Sorting the Skoupidia...

We had set aside this morning for a village clean as this has been sporadic so far this year for one reason or another.  We were a small band of three but no less enthusiastic about the job in hand!  I cannot think of a more pleasant day or a more pleasant route for a walk with a blue bag in hand and we all thought that the village was pretty clean compared to previously and to many others in the surrounding areas.  It is the peripheral roads that suffer and today I had planned a route we hadn't covered before.

We started outside Savvas the Tyre-man's house and walked round in a loop passing by Mr Similides house (the locksmith) and then down to the main road opposite where Di and Rob live then back up past the Vals for our first loop then around the end of where we live and back up towards the cheese factory passing along by the school and then back home.

This sign says it all and we were pleased to see that outside the school and Kaponas's Grill House there was very little litter whereas previously we would have expected to find a lot.  There was some on the corner where the kids all congregate and sit on the well but not anywhere as near as it has been in the past.

I have to give a big thank-you to Klaus for coming with us and for the words of encouragement from the locals like Kelly's Mum - I know they think we are a bit odd but really is it too much bother picking up litter that you might see when you are going on a walk because basically that is all we are doing!  Anyway a big thumbs up to the village because in general it is looking quite lovely.

It was exceptionally hot today and we got a bit warm on our litter-pick so on our return John decided to cool off in the pool!  It just goes to show how much warmer it is this year because we are still in April and normally there is absolutely no way we would venture in before about mid-May!  In fact we had to resort to the fan in the bedroom because it was so warm and the throw is going tonight - we just can't cope with how hot it is!

Lunchtime we had been been invited to join Melanie and Simon and their girls Jasmine and Frances at a memorial concert by the Droushia Dixie Seven which they were holding after the sudden and untimely death of one of their members, Bennie, last December.  To cut a long story short we met Melanie and Simon through mutual friends Hilary and Keith.  Hils and Keith used to come and play in a band over here in Cyprus which was, I think, a collaboration between their friend Barry and Big Dave and Simon played because he knew Big Dave.  Simon and Melanie lived behind Mum and Dad and Simon went to the same school as my dad although many years apart.  When we met them they were just buying a house in Droushia and from that point on (about 6 years ago) we have become friends.

We spent a lovely few hours at Fitos listening to great music, eating good food and spending time in good company.  Melanie had brought sticker books to keep the children occupied - it worked and John spent hours decorating the flower fairies!

All in all a lovely day except for the woeful performance of the Mighty Blades - I kept a low profile and found something else to do!