A change from the norm...

We were going down to Mum's today instead of Mum coming to us because her car is being de-dented and the de-denters left her a massive Range Rover and manual not automatic as a replacement which we encouraged her to leave on the drive - for a start she would need a ladder to get into it!  So we were up this morning and took the opportunity to get some more gardening done.  The big spiky 'mother in law's tongue' plant got it - it was nice when it was contained to a reasonable size but sadly it was now taller than me and the spikes were ferocious.  In its favour though it only had a small fibrous root system so it was easy to get out - tracing and finding all the babies was harder but hopefully we got them all.

In place of said spiky plant we made room for the orange plant that I had seen growing at Liselotte's and John's and which John had gone and got identified for me at London Road and so I managed to get one myself for all of 5 euros and I have potted it and am hoping to grow it into a standard tree.  Hopefully it will thrive there.

I have been trying to get the front garden tidied up and less messy.  It will never be the beautifully manicured space that Di and Rob have - I just don't have the patience to pick up every bit of crud that falls down and sadly some of the plants that are there drop guff all the time!

I have cut back the herbs - this is much earlier than I would normally need to but Minnie is in favour as she has managed to find herself a shady spot between the rosemary and the sage - she will get covered in bits but smell pleasant!

We wandered around the garden together looking at what needed some attention and I pointed out to John that anything in a pot will need watering whilst I am away but hopefully nothing else unless he sees it wilting.  The fledgling wisteria sometimes struggles so that might be a candidate for a drink!  I know John is panicking but most stuff survives our summers and if it doesn't then it will just have to be replaced on my return - fortunately plants over here are very reasonably priced.

So having done the grand tour of the garden we got ready and went down to pick up Mum before we went off to Tavernaki for our lunch.

Tavernaki is near the traffic lights at the top of the Mesoghi Avenue.  We have eaten there on many occasions and it is good value.  When I went to book our table I asked about the Kontasouvla that they have on the menu - this is like souvla hunks but without any bone.  John has been desperate to try it but we have either been too late and it was still cooking.  The man who owns the business said if we came on Sunday at 1.00pm he would make sure it was available - what we didn't realise was that he was actually going to cook it specially for us!

When you sit down you are served with all sorts of dips and little bowls of tasters like beetroot and potato salad and butterbeans in tomato sauce and halloumi along with bread and salad and then we were brought some beautiful king prawns - this comes with a complimentary drink.

We all had the Kontasouvla served with chips and salad and then cake and ice-cream and John had an ouzo to wash it down and Mum and I had a tea and coffee respectively.  Our whole meal which came with two beers for John, a small carafe of wine with tonic for Mum and a Coke for me came to the grand total of just over €38!!!! Cheap at half the price and it was very pleasant if not a little warm inside and then we had the Great Debate on whether the fan was spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise - on this John and I will have to beg to differ!!!

We got back to Emba and waited for the guys to come and take her Nissan Note away - let's hope their panel beating skills are better than their time-keeping - to begin with we thought they were going to leave a Ferrari on her drive but in the end it was the Range Rover!  We set off  home - delayed by a traffic jam Cyprus style - i.e. a donkey which had wandered onto the road!

It had been such a hot day that we decided to cool off in the pool irrespective of what temperature it was showing - I was prepared for a shock but it was lovely and when we checked at around 6.00pm it was 24 degrees - that is unheard of in April - it is so much warmer earlier this year - I think we have pinched the warmth from the UK which is suffering with arctic temperatures at the moment.

Having made up our minds to use the pool more it is amazing how easy it is if you just get in and enjoy which is exactly what we did this evening.  Sadly our pool gets shaded fairly early in the afternoon otherwise it would have been much warmer than the 24 degrees it offered us.  The cats thought we were crazy.

My final picture is of John relaxing up on the roof terrace drying off with a drink before we retired indoors for the night.  It was the most beautiful evening and it is lovely to be able to catch the last rays of the sun with a gin and the cats for company.

Good job John got a few minutes to relax and chill because later on he was called to action when we had something flying in the lounge - but that will be reported on tomorrow.

I went to bed early and John went round the corner to watch Man Utd play Arsenal with Lakis.  Split loyalties on this one for Lakis who is an out and out Man Utd supporter but his boys are staunch Arsenal.

It looks like it was a bit of a roller coaster football match - I was glad I escaped and went to bed with the cats for company and some peace and quiet.

The peace and quiet was short lived but more of that tomorrow...