Monday

Big Foot and her foal are back - in fact they haven't been away really just located a bit further away from our house.  Now they are in the field next door to the Scrimmers and enjoying the green after all the barren brown scrub they had in the Summer.

Big Foot still looks a bit skinny and still has terrible hooves in the front but she is still about and her foal is sporting what looks like a wooly winter coat.  He/she has grown and does look well - I seem to think we ascertained last year that it is in fact a he.  It is nice to have them back and hopefully Big Foot will put on a bit of weight now there is more for her to eat.

Today was normal Monday routine and had I not been going to John and Susan's to take a birthday card for John's birthday tomorrow and then shopping in Polis and then bringing Amoura back after her ballet practice I would have walked to Sheila's.  It was much warmer outside than in today - the sunshine was lovely but the wind is still biting.

I had thought I might have finished my picture today but there is still some work to be done and as it has been around a bit I will have areas to go back and work on because it will have begun to fade or soften over time.  I have still to decide upon my next picture and have drawn a blank so far.  I want to replace the two original pictures I did which are hanging in the lounge and are of a clematis flower and morning glory with this one and another one of a similar sort.

Sheila is one step ahead of me as she has chosen to do a picture of a barn owl for her next project and has actually started it even though she is still working on her current one!

Time seemed to fly by this morning - before we knew it we were getting the 'lunch in 15 minutes' call from Klaus - we must have been enjoying ourselves!!  Anyway I have to thank Sheila and Klaus for recommending the film Golden Years for us to watch which we did this evening.  Jane Page and John you need to watch it because there is a character in it which is just Mike Gillingham to a 'T' - John and I were in hysterics watching it because he sounded like him and looked like him.

We called in with the birthday card for John Read - he and Susan are currently fostering a poor dog which is going to Germany on Friday - it really is a poor specimen with all sorts of things wrong with him so not entirely sure what it is going to Germany for.  He has been christened Duncan - he is smelly poor boy but is lucky that he is being fed and kept warm at the Readies until his journey.

We did our shopping down at Paps and called in to fill up the car with petrol.  The lovely man at the petrol station engaged us in conversation and asked us to call in for coffee next time we are passing his house in Argaka.  Could you imagine that in the UK?  for a start you never get attended service so you never get to engage anyone in conversation!

I managed to get a bit of a bargain whilst I was down in Polis as I have been looking for some 'antique' rugs for the conservatory.  We managed to get one some time ago which needed a clean but which was only €10 and which when we did give it a clean was clearly a good quality rug complete with weights on the fringing.  Anyway to cut a long story short as John was waiting for George's DIY shop to open I say that the charity shop opposite had a rather nice looking little rug hanging up...

This is said rug and by the feel of it I am certain it is silk.  It is in lovely muted colours which goes really nicely in the conservatory.  If it is silk then I am sure it is worth more than the €5 which I paid for it - John said they saw me coming but I am more than happy!!!



So after belly dancing tonight John and I tucked into the leftover stifado which as John kept telling me was better the second time round and there was still some left which could be frozen for another time.

Someone at some point had brought us a bottle of JP Chenet Merlot wine 2014 which was the perfect accompaniment to the stifado - both having spicy flavours which melded together.  Don't know who it was that gave it to us but whoever it was then thank you very much it was very nice.

Another day done, another bright and sunny day which is followed by a very cold night so we snuggled down with the woodburner to watch the film recommended by Sheila and Klaus and were grateful for the water boiling on the top to fill our hotties before we retired to bed.