The clocks change tonight and it will officially be the end of Summertime and apparently this clock changing malarkey is going to end - not sure how that will pan out but I do remember an experiment back in the 1970s when this was suspended in the UK for a year.  So after some indifferent weather today was fine and bright and warm which was good as we were going to embark on a mega village clean.

We were starting at the Droushia Heights Hotel (although John and I clean en route) and then walking down the main road to the Kritou Tera turning cleaning one side and then walking back up the other side.  We haven't done this route for some time and the rubbish was clearly visible.  This is not helped because although there are gullies these are not free flowing -in fact in places they are blocked completely.

We got kitted up and set off - collecting almost half a bag of shite from our own estate!  The builders and the children have a lot to learn in terms of waste disposal - it is so annoying when we have two bins which are emptied regularly, once a week in the winter and twice a week in the summer plus a metal man comes round for anything which he can salvage.  It is just laziness not to put things in the bin or next to it for collection.

A shitty job but one with a fabulous view.  We get lots of encouragement from local Cypriots although we have yet to get anyone join us on a regular basis and that is fine - we do the clean for ourselves - exercise and a feeling of satisfaction afterwards.  The locals are so unfamiliar with being responsible for their rubbish we aren't going to change their attitudes any time soon - what is more disappointing is that so few of the ex-pats in the village are willing to help.  Thank goodness for Klaus and Diana and Rob for coming along - particularly Diana and Rob for giving up their Saturday which I know is precious to them.

There was a disgusting amount of rubbish this time - SHAME ON THE CULPRITS.  More worryingly we found three large bin bags hidden in some undergrown containing vast amounts of prescription drugs and NEEDLES.  These clearly belonged to someone with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma and a bad heart and chronic pain.  Had this bag been investigated by an animal or worse a child the result could have been disastrous.  We couldn't reach the third bag but John is going to get properly attired so he can retrieve it tomorrow.



We were really rather shocked by that find and guess that someone died and that these were just dumped rather than returned to the local hospital where they might have been able to do something with it all which is so irresponsible.

We carried on making our way down the hill cleaning the left hand side (as you go down) which was the dirtier of the two sides.  The views were stunning but how can people stop to admire a beautiful view and then just dump their rubbish out of the car - where do they think it goes and bloody wet wipes don't go ANYWHERE ANYTIME EVER.

Once we had passed Kelly's house (the old Droushia Hills Taverna) there are no more green bins - I guess this is the excuse people will give about throwing their rubbish out - they cannot possibly have it in their lovely new BMW so out the window it goes!  I will have to ask Marianna to get the bin men to pick up the bags we left, and soon, otherwise they will rip open and cause an even bigger mess.

So a job well done and a big big thank you to the crew for doing such a brilliant job - for a while at least that approach road into the village will look tidier and hopefully people might think twice before they start littering again although sadly probably not.

We had dumped the two bags of drugs in one of the bins but later thought better of it particularly as it was the one containing all the needles.  John will rescue them tomorrow along with the third drugs bag and then we will have to decide what to do with them.

The remainder of the day was our own and we tootled around the house and garden doing bits and pieces and John decided to get the worst of the grime off of himself by jumping into the pool which is now only 19.5 degrees - John has now decided that the pool will remain uncovered as it will make it easier to clean.  This means that the temperature will reduce more quickly as the cover really helps to lock in the temperature overnight.

It was to be a good evening - the Mighty Blades secured themselves a 4-2 win over Wigan and it brought them back to the top of the table.  John was happy.

We had the remainder of the chili to eat and I was serving it in a jacket potato and it was really lovely, warming and filling.  John was happy.

We cracked open the bottle of Hendricks Gin which had been a gift from Louise and Malcolm when they came and stayed at 11A a couple of weeks ago.  John managed to find some rather sad looking cucumber (because apparently the gin benefits from a side order of cucumber) and poured me a glass.  It was LUSH.  I was happy.

Warm, well fed and with a nice drink inside, all four cats in and a win by the Mighty Blades plus an extra hour in bed tomorrow all is good in the world.

We are happy.