A Day of Skies...

I woke early this morning, every pet owner will sympathise because last night there was no sign of Charlie and this morning there was still no sign.  This is not like him.  We make an assumption that he is probably around with George and Pam but there are changes on the estate as Hammed (or Shelaby I think Elena calls him) is moving into 3a with his wife and child and when Hammed helped Bassam build our wall he became quite attached to Charlie who would keep him company when he was having his lunch so we cannot be sure that Charlie has not mooched round there and undetected he could get shut in.  Worse he loves cars and trucks and can often get into them - this is a worry.  Anyway I was up early, the other three were all there waiting for their breakfast and so I fed them and then went wandering up the estate calling softly and hey presto Charlie appeared from the direction of the Skrimshankers - God knows where he had been.

Now that we no longer have visitors John and I have scrutinised the to-do list and tried to prioritise.

John wants to complete the soakaway from the water butt.  He wanted to carve out a deep trench that ran along the pathway to our house and then out to the road but he needed to check what was occuring under the cover which is in the pavement outside.

It is a telecomms box which is swimming in water - it took John ages to get the lid off and having got it off he was concerned by (a) the water and (b) the fact that there are cables running along where he needed to cut out the trench so it is a non-starter.  He will have to resort to plan B if there is one!  He said he was pleased that he has done the investigation which has ruled out the feasibility of the project and there is a plan B so the next day we have off he can start on that.

The to-do list has lots of things on it that we would like to do but only a few that we think are essential to do before the bad weather sets in - that is good news - it has only taken us about 6 years but we have done so much in that time.

John's reward for getting hot and sweaty was a dip in the pool.  The temperature is rapidly dropping but we are determined to be brave and try and use it as long as possible.

It is hard to think about swimming when I am busy grabbing an hour or two to make some Christmas Cards!!

The weather this latter part of the week is due to ramp up again - I think I have even seen temperatures in the 30s forecast for the Droushia area.

This evening we had been invited to join Di and Rob and their old friends Vivienne and Robert who they met many years ago when they all used to holiday at the Stephanos Apartments in Polis.  Fitos was the taverna of choice as Roberto had been telling Rob about the size of the pork chops that would be available.  As you should know by now the sunsets from Fitos are legendary and tonight was no exception.

We had opted to eat indoors because it can cool down quite quickly in the evenings now.  Sitting in the corner you get the best of all worlds with a great view of the sunset and sliding doors to enable you to regulate the temperature!

Yes I know this is a photograph which includes me which is a rare thing but Diana had loads of practice with my camera at TD!  These were taken before the table started to groan with food.  It was a great evening - the pork chops did not disappoint, the moussaka was fabulous, the swordfish delicious, the village chicken succulent and the stifado I ordered absolutely divine.  A good time was had by all and the food was outstanding, the wine flowed and the bill was almost too small to be believed!

As the sun finally set on our party we all agreed that it had been a lovely evening and it was so nice to meet Diana and Rob's friends.  Originally we had planned to have this evening in home alone but we were very glad that we had been invited to join them.

This is a final picture taken of the four friends together in Rob and Diana's garden just before we said our goodnights and in our case goodbyes.  We hope that we will meet Vivienne and Robert again one day when they return to the island.