July 11th...

A nice quiet (and rare) at home day today with nothing planned so we had the whole day stretching out before us and John was delighted that he would be able to sit down this afternoon and shout at the television whilst watching England v Australia on day 2 of the first Ashes Test - deep joy!!!

Our minds made up that Charlie was going to be staying we are having a concerted effort with his behaviour.  He is young we know but he seems to know no boundaries so he doesn't know how to play without full teeth and claws and he doesn't know when to stop.

This morning, after Chivers had had his breakfast in peace, we let Charlie out of the bedroom and he spent some time worrying one of those biggish ants that we get running around the conservatory, Chivers visibly let out a sigh of relief that Charlie was fully occupied and strode past without fear of Charlie attaching himself to his tail.  He spat a disdainful hiss in Charlie's direction and wandered off to the sanctuary that is the green area.  No sign of Minnie during the day at the moment but I wake when she comes in at night and get up and make sure she is fed in peace.  Something has clearly upset her as she is very very wary.  I don't think it is Charlie but he clearly isn't helping the situation  The good thing is that she obviously doesn't go too far and still comes back when she feels less threatened.

Today we are persevering with the 'mummy slipper'  this is in an attempt to stop Charlie suckling my bingo wings!!!  The suckling isn't so bad it is the accompanying padding with full on claws that is rather painful.  Little by little we are hoping to move Charlie onto the slipper and just occasionally at the moment it works but only for a very short while - but that is better than nothing!

Before the resumption of the cricket John was sorting out some of his clothes with the help of his little assistant who was sifting through John's smalls probably looking for a quiet corner to get his head down!  It is quite hot and sticky at the moment - even in Droushia - so Charlie normally takes himself off for a siesta in the afternoons like a true Cypriot!

We have both Mum and Dad and Kaye and Richard staying on Sunday night so it will be cosy and we need to get the house looking a bit more tidy before they arrive - we don't want them to think that we really are the Clampetts!

I also have picnic food to get organised as we are all taking 'food to share' and I have yet to really get clear in my mind what I am going to cook.  Mum has given me some koupies and some pigs in blankets and I plan a frittata and maybe some carrot and coriander fritters and a chick pea salad - we shall see what I can manage to knock up tomorrow afternoon after we have come back from lunch at Viklari (the Last Castle).  We haven't been to Viklari yet this year so we are really looking forward to it and Dad has asked that they have Fassoulia (beans) for me because they do the best!

We have realised that the two thermometers in the swimming pool show completely different temperatures and here is the proof!! The white one which came from Mum and Dad's is at the bottom (more shaded end of the pool) and was showing a very respectably 30 degrees whilst our blue one is at the sunnier end of the pool and only musters 27 degrees - earlier in the season I shall go by the white one because psychologically I will think that the water is a more reasonable temperature than it actually is!!!  Of course that is assuming that it is the white one that is reading too much rather than the blue one reading not enough!

After a lovely cooling swim I tidied myself up and went round to visit Orexi Elena - I haven't seen her for a few days and wanted to catch up with her and where she is with her ongoing treatment having had her breast removed and a lump removed from her neck.

When I arrived she had a houseful and I offered to go back at a different time but in true Elena fashion she declared the more the merrier so I stayed to share a frappe with Anne, Anna and Pauline (the three witches from Macbeth - JOKE)  It was like voices from the valleys as all three had at some point in their lives lived in Wales.  Longstanding friends of Elena and Bassam they had called to visit bearing gifts for the children.  Lola and Amora were treating them to a display of Cypriot dancing even though Amora should have been on her way to a piano lesson in Paphos!

Rabia had been brought a Subbuteo type game but rather more sophisticated than those I remembered as a child in that the players were on a sort of spring mechanism and the ball was magnetised so once 'kicked' would be attracted to a player and I realised that you then had to tap the player down onto the spring to release the ball.  Rabia didn't really seem too bothered as he was perfecting his own technique and his own set of rules!

I came home clutching some very delicious little cherry plum type fruits.  Elena said that once I had eaten one that wouldn't be enough and she was right!  If they don't get eaten beforehand and remain reasonably hard I might take them to the picnic on Sunday.

When I got back home there was an elderly man in a truck wandering around the estate so I sent John off to investigate - it was apparently the municipal man who comes round and puts chemicals in the abandoned pools to control the mozzies.  John took his step ladder out for him to make it easier for him to get near the pools.  In most cases a bit of height and a strong arm meant he could deal with them from the footpath and didn't have to climb over the fences.

We were saying goodbye to Tom (above) and Jerry today.  They are being collected by Lucie tomorrow and taken to their new homes in Kathikas.  We are delighted that they are going somewhere nice but will be a little sad to see them go as they have grown into such characters.  From two disheveled and feral kittens who spat at you and lashed out they have grown into loving, leggy and healthy moggies who were happily rehomed together as they love one another to bits.

John had found the whole cricket day thoroughly frustrating particularly as the England team were clutching defeat from the jaws of victory as only they can.  They let Australia's 11th man score 98 - unheard of!