Celebrations start now...

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My morning started with a trip to the cemetery before shooting off down to Polis to pick up some specialist sausage rolls that I had ordered from Janet Jinty which we are to have on Christmas Eve afternoon when Sheila and Klaus and Di and Rob are joining us. 

Work is going on at the cemetery to put in a footpath between the current row where Dad is located and the previous row where Elena is located.  This will make it much less messy to go and visit Dad because we will be able to stick to the path at the top - it will probably be some time before the next footpath goes in which would be at the end of his plot.

I was quite taken aback by how the rain had settled the earth and had we not had plants planted it would all have sunk quite badly and I had not realised that the original hole had been dug at quite a different angle to where we had thought.  I guessed that Mum might find this a bit upsetting so John and I will be going to tidy this up at the weekend before we all go there together on Chistmas Day.  I decided that I would get a poinsettia at the florists in Polis so that we had something new to put on the grave.  

Down in Polis is was lovely, it was a bright warm day and I got all my shopping done really easily - no crowds and crushes down here.  I walked into the bakery, had my pick of all the loaves and paid with out any queueing stopping to discuss the weather with the girl serving me.  Janet was all ready with my sausage rolls and they looked and smelt fabulous and I got a very nice little poinsettia which I figured would fit in one of the pots I had recently removed from the grave.

I took a look at the Droushia Heights Hotel on the way past - it is supposed to be reopening today after being refurbished but I said to John that there would be no way - we had hoped to call in this afternoon to check it out but Kleopa kindly phoned me to say that was not going to be possible and I said I wasn't surprised - we can do that over the weekend.  There is no rush!

After the horrible cold and damp conditions of the last couple of days the sunshine was very welcome and in the conservatory it was a very pleasant 21 degrees - I am hoping that we will have more weather like this over Christmas because I am concerned about Mum feeling the cold as we tend not to.  At least a nice warm conservatory will give her somewhere comfortable to sit and with good light if she is wanting to read or do her word search.

Anyway this afternoon we had arranged to meet up with Di and Rob and Clare and Les and do a little wander around the village having a drinkie for Christmas.  In previous years I had cooked up two slow cookers full of something to feed those who joined us after we had finished but we have learned by our mistakes that eating at the end of a drink-fest is the wrong time and in previous years our numbers were in double figures but for one reason or another this year we were just six Drouseains and John had arranged that we eat in Finnikas before we started to drink which was a wise move.

Phillipos and Marina did us proud - the food was lovely as were all the little extras they brought for us to sample and the fire meant we were warm although Les resolutely refused to remove his fur coat which we christened Shaun (the sheep).  We were all grateful to have lined our stomachs with the lounza and halloumi pittas and fabulous freshly cooked real chips.

Our next port of call was O Stathmos and again the open fire made it feel warm and cosy inside - I am not sure quite what some of the locals made of us but they were all welcoming if not a little bemused.  These traditional watering holes are fast disappearing and it will be such a shame when they do - yes I know that health and safety might probably have a field day in these establishments but this is where you experience real Cyprus hospitality.

We then moved next door to Despina and Chriso's coffee shop where we were treated to all sorts of food to accompany our drinks - we asked why we were being treated so specially and Despina told us that the other clientele only drink Coffee at least we were giving their alcohol stocks a reasonable hammering and probably boosted their takings no end!  Once again we had a lovely hour or so in there.

With Christos's shut and the Droushia Heights unavailable we decided to go up to Palates and have a drink - they clearly weren't expecting anyone because we went in, sat down and waited but no-one turned up.  John was just about to start serving when we thought we should go down and investigate if anyone was in the other building and found Sylvia and her son there so we did eventually manage to get a drink.  It is a really nice area for a drink it is just a shame that there was no-one else there.

After Palates Clare and Les peeled off and made their way home.  The remaining four of us decided to walk back and as we approached the Droushia Heights we couldn't help but nip in to get a sneaky preview of the refurbishments.

All we can say is WOW what a change without losing the cosy feel - this was way beyond what we had expected and is fabulous - we cannot believe that we have something so stylish here in Droushia - from the sublime to the ridiculous - both ends of the watering hole spectrum!!

At this point, if we had been sensible we should have walked as far as the Clampetts and then gone our separate ways home but NOOOOO we went back to Rob and Di's for a couple of hours of drinkies, chat and vinyl courtesy of DJ Bobster.  I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to encouraging John up cardiac hill but we made it and despite a little zigzagging got home in one piece - the cats were singularly unimpressed by our late arrival but they were all in which was good.