WLB day...

Today was one of our regular Work Life Balance days when we meet up with Lou and H and ensure that they have at least a couple of hours off from dogging, by which we mean pet grooming!!!  We were meeting them at the Brewery today and so before we did we had some things we wanted to get done in and around the house.

As I said I have finally got round to spending the money which John's mum left for us for the garden - we bought a selection of matching terracotta pots in a number of different sizes and had left the big one in readiness for a climber.  John had got me the compost earlier on and I had chosen a Podranea Queen of Sheba climber which I got potted up and we moved the wooden hanging ladder so that I will use the rope to encourage the Podranea to grow upwards.  These are normally quite floriforous - now there is a great word so I am hoping it will survive in the pot - it is in a sheltered spot, in fact this year too sheltered as I noticed the hydrangea next to it was in desperate need of some water.  I can't believe it is late November and I am having to water the garden still.

John is working on his present for the cats - he is building them a luxury double bed to sit under the panel heater in the lounge.  I got the cushions from Jumbos and he is building a nice wooden frame on little legs to house them.  The cats can be quite suspicious of new things so they may take a bit of encouragement to use it to begin with!

Before meeting Lou and H we called in to see Di and Rob because I had some pork pies for Rob - he had really enjoyed the ones we had at our 'Do' and so when I managed to get in touch with Gina the Pie Lady we added an extra half dozen to our order so Rob would have some.  We did quality control on them and declared them every bit as good as the ones we had previously so we will be good to go for pork pies for Christmas.

You can see what a beautiful day it was by the view from Diana's front door - apart from the fact that the sun is now low in the sky so the bungalow casts a shadow over the pool it was glorious with clear blue skies.  As Rob and I are constantly reminding ourselves - Ain't We Lucky???

There is a crunch footie match on Saturday - the Mighty Blades will be playing Charlton Athletic - Rob will be going to the match.  Last night both Charlton and the Blades had wins - the Blades managed to scrape a win by scoring extra time added on after the normal 90 minutes - but as John says a win is a win and Rob was able to show him the highlights so they could discuss the performance.

We made our way to the Brewery and sat outside because it was so lovely.

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours sitting and chatting and eating and drinking.  It was good to catch up on the gossip and have a laugh together.  We girlies sympathised with one another as poor Lou is getting a new engine for their Ford for Christmas and I am getting some aluminium panels!!!  and on that subject we had arranged for the men to come tomorrow to complete the job but just before we left for the Brewery they rang to say they had to come to Polis today so they wanted to do it this afternoon.  We managed to stall them not to come until 4.00pm - the job wasn't going to take long so we knew they could complete it in daylight even if they didn't start till then.

So here it is - the finished panelling - project complete.  The gaps between the stone pillars have now been filled and we are really happy with the result.  You can still see the view from between the panels if you look but we are lovely and private as you cannot see in from the outside unless you come right up close.  It is clean and maintenance free.

We had some rubbish wood indoors that needed burning - some of it ticks so it had wildlife inside!!!!

In the summer people take photographs of their legs and feet whilst sunbathing with a pool or the sea as background so I thought I would take one of my fluffy slippers with the woodburner instead!!

Oh it is sooooooo warm and cosy with the fire lit - sod the fact that it causes lots of dust we just wouldn't be without it.

We sat down and watched the two episodes of Dark Angel before retiring to bed - I am having a full on cleaning day tomorrow as I haven't had one in ages and the conservatory floor is looking terrible.

John is finishing the luxury cat bed amongst other things!!

Lots to do...

Today John had decided he was going to rest his knee and not play badminton.  I was still going to pickleball and so decided to go down early so that I could run some errands in Paphos.  I needed to get to the bank as Mum and Dad were going to Atlantic to pay their house insurance and were going to pay ours at the same time - plus there were a few bits and pieces I needed and I am still desperately seeking Christmas presents - only small things but required all the same!  I set off early as we had not been to the gym this morning (Diana is getting ready for her and Rob's little break back in the UK).  I took the concrete road down out of Droushia making sure that I avoided a cat that I have seen around - I think it must belong to Andreas - it certainly looks a bit like on the of the kittens that we found under the container some months ago.

It is glorious again.  Deep blue skies but parched earth and the island is crying out for rain.  Accuweather indicates we may get some next week but it keeps changing its mind - a couple of days ago it said Monday to Friday there would be some showers - not it only shows it for Wednesday and Thursday and then the temperatures shoot back up again to the mid 20s even here in the hills.  It looks like we could be sitting outside for Christmas lunch this year - that might not be a bad thing on Christmas Eve as I am still trying to work out how we are going to seat 8 - John has a cunning plan but has yet to reveal it!

I passed through Stroumbi which has become the village of mosaics and murals - all along the roadside as you drive through and they are very attractive.  Years ago Stroumbi was just somewhere to quickly pass through - it was scruffy and dirty but now it is quite an attractive place although the weather here is always colder than anywhere nearby - we can drive back from Paphos and see the temperatures dropping as we approach Stroumbi and then as we climb up out towards Kathikas it starts to rise again.

I took the opportunity to go the main branch of our Bank, Alpha.  I love our bank - we hold our accounts and normally do any transactions at the Polis branch where the staff (save for the Manager) have remained the same since we joined six years ago and there is a real comfort in banking where they recognise you.  Our manager was recently moved to a branch office near Carrefour so I called in there to get some money out and he lept out of his office to come and ask me why John has not been at Ayia Marina watching the football and I had to explain that the home games now clash with the home games at ENAD where John is a season ticket holder.  He then looked through his diary and told me that this Saturday Agia Marina would be playing at home and ENAD away so John could come - I didn't like to tell him that there is a crunch match for the Mighty Blades versus Charlton that afternoon and wild horses would not drag John away from the radio - although John will be missing the company of his mucker Rob who has decided to visit the UK and watch the game live!  Anyway I had to go to the main branch of Alpha in the end to sort out getting my cashpoint card replaced and the service was swift and pleasant - such a nice change from the sullen cashiers I used to encounter in the UK.

I played pickleball - Mum has strained something in her playing shoulder or torn a muscle and had to retire early and we have persuaded her to give it a rest for a week or so otherwise she might do some permanent damage.   We tried to check out the Phoenix ambulance service but the office was closed and tried to find something for Dad for Christmas but failed on both counts.  I dropped her back home and called into the London Road garden centre to finally purchase something with the money that John's Mum had left for us to spend on the garden.  We had bought a selection of terracotta pots and I had one very large one that I wanted to grow a climber in so that it would go up the other side of the roof terrace from the clock vine.  I got something which looks like it flowers at this time of year which should add a splash of colour when the garden needs it.

 I learned something new about my phone tonight - like Tommy's it will do panoramic shots but what I found out is that you have to move smoothly otherwise you get a jerky picture.  The sun was setting like a ball of fire and the clouds were stunning so I wanted to try and capture it and whilst fiddling around with the phone came across the panoramic setting.

We had been invited to Mina and Claire's tonight for a Thank You for the Loan of the Generator and the Camping Stove supper.  It can be a lottery how warm people's houses are at this time of the year - it depends on what the day has been like and what sort of heating they have so we opted for layers because we did not realise they had already had their woodburner installed - boy it was toasty warm in their house last night!!!

Bless Claire who made a fabulous three course meal with the aid of a halogen cooker, hot plate and microwave.  It was all delicious but I particularly liked the fishcakes which we had to start - and Marks and Sparks would have been proud of the pastry on the apple pie!!!!

They are gradually turning their house into a beautiful home - I take my hat of to them for not compromising on what they want and waiting until they can find it and/or afford it.  It has a nice welcoming feel to it although it is far from finished.

Mindful of the fact that Mina is up at 5.00am walking the dogs which are holidaying with her at the kennels we did not outstay our welcome but could have sat round the table for hours just chatting.  Big thanks - you were more than welcome to borrow our things whilst you were without - after all that's what friends are for!

Don't kill Kenny...

So little Kenny is going for his operation today - the vehicular equivalent to hip replacement - Kenny is elderly and showing signs of wear and tear and his joints are in need of some TLC.  As we are lending Kenny to Jane and John for a couple of days when they come at Christmas we felt it only right that the knocking noise be addressed and the CV joints replaced.  I love little Kenny - he is a great little work horse and we aren't overly precious about him - he has his fair share of knocks and scrapes - added by others I might add - but he is mine.

We were up early to take Kenny down to the garage and back in time for me to have breakfast outside in the sunshine before going to Sheila and Klaus's for my regular Monday art.  It is truly beautiful at the moment and we should make the most of it as I reckon we are in for a rude awakening next week when I see a week of rain is forecast.

The garden is still full of colour and wildlife (too small for the Cypriots to shoot on one of their designated hunting days!!!).  The bees are having a field-day at the moment as the lavender is in bloom.

On Saturday when Di and Rob were here Di spotted a brightly coloured butterfly still dancing around and we have a resident Praying Mantis on the pump house wall.  This one is called Theresa May PM although I have no idea whether you can tell if it is male or female!!

I had a very pleasant walk down through the village bumping into Linda who had been at the charm offensive yesterday and who had gone on the official guided tour of the new council office.  She said it was a really nice building and that rooms like the theatre were available for hire and that because we lived in the village and had therefore already contributed to the building there would be no cost involved in that hire - that sounds good to me and could be a possible venue for any forthcoming celebrations we might have.

Linda also said that there were plans afoot to improve the centre of the village - we have heard this before but nothing seemed to happen but apparently now that the bank is completely closed (shame that for the local elderly population) this is going to be knocked down (it is an ugly old building anyway) and a car park made on that site - we have thought the village has needed a carpark so that is a good idea - then apparently there is going to be some of the road cobbled which, if it is like what they have done in Kathikas, will look lovely - who knows - watch this space!

I missed art last week and even though Sheila and I didn't seem to chat too much my progress today was incredibly slow.  The flower head seemed to take me forever to work on!!  Still no rush - this picture is for me unless someone else wants it when it is finished. 

I forgot to mention that Sally and Tommy went home with one of my pictures - one I had done some time ago and forgotten about and found in my folder - Sally said she really liked it so I thought it would be nice for one of my works to find a home in deepest darkest Dorset!

John and I went down to Polis late afternoon to do a bit of shopping before going to get Kenny back.  I am trying to be good and only buy what I need at the moment because I am going to have to run the fridge, freezer and cupboards down to house the Christmas extras.

This sort of works if you don't take John with you to the supermarket!!!  I never had chilli flavoured nuts on my list or Galaxy flutes but they appeared in my basket at the checkout - maybe someone got confused as to which basket was theirs!!

Anyway driving back the sun was beginning to set and most evenings we are treated to wonderful skies - this photograph was hastily taken out of the car on my phone but the clouds are tinged with wonderful colours and the orange glow of the setting sun promises another lovely day tomorrow.

Kenny was collected and Kenny is fine - John drove him back up the hill and declared the knocking noise to have gone and the handbrake to be adjusted so all good on that count.  The bill wasn't too shocking either given the fact that when we try and source spare parts for Kenny Andreas always shakes his head despairingly - this surprises us because there are so many Kembaras, Terios's and Camis on the island.  I reckon you can only get the proper manufacturers bits and not looky-likey so that's why they are more expensive.

Di and I had belly dancing in the evening and whilst waiting for the children's ballet class to finish went into Home Concept to take a look at their fabulous Christmas display - they are having a special promotion on Saturday and I just might take a mooch down and take a look because there were some great things in there.

We went to Fitos's after belly dancing - Rob and Di are going back to the UK for a week and we wanted to have an evening out with them before they went.  It was quiet in there but then again it was a Monday night in mid-November but boy did we enjoy it - I had been thinking of Joanna's moussaka all through our bloody dance routine and they had just one portion left - result!!!  An even better result was that our Mukhtar Mr Stelios was in there with his wife and he sent us over a bottle of our favourite wine - maybe elections are coming up or maybe he was just being nice - either way it tasted lovely.

Charm offensive day...

 
My preparations for Mum and Dad coming to lunch today have been thwarted - I had been invited to Marianna's at 11.00am for tea and stickies along with the rest of the village and she has contacted me twice to ensure I will be there.  Charles Farles had made himself comfy on the spare bed so I wasn't able to put the clean bedding back on - he decided to hold my crochet blanket hostage and Minnie had settled down on our bed before I had time to make it and stoically remained there all day.

The village is bracing itself for the local elections for the Mukhtar and the local council.   I cannot tell you exactly what jurisdiction the Mukhtar has - he is like the local mayor/head of council.  Mr Stelios has been the Mukhtar in Droushia for more than 20 years.  He is an avuncular kind of chap whose path we only tend to cross on clean up day when we go to his supermarket and he provides us with bags and sometimes coffee and cake.  There are some who feel the village needs a change and needs someone younger, indeed I was under the impression that Mr Stelios was too old to stand but clearly I was wrong or maybe until recently there was no-one planning on standing against him.  Whatever the case the election will split the village with two people standing, the current incumbent Mr Stelios and Gregoris Kaponas if my information is correct.  Gregoris stood last time five years ago and was unsuccessful.  It will be a difficult decision - we know them both and like them both.

Anyway the elections are due to take place the second week in December and, as last time, there are definite charm offensives taking place so today Marianna was throwing open her home to the ex-pats.  Marianna is the Mukhtar's clerk and also the Mukhtar's daughter in law.  It would appear that irrespective of who wins the election she should remain in post but of course it may be difficult to do so if your boss is from the opposition.  Those of us who went for coffee felt we could do worse than to have Marianna as the Muhktar as she does a good job and from a personal point of view I have no problem with her - I like her and she has always done her best by us.  As previously she put on a right old spread and unlike last time she had invited both men and women - there was a definite Cypriot split as all the men sat down with the Mukhtar and the woman sat with Marianna.  Sadly I had to leave before the guided tour of the new Council offices which was a shame but I will see them in due course - I have promised to go and see Marianna periodically and supply her with cake!

Mum and Dad had arrived by the time I managed to extricate myself from the cakes - thanks to Diana for driving and getting me back home.  Lunch was all prepared so all I needed to do was pop the Cottage Pie in the oven and do some veggies.  It was the most glorious day so we sat in the conservatory for a while chatting.   In fact it was almost too hot in there!!!

Charles Farles obviously decided that there was more chance of getting something to eat if he dragged himself off of the spare bed and started a charm offensive of his own.  He settled down next to Dad but being the miserable git that he is (Charlie not Dad) almost took a swipe at him.  Charlie is troubled by ticks at the moment - not helped by the fact that the goats are being walked in the field next door regularly and the ticks bite and this obviously upsets him so he sat down next to Dad with tail flishing showing that he was more than a little disgruntled - Dad merely went to stroke him and nearly got lacerated for his troubles.  Little Shit (Charlie not Dad).

We squeezed in a game of Noms before and after lunch.  I stormed to victory in the first.  It makes a change for the scorer (always John) not to win but normal service was resumed after lunch when I was relegated to bummer - accumulating massive minus points when I took the majority of the tricks in the final Miz hand.  This probably makes no sense to anyone who doesn't play Noms - let's just say that it was about as bad as it gets!!

My lunch was a triumph - both the cottage pie and the bread and butter pudding went down a storm and Dad was more than happy to be offered some to take home for his lunch - cottage pie is one of his most favourite dishes!  Mum really liked the Christmas flavoured bread and butter pudding so she took the remainder of that with her.  It is always nice to spend time cooking something that people really enjoy and as I had done it all yesterday today was a breeze and even I could sit down and enjoy it - I don't always when I have been slaving over a hot stove!

Have to say a big thank you to Mum and Dad for going and collecting the pork pies I had ordered from Gina the Pie Lady and I have to thank Gina for making the trip over from Limassol to deliver them.  Gina made the pies for our Vintage tea party and they went down a storm so I was keen to try and get some for Christmas.  Have to thank Louise Rance for sourcing them in the first place.

Another week done - Christmas is fast approaching - HELP

glorious...

It is yet another glorious day here on the Island - how lucky are we Mr Veasey - how lucky are we?  We shall no doubt pay for this at some point either with a spell of terrible weather which will come as a real shock to the system or by way of water cuts in the future as the island is so desperate for rain.  It is not until you are without water that you realise how much you take it for granted and when we are we have to resort to bottled water and this will mean more and more bottles going into landfill or just plain discarded around the countryside.

It was nice enough for John to take his breakfast outside - something which we should do more often but somehow unless we have visitors breakfast is sort of taken on the run.  As it was such a glorious day I wanted to get washing done and out on the line so it had a chance of drying before it started to become damp again which happens around 4.00pm and John was going off to footie today but had a few bits and pieces he wanted to sort beforehand.  



The cats were in and snuggled up around the house - Chivers had taken up a spot on our bed and John had wrapped him in the blinkie which they all love - thanks to my Sister who knitted it - it looks pretty shabby now - all pulled and hitched but I cannot get rid of it.  Boris was in and stretched out in the basket under the conservatory table.  We have put the 'sheepskin' blankets in - the cats love these too!  Boris seems none the worse for his bites and scratches - the holes are clearing up nicely.  On the subject of poorly cats Fred is still in the vets - he is recovering from his neutering and the nasty abscess on his neck and will remain there until he is fully fit.  Mum and Dad are happy with that - they have negotiated a good rate with the vet who is sympathetic to Fred's plight.  He is the new vet that has opened up opposite Paps in Chloraka and looks to be about 12 - kidding obviously but he is very young looking and speaks good English.


Whilst John was at football I got the lunch ready for tomorrow as it is our turn to have Mum and Dad and I have been invited to Marianna's tomorrow morning for tea and stickies as she does her regular charm offensive when the local elections are coming up.  Bless her she invites all the expat ladies in the village to her house.  I haven't the heart to tell her that John and I did not register to vote - I know we should have done but we really don't know enough about it and it is difficult to find out exactly what is what when you don't speak the language - that is a bit of a cop out I know but somehow I don't want to get involved in the local politics of a small village.  So back to tomorrow's lunch and I decided to do Dad's favourite - cottage pie - or a take on cottage pie as I have added a few extra bits and pieces to give it a bit more flavour (hopefully).  For pudding I opted for bread and butter with a difference - I am calling this Christmas bread and butter because I used spiced apples with sultanas, whisky marmalade, ginger and cinnamon - it smelled ok - I hope it tastes ok.

I was rescued from my culinary chores by a visit from Di and Rob who came to deliver my completed mosaic fish and who stayed to sit out in the sun for a cuppa and a chat.  We are out tonight with Sean and Sharon for Sharon's birthday along with John and Susan Read.  We are going to Neo's bar down in Coral Bay which is one of the few places I would go to have a steak - when we went the last time with Sean and Sharon it was exceptional.

I also had a visit from Klaus bearing a gift of some wood for our wood burner - what a thoroughly decent chap he is - he has given us loads of wood in the past and wood is always welcome.  I think on a particularly cold and dreary day I will get him and Sheila up and they can enjoy the wood with us together.  Maybe I shall rechristen him Santa Klaus - cheery man bearing gifts in a sack!!

Whilst clearing up after cooking I came across the note that Sally and Tommy had left after their visit.  John must have kept it in his wallet and it had fallen out.  I can't believe that it was a week ago that we were sampling the delights of the Winery and then a meze in the village - we looked forward so much to their visit and then it was over in a flash.

I hope that reading the blog will bring back happy memories for them of our brief time together and let's hope it wont be another six years before we can do it again.

So as I said this evening eight of us were going to Neo's for Sharon's birthday.  Sharon and Sean like this venue and as Sharon is a vegetarian there is plenty of choice for her on the menu which is not the case in many other establishments.  In fact the menu is varied and a bit different from the norm.  I had gone with a steak head on but there were several fish dishes that really caught my eye.

It was a nice evening - plenty of laughs and good food and company and a big thank-you to Sharon who drove because she doesn't drink.  I had offered because it can be a pain always being the one to drive but she said she really didn't mind and a big thank you to Sean for footing the drinks tab.

Friday

No gym again this morning - I am really going to have to get back into the swing next week but at least we have managed to get a four together for pickleball this afternoon because I am going to the mosaic class this morning to finish off my fish.  Good news we managed to let Liselotte and John know before they had planned something else and I know that we will get a damn good workout with those two this afternoon - in fact maybe I would rather be mosaicing!!!

This morning we were on the final stage of the fish.  We had to clean up the frames of all the excess guff.  We did this with some sandpaper and elbow grease.  Then we had something which was a cross between tar and boot polish to rub on the frame to give it some colour and bring out the grain of the wood.

Sharon couldn't come today because it was her first day volunteering at the Archangel Michael hospice so Kelly and I finished her frame for her and this afternoon Eleni was adding the hooks so they can be hung somewhere and either Di or Kelly are going to collect our completed works then.

Di and Janice are slightly behind the rest of us simply by virtue that they were the afternoon class as I was initially but then because of our visitors I had to swap to the morning  They are on the grouting stage which needed to be done this morning so it had time to dry before they finish off the frames.  It was glorious outside so they took their work out into the yard to take advantage of the sunshine.

Looking back at when we did the baskets last year the weather was equally as nice as I have pictures of us eating cake in the garden outside Palates - maybe November isn't such a bad month after all - I am sure visitors to the island at the moment will think it is fabulous.

I drove back home the back way and narrowly avoided a brief encounter with BigFoot's foal - they have been moved to opposite Andreas' house and the foal was wandering about on the road side.  There doesn't seem very much for them to eat where they are at the moment but I wonder if the owners are hoping that Andreas might give them some food as he has beautifully kept horses and foals of his own.

We had to stop off at the charity shop where Mum works today.  Every week Tala Monastery Cats organise an auction and occasionally I bid for something - it is my way of swelling the coffers and getting something in return.  I had forgotten I had bid on a cushion and as it turned out I had won it so it needed collecting today.  Normally Mum will do it for me but she isn't due into the shop until later next week.

We got to the pickleball building early and whilst I waited for Marios to disable the alarm (mindful of what had happened the other day when it went off) John took advantage of a squeegee which was loafing about and gave Kenny's windows a clean!  As anticipated a very hard work out this afternoon but very enjoyable although I don't think my knees will think so tomorrow and John has a problem with his knee too which is getting worse so I reckon it will be a trip to the Doctor for him soon.

Caught up with Mum and Dad who had been out to lunch with Ang and Richard and we have organised to go out with them to Fitos before they return to the UK.  John didn't stay too long at badminton - reckon pickleball must have worn him out!

A nice quiet evening - freshly  made Chili con Carne and a small glass of wine before some trash TV - too tired to start a new series today!  New cushion back home - I had thought it would look nice in the birthing chair but it is too big so think it will be housed in the lounge!