Grim oop North....

I can tell you that, contrary to popular belief, it is not all fun in the sun here.  Cyprus is billed as an island with 326 days of sunshine a year but I am buggered if I have been able to count them over the past 12 months.  The prolonged Winter is taking its toll and today was bright but bitterly, bitterly cold in the wind.  We have a sandstorm on the horizon for the next couple of days.  Deep bloody joy.   I am suffering from SAD or something because today I am struggling to find anything remotely attractive about our home in the sun.  It is the time of the year I know, Monday was Blue Monday

(The third Monday of January has been awarded the gloomy title due to a combination of post-Christmas blues, cold dark nights and the arrival of unpaid credit card bills.

Apparently, a university professor managed to precisely calculate the most depressing day of the year, using the following formula:

Where weather=W, debt=d, time since Christmas=T, time since failing our new year’s resolutions=Q, low motivational levels=M and the feeling of a need to take action=Na. ‘D’ is not defined in the release, nor are units.

Supposedly the date was calculated by using many factors, including: weather conditions, debt level (the difference between debt accumulated and our ability to pay), time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.)

So if that was the case then today was absolutely Terrible Thursday although terrible doesn't really cut it and the Thesaurus hasn't come up with a suitable alternative.

We were confining ourselves to barracks today - we are steadily working our way through the to-do list which changes and evolves but never seems to get any less.  The vast majority of the tasks are ones to be done outside when things have dried out so we are concentrating on the indoor jobs - at least that way we keep ourselves busy and a little warmer than if we were just sitting around.  This year has seen us consume more electricity, wood and gas than in previous Winters and not just because our blood is thinning or we are more used to the heat but because it has been grey and miserable for weeks on end.

We successfully moved the dressing table in our bedroom back against the wall and I painstakingly shortened the full length curtains so that now they just sweep over the top.  This may seem a trivial thing but this gives us an extra 10 centimeters or so space between it and the end of the bed which when you have such a small bedroom makes quite a difference.  It means that if we have someone staying we can put the wooden towel stand at the end of the bed and walk around without tripping over it and on that subject we are to have our first visitor in April.  When I was back at my school reunion last year I sort of gave a global invite which was genuine but then you think time goes on and no-one will take you up on it but someone has.  Kenna and I first met in 1971 when we were allocated the same class at secondary school - we attended Bruton School for Girls aka Sunny Hill.  Kenna was a border and I was a day-girl but we spent the next 7 years as class-mates.  We left after our 'A' Levels and Kenna went on to become a Norlands Nanny and then some ten years later our paths crossed when I walked into a new job and Kenna was sat in the next desk!  We have remained in contact off and on since then.  Anyway she has one week of freedom in April (she is principal carer to her elderly parents) and asked if she could come and stay and why not as we don't have anyone else due to come until May.

Di and Rob called in this afternoon.  I had made a banana loaf in readiness - it had tried to make a bid for freedom from the loaf tin but tasted nice.  They very kindly brought with them our post - amazingly a parcel from Laura and Mark posted on 11th December has finally arrived - I guessed it was from them as there was no note and no sender's address but the contents sort of gave it away.  I will be able to make some pretty authentic curries now thanks to their kindness and as they plan a visit with Laura's grandfather will make them all a curry when they are here.

Di and Rob also have some visitors coming for a long weekend who are looking for some reasonable accommodation in the village.  Rob is on the case and has found somewhere advertising on Booking.com but we cannot for the life of us place the building.  We have some idea but realise that the on-line map is rubbish so cannot depend on that.  It is our mission now to find out exactly where this place is - we have our suspicion that is might be above the Muhktar's shop but the photograph features a monkey puzzle tree so that is our landmark.  Mind you we know from experience that photographs on this website can be quite ancient.

I am so very grateful for the conservatory because although the house was cold today the conservatory was much less so but by the time we had done all the things we could manage to do today the lounge was chilly and so we lit the fire - I am not the only one to appreciate just how much more cosy it makes the place feel.  As we ate our supper we were joined by Charlie and Boris in their beds which are currently under the dining table.  Later in the evening Boris came to join me on the sofa - do you think he was comfy?  I am reckoning so.  Thank goodness for the cats, when they come and sit on you and love you and want your affection everything else pales into insignificance.