Day one of family Holibobs...

It is the first day proper of the family's holibobs and we went down to the villa in Latchi to herd them together for a mega-shop in Paps.  We managed to get as far as the car then got delayed - the temperature was showing as 42 degrees so we gathered up Paul and Viv and set off with the rest following on behind or at least that was what we were hoping!

We decided to take Viv and Paul the scenic route along by the camp site.  We got to see where the big fire had been last week and hadn't realised it was Polis side of the campsite.  There is now a huge swathe of land which is bereft of trees and bushes and it was only just across the road from the house where Norma and Malcolm are living - it must have been so so scary but thank goodness they were safe.

John's mum sent Janice over with a load of bits and pieces including some gardening mugs.  I had bought one each for Di and Rob when I went over to the UK in May and John really liked them.  Mine is the "I get to excited I wet my plants" and John's is "Thyme for a drink" leaving the "Swig while you dig" for Mum when she is here!  Thank you Janet they are lovely.

In amongst the Red Cross gift parcel was the pattern I had ordered so that I can try and make mum some summer dresses.  Is it really sad to get excited about a sewing pattern?  I don't think I have made something from scratch for about 40 years but apparently Viv is into dress making so if I get it started whilst she is here she can always help me out if I get stuck!!!

So back to today, we managed to get Janice to complete her mammoth shop and went back to the Villa to collect our goodies and returned home to sort out the snorkel masks and inflatables, hair dryer, cuddly toy, set of towels, sliding doors etc etc that we were lending them.

We now have the task of getting our diaries sorted so that we can see as much of them as possible whilst still honouring our regular commitments - this is like spinning plates and leaves us with a headache - what we have arranged is that they will have the day to themselves tomorrow to go and see the mosaics down in Paphos and I have contacted the Bee Man in Chloraka as Paul and Viv keep bees and they are meeting up with Stavros which is great.

We had a swim this afternoon - we have found out that our old water thermometer was actually not showing the correct temperature and was about 2 degrees cooler than it actually was which means that we probably did not swim in the pool last year until it was 50 degrees it might actually have been 52 degrees - I feel cheated!

We now have a new Derbyshire pool thermometer - how do I know it is from Derbyshire - because it is called "me duck" that's why!!!!

Anyway Me Duck showed that the temperature today was around 32 degrees and it felt absolutely fabulous.  It is so good to be able to just escape into the water whenever we like.

We had the remainder of the day and evening to ourselves.  Tomorrow we have set aside to clear George and Pam's garden as it is a bit of wilderness at the moment.  I cannot believe that the shrubs can grow so much with absolutely no care and attention.  I am sure we sometimes kills plants over here with kindness.  I have cut back on watering, even though I don't do much anyway, because I have noticed that we are now getting a lot of overnight condensation.

John was chuffed to bits that our parcel included some Yorkshire Crisps - flavoured with Henderson's Relish - not my choice I have to admit so the packet was quite safe in his hands.  It was good to have a quiet evening - I am feeling quite tired and I still have a little dalliance with Gluteus Maximus every now and again and he has to have the old heave ho before pickleball starts!