Let the holidays commence...

Today I had organised for Janet and Jackie to go to my lovely friend Gillian for a morning of crafting and hopefully something they had not tried before.  Gillian was going to show them how to mosaic and had a number of 'kits' for them to chose from.  I liked the seahorse and the turtle so I will be interested to see tomorrow which they chose.

I went down to Polis to pick them up and drop them at Gill's house and Stan came along for the ride because he was picking them up later when they had finished.  The Girlies were well sorted and in Gill's professional hands and Stan was also sorted as the Ryder Cup started today and he had it on the TV to watch in peace and quiet and had even decided upon cheese on toast for his lunch!!  I left them all happy and returned home and was running a bit late as a result.  John was hoping to get off early enough to get to Mum's and sort her new TV cabinet but he then got a shout from our neighbour needing a bit of DIY so by the time we got off it was to be a quick visit to the fruit and veg shop just up from Mum's and then to Mum herself.

Argy had asked me to get her some Louvi (beans) and marrow as she is cooking a traditional meal for her friend at the weekend.  Now I don't mind but (a) the lady in the fruit and veg shops speaks very little English and (b) I had no idea what Argy was expecting in terms of quality but she had not been able to get any fresh at the local shack and was getting a bit desperate.  I did manage to get Louvi and the right sort of marrow and when I delivered it to her she seemed pleased so I guess I did the right thing.

After a hot and sticky pickleball session which was made harder by the absence of Di who was feeling a bit off colour today John and I returned to Mum's.  I know she has been very upset that her TV system doesn't seem to have been working the last few days.  Getting TV like you would be used to in the UK is fraught with difficulties and we get her sorted and understanding the system and then something changes or disappears and I know how important it is for her to have that company in the evenings and will be increasingly so when the days get shorter.  I had thought I had cracked it when I got someone to provide her with a system but to be fair he is firefighting all the time to ensure it is working and stable so the first thing I did when we got in was try and get her TV working and although I didn't seem to do anything in particular she was able to get live TV and catchup and I added some favourites to her box sets so that I could be confident that tonight she would be able to watch something she wanted.

In the winter her preferred room to spend the evening in is the sunroom - sadly the TV box in there keeps switching itself off and she is waiting for a replacement and the quality of internet is erratic because this space was not originally intended to be 'indoors' so wasn't supplied with its own electricity supply and sockets so what it has, has been extended from elsewhere.  Mum has had a move round in there to try and decided she wanted to move the TV so it wasn't melting in the sunshine.  She found a suitable TV cabinet which John completed putting together today - this will replace the coffee table I recently upcycled with stickers on top of the glass which mum hated.  We now realise that her scart lead needs replacing which is a bugger as I think we have got rid of all of ours although John disagrees.

We raced home, mindful that currently there is a purge on speeding and so the police are everywhere, and had a quick shower and change because we had been invited around to have a drink with Louise and Malcolm before going into the village for a meal which was their treat to say thank-you to us for sorting out the villa.  It is our pleasure and we certainly don't do it for any reward although we never say no to a meal in the village.

Boris, Charlie and Chivers all came with us and at some point I had to rescue the smallest of small house gecko's from Boris who was intent on eating it, Charlie was stuffing his face on a colony of honey ants and Chivers was rolling around on his back!!!  As I saved said gecko it shed the end of its tale which continued to wiggle in the palm of my hand for quite some time.  Louise was fascinated by Gordon Gecko, you can see how tiny he is because that is the nail from Louise's index finger!!

We ate at Finnikas - no surprises there and it was the most beautiful balmy evening sat under the lemon tree - who would have thought it so late in September - it certainly has been very warm for this time of year.  Tonight's venue is in complete contrast to where they plan to eat tomorrow - The Anassa in Latchi!!!! but I am guessing that the food and service and ambiance will be no better than we enjoyed this evening and again good to see another couple of tourists in and dining.  It was a lovely lovely evening in all respects and after some complimentary shots from Philippos we slowly made our way back home stopping at Despinas to have a coffee which was very kindly paid for by Soteris who provided our PV system.

We invited them in for a nightcap which ended up being a couple of hours or so!!!  We seemed to have so much to talk about including their hopes and dreams and plans for 11b which is so good to hear because it means that its future will be safe and secure way into the future.  It was the wee small hours of Saturday morning when they finally made the short journey back home.

Thanks Lou and Malc for a fabulous evening.