Monday a new week...

Over the weekend we were given a gift of some lovely honey cake/biscuit thingies hand made by our lovely neighbour Galatia who had shot up from Nicosia to just cast an eye over their property.

Sometimes I find these traditional sweets can be very dry but these were absolutely delicious - so much so that John commandeered them all to himself - apart from the one I had and the one that I gave Bassam with his coffee.

We had asked Bassam to come and cast his eye over the pool works and to give his opinion on the steps - I don't know what the Lebanese is for rubbish but I think that is what he said.   He had so many questions about why the steps look like mille feuille and why the rebars were protruding from the steps and not enclosed within.

If he shook his head once he shook it a million times but said not to get upset and to keep things in perspective - it was only a swimming pool after all and that eventually one way or another we would get it sorted.  As Dad would say - no shipwrecks.  No, no shipwrecks but we are just sick and fed up of shoddy workmanship when we take such time and effort to try and make sure we make the right decisions when embarking on a project which takes our hard earned savings of which we do not have endless amounts.

We escaped from the house to go down and see Millie Mou and give her a cuddle and then go to Paps and get some food in.  I cannot believe we are so close to Christmas - I am completely unprepared and beginning to panic - I have so much that needs to be done and I just don't know how I am going to do it all in the time left.

The events of the last few days have made me feel sick and my enthusiasm for the festive season has been drained.   John is so angry and I need to keep him calm but that may not be easy if we can't see a way forward without starting again from scratch.

We were so glad Millie was there when we went down - she has taken to emerging from the cat-flap so we don't have to shout for her she just appears and then we can give her a bit of a cuddle before feeding her.  We have heard from John and Susan and they seem to be having a fabulous time away - I am beginning to wish I had hidden myself away in one of their suitcases.

We could see a very large fire in the distance from John and Susan's house.  It appeared as though the goat farm was on fire but we actually think the fire was at the back of the goat farm otherwise there was going to be plenty of Kleftiko on offer.  I don't remember there normally being so many fires at this time of year but recently we have seen plenty.

We decided to cash in our Paps loyalty points to get some Christmas drinkies and nibbles in - we had €40 to spend which was a bonus!

We had a massive surprise as we drove home, just as we got to the top of the concrete road and the Egyptian's house (yes we know he probably isn't Egyptian that is just what we call it) we were confronted by one of the big black pigs that provide the massive pork chops you get on the island.  We know that just to the left of where this pig is standing down a bit of a track there is a hut which houses a number of pigs so we expect he was an escapee.  We didn't want to confront him/her (looks to me like a her) as pigs can be quite vicious and hope it made its way home safely.




We had decided to go out to Fitos this evening with John from pickleball before he leaves for Christmas away from the island.  It is amazing how much effort a little kebab-house makes for Christmas these days especially when you think that it is Easter which is their big celebration.

A fab meal at Fitos nicely rounded off what had been a very trying day.