Friday

So it is Friday - Autumn has arrived as the weather up here in the hills is cool and a little unpredictable.  The change means that we see a lot more of the cats hanging around the house during the day rather than disappearing somewhere to find the change.  Charlie (my bubs) is a firm believer in the healing qualities of sleeping in my laundry basket no matter how full.  I cannot bring myself to disturb him when he looks so comfortable.

Minnie on the other hand has adopted a throw I bought as her own - she can always be found snuggled up in the bedroom on that throw and today curled up round my teddies.  Bless her, she had such a torrid time a couple of years ago when something upset her so much she wouldn't come near the house, she was on the periphery for months before slowly, slowly we managed to persuade her that we were not the enemy.  She is cuddly and loving at night and in the morning but if you try and touch her during the day she is gone.

No pickleball today as we are short on numbers - it will take a few weeks for people to get back into the autumn/winter routine although we have visitors in October and November!!!  Whilst John was playing badminton Mum and I ran some errands.  The UK pension people are threatening to stop paying mum her paltry pension because the form stating that she is still alive didn't arrive - Dad's did, posted at the same time, but hers did not so I asked Mike if he would kindly post it in the UK when he returns this weekend and send it recorded delivery to make sure this time so we had to shoot over to the Athena Beach and drop it off before going to the Mall so that I could get my hair cut and not before time!  I like the salon in the Mall where Lumi works so it is a bit of a treat and she always cuts my hair well and today she gave me a temporary jade stripe to match the clothes that I was wearing - the receptionist was so impressed she asked to take my photograph front and back!

Then as a surprise I took Mum to a new place for a cuppa - I know that she and Dad are looking for new places to take Aunty Joyce and Uncle David when they come next week and Pam and George had recommended this little gem to us only the other day.  Mum and I had walked past it in the Spring but then they hadn't finished building it.

This new Bar is called Baracas Lounge and is situated down on the coast by the Azia.  This afternoon would have been absolutely perfect except it was blowing a hooley so my beautifully coiffed hair looked like I had been in a wind tunnel by the end of our stay!!  Still never mind I wasn't going anywhere in the evening so no-one was going to be seeing me - in fact I had partially prepared our supper which was a sort of Chicken Arabiata pasta bake which John was really looking forward to consuming later!

As we sat enjoying the beautiful scenery and watching children enjoying the lovely play area next to the bar we were approached by the dad - it turned out to be Simon (Simon and Melanie) who used to be neighbours of Mum and Dad and who have a holiday retreat in Droushia.  It was lovely to see the children enjoying themselves in the sunshine and what a lovely family unit they make.  I can't get over how much like Jasmine Frances now looks!

Supper was lovely - even lovelier because we called into Paps by the traffic lights and relieved them of two portions of their red velvet pudding!!  It is delicious and I am just going to have to find a good recipe so I can try and recreate!!!

Thursday

Today I had to go down to Coral Bay to bring to a close the sorry tale of the present John and I had hoped to bring over for our Silver Wedding.  We had ordered a special solar water feature for the garden and having done our homework decided to get it brought over by the quickest means possible so the item was supposed to take two to three working days to come over from the UK which it did but unfortunately in transit the box got somewhat crushed and we were advised not to accept it.  What followed was weeks of negotiation (through the company which was organising its shipment) with Fedex who handled the transit stage until we finally got our money refunded.  The final part of this saga necessitated me going down to hand over some documentation which would ensure our money was put into our bank account.  It is such a shame because I have always wanted a water feature and found exactly what I wanted which ran via solar and which also charged a battery which meant it could be run in daylight and in dark (with a light which was incorporated into the design).  We have now been put off trying to get it over from the UK and don't think we can find anything similar or remotely the same price over here so it is back to the drawing board.

We were having a quiet day today because we had decided to go down to the Droushia Heights this evening because David Locke has persuaded Alice Zawadski (a renowned internationl Jazz singer) to perform for an amazing price of €10 which included a free drink.  I met her several years ago when she sang for the Barry Rowe Big Band with whom our great friends Hilary and Keith used to play her in Cyprus and stayed at Orexi.  The performance wasn't until 8.30 so we had the remainder of the day to ourselves.  I put in some extra work to the picture that I am planning to give to George and Pam if I think it is good enough when completed and providing they like it.  I haven't done watercolours for years and the technique is so different from the pastel pencil work I do with Sheila.  I think it is ok, but only ok at the moment - more work required.

We had persuaded Di and Rob to join us this evening - the music was probably not to their taste and some of Alice's more avante garde works posted on the internet did nothing to change their minds but it wasn't going to cost and arm and a leg and it was a real live international singer rather than a tribute band which is normally all you can get over here plus we had organised to get a pitta at Finnikas beforehand which is probably what swung it!  The pittas are great and the hand cooked chips are fab and they are very reasonably priced.


The evening with Alice and the three musicians flown in from Greece exceeded our expectations by about one million percent (if that is at all possible).  She sang recognisable old favourites but with a twist and her voice was phenomenal.  We were all converts by the end of the evening.  Blimey I reckon an intimate evening like that in Ronnie Scotts would have set us back three figures.  Thanks David - you said that when you retired you were going to put Droushia on the map!  I think we were all surprised by just how much we had enjoyed the evening - what a success!


A very successful evening was topped off by an amazing sky as the moon started to poke its head out of the clouds and lit the edges eerily - I didn't think that I would manage to get a photograph that managed to capture the atmosphere so this was the best I got - not too bad as I didn't have a tripod to stop hand shake!

We had a very pleasant walk home - Droushia had managed to avoid the rain which looked like it was on its way and we had taken jumpers just in case but happily they were not needed.

It felt like a Friday as we were out late on a school night and we had thought about going to the gym tomorrow morning but I could have put money on the fact that if the cats allowed us we would be sleeping in!!

Catching up with friends...

Today we were going to one of the most beautiful spots we know for lunch with friends.  Anyone who has been will recognise immediately the beach bar called Oniros which is down in the Sea Caves area and whose landmark is a shipwreck which arrived on December 6th 2011 on a wild and stormy night and provided a late season tourist boom for Oniros which was due to have closed for the seaon but which stayed open to serve coffee and drinks to those who came to view the wreck.

Opinion on the rusting wreck of the Edbro III is divided.  Some feel that the ship spoils the view whilst others say it gives a nice contrast to the natural beauty surrounding it.  It looks magnificent with the sun setting behind it and has become a popular site for wedding photographs.

Registered in Sierra Leone no-one seems sure what it may have been carrying, speculation was rife from nuclear weapons to refugees and diamonds, less romantically that it was a load of scrap metal bound from Limassol to Rhodes!

Whatever the truth might be it currently remains in situ and doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on the business at Oniros which was, as always, packed today.

It was much cooler but still pleasantly warm.  Part of the garden area had been set aside for a small wedding reception so the remainder of the tables were located under the fir trees which were busy dropping bits and pieces all over the table, the staff did warn us and we could see that we were fighting a losing battle but hey ho what is a bit of pine when you have such a beautiful view.

It was lovely to catch up with Wendy and Bill before they return to the UK for a family visit.  We let them off for getting the time wrong because it didn't really make a lot of difference as we were there to secure the table (good job too because by 1.00 it was full).  The food was lovely - fresh and beautifully presented.  We haven't been for a while and it was all the more enjoyable for not having done so.  I am pleased to report they still do the best Chicken Caesar Salad I have had on the island!

Just as we were arriving for lunch I got a phone call from a number I did not recognise.  I was over the moon when I heard the voice of our very very good friend Sally Allan coming from the other end to tell us that she was booking a short four day break with us in November - can't tell you how thrilled we are that they are coming as we all been together for nearly 6 years!  We used to have such laughs when we all lived in Yeovil.  In the photograph above we were out on an Oktoberfest celebration.  Sally is sat bottom right with the ginger beard and Tommy is second right at the back with his hands in his pockets.  This was taken in Middle Street in Yeovil and was just before we got barred from Wetherspoons!!!  Also featured in the photograph were - Frank and Cheryl, top and bottom left and Grant and Kirsten second left top and bottom.

This evening we caught up with Mike Barker - a fellow Blades supporter who we met at Elaine and Paul's wedding.  We keep in touch and when he is over we try and meet up to discuss the highs and lows (mainly lows) of SUFC.  We arranged to meet at the Droushia Heights - thinking Mike had been there before but he hadn't and was very impressed.  So much so he thought he might like to stay there when he returns next year.  It was only a couple of hours and we retired to our house for a coffee and a bit of cake before he drove back to Paphos.  Sorry for the old photograph Mike but I spared you the paparazzi treatment!!

Happy Birthday Hywel...

Today we were celebrating Hywel's 60th birthday.  Poor Louise must have been tearing her hair out with the decision to hire a boat from Latchi for the day because this did not go as smoothly as it could have done.  The boat she wanted to hire was going to be sailed over to the island but it just never looked like it was going to materialise!  Then the weather looked like it was going to put the mockers on the day but in the end we were lucky because the rain did not come until during the night.  Those of us who are not hardened sailors were not looking forward to a bumpy old ride and had bags at the ready but the bigger boat and the excellent captain meant it was smooth sailing all the way.

It was a motley crew that walked the gang plank for our sea voyage - armed with coolboxes of drink and food.  Not the standard trip to the Blue Lagoon for us - no siree - our five hour cruise meant we were taken to places along the coast we had never visited before.  I think we got to see it all - all those points of interested on the map.

We had a little hiccup when the boat ran out of fuel due to a faulty fuel-gauge - or at least that is what they told us.  A small boat had to come out and meet us and replenish stocks - as someone said when Louise said we were getting tanked up this afternoon we had not quite anticipated it to be on petrol!

Once refuelled we tucked in as close to the coastline as possible - the slightly cooler weather made for a much more pleasant trip even though we all returned glowing from our exposure to the elements.

Our first stop was a little bay before Blue Lagoon - just as well because this one was empty and Blue Lagoon was packed so we were able to swim and snorkel with ease - the water was superb and there were plenty of fish to see in the water.  Looks like we are going to have to treat ourselves to some new masks as the one I had seemed to leak as did the snorkel!

Those who wanted to swam and those who didn't didn't and then when we were all dried of a bit we sat down to share the food that people had contributed and drink a few more drinks.  I can't really drink during the day and not out in the sunshine so I had brought some sparkling apple juice for Diana and I to share - equally as enjoyable and no chance of a baggy head tomorrow!

Our captain then took us along the coast right to the end point - doing the last stretch at full throttle bouncing over the waves and causing us all to be showered with spray - it was hot so we didn't mind and en route he pointed out places of interest or gave us interesting snippets of information.

On the way back we stopped right next to a shipwreck which has been down below for about 40 years - John said it was a real highlight for him as he swam over it trying to make out the various parts of the vessel and at one point was stood on a piece of metal that juts up almost to the surface - not good if you don't know it is there and are swimming or worse in a small craft as it could do a bit of damage - I think he would have spent all afternoon there given the chance.

We stopped at another cove where it was possible to swim right through the rocks and come out at a hidden beach on the other side.  I am not a strong swimmer but I was determined to give it a go and managed it - it was fabulous if not a bit eerie and the stones beneath at the waters edge were a fabulous pinky-purple colour.

Last swim stop was at what we call Donkey Bay just below the unofficial campsite near the Baths of Aphrodite - by this time we were getting near to the end of our trip and we were all feeling the effects of the sun, sea and alcohol (well those who had been drinking!!!).  It had been a really fabulous day and hats off to Louise for organising - the girl done really good!!!

The party animals of the group were going on to eat at Giolou later but John and I, Di and Rob as stuffy old codgers did not join them - we knew that once we had got home to change and sat down we would not be fit to go back out again later!!!  We were right - we invited Di and Rob to share our leftover stifado from Sunday with some chunky bread and a glass of vino before the wearies started to catch up on us.

Fabulous day though and Happy Birthday Hywel - you have set the bar for birthday celebrations!!

A nice quiet Monday...

Quite a nice quiet normal Monday today which started with art with Sheila.  My picture for Lola is progressing well although I looked at what I had managed to complete this morning and couldn't see it had changed much - the leaves need a lot of blending so this part of the picture will take time to complete and just to ring the changes I do a little of the butterfly now and again just to pick up some different colours!  On the original picture the butterfly is rather a vivid blue - it looks a bit unnatural and doesn't seem to blend with the lovely muted colours of the roses so I am planning to tone it down a bit.  Every time I see Lola she asks me how it is going and how long it will be before it is ready - time goes so slowly when you are a child!  I reckon it will be another two sessions and then I need to find a nice frame - I will be looking for a square one this time so I hope Jumbos or somewhere similar will oblige!

My walk home through the village is generally quite uneventful - it is rare to see anybody - there are a couple of weeks at the height of the season when there will be a few people milling about but now that the majority of the visiting Droushians have returned from whence they came it is back to being quiet.  My walk takes me past the lovely old family house of Georgia Agyropoulous - we have become friends through the internet and she follows news of her family home Droushia with relish when she is back in South Africa.  I am so glad that we actually got to meet a couple of weeks ago when she and her family ate at Orexi garden.

Georgia's plan is to return to the village at some point in the future and live in this house.   She says she wants to cook and paint and keep a goat - apparently it will have a dual purpose - one to keep the grass down (she should call it Flymo in that case) and two to headbutt any intruders!

We were very chuffed when Georgia complimented us on our village clean-up efforts the other Saturday - she had wanted to join us but family commitments dragged her away but she said the road looked fabulous and she then went from Droushia to Kathikas and was horrified by the amount of litter she encountered there.

On the subject of the clean-up I am sure we are slowly making an impact as we have been invited by the Mukhtar to have breakfast at his coffee shop when we complete the next one.  We must remember that we are not going to change attitudes and actions over-night and even though we have driven down the same road we cleaned tonight and seen some rubbish it wouldn't even fill one bag.

The weather today has been glorious - clear blue skies and warm temperatures - it is hard to believe that this is our autumn - the giveaway is over-ripe fruit on the trees and the road as I walk home - in places I traverse a sea of purple figs which have loosened their grip on their branches and slipped to the floor. It is getting harder and harder for George to reach these prized fruits so my regular morning delivery is getting more sporadic!

There are also pomegranates that have burst their banks - these look to be the 'sour' ones which have the bright red jewelled fruit inside and the dark red skins - they aren't sour - they are just tarter than the other ones which have pale skins and pale fruit and which people are never sure whether they are ripe or not.  Mum' neighbour keeps me well stocked with pomegranates and I do try and make sure I use them or give them away.  She also keeps me stocked with the massive marrow/pumpkin things which are more like a butternut squash when you get inside.  The only problem is that the ones she produces are massive - they would feed a small army and unless I want to make a gallon of soup I struggle to use them up.  They are growing black eyed beans in the field next to Mum and Dad - now there is something that we never mind receiving - I make a really mean curry with them even if I do say so myself.

We have a day on a boat tomorrow to celebrate H's 60th birthday - poor Louise has been trying to organise this for months and it has been a nightmare and then the weather forecast looked like it was going to scupper things - we have put together a box of goodies for him to enjoy when he gets some free time from dogging - hope he enjoys his goody box!

It was a particularly hot and sticky night at belly dancing tonight and we are struggling to fit the routine to the music and we did bar work without even a sniff of a gin and tonic - that can't be right surely?

A Special Birthday Lunch

We have felt a bit guilty about not having spent more time with Dad on his special 85th Birthday on Friday so today I was doing Sunday Lunch and had invited Klaus and Sheila to join us and I wanted it to be special and so I was delighted that the weather was just ideal for us to be able to sit outside for lunch.  The rain that had been forecast has not come and it has got a little warmer over the last couple of days.

In fact it was so nice this morning that I needed John to try and get more shade around the gazebo otherwise we were going to melt.  My menu had cooler weather in mind!!!  As John was busy throwing some material over the gazebo he disturbed one of those bloody great locust type grasshopper things - these are massive, almost six inches long and I don't mind them if I see them sitting on a plant but I didn't want it flying anywhere near me.

We didn't expect that Mum would want to swim, the temperature of the pool has dropped quite a bit - it now hovers around 25-27 degrees rand and I have no idea what that is in real money I can't decide whether that is warm or not.

Charlie is fascinated by the floating thermometer which Diana kindly gave us.  He watches it intently and I am just waiting for the moment when he decides to try and catch it and overstretches and goes for an unexpected dip.

Boris is in disgrace again having lost yet another collar - He is a nightmare and at this rate I am going to have a job lot sent over by John's Mum.

On that subject John has been trying to get hold of his Mum - when she and Hadge returned the other Wednesday Hadge was clearly unwell and has subsequently been diagnosed with cellulitis which is a really nasty deep tissue infection, thankfully there was no sign of DVT and we now have fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.

Our guests arrived and we started out with drinkies in the conservatory until it became too hot to sit in there any longer and so we moved outside to have that old summer favourite - stifado with hasselback potatoes and hot coleslaw!  Actually stifado is nice any time of the year but I am not sure this was my finest effort - I think I just had too much going on yesterday for me to do my best.

Pudding however was a triumph as I did a lime and coconut pannacotta with a raspberry and pomegranate coulis and sprinkles of lime and chili chocolate - it must have been good because everyone absolutely cleared their plates.

I hope we redeemed ourselves by giving Dad and Mum and Sheila and Klaus a nice lunch - I think we did.


On a very sad note this evening we said goodbye to my lovely Uncle Alfie.  I have so many fond memories of him when I spent my summer holidays in Cornwall with him, my Aunty Val and cousins Christine and David.  Uncle Alf always had an easy smile and a twinkle in his eye even when we had been naughty - he was a really gentle man and he will be missed.

Saturday

A late night last night gave way to a quiet morning.  Tomorrow we are hosting Mum and Dad and Sheila and Klaus for lunch - it will be a belated celebration for Dad's 85th birthday and a chance to sit round the table together.

John will be off to football this afternoon with our neighbour Sean for the first game of the season for ENAD and I am going to have a tidy round and prepare the food for tomorrow.  I had decided upon stifado - it is what I guess you would call my signature dish as everyone seems to enjoy it and it is all the better for cooking long and slow for hours.

I had decided upon stifado because the weather forecast earlier in the week had not been so good - rain was forecast and I expected it to be a bit cooler here - too cool maybe to sit outside and eat but what do I know or rather what do the forecasters know?  Today here in Droushia it was scorchio - hot and still - maybe stifado wasn't such a good choice after all but it was too late to change my mind!

We had a visit from our neighbour Charalambous this morning.  His lovely wife Galatia has been in London recently and she had brought me back some of my favourite Montezuma Chocolate flavoured with Chili and Lime and we were also given a huge back of fresh dates.

Apparently we are to freeze them for seven days and then we can remove those we want to eat, leave for a day to defrost naturally and then they are ready.  We are a bit uncertain about dates as our only experience harks back to Christmas's as children when they used to be brought out with great pride like some sort of culinary wonder and they sat in their balsa wood basket with the knobbly fork for days and days and nobody ate them - I shall find a recipe and if all else fails we are going to be in for a whole load of sticky toffee pudding over the winter.

I had the afternoon to myself - I quite like those few hours of peace whilst John is at footie just mooching about doing things I want to do.

The sun although hot has a certain tiredness about it and the land beyond the wall looks tired - the season is coming to an end.

In another couple of weeks I will have to tackle the garden and cut things right back so they flourish for next year.  It is hard when things are still in bloom but once Aunty Joyce and Uncle David have been to stay in October there will be no-one to admire the flowers and then will be the right time time.

I cannot believe how well the clock-vine has done this year after a late start.  It has reached up to the top of the roof terrance and along the railings.  It is covered in mauve blooms and is magnificent.

Today will have been John's idea of heaven, live footie watching ENAD (even though apparently they were robbed by some very dodgy refereeing decisions) followed by a night in and a movie.  To really make his day he had asked for a chili for tea which I was more than happy to make - all I needed to do was to make sure he didn't light the wood burner!!!

The slow cooker came out and the chilli went in - the flavour hugely improved by adding some dark chilli chocolate which has been loafing in the fridge for quite some time and now I have replenished stocks of the chilli and lime one I really like I am happy to use up the other in this way!

Whilst things were cooking I got out my water colours which I haven't used probably since we moved over here - I am planning on doing a picture for Pam and George and I really wanted to practice for a bit as it is such a different medium from pencils I use with Sheila.  I much prefer the pencils but it has been fun trying the paints - I will finish this as this is really only the background and more detail needs to go in.

On John's return we cracked open the gin and used one of the little limes we have growing in the garden - I am guessing their inadequate size is due to inadequate watering but the flavour is all there and they said we couldn't grow limes in Droushia!!

We actually managed to watch a whole film this evening - The Secret Life of Pets before retiring to bed for an early night - we have been out so much recently that we were both knackered.  I hope I sleep - I keep waking up in the early hours with lots on my mind - the gin should help

Birthday boys...

Today John, my Dad and my Uncle David all celebrate their birthday - same day, different amount of years...

My Dad has reached the monumental milestone of 85 bless him and we were going down this morning so that he and John could open cards and presents together and then we were having a light lunch before playing pickleball.  John and I were taking celebratory cakes.  This evening Mum and Dad were having (in Dad's own words) a 'romantic candle-lit dinner for two' as John was being treated to a ticket to see the Droushia Dixie Seven play at the Droushia Heights Hotel - he missed it when they played back in February because he had gone to his mum's 70th.  Anyway we didn't go for a pink confection - we chose a selection of tried and tested by way of the walnut cake and the carrot cake and then two more fancy pudding type cakes in bowls.

After visiting Elena to check how she was doing after her Chemo and collecting a present from Rob and Diana and extricating ourselves from Pam and George we arrived right on time and the two boys made light work of opening their cards and presents.

Between them they had a right old selection of greetings cards - not bad in this very electronic age where most people send their messages via the internet in one form or another.  Still there is nothing quite like opening a physical card that someone has taken time to chose and time to right.  There are two people who have always send us beautiful hand-picked cards and I could always guess which ones were theirs even without seeing the writing inside and that is my sister Kaye and our friend Jane Page - not that the other cards we receive are not lovely it is just that I can spot a Kaye card or a Jane card from a mile off.

It is getting harder and harder to find interesting presents for Dad and John - to be fair if either of them need something they generally go out and buy whatever it is that they need but Mum scored a winner with John as she found him a lovely 'bar' box and added a nice bottle of ale for him to sup and I guess he just might have it on Saturday night when we are having a night in - football season starts and we will be slobbing out on the sofa with something bubbling in the slow cooker that we can eat when we are ready.  That is John's idea of bliss!!!

So I am just going to add a photograph of my lovely Dad on his 85th snuggling up with Fred their errant stray cat who causes them so much angst as he stays in all day then wanders off at night and comes home at some point looking like he had done 10 rounds with some cage fighter.

He is currently full of cuts and bruises but at least we now know why he had got such fat hard cheeks.  These are called 'shields' and are normal in an un-neutered Tom cat as they serve to protect the more delicate neck area when they are involved in a fight - bloody good job Fred's are so large - it makes up for the fact that he doesn't have a single tooth in his head.  Lord knows why he insists on going out when he has the best home ever with Mum and Dad and they absolutely love him to bits.

While I was at Mum and Dad's I looked at photographs of Dad at their Golden Wedding Anniversary which was 11 years ago and again at his 80th birthday five years ago and one of the hottest days' of the year I seem to recall and to me he hasn't changed a bit to look at!

Mum had got ciabatta rolls which we tucked into with relish - they were really nice and I particularly liked the egg and rocket ones and then tried the cake selection - I have to say that the red velvet pudding-y thing in the plastic dish was absolutely fantastic and I shall definitely definitely be having that again - in fact I would go so far as to say that the next time we go to Tala Monastery for a cuppa I will try a slice of the one they have there.

We had a right old laugh at pickleball today - it was really good although I came back absolutely dripping - I can't believe no-one else seems to sweat as much as I do.  Mum and I ran a few errands before John returned from badders and we said our goodbyes and returned home to get ready for our night out with the Dixie 7.

Forewarned is forearmed so they say so we had the presence of mind to book a table right at the back in the same place we had sat in February because we know the band to be LOUD and I mean loud!  It was a mix of good old foot stomping stuff and some New Orleans funeral dirges.  The buffet was pretty good even if you only ate the salad.  John won a prize in the raffle which amazed us as generally we buy 90% of the tickets and go home with 0% of the prizes but we are proud owners of a bottle of wine and some Ferrero Rocher chocolates (which wont last till Christmas)

The hotel made John a birthday cake and the band played happy birthday and the evening was declared a success.  On our walk home we were called into the local coffee shop to drink a coffee and that was paid for by Philippos from Finikas.

A good day all round!