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.