at the marina in Latchi.

We quite like to see the cats before we leave for any length of time just to make sure they are ok and that we haven't shut them in anywhere - Minnie Mou is rarely very far away but Chivers is a different matter all together and if he is distracted will not come back to call.  When Panicos left at about 12.30pm Chivers has staring at something in Gregoris' garden.

When we left for town an hour later we eventually found Chivers next door - this time he had cornered and was toying with a rat.  These rats are quite common over here but at the end of the day a rat is a rat and can bring with it all sorts of nasties.

The rat was still alive although I am guessing only because Chivers had allowed it to be.  I didn't want it to bite Chivers so I had to get John to 'deal' with it which he felt very guilty about but it probably would have died anyway.

As all this was going on we were approached by a random dog that we haven't seen before.  It looked quite elderly and disappeared up past Sharon and Sean's on the road which takes you to the top of the village. This reminds me that when I was looking for Chivers the day the goats came round I swear I say the back end of the ginger kitten, who we think was Sheila and Klaus's Jin-Jin, disappearing through the fence to where Irene feeds the cats.  This is good news because it means that he is still around and eating and I don't feel quite so bad about the fact that I may have inadvertently transported him here in the car.

Lunch at Ya-Ya's was lovely although I felt overdressed in a long sleeved top - it was so warm down in Prodromi.  John and I are going to have to take a long hard look at the clothes we have over here as we seem to go from layer upon layer straight to t-shirts and shorts, we don't seem to have a real requirement for mid-range clothes and having been here now a year we can take stock and see if there are things in our wardrobe and drawers that we are never going to wear - Irene will no doubt benefit from our cast-offs for her market stalls!

With our shopping done, and it is so much more stress free shopping over here than it used to be in Yeovil, we decided to go for that well earned drink in Latchi.  I got John to drop me off so that I could take a walk along the beach and meet up with him at Faros. Having seen the beach empty last week when I walked with Laura it was nice to see holidaymakers out enjoying themselves.  One or two were even in the sea - I thought they must be bonkers but I dipped my feet into the water and was very pleasantly surprised because it was clean, clear and warm - so warm that I might even have been tempted to go in had I been one of those holidaymakers.

I caught up with John doing what he does best - relaxing with the paper and a nice cold beer overlooking those very expensive boats in Latchi marina.  It was buzzing there today with quite a crowd - it is good to see trade picking up.

We stopped long enough for John to have a second pint and for me to have a shandy, watch the world go by and decided what to have for tea (chicken salad) as we had been reading the article about Sainsbury's being able to feed a family of four for a week for £50!  If you eat local here and eat seasonal you can feed yourself pretty well without spending too much money.  You can also drink very cheaply which can be a worry - we were gobsmacked today that litre bottles of Vodka in Paps were buy one get one free and they were only just over €5 to start off with!

I thought that those of you who read this who may be familiar with the old Droushia Heights Hotel might be interested to see this latest photograph of the renovation works.  This is a massive undertaking and looks a bit scarey if you ask me.  The old restaurant area seems to be dangling in mid air in places.  We understand this is to be a 'boutique' hotel when it is finished - time will tell but in the meantime it is fascinating to see this progress - or fall down - one or the other!!