Tuesday - Will Sandstorms Mean No Goodbyes?

So today is our visitors last full day on the island.  We had nothing much planned except that we would be eating at C&A Apartments this evening along with Mum and Dad.

We woke to absolutely horrible conditions as a massive sandstorm was sweeping across the island - it had already hit Larnaka and flights were being diverted to Paphos - the sky was very heavy up here first thing but there was a little visibility down towards the coast.  I had offered to take Janet to the beach because she always likes to take a couple of pebbles home as a memento of her holiday.  I stopped as I drove down the hill out of the village and took a photograph across the valley near Aunty Friday's house.

Having finished my latest art project I am now on the look-out for a new subject so I stopped in Polis and took some photographs of some interesting buildings - I think this was once a shop for a stone mason by the looks of things as there are some pretty fantastic stone items just deteriorating - such a shame but a really interesting building.

We decided to venture out to Limni - normally the sea here is an absolutely stunning colour but because of the standstorm everything seemed a little washed out.  You could barely make out the hills over towards Pomos.

There were loads and loads of turtle nests marked up on this beach - I think that might be why they have removed the lights from the pier so that the little turtles can hatch safely.  I have absolutely no idea whether these have already hatched or are waiting but Lou, H, John and I are planning a turtle watch evening so this might be a good place to try - lord knows - some people have spent nights on end waiting to see them and then other friends just happened to be at the beach one evening and they just hatched out then and there!!

We had a little walk along the beach but it was just too hot to go too far and we managed to find some pretty little pebbles straight away so decided to take a walk onto the (light-less) pier because you could see that there at least the air was moving a little!

The water was clear but not a fish in sight just a couple of people sunbathing at the end so we wandered back ready for the cool of the aircon in the apartment.

I left Janet and Hadge to their own devices for the day and made my way back home stopping off at the bakery for a well-earned Chino to drink on the way home.  I hold Sharon Newman totally responsible for my love of Chinos because it was her fault I had one in the first place and everytime she goes down to Polis she either rings to ask if we want one or just brings one anyway.

By the time I got back the weather had deteriorated further with absolutely no view from our garden - the picture above should be of the coastline and mountains!  The air quality was appalling and you could even taste the sand in the air.  I had to shut everything up as you could write you name on the work surfaces in the kitchen but that meant that the temperature indoors just went higher and higher!

With a little time on my hands I thought I could finish some of the canvasses I had got the other day.

Mum had wanted a canvas to give as a tombola prize at a forthcoming charity do and I was more than happy to make one but she bought one from the Blue Olive before I had time!!

I wanted to experiment with some different techniques and have seen these fantatic Chinese line drawings of cats so thought that I would give it a go myself.  Isn't it amazing how a few carefully drawn lines can capture the essence of the animal.

We spent a really lovely evening down in Polis with Chris Neophytou and his wonderful family and some of the other guests staying with them.  This is truly a place where an individual's disability becomes almost irrelevant.  My mum and I both commented on how wonderful it is that there is somewhere where every need is catered for.  They must be doing something right because people return year in and year out and I know that Janet and Hadge will be booking for next year as soon as they get back to the UK.