Monday

John has got his way today after a restless night of struggling with the bed clothes.  We had just the duvet cover and a throw but apparently after I have flung the covers off I then fight to reclaim them and wrap myself like an Egyptian Mummy and then John wakes freezing cold and can't wrestle them back so today we got out our thinnest duvet and that is going onto the bed - I know it is going to be too much for me but anything to stop John blaming me for him being cold!

The change has got Chivers seal of approval as he got himself comfy on the bed and remained there for the majority of the day.

I am hoping this will herald a good night's sleep for me - last night's was dreadful - for some reason John kept asking me where I had put his wedding ring and it was on his finger!!  Boris took up residence in the drawer under the bed under my head and so I kept waking up when I could hear him rustling around - until I realised who was in there I worried that we might have had an rodent intruder like we did once before.  Let's see what tonight brings - hopefully John will sleep well and not snore - that would be a good start!

Aunty Joyce and Uncle David go home today - their flight is later this evening and we did our goodbye's yesterday but I text Mum to wish them a safe journey and fingers crossed that they will be well enough to return next year.

Art today and it was such a pleasure to walk down through the village along some of the roads which we had cleaned on Saturday and which are still clean!!!  I am proud of the village - it looks so much better than some of the neighbouring ones and I hope that our monthly effort is contributing to that in some small way.

I had hoped to finish my picture today - this is destined for Miss Lola and after Elena was taken poorly when out at The Muse yesterday I was hoping that I would be able to cheer up Miss Lola with her personal work of art.  However I totally underestimated how long it would take me to complete the final element - the butterfly - I only managed to get the top right quadrant completed - it is going to be at least one week maybe two!!

This afternoon was one of our regularly timetabled WLB (Work Life Balance) afternoons that we set aside for Lou and H as we have persuaded Lou to set aside at least one afternoon a month when she isn't dogging!

We arranged to meet at the cafe at Tala Monastery and then go and have a look around afterwards.

We had lunch first and I was tickled by the drink I had chosen - it was a rather refreshing white grape and aloe vera concoction but what tickled me was the information on the back of the bottle which proudly proclaimed that this beverage would 'help to stimulate defecation' - NICE!!!  I think the IF Fruitamin company needs to get someone to translate the bottle wording into English with a slightly less direct approach!!!

So after lunch and not venturing too far from the facilities just in case my white grape juice did what it said on the tin we went to take a look at some of the buildings which constitute the monastery.  Apparently less than 10 monks live there and it is absolutely huge and there appears to be further rooms being built at the moment.  It was a perfect afternoon - a beautiful temperature and it was so peaceful there - it is definitely a great place to go for a wander and then sit in the grounds of the cafe and eat and drink.

On our home we noticed that our friends Angela and Richard were at home.  They are the reason that Mum and Dad ended up living in Cyprus and be default therefore responsible for us being here too!!!

When they first moved into their house perched above the amphitheatre it stood out as it was the only house there along with its 63 steps up from the main road.

When you get to the house they have a fabulous view out to sea, as we sat chatting the sun began to sink down directly in front of us.

Angela and Richard are here for about 10 weeks so we have agreed that we must put some dates in the diary to get together otherwise by the time we get round to it they will be about to go back to the UK.

Angela looked good even though she has to have injections in her eyes every 8-10 weeks or so and Richard seems to have got his heart issue stabilised which is good news.

As a result of catching up with them and chatting I didn't have time to get to Belly Dancing so I will just have to do extra when I go to the gym in the morning - John says he is up for it and Diana also wants to go.

Bigfoot and her foal are back in the field next to us having gone on walkabout and ending up being brought back by Sharon and the Syrian man who lives around the corner.  Honestly their owners have no idea as they never tether her sensibly.  She still looks thin but maybe not quite so thin as she did - thanks to Sharon going to visit them daily and looking after their welfare as best she can along with John who keeps an eye on their water situation and takes an apple or something over for a treat.