Wednesday - a Different Crafting Venue...

This is a particularly lovely time of the year up here in Droushia as the recent rain has brought everything to life and the garden is looking green and lush.  We can now see which plants have self-seeded and where - so watch out for a Californian Poppy overload next year!!  After looking very sad indeed we cut the straggly growth off of the lemon tree and it has now put on new growth - perhaps we should have done it sooner!

 

I have been around with my little garden claw and lifted quite a lot of the weeds that have sprung up all over the place - this is now going to be a running battle I can see!!!  We still have a problem with some of the plants which seem to have rotted, or at least died from the inside out - Mum and Dad had an issue down in Emba with something they called 'ash' and we are now wondering whether or not it is the same or similar too the fungus that is affecting the Ash trees in the UK and that is why it was called 'ash'.  It is a bit of a shame really because two or three of the Gazanias are just a black mound whereas others are continuing to flower and the lovely Myrtle is hanging on by a thread with just a few green leaves clinging on valiantly.  Next spring is going to be another voyage of discovery to see what has and what has not managed to survive but at least each year I am getting a clearer picture of what I can expect with the garden.  On the plus side we seem to have a number of bulbs which are beginning to show green shoots - some will be the local indigenous plants and others, hopefully will be the daffodils, narcissi and aliums that I have planted.

 

Jeannette is currently in the UK, she has gone to visit a specialist that she hoped would be able to help her with the debilitating deep vein eczema that causes her such pain and distress - I have subsequently learnt that he is unable to help which is a great great shame for her and I know how bitterly disappointed she will have been to learn that news.  We will just have to do our best to cheer her up on her return.

 

Anyway as a result of Jeannette being away Prodromi Pam kindly offered for me to spend this morning at hers for craft.  Pam and Barry have a very pretty home in Prodromi (hence her nickname) with a very pretty courtyard and garden area at the back.  I am a real lover of the soft blue used in the shutters and the vibrant pink of the bougainvillea which I know can make a right old mess but is so quintessentially Mediterranean.  Pam was saying that their development has had an influx of potential Chinese buyers and that the other week they were all peering into her garden wanting to take photographs and at one point she had to join them!!

Their development is very attractive with a lovely pool area and being slightly elevated has far reaching views across the mountains and the sea.  It also benefits from being lower down than we are so is several degrees warmer throughout the year.

 

Prodromi Pam is currently working on a mosaic but normally she sews - she is the lady that makes handbags and has also done some sewing for us (the blinds in the conservatory, curtains in the lounge and John's shorts).  She is obviously artistic and her house is nicely furnished and co-ordinated. The dining area looked lovely and I really liked the beach hut VW picture above.  We were joined by Marmalade Annie and her dog Wilfie and were treated to a very very nice cauliflower cheese soup for lunch - sounds a bit odd I know but it was extremely tasty and you know that normally I am not overly fussed by cauliflower!  In conversation Annie said that she was going to do a Lebanese meal for a visitor and I asked her if she could make use of some of the lovely dates which Galadia had given me as they are now ready after their freezing period.  She said she could and she also wanted some figs so after lunch she followed me back home to pick up the dates and go foraging for figs with the help of John and his trusty stick.  There are still figs to be had but they are high up and generally out of reach to us short arses!

 

John had been busy in my absence having created a gate for the car port out of a couple of old pallets - this is just to make the bike less obvious.  He is so good at building things and basically making something out of nothing.  Only trouble was that at some point this morning, wearing only flip-flops, he managed to kick a pallet and looks like he may have broken his little toe - well if the colour and size is anything to go by that is!  He says he must wear proper footwear in future when he is working but he is going to struggle to get a shoe on at the moment.

Cleaning up the Akamas...

Today has been quite a miserable day with storms and thunder and lightning with a bit of sunshine thrown in for good measure.  This morning we did manage to fit in a little bit of gardening and John cleaned Gregoris's pool but then the heavens opened and rain stopped play.  This was a real shame as Tuesday is one of the few days that we keep free so that we can do some sort of work together.

 

Running Susan and her husband John were coming round this afternoon to see the walk that we had sussed out for them.  Initially we were both going to go round on our scooters but had to abandon that idea - in fact we nearly had to abandon the whole idea full stop but in the end managed to go round in John Read's big red shiny truck which made light work of the slightly dodgy conditions.  So with a small amount to talk about today I thought I would dedicate this blog to the ACT - Akamas Clean-up Team which we have joined.

 

The Akamas Clean-up Team is a new volunteer group organized by Keith Watkins of Neo Chorio.   Keith was involved in a similar group in Hong Kong and hopes that ACT will carry out regular clean-up expeditions to beaches in different areas of the Akamas.  We all know what a problem litter is here and how our beautiful beaches are regularly marred by careless disposal of waste not to mention the flotsam and jetsam that gets washed up - particularly now when the seas become more stormy - plastic has an awful lot to answer for I can tell you and with little to no recycling here it is a major problem.

 

ACT held its first clean-up on 29 September when Let's Do It Cyprus organised environmental clean-ups all over Cyprus as part of an international event with up to 100 countries taking part. Rubbish collection bags were supplied to ACT by Let’s Do It Cyprus and the Communal Board of Neo Chorio.  Due to a prior commitment we were unable to attend although we are definitely going to pitch up for the next sortie which is on November 24th.  On this occasion the Team numbered just seven volunteers but between them clocked up 24 'person hours' on what was a very hot day.

 

The Team cleaned-up both the foreshore and the backshore of the south beach at Geranissos Point which is situated about half-way between Lara Beach and Cape Arnaoutis (Cape Akamas) onthe western side of the Akamas Peninsula.  Boy did they do a good job collecting a total of 44 lage bags of rubbish and sundry items.   As Keith put in his report - it is amazing what a difference a few people can make in a short time - with a lot of enthusiasm and sweat!  Because numbers were short on this occasion the rubbish on the North Beach at Geranissos Point was not collected but Keith plans to clean this beach in the future.

 

Keith reported that when the team had finished several people arrived to use the beach and swim in the sea including a German Tourist who said that he used the beach a lot and that it is known as "Plastic Beach" as it is normally covered with thousands of pieces of discarded plastic items and other bits of rubbish.  Apparently he could not believe his eyes that it had all been cleared and was most appreciative of what had been achieved and took photographs so he could show his friends what the Team had done.  Apparently he did ask for an old plastic chair to be left behind so he had something to sit on whilst at the beach - Keith says he will get that the next time!

 

I hope that Keith gets a good turn out for the next exercise - and that the weather is kind to us in our endeavours.  If anyone reading this would like to volunteer with ACT, please contact Keith Watkins either by email: keith.wendy.watkins@gmail.com or by phone: 26 322 886


Monday - the Diet Starts Now...

 

We were woken this morning but the dulcet tones of the Electricity Board at Angela's connecting her house to the grid.  We are guessing that because there was a guy up the 'cherry picker' that the alarm had to be going off continuously - we were not impressed, Chivers was not impressed and Minnie Mou was certainly not impressed!!!  Still it is one step closer to that property being finished for Angela who had expected to be holidaying in it in the Summer and give her credit, she has been cracking the whip to make sure that they tidy up the outside and she has even had two women in clearing the garden of her house 3B and the one next door 3A.  She is planning to spend Christmas here with her husband Phil - so the estate will be more of a bustle in the Winter than it is in the Summer - what fun!

It being Monday it was art at Sheila's and I am still working on my Morning Glory picture but it is taking me AGES - can you believe that all I managed to do this morning was the blending on the second flower and that took about three hours and it is going to take quite a bit more work until I am happy with it! 

 

I have asked Sheila if, from next week (as the clocks will have changed), we can start a bit later.  With the clock change and the cooling temperatures we need to wait a bit longer some mornings to have enough hot water for a shower and I don't want to pitch up looking like the Wreck of the Hesperus or smelling like Stig of the Dump!!! and for some reason my time keeping has been pretty poor of late so I have been pitching up nearer 11.00 anyway!!  Good job I don't have to be ready for work anymore - I just wouldn't make it!!!

 

I had a good Greek Lesson today although it is getting harder but I feel I can begin to string some sensible and meaningful sentences together at long last!  I shot off afterwards to do some shopping and then realised that I had forgotten to pay Sam - what on earth is happening to my brain??? 

 

I called into E&S to see if they had any beer on offer and found that they had all their Christmas decorations in store - how times have changed since Mum and Dad first came over here when there was nothing Christmassy in the shops until December and well into December at that!!!  It did remind me though that I need to galvanise myself into action and try and get a little organised for the Festive Season.  Mum has at least got the Turkey Breast for Christmas Day but that is about it so will have to get my act together and soon!

 

Whilst out shopping I bought some new plates in Paps.  Just two, one for John and one for me, they are rectangular and smaller than our normal dinner plates and as we want to cut down a bit after months of over indulgence I thought they would be a good idea because it would look like a full plate of food albeit a much smaller plate!

 

 

I am a firm believer that if food looks nice and is prepared with love and care then the meal, whatever it is, tastes better.  We are going for a week of 'pretty salads' and fortunately Paps had the lovely mini-pittas in today to go with them.  Tonight we had a bacon salad with some pan roasted peppers and apples.  Good job we both love salads because that is all there is going to be for a while!!! 

 

 

The weather was very strange tonight - a right old electrical storm was rolling around us all night.  We had one particular cloud that was illuminated by lightning directly in front of us and at one point it was like something out of Close Encounters when they start playing the music and the lights light up - it isn't easy to capture lightning - I didn't have the tripod out for a start but hopefully the picture will give you some idea of what was going on.

Sunday - Sussing out a Walk...

We said goodbye to Sharon and Sean today although we didn't actually say goodbye because we hadn't realised that they had actually gone!!!  Last time they were here they cut it a bit fine to get down to the airport in time so when they went off to Peyia this morning we thought it was just par for the course and that they were doing some last minute visiting before packing up and going home.  This confused us no end and as time went on we were convinced that they were going to miss their flight so phoned them and they were sat in the airport departure lounge.  God knows how that happened just a mix up in communication I guess.  Sharon's daugher and her friend have taken up an invitation to stay in Peyia so we are temporarily feeling a little lonely up here!

 

Once we realised what had happened we shot off out on the bike to try and suss out a walk for Running Susan and John.  It needed to be about 10K and, well you know me, the thought of walking all that way just fills me with dread so we decided to do it on the bike and that way could actually clock the distance. 

 

We started the clock in the centre of the village by the Co-Op as there is a bit of a carpark down the side of the bank where the walkers can park up and it is also close to Christos's Taverna if they are going to be eating afterwards. 

 

The weather was a bit stormy today which meant there were some pretty fantastic cloud formations and having already had the first rains of the autumn everything is looking that much greener. 

 

We had decided to start off taking the same route that we followed with Jane and John as it takes you down out of the village past the big rock formations and offers fantastic views down towards the sea and across towards the Akamas.

 

It is very beautiful and wild and there is water in places already.  It only seems like five minutes ago we took a drive down that way with Mum and Dad and Dad had to get out and make sure that we could get by in the car because there was a raging river making its way down to the sea!!!

 

It was a bit hairy on the bike in places as the road surface went from concrete to loose shingle and then to a bit of mud then back to concrete etc etc but I clung on and we made it - passing through some pretty breathtaking scenery.  We worked out a circular route of about the right distance which took us through Pittokopos and along by the bandstand where you get far reaching views over Lara Bay and then back to the village passing by two rather unsightly dumping spots (yes you've guessed it right on a bend in the road) - anyone wanting a sofa or two should go down and take a quick look - why do people do that??? Even if they were biodegradable how many hundreds of years will it take for them to create compost??

 

Only once on the whole route did we pass a vehicle but we did pass goats and some of those big cows which sport the red curly wig-like hair!

 

If Running Susan's walking group have not done this walk before we think they should enjoy it although they will need to be quite fit as there is a very long downhill stretch to start off with and we all know that for all that downhill there is the same amount of uphill to negotiate!!!  Wheelie Helen would probably call it a slow gentle incline - I call it pergatory!!  Boy I am such a couch potato!

In the past I never went much on a Sunday - it was closely followed by a Monday and the four letter word that is work but now I can't tell you how much I love Sundays - it is a day which John and I try and keep to ourselves.  After years of John's globtrotting it is a real pleasure to be spending time together and Sunday is special - it is a day when, as we spend the majority of the time without neighbours, we can generally have a good old slob around or get stuck into some trash TVcatchup without fear of someone suddenly calling in for a cuppa!!  Then we like to go out exploring and, when the weather is good, give the scooter a trip out and afterwards if the footie season is on John will select a match and I will cook something special for tea - knowing that a new week stretches out in front of us but one which does not involve the stress and strain of working for someone else.  I can quite understand how John, having had to spend so much time in close proximity with lots of other people on a ship, enjoys his own company so much now just so long as he has a project or something on the TV and/or the cats to keep him occupied!!!
 

The weather is most definitely on the change and we are being treated to some spectacular evening skies where the setting sun is colouring the clouds and then as the night falls they are illuminated by electrical storms - lightning but no thunder and then thunder but no lightning - it will only be a matter of time before they catch up with one another!!

 

We were off to Yiannis in Kathikas for a final meal with Jane and John before they return to England tomorrow.  John asked what my tastebuds were telling me as we were on our way down to the taverna and I said 'Beans on Toast' - we have eaten so much recently I just fancied something plain!!

 

As always we had a lovely meal and Yianni made us feel very welcome.  He even brought out some special wine that he had been fermenting in a gourd which apparently gives it a smokey flavour which John said was a bit like the taste of single malt - personally I thought it tasted disgusting!!!

 

 

Yianni grows the gourds over the pergola at the back of his restaurant - they must grow quickly as the last time we were there (not that long ago) they were nowhere to be seen and now look at them!! He says that he is going to let me have some seeds - no idea where I am going to plant them but if anyone wants to cover a structure in double quick time they could be the answer!

Sporty Saturday...

There was a stunning sunrise this morning - it heralded another beautiful day here - in fact it was even hotter today than yesterday.  Although the weather station showed temperatures in the high 30s at midday it also showed an indication of forthcoming rain and my neighbour Angela from 3B (the house that has undergone the massive refurbishment) was talking of rain when I went round with our contact details and to say thank-you for the blouse she had given me.  I think it must be one of her designs as I believe she and her husband Phil are in the rag trade back in England.  The diet I was talking about yesterday will have to start and soon if I am going to be able to wear it as it is a little on the snug side!

 

Sharon's daughter and friend arrived safe and sound although their flight was a little delayed.  They may well not stay up here after Sunday when Sharon and Sean fly back as they have been offered to stay in a villa down in Peyia which would be more convenient for them as they will have no transport and, let's face it there is a lot more to do down there if you are two girls in your 20s!

Sharon and Sean have been having a bit of a clear out whilst they have been here and Sean offered us an old rug which had been knocking about at theirs.  He said it was a bit worse for wear but would help us to keep our feet warm in the winter!!!  He was right in that there are a multitude of marks and stains - some very permanent by the looks of things but with some strategically placed furniture and pot plants I have managed to hid some of them.  The rug that was there is normally put in the kitchen in the winter and we do need something in there if our feet are not to freeze!  The one that S&S gave us will certainly tide us over for this winter and I shall attack it with their carpet cleaner at some point to see if I can improve its appearance at all!

 

 

There was a home game for ENAD Polis today so John was off to watch and picking up Running John on the way but not before I fed him - we are back to salads now when we can.  I also looked out a cushion so that he could sit in comfort.  No need for raincoat and umbrella this week thank goodness and he was looking forward to it.  He wasn't disappointed as they won 4-0 and the game had it all including two being sent off from the opposition and one from ENAD together with fisticuffs in the tunnel!!!  Next home game is in two weeks' time!  And the following one I am supposed to be going and hopefully our favourite stalkers will come with us as they will be over.

 

The recent wet weather has made for some lush grazing and the smiley goats were out and about today but for once neither of the cats seemed to be interested.  In fact Minnie Mou has been acting strangely something has upset her - it could be me as I had to remove a tick from her today and then spray with stuff which she hated - or it could be that there are a lot of people around in Angela's tidying up and in the garden of the villa next door and this is possibly where she likes to go and hide out.  Either way I have had to be very patient with her as she has been running around on her knees like a right old scaredy cat.

 

For Sharon and Sean's last night we opted for a big night in Polis and some sport!!!  Sean and John were going to try out the Pool Club.  Sharon and I were just being nosey as neither of us are keen pool players!!  The Club is fairly newly opened and has five American sized tables and although we didn't know it is run by someone that Sean and Sharon know.  An hour's pool is €9 for the table so not too expensive and the boys managed to fit in nine games.  John says that he ended the last game left handed having won eight on the bounce including one where Sean sunk the black after potting his last ball!!!  It wasn't Sullivans night that was for sure!!!

 

While they were re-enacting the 'Color of Money' Sharon and I went to investigate the ten pin bowling alley which is just a couple of doors down the road.  For a Saturday night it was empty - although it was still relatively early as Cypriots tend to go out much later than we do.  We were the only ones in there and Sharon and I took the opportunity to have a quick game before the boys came in to rib us mercilessly - perhaps we should have had the bumpers up after all!!!  Let's just say no-one will be knocking our door down to ask us to join their team!!!  I managed to amass a total score of 81 on the first game and 89 on the second - it is sooooo much easier on the Wii!!!

 

It was a right old laugh but we may have to rethink the challenge we threw down to Crafty Jane and Mark for a sporting night out!!!

Friday and how the Quickly the Tide can Turn...

We were absolutely chuffed to bits today to have been asked to go on Crafty Jane and Mark's boat as the weather was tipped to be good and the sea calm. We had arranged to meet down at Latchi Marina for 8.30am and, as there is still a lot of work going on by way of improvement it was a hive of activity and as usual the workmen had parked as close to their work as possible making it an interesting slalom for getting the boat into the water and back out again. The Springate's boat is beautiful - I know nothing about boats but I reckon this could be described as rather 'sexy' and John now wants one - to be fair he has wanted a boat for some time but this just confirmed it!! And, hats off to Jane who manoeuvred it around the harbour like a real professional!  I just wondered whether the boat had been named after her - Miss Chief!!

On the way out, en route to Kingfisher Bay (just before Blue Lagoon and a spot where the bigger boats cannot get in close) the water was flat calm and Jane and Mark took turns at water ski-ing. Jane had brought the numpty novice skis and asked if I wanted a go. Having watched Jane (who darted in and out across the wake and made it difficult for me to capture on camera) and having seen how strong she is I realised I would never manage to stay upright and the thought of hitting water at speed and getting it up my nose did not appeal although I can see the attraction. I realise now how unfit I am and how I really need to get into some sort of regime. It has been really really wonderful to have a steady flow of visitors but boy it has taken its toll on my waistline!!! The food here is just too damn good and my hour and a half pickleball which I whinge about is just not cutting it in the fitness stakes - time to get out the Wii and take things a little more seriously and, if nothing else, it will keep me warm in the winter months!! Anyway I digress... 

..the journey to Kingfisher Bay was absolutely idyllic - Jane and Mark call it Kingfisher Bay because you are more than likely to spot kingfishers there. Today was no exception as we were treated to a flypast by a pair!! They are much much bluer than those you see in the UK (if you are ever lucky enough to do so) and very fast - a real flash of sapphire as they shoot by and too fast for me to capture on camera - but I will one day! I had more luck capturing Mark once I had managed to get my eye in and take account of the movement of the boat! Perfect conditions for water ski-ing apparently and a real bonus for this time of the year! Maybe one day I will give it a go for myself!

I had my camera with me (no shit Sherlock I hear you cry) and managed to get an arty shot whilst we were zipping along the water with Jane at the wheel, John beside her and Mark ski-ing in the distance - this must be reasonably early on as my hair has been blown into oblivion!!!  I hadn't been on the ball this morning though because I didn't check the battery in the main camera and it was very low as we were leaving the harbour and I didn't check the battery size for the new camera and picked up the wrong size which was a shame because the original ones didn't last long at all.

Trying to get to grips with the new camera is a bit difficult but I did manage to get a couple of shots where you can actually see what I am aiming at!!  It is quite difficult to suss out what you have within the view finder and of course the fish aren't swimming around waiting for you to take their 'best side' so you get geared up and then the little buggers have gone!!!  I think I am going to have to do some practice in the swimming pool but that is going to have to wait until next year now when it will have warmed up.  Anyway the one of John is pretty good and you can see just how clear the water was.  The one of the fish (and they were big) isn't too bad but they were in a shady crevice so obviously the quality is better when you have bright sunlight coming through but then you struggle to see what you are aiming at!!  Practice and better batteries are the order of the day.

This is a really excellent place for snorkeling as the clear water and the caves and rocks provide lots of different environments in which to find sea life.  You really don't have to look far as there were all sorts of small fish right on the surface and a shoal of garfish kept approaching the boat.  We had managed to get there when the bay was empty and had done our snorkeling before other boats started to arrive and busy the waters so we were really lucky.  We felt like we could have stayed all day but for two reasons.  One, I had arranged to go to Running Susan and John's this afternoon to sort out something they wanted to know about their computer and two, I asked Mark why there was a very dark blue line of sea visible on the horizon and he told me that it was rough water and it could be coming inland.  Sure enough as we started to make our way out of the bay and into deeper water to make our way back the sea began to get choppier and choppier and we had a fair old bumpy ride on the way back!!

Once in the harbour we had to dump Mark on the side so he could get the truck and trailer down to the slipway (avoiding all the cars and trucks which had been abandoned by the workmen) and Jane had to negotiate the other boats and get Miss Chief up onto the trailer.  What a brilliant morning and how lucky were we to have enjoyed the best of the weather???

My afternoon took me back to my working days and PC training although Running Susan and John were rather more attentive listeners because it was something they wanted to know!  They are now fully au fait with removing photographs from their camera and putting them on the PC and using Picasa to manipulate them!  They were keen to organise their own photographs but also wanted to take a photograph of the beautiful kitten that was dumped near their house in a box the weekend of the awful weather.  She is a little girl and about three or four months old and very, very friendly - she just wants some attention and a cuddle.  Unfortunately Susan already has two cats which she has taken in and like us has made a decision to stick to just two.  I am sending a plea to the lunching ladies in the hopes that between us we can find it a kind and loving home.  Susan says she will look after it for two weeks whilst we try and then if there is no joy will have to take it to the rescue place in Paphos.  Let's hope someone takes the little thing on - I hope so.

Thursday - Blinking Hot for Pickleball...

I was off early today to go down to Paphos as we had a parcel that needed collecting from the main post office and that closes around 1.00pm - then I was going to play pickle-ball at 2.30pm and there were some other bits and pieces I wanted to do so I tootled on down and found a Cypriot radio station that was playing something akin to Hooked on Classics so had it belting out Carmen, Land of Hope and Glory, Messiah etc etc all the way.

 



I got to the post office clutching my white form and was told that I had to 'see the man' - actually 'see the woman' as it transpired.  Anyway I stood and waited and waited and eventually a guy who was also waiting and turned out to be Eastern European told me what was happening - apparently my parcel had duty that needed paying and after he had been in with his I was to take my parcel with the white form into the woman 'who was having a bad day so good luck!  DEEP JOY!!!  I hadn't realised that I had duty to pay - I thought I was just signing for the parcel (which turned out to be our new underwater camera).

 

It was eventually my turn and he was right the woman was having a bad day so she was singularly unimpressed when she asked me for the invoice for the item as I didn't have it so I had to sign into EBAY in her office and show her how much I had paid for the item - she then decided to print out the page without looking at it and when the printer didn't appear to be working sent it to print again.  What she hadn't realised was that the page included a print-out of the whole camera manual so we ended up with pages and pages and pages and pages spewing out of the printer - impressed??? NO!!!  Eventually I managed to escape with the camera and paid the duty - if it happens again I must make sure I take a receipt!

After racing around trying to find a cantilever sun umbrella (and failing) I made my way to the Imperial Beach Hotel to play pickleball - bloody hell it was hot on court - I reckon it was about 35 degrees and with only four of us playing there was little time to rest and to be honest I struggled a bit - I was very grateful when our hour and half was up.  I was almost sorry that I hadn't taken up Mum's invitation to go visiting half a dozen monasteries on the Emba Community Board organised trip that she, Eileen and Hilary were enduring (sorry enjoying)!!!

 

I got back home just about in time to start getting food ready for the barbeque - we couldn't afford to hang about as Sharon and Sean had to be down to Paphos and pick up Sharon's daughter and her friend.  Sharon is a vegetarian and being over here in Cyprus has really inspired me with vegetarian food so I was preparing a special roasted aubergine, pepper and mushroom dish for her which, if it turned out well, will appear on the blog.

I also did a berlotti bean salad and the rocket, pomegranate and cheese salad and Cyprus roast potatoes and we meat eaters had pork souvlaki and grilled chicken.  It was all lovely and my vegetarian dish must have been ok because Sharon ate it all so I will have to find the recipe again and put it on the blog.

It was a lovely evening and for once warm and condensation free so we were able to sit out much longer than normally possible.  The cats scrutinised the whole proceedings from their vantage point on top of my shed - Chivers was probably hoping a tasty little morsel might just drop into his pathway!!!

 

Sean and Sharon headed off down to Paphos and the airport and we slowly tidied up and packed everything away so we didn't have to face the carnage in the morning. 

 

Wednesday - Bye Bye Hils...

The Lordos 1 Spa was open for business again.  Our guest Hilary, took advantage of the complimentary waffle weave dressing-gown and opted for breakfast outside.  She enjoyed more fresh figs with yoghurt which Chivers found very interesting indeed.  In fact he finds all food interesting and likes to have a good old sniff to make sure that he isn't missing out on anything.  He is a gannet, Minnie Mou is a rather dainty eater and likes to leave a bit for later - only trouble is that Chivers just hoovers up behind her!  We are so pleased that the weather this week is better than it was this time last week - otherwise we would have been rather wet and cold sitting outside for breakfast!  We had a lazy morning planned and were then going off to meet Hilary's mum for lunch and later in the evening having a barbeque for neighbours Sharon and Sean (sorry that I keep spelling your name incorrectly!!!) As they were going back to England tomorrow - I say were because Sharon's daughter was coming out on Thursday and Sharon really, really wanted to be here when she arrived.  Sharon had obviously chipped away sufficiently at Sean to get him to look at changing their flights so they asked if they could tap into our Wi-Fi to see what was possible.  Poor Sean nearly had nose-bleed looking at the cost of the alternatives!!!

 

I take my hat off to Hilary who braved the swimming pool even though the temperature is barely hovering above 60 degrees!  John keeps it looking so inviting though that it is hard to resist and she thought it might do her sciatica some good.  In fact she did it twice - nutter - because when the pump came on she though the cold water jets would act like a jacuzzi.

 

Anyway we left Sharon surfing the net and Sean clutching his wallet - or was it his heart as he was about to have a coronary!!! and we went off down to Oniros for lunch with Eileen and awaited a phonecall to see whether or not we would be barbequeing later.

 

Here we are then, looking like the three witches from Macbeth or is it the three wise monkeys???  I am only clutching the table decoration basil because otherwise it looked like it was growing up Hilary's nose!! Eileen likes this venue and Hilary had never been before and the food is excellent and the view stunning so what more could you want?  Everytime we go we have to thank Crafty Jane for introducing us!

 



I had been desperate to try one of the platters so was pleased when Hilary said she would go halves!!  Only trouble is that it was HUGE!!!  We had belly pork, sausages, meat balls, roasted vegetables, olives and pitta bread - yuuummmmiieeeeeeeee.  Another excellent meal was had by all and we said goodbye to Hilary and Eileen until Friday when we meet for yet another meal at Vienna's.  Diet must must must start soon.

 

 

We made our way back to Droushia and I was followed all the way by a police car with its lights flashing - this is so confusing as they seem to always have their lights flashing but I wasn't sure if they wanted me to pull over - then I heard sirens and thought I was going to be pulled for speeding so decided to pull into Trakkos Donkey Sanctuary just in case.  At this point a fire engine went racing past and we could see smoke coming from over the hills.  I let the police and the fire engine go on by and we continued on our way.  We were a bit concerned that the fire was near where Crafty Jane and Mark live but as we got nearer to Aroudes we could see that it was further away than we thought thank goodness.

 



It was another very hot day (for October) and after a large lunch we were feeling just a little full and just a little sleepy so when Sean came to tell us that he had been completely mugged over for their flight changes and would be staying until Sunday we were able to rearrange the barbeque for tomorrow night.  It will be good to have an extra couple of days with them!

 

 

The cats were very pleased to see us on our return - you would think we had starved them!!!  Its great that they are waiting for us though and we dont have to worry about where they are!  A lovely quiet afternoon/evening stretched in front of us - bliss!