Monsoon conditions...

They say it is grim oooop North and they aren't bloody joking to say it was grim is an understatement - after a brief spell of blue skies and sunshine it clouded over and then the heavens opened and the temperatures dropped.

We had booked a table for lunch down in Latchi anticipating that it would be a nice day and that we could have a little bimble and take in the fresh air but instead we had an olympian dash to the car.  Mum had wondered if she might need her mac - too bloody right - between our front door and the car we might just as well have been competing in Tough Mudder.  Suddenly all our waxing lyrical about the beauty of having seasons up here in the hills seemed a mere flight of fancy!!!

Had we not booked a table we might just have hunkered down in the house but not having gone out yesterday I feared we might all be getting a little stir crazy!

As we got into the car (which is sheltered under the carport) it showed that the outside temperature in Droushia just after mid-day was a heady 6 degrees - I know I shouldn't say it but I reckon it was probably warmer and drier in the UK today.  Still we were in the car and determined to enjoy ourselves and we had booked a table in Molos next to the fire so we knew that we would be warm and toasty once we were inside.

There is nothing grimmer than a Mediterranean Island in winter when it rains and although normally it gets brighter and warmer if we head down to the coast that was not the case today as the brighter weather seemed across towards Neo Chorio and down on the coast and across to Argaka it was really, really murky with what looked like a storm raging out to sea towards the Turkish mainland.

When we arrived at Molos we were warmly greeted by Cara.  It was lovely to have her back although I am guessing it is only for the winter months because normally she is working for Latchi Watersports next door.  She told us that we had an unexpected guest at our table but thought we wouldn't mind.  Not sure who she was referring to we soon discovered we were sharing with one of the large ginger port cats who was snoozing on the spare chair.  This beautiful cat sat next to me for the whole duration without being any trouble save for periodically touching my leg with its paw.  He/she seemed happy just to have the company and the warmth of the fire and never bothered when the food was served.

So we had a nice lunch at Molos - it was warm and cosy and there was a nice atmosphere inside.  Mum was more than happy with her kid's meal of ribs and chips and John and I both had the fillet of beef wrapped in bacon and served with a barbeque sauce.  As I sat looking out to sea periodically I could see flashes of lightning and hear claps of thunder and the steady persistent rain began to fall heavier and heavier so that large puddles started to form outside and then rivulets of rain began creeping in under the glass doors.

I don't think I have ever seen Latchi Harbour look so grim and unappealing nor the sea on the coast so brown and rough - we were glad that Mum hadn't driven as it was going to be pretty shitty going home with limited visibility and a lot of debris on the road, in fact there had been some pretty scarey land slips just where they are building above Helen and Al.

We completed the second leg of our Tough Mudder challenge getting from the car and back into the house - at this point visibility was almost nil - Come to Cyprus - the Summer Sun Island? No Shit Sherlock!!!  It was more a question of get in, get into comfies, get the fire lit and relax and for a while we had both the gas fire and the wood burner kicking out until we felt good and warm.  Fingers crossed tomorrow will be better but looking at the forecast it is decidedly changeable and mainly wet for the foreseeable future.  This is so reminiscent of our first Winter here when we were complete novices as to how to deal with the extremes and of course then the house configuration was so different - the buildings weren't joined!!!!!

As the bad weather continued to rage we stayed safe and warm indoors and scoured the Christmas edition of the TV times for things to watch.  Fortunately there has been some really good things old and new for us all to enjoy and if all else fails we dip in and out of the World Darts because we all enjoy watching that. 

Today we filled our afternoon and evening with some classic 'lost' episodes of Morecambe and Wise, a film called Christopher Robin which was a mix of real actors and animation (I am in officially in love with Piglet) and then a comedy called the Queen and I which was very amusing and topical but was, in fact, based on a 1992 novel/play written by Sue Townsend of Adrian Mole fame.  Blimey that woman must have been psychic because she could have been writing about the current situation in the UK with the Brexit debacle.  After a quick catch up on the darts situation we all headed for bed.  The rain had stopped but you could feel the temperature dropping or more rather plummeting - I am guessing that, by the feel of things when I nipped out to the loo in the night that we were 'enjoying' temperatures hovering just above freezing - Winter is most definitely here!