A new week and a busy one...

This morning I walked to Art - here even the weeds can look beautiful in the right light.  These are the flowering globe thistles and which must have been the starting point for the Echinops plants that people grow in their gardens which are showier and less prickly.  They are haven for the bug and insect population.  It is getting quieter in the village as peak holiday season was the previous two weeks - there are still people here but those who escaped to the hills for their summer are making preparations to return to their normal residences either on the island or much further afield.

I took the short route to Sheila and Klaus's this morning which takes me down past the Val's and along the main road and then back up past the holiday apartments. We aren't sure whether these are now an official arm of the Droushia Heights Hotel as the signage that used to be on the buildings has been removed - or maybe the front has just been painted.

These apartments may be clean and basic but anyone staying benefits from being able to use the facilities at the hotel and the gardens outside are absolutely spectacular at the moment.

The apartments next door seem to be empty - normally you can see people in them or some washing on dryers on the balconies but today it looked all shut up.  I forgot to ask Sheila if they were now all vacant.

Opposite the holiday apartments was a truck piled high with grain.  I may be wrong but I am thinking that this amount of sacks might just have tipped it over the weight allowance???  This is a common sight here - why do two trips when with a bit of pushing shoving and careful balancing you can get two loads on in one go!

I carried on walking and turned off towards the cemetery and Sheila's house.  I decided to walk through the cemetery and go and catch up with Dad.  I am amazed that the apricot coloured osteospurmum which we placed on the grave in March is still flowering and looking good and although the pots of gazania have seen better days they are self-seeding in the front so his little plot is looking cheerful.  It is also pretty amazing that after 6 months there is still no-one laid to rest beside him.  His is still the last plot there and so it is easy to describe to people how to find him if they are looking.

So here we have the results of my work this morning - it doesn't look like the picture has changed much since last week but the detail on the beach huts is taking me a long time and it would appear that I am useless with straight lines so when I take time out and look at the picture from a distance I can see where things are out of kilter and I know at least one person in our household that would have to point it out to me!  I won't be at art next week because we have been invited to go on a boat trip with John's family - that is what they are doing this morning and they will be going again next week - it is the one thing that Janice enjoys more than anything.  They hire a boat just for themselves so it will be a nice that we aren't sharing the experience with hundreds of other people and have more freedom to stop along the coastline as and when we please.

We had a quiet afternoon at home because we were going out this evening.  It gave us the opportunity to catch up on the TV programme that the Bobster had recommended which was an episode of Escape to the Continent which featured a Yorkshire couple looking to buy and the programme was all about this area of the island.  It made for interesting viewing and I think I am right in saying that one of the houses featured Rob and Di had actually looked at when they were buying over here.

As I said we were going out this evening for a meze in Finikas in the village.  Just down the road from us is an old village house - when we first moved here an old man lived in it and then it was shut up.  A couple of years' later we saw activity and the 'Australians' began coming over every summer for three months clearing it, living in it, sitting in the outside loo for all to see and breathing life back into what is their family home.  Mr and Mrs Peyiotis always greet us with a cheery smile and last year I came home with bags of veggies and two vases holding basil plants when they returned to Australia.  Subsequently their son Steve, wife Mary and three children have been over and this year accosted Di and Rob in Paps because they recognised them from We love Droushia.  As they had never eaten in the village and as they are returning home on Wednesday we had arranged to meet them this evening.  Charlie began to follow us as we walked out of the estate but the noise of the machine making the huge round hay bales but him off thankfully.

In the village it was good to see the lovely house with the unstable balcony actually being used as someone was going in and out at the top.  We are hoping that the unstable balcony is now more stable as the owner of the beautiful Triumph Herald might have a nasty surprise on returning to his/her car - unless the car is owned by whoever was inside.

What a beautiful car - that would have been my dream years ago and I remember that my childhood crush and next door neighbour Martin (now sadly no longer with us) had a yellow one.  That was a long time ago!

This village house is impressive although I don't like the new paintwork which is sort of John Lewis green - I think the traditional blue is so much more attractive.  We have heard all sorts of rumours about something happening with this building like being turned into a restaurant.  That would be amazing if it happened but then again there has been all sorts of talk about this part of the village being cobbled and a square established with better parking facilities but nothing has happened so far.

There were already diners in the courtyard when we arrived and by the time we left the taverna was pretty full by Droushia standards and it was good to see them busy.  Philippos had drafted in the help of his daughter Andri and son in law Loukas in order to cope with the demand.  It was lovely to see Philippos's mum sitting in the corner with her friend.  His mum is in her 90s and still manages to live on her own - last year she was the start turn at the festival when she took to the stage and wrapped with the best of them!

Ok so this was our group before the mountain of food started to arrive.  Not the best of pictures as it was impossible to get everyone in and the kids kept moving around, having said that the young boys were really well behaved and had all been to the local barber for wicked hair cuts prior to our meal.  I am super impressed though that I managed to take this and Di had her eyes open - in fact this is a lovely photograph of Di.

 It would appear that in true Cypriot fashion Steve is related to just about everyone including the old lady that John once picked up from the bus stop in Polis and drove back to Droushia.  Apparently she told Steve that she accepted the lift but was terrified until she realised John was not going to murder her!!  Bearing in mind that we really don't know one another that well the conversation flowed - in fact Steve can talk without pausing for breath!  The Bobster, bless him, found a soul mate when he engaged their eldest son Charis in conversation about football which is obviously a passion although the poor lad is an Arsenal supporter.  I have to say he was a most engaging 13 year old and no wonder that he has turned the heads of some of the local young girls in the village.  Steve is concerned that he has already been earmarked as a potential father in law - we told him not to accept any gifts in case that secretly betroths his son to someone's daughter!!!

The food was excellent and the afelia this evening absolutely melted in your mouth.  The boys didn't make a fuss simply eating what they fancied and were more than happy when the chips arrived - they are always a firm favourite as they are hand cooked and delicious but in fairness they tried most things and by the time the chicken arrived which was succulent and unusually off the bone they seemed to get a second wind and tucked in.

It is nice for John and I and Di and Rob to be able to make friends with local people or people with an attachment to the village because it is another step towards becoming more integrated and for us that is what we have always wanted.

We are going to the beach with John's family tomorrow - Di and Rob are having a day out in Paphos.  I guess the Peyiotis family will be packing.