We woke to a very indifferent start to the day with some rain in the air which was bloody typical as we had arranged that Mum would come up and we would have a barbeque and even better she had provided us with some fillet steak and great big juicy beefburgers!  I should have known that with our luck we might even have been greeted with a monsoon this morning!

Undeterred we made preparations for eating indoors and I got ahead of the game by getting things prepared in advance like the hasselback potatoes and coleslaw and part cooking the burgers and sausages.

We were on track - even some pretty flowers in the conservatory and (no wonder it was raining) I even got the mop out and gave all the floors a good old wash in true Cypriot Fashion.  John didn't recognise the smell of floor cleaner and walked right across my newly washed floor in his big old dirty slippers!!  He retreated with a flea in his ear and a cloth in his hand for polishing out the footprints!

Today was the memorial service for our friend Argy's father.  Her Mum Kia has been a widow for over 40 years losing her husband when she was around 40 herself.  They were going to a service at the church in the village where they were going to hand out bags of something called Koliva in his memory.  If you click on the link you will get information about Koliva which is blessed during the service.

Argy had brought some over for us to try and we decided that we would have it in her father's memory with our barbeque.  It was a very pleasant mix of wheat, sesame, pomegranate, sultanas and almonds a bit like quinoa in texture - actually it was something that I thought I would like to make myself and have as a salad as it was so fresh.

We caught up with them briefly after the church service and before Mum arrived - the service had gone well much better than when we had attended at Easter when it was chaos to say the least and apparently some of the wood which the local youths had gathered up for the bonfire included some old doors which had been removed from a seemingly abandoned house but which in fact belonged to someone which is terrible.

Mum arrived safe and sound by which time the weather had improved significantly so we started by sitting outside the kitchen without any shade which proved to be too warm so we then moved round to the front of the house under the gazebo where Mum could have a cuddle with Chivers who had got the same idea.

Lord knows what Mum and I will be doing next Sunday - we are due to be travelling from my Dad's sister and brother in law in Reading down to my godmum's in Keinton and then I am leaving Mum there to go and spend the night with my friends Sally, Tommy and the kids.

We managed to eat our barbeque outside under the gazebo at the other side of the house and it was very nice.  All the meat was lovely and we didn't overface mum with too much - just the things she likes plus the addition of the Koliva which was a hit.

John wanted to watch the last match of the season for Sheffield United so Mum and I went for a little drive around Inea and Arodes before stopping at the Cemetery and visiting Dad then calling in on Sheila and Klaus to disturb their Sunday afternoon which they didn't seem to mind.  It had been a nice day and I breathed a sigh of relief when I phoned Mum to see if she had got home ok - for some reason her text hadn't reached me and I was beginning to get a little worried but she was fine.