July 6th...

We were having an 'at home' day today which was good news because we soon have a steady stream of visitors and that takes its toll - not least on the wallet!!! 

It is a bit of a sad day today in many respects as Mum and Dad's great friend Frank leaves the island to start a new life with his family in Devon.  He has spent the last 20+ years here in Cyprus and lived in Africa prior to this.  Sadly he leaves behind his beloved wife Thelma who is buried in the British Cemetary in Irimi near Limassol.  Frank was 90 earlier this year so it is probably fair to say that he will be leaving this soil for good - a lovely, lovely gentleman whose company we have cherished.

Thoughts of Frank's departure spurred me on to take action with the screen which Frank gave us.  It is, like Frank, elderly and in need of some TLC so today was as good a day as any to start on its refurbishment.  I couldn't complete it as I have ordered some heavy duty thread and it has yet to arrive and I will need it to tie up some of the bits that have come untied.

Some of the finer rafia work has seen better days and a good puff of wind would have it in shreds so I decided to move the screen out into the garden and remove everything that had deteriorated beyond repair.

It was probably almost too hot to be working outside - hence the less than flattering bathing costume!  John was busy getting himself jacked up for watching the British Lions and he is a nightmare to be with when he is watching sport so I was glad to be out of the way doing something creative.

It took me quite a while but eventually I removed all the tatty bits and repaired all the remaining bits as best I could before the thread arrives.

The screen doesn't look quite as stunning as it did but if you hadn't seen it before you wouldn't know!  I then realised that I had some solar lights lurking in the shed - I thought I would try them on the screen to see what they looked like and if they looked ok then when I have done the final repairs I will attach them - I thought it would look good - John wasn't too sure but when they lit up in the evening even he had to admit that they would be a welcome addition and being solar are free to run - RESULT!!!

I was pleased with my morning's work - I like doing things that will make our surroundings more attractive and as the screen cost us nothing then that is even better.  Thank you Frank xxx

As I said previously John was getting ready for the deciding British Lions match today.  He got himself all togged up in his rugby shirt and chilled down some cider for the de'cider' - got the TV all sorted and settled down for what turned out to be a thrilling game.

Those of you who know John will know that he is super passionate about sport - any sport - so today was a good day for him with Rugby, F1 qualifying and some Wimbledon finals.

The only trouble is that he gets soooooo into the game/match/race whatever that I find it difficult to watch with him.  I keep having to ask him when exactly it was that he played for the Lions or won a Grand Prix or won Wimbledon!!!

We have managed to get cider again on the Island which is a bonus as it is the favoured tipple for John and my Dad in the Summer.  

It was a good match and the Lions played out of their skins so there was no arguing about the nature of the win unlike the two previous games which had been so close and could have gone either way.  Blimey listen to me, you would almost think I knew what I was talking about!!!

Anyway it was fair to say that there was a right old flurry of exchanges on Facebook following the Rugby with delighted followers from all round the Globe!

When Paul was around yesterday John had mentioned that next door had mosquito fish and as a result we were spared the pain of being bitten to death but what lurks in an untended swimming pool. 

According to Wikipedia: The western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) is a species of freshwater fish, also known commonly by its generic name, gambusia. Mosquitofish are small in comparison to other fish, with females reaching an overall length of 7 centimeters (2.8 in) and males at a length of 4 centimeters (1.6 in). Females can be distinguished from males by their size and a gravid spot at the posterior of their abdomen. The name "mosquitofish" was given because the diet of this fish sometimes consists of large amounts of mosquito larvae

Paul and Elaine have a pond and a water feature in their garden and the fish would be useful to keep down unwanted pests.

This is the state of the pool next door.  Lovely isn't it? All the crud on the top is guff which bakes hard when the water level is low and then floats off when the pool is filled with rainwater.  Throughout the different seasons the mosquito fish thrive in this disgusting environment and you would think that if they can live in this then they can live anywhere.

And this is what the little fish actually look like.  Nothing to write home about but they do a damn fine job and in our opinion all untended pools should have these introduced to them. John skimmed off a whole load and put them into buckets ready to be delivered down to Pano Akourdaleia.  I have done some homework and it says that they will coexist fine with the goldfish and koi already in the pond.

Charlie was fascinated by the fish - we knew that we would have to cover them up for them to be safe and for Charlie not to have an early bath!  He is a typical kitten and into everything.  We are trying to spend as much time with him as possible and his behaviour is improving but he will terrorise Chivers and Minnie which is upsetting.  Minnie has come in twice today but taken one look at him and high tailed it over the fence.  We know she doesn't go far but we like to have her in the garden at least.

We were having pasta for tea tonight and Charlie thought he would help out by choosing the wine! The winerack used to be a favourite hiding place when he was little so we should have anticipated that Charlie would do the same.  Some of the bottles on the bottom row needed dusting anyway so we lightly dragged him backwards and forwards to do the job (joke!!).