Today we were to be family all together and having a barbeque at ours.  The weather had decided to change and it was as black as your hat in the morning when I got up to start getting ready for our visitors.

I had done a lot of the prep last night whilst John was agonising over the Sheffield United game.  We were having some 'kebabs' which Mum had got from Lidl - they looked like giant meat lollipops!  I was marinading some chicken and we had prawns in a sauce - we had planned to put them on a skewer but by the time I had de-pood them they looked a little pathetic so were going in a sauce.

I had made coleslaw which is a favourite of both my mum and John's.  There were some wedge potatoes and a salad for the two non-salad eaters which didn't include tomato, cucumber, peppers, coriander or fetta and another salad which did!  Mum had made a barbeque sauce and I had made a satay sauce so we were all systems go.

I think everyone enjoyed their food - the Lidl Kebabs were a definite hit - can't believe that they seemed to plump up and get bigger rather than shrink as most foods do when you cook them!  Everyone got a take-away packed up so no guesses required as to what we will all be eating tomorrow night for our tea!

John's Mum had very kindly bought a plant to put on Dad's grave and some flowers to put on Elena's grave so whilst John and Stan took a walk into the village mum drove the rest of us to the Cemetery.  It is emotional for us all as Mum, Dad, Janet, Hadge, Bassam, Elena, John and I spent many great times together.  Oh how I miss Elena - she was such a good friend to me here in the village.  I miss the chats we used to have in her freezing kitchen with our hands clutching hot coffee.  She said she read this blog to keep up to date with what was going on and I used to tap into her knowledge of the island for all sorts of bits of information.  She was one of a kind with such a wicked sense of humour - she was the Thelma to my Louise on our roadtrips to the Oncology Centre in Nicosia where her appointments were deemed secondary to the meal we would have afterwards in Marks and Sparks.  If there is a thereafter then I bloody well hope that she, Hadge and Dad are kicking up a storm together.

After paying our respects we finished our Sunday in the Hotel having a drink - Mum was leaving from there and Janet, Stan and Jackie were getting the village taxi back to Polis and John and I would be walking home.  We introduced Stan to the delights of a Long Island Iced Tea! It had been nice to have everyone together.  Jackie and Stan are such a nice couple - so easy to get along with and to feed!

We said our goodbyes to Lou and Malcolm when we got home - they were getting a flight back to the UK having had a brief but enjoyable week in Droushia.  We hope that it won't be too long before they are back again although Lou and I had better steer clear of the wine - we both had baggy heads after our evening on Friday!

It is always sad saying goodbye to visitors because, as we have learned, you never know quite what life is going to throw at you so we always like to make the most of them whilst they are here.  My aunt and uncle arrive on Tuesday - both in their eighties we are guessing that this will be their last visit here and so we want to make it a good one.