After the terrible storms last night, not to mention the power outages, I woke this morning to glorious sunshine - this is much more like it because: glorious sunshine = lots of enthusiasm and I got my TTDWJIA list and tried to decide what would be the best things to tackle in these conditions.

By the time John reads this he will be back from the UK which is just as well otherwise he would be on the phone giving me advice or trying to persuade me to STOP!!!

We have Jane and John coming up to stay the week after next so I took the opportunity to get their bedding washed and out on the line.  We have several regular visitors and so that I am not washing the sheets after a single night's stay in the Winter (Summer is not an issue) I have allocated each of them their own set so I can remove the bedding and wash it if it needs it otherwise it can be folded up and stored away in readiness for the next time.  There is a set for Mum obviously, a set for Nicky and Mark, Laura and Mark, Wendy and Bill and Jane and John - I just have to remember whose is whose - I could do with some different coloured laundry bags to store them in so I shall either find some on tintyweb or jumbos or get some material and make my own but that is a wet weather job and I am in sunshine mode so that can wait!!!

 One of the jobs on my list was to give the Solanum outside the back door a bit of a haircut.  This was an original plant in the garden when we moved in - one of the few remaining and it has survived the ravages of the winter weather really well but having had a severe haircut a couple of years back it has now grown so that I can no longer cut it on my own so I decided that it needed to be reduced in size quite considerably.  I have learned that severe pruning is a good thing for lots of the plants over here and it is something I am not good at, to my cost actually, as too many of the plants have become woody whereas if I hard pruned every year they would come back with fresh growth and look better and last longer.  It seemed a bit of a shame to reduce the fine green ball on top of the solanum to a mass of naked branches but it will survive and be all the better for it - I just don't like the way it looks at the moment.

Some years ago John sprayed the drawer knobs on the furniture in our bedroom which is stripped pine which we brought from the UK - it is great because it is rustic and takes whatever is thrown at it but it is a bit boring so the painted knobs added a bit of interest so it looked a little more shabby chic than just shabby!!!

I decided to do the same to the knobs on the furniture in the other bedroom - the furniture is exactly the same stripped pine.

The first three I did were new knobs which John had put on the drawers of the bedside cabinet and they covered with one little squirt of the spray paint.  The others however were a nightmare - I guess that they have years of grease and oils from the hands of people using them and although I cleaned them thoroughly with white spirit beforehand the paint was loathe to adhere to the surface - I checked the ones which John had done previously and see that he had much the same problem so these have a 'distressed' appearance - mine are more devastated than depressed!!!!  Undeterred I will get them finished and at the end of the day they are only knobs!!

I had to nip out briefly - the landscape is looking stunning as everything is so lush, I cannot say green because the local yellow wild flowers are everywhere - I am not sure if it is rape or mustard and there is also a pretty little yellow flower which emerges on a tall stem from leaves which look like shamrocks which is Oxalis pes caprae or Bermuda Buttercup - I have it in the garden because it offers some welcome early colour but it spreads like wildfire - but in a couple of months time will have died back completely - apparently it is toxic so maybe I had better try and pull it all out although that may not be enough as it produces hundreds of tiny bulbs from which new plants emerge.

Inevitably they have had to close the main road down to Polis and Latchi as the road has collapsed again - this means that all traffic is diverted through Droushia.  This is the third time since we moved here that this road had collapsed.  Not sure how long this diversion will be in place but last time when they did what was to be the job that would fix the problem good and proper it was over a year and as they have now found out that did not do the trick.  This may be good for the Droushia Heights as people will pass by it when otherwise they might not have done.

The weather was so beautiful that I decided to spend the afternoon sat outside making some more Birthday cards.  I am gradually sorting through everything so I checked out every tube of water colour paint I had in the box and threw out those which had leaked or gone solid and then got out my box of Sharpies to see which ones were still usable.  Sat in the front garden I actually caught the sun!!!

 

TTDWJIA (things to do whilst John is away)...

The weather forecast for today was for storms and the forecast 90% probability of rain was probably enough for me, so last night, after a lovely day, I brought in my two ancient village chairs so that they would remain dry - they are scheduled as one of the TTDWJIA (things to do whilst John is away).  Impressed by the job which my lovely friend Hazel had made of upcycling her lounge furniture with the help of chalk paint I had sold a kidney in order to purchase a small tin of said paint from Maria at Glykkis which was in a shade called Duck Egg Blue.  I am going to upcyle (for which read slap on some paint) rather than repurpose (for which read chop up for firewood).

Apparently the beauty of chalk paint is that there is no preparation necessary - this is my kind of stuff!!!  after painting you can finish off your furniture with some wax or varnish to protect the paint but as I want them to 'weather' and look distressed I am happy just to paint.

Chalk paint does exactly what it says on the tin - no preparation required you just slap it on.  The first coat looked rather pale and just an off-white colour but after a couple of coats it dried to duck-egg blue and covered all the dints and imperfections although as I said I am happy for the chairs to age so I am not overly bothered.

I was a good girl and laid down some newspaper so as not to get paint everywhere as I am famous for that.  I did the two chairs - one of which is a bit wobbly so will need some attention from John on his return.

It was a bit fiddly with all the rungs but happy that they looked ok I then decided to cover a terracotta pot which will temporarily house the olive tree which John bought me for my birthday.  I have another blue pot earmarked for the tree but it currently houses a rather interesting twig which is one of the plants which seems to have been destroyed by the inclement weather we have had this winter.

For anyone interested the two chairs and the pot used up about half of my tin of paint which I think cost around 10 euros maybe a bit more I am not sure but on that basis the cost per upcycled chair is very reasonable and now I shall be searching for other projects to chalk paint!!  No actually I think in this instance less is more and the welcome splash of colour just as you come into the garden is exactly the effect I was hoping for.

Ta Da - here is the finished job although the colour is quite hard to capture when the sun is shining on the chairs.  Chuffed with what I had achieved and pleased that I had minimal paint to remove from me I quickly showered and then headed off down to Polis where I planned to get some spray paint to do the knobs on the drawers on the furniture in the spare bedroom.  I am trying to pretty it up a bit as we have quite a few visitors who will be using it this year and it is really not 'spare or guest' it the the room that John uses for his clothes, getting changed etc etc so I cannot 'dress' it and leave it - when he returns from the UK it will be carnage in there for a bit but with Kenna arriving shortly afterwards we will have to get it tidy.

Once again, down in Prodromi, there was evidence of the rains we have been having.  I have never actually stood on the bridge by Glykkis but took the opportunity to take a photograph of the river.  At least the work they did a couple of years ago to prevent the flooding in that area seems to be doing its job.

On my return I spray a few knobs but the weather looked to be getting a bit unsettled so I didn't want to have any of them outside if it was going to rain.  I turned my attention to another TTDWJIA and that was to make some birthday cards.  I want to get my craft stuff down even further and if I can find a few designs that I can reproduce and feel happy with then that is what I will stick to.

Shortly after finishing my cards and feeding the cats I was just about to sit down and enjoy my evening when we were treated to a massive thunder storm and we lost our electricity.  It went initially for about 2 hours and so I was glad to have plenty of candles around but without electricity I cannot light the gas fire so I was glad it had been a warm day as the house was reasonably warm.

There were strange weather conditions - early evening it was so dark it was like it was night time and then as the storm moved away there was sun breaking through and we were treated to the most magnificent rainbow but it was still raining so I only managed a quick shot out of the kitchen door - it would have been complete if I could have stood somewhere to get it all into view without getting soaked.

The power came back on but not for very long so I gave up and decided to go to bed - the only trouble was that when it did get restored I had to get back up and turn off everything that had sprung back to life!

I have a hot date!!!

I was glad to learn that John had arrived at his mums safe and sound.  He had sent me a text in the wee small hours which I heard come in but then he text me at a more reasonable hour.  He is excited that he will be going to the match later today when the Mighty Blades take on Brentford.  All games now are must win but Saturday’s which is against arch rivals and fellow automatic promotion seekers Leeds is what they call a six pointer.  Anyway in the course of our electronic conversation we realised that he does not return on Friday week as we had been telling everyone – on inspecting his boarding card he actually returns on Thursday week.  Thank God he checked or we would have had a repeat performance of last year when Mum was ready for a flight which had departed the previous day.

Happy that John was ok I got up to what was another lovely day and I was super enthusiastic about tackling some of the tasks I have set myself to complete whilst he is away.  I could hear voices outside which is quite unusual as our estate is generally very quiet so I went to investigate – it would appear that the renovations to the house opposite are now in full swing as Sharon was there project managing a little Cypriot man in an ancient blue pick-up who was peering at what remains of the electricity meter box.  As I returned to our house I noticed that we have a tulip flowering in the front garden – I am not sure what sort this is as it has no stem but one massive great flower which will probably last a day still it is lovely to see it and it adds a welcome splash of colour.

This morning I had earmarked to use the sewing machine because I had a hot date for lunch with Dip who has been over for a while but leaves tomorrow and didn't get round to seeing John so I was second best!!!  When I shortened our bedroom curtains I was left with quite a lot of material and John suggested making some cushion covers for the two small cushions which he didn't like - probably because they were blue on one side and green on the other.  I made the covers and still had a lot left over so decided that I would make a runner for the bed.  As the weather was nice I took our big throw off of the bed and washed it - it is a bit of a squeeze to get it into the washing machine and the washing machine moans and groans whilst it is doing the job but it manages and what was great was that it was just the right sort of day to get it dry - it is very very thick so it needs a bright and breezy day.

Dip arrived at lunchtime - bless him he was clutching a rather bedraggled Poinsettia which he gave to me - apparently he was charged with bringing me flowers but he said he was en route at the time and didn't know where to get any so the plant was the next best thing but he had no idea what it was - I didn't like to tell him that these are normally sold and at their best at Christmas - this one might well have been but now it is March!!!  I shall nurture it and hope that I can get it to flourish!!  Anyway we set off for lunch at Latchi.  The car was a bit loathe to start but was fine on the way down.  Dip said it had played up a bit coming up from Paphos but put it down to a bit of dirt in the fuel or maybe the filter needed changing - anyway we thought nothing of it and continued with our plans.  At Latchi you can see by the river flowing out to the sea right near the old boat how much rain we have had.

We sat outside in Molos for our lunch - it was very pleasant although not clear, like there was dust in the atmosphere but that made it warm.  I have never really spent much time with Dip so it was nice to be able to learn a bit about him and also very kind of him to pay for my lunch!!!  We got on to the inevitable subject of Brexit.  It was interesting to learn that Dip was about to embark on a six month contract working for Apple which would have taken him all over Europe but the French and the Germans are now insisting that Brits working in their countries must have both a bank account in the country and pay into their social insurance scheme so that went out the window.  It seems to me that Brexit may be responsible for a whole raft of people denied the right to work abroad without jumping through hoops to do so and that is a shame because that lack of opportunity may make people very insular.

Lunch was lovely, I took the opportunity to have a mushroom risotto - John absolutely hates mushrooms so I don't order them when he is around.  Dip thought he had chosen a light option in a club sandwich but his plate of food was enormous.  Dip has enjoyed his stay but says he misses not having Karen with him so had been grateful to have some human company today!  I think that was a compliment.

The car started to play up from the minute we left Latchi - so much so that I didn't think we were going to make it up the hill to Droushia.  I suggested we try and get to Andreas's garage which was halfway up the hill and get them to take a look at it.

Andreas wasn't there but Savvas his son in law was which was good because he recognised me but bad because Savvas speaks very little English but rather more than I can speak Greek.  Anyway I managed to tell him that the car was good going down but no good going up (Το αυτοκίνητο είναι καλό που πάει κάτω, αλλά δεν είναι καλό ανεβαίνει) and followed that with some jerky movements.  He seemed to understand!!!  Anyway he opened the bonnet and took off some sort of cowl and then started the engine and...
...listened - then called in another guy who also listened - we dubbed them the Car Whisperers - anyway shortly afterwards Andreas did arrive and took the car for a drive - screaming up the hill and bringing it back seemingly ok but he did say that there was a fuel problem but he couldn't decide whether it was pump, filter, plugs or something else - or at least I think that was he said!!!  Anyway the upshot was that he couldn't look at it until tomorrow and of course Dip was going back to the UK then.  Dip decided to limp the car back to Paphos to the garage he had used previously and would take it from there.  I was so relieved when he let me know he had got back safely.

I was so pleased to hear that John got to watch a live game of football at Bramall Lane and that the Mighty Blades secured a win.

Day one without John completed.

John goes to the UK...

Today was the most beautiful 'spring' day with clear, clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  We had an early appointment this morning at the cemetery.  Monday is my usual day for visiting Dad and having a chat, which I normally do either before or after art but today I was not going to art.

The grave to the right of Dad's is being prepared for its permanent memorial.  Now that we know they are trying to get some uniformity in the rows at the cemetery we need to use its location as a guide for Dad's and apparently according to the guys we met last week each plot is allocated around 147 centimeters width which includes a 17cm gap/walkway between each plot.  We needed to get Garry down from Angel Guardians to ensure that what we had hoped to have erected would still be ok and the concrete plinth which has been put in next door actually makes it easier to envisage what is going to happen.  We have agreed to match in with what is there which leaves sufficient room for the marble work and the 17cm gap to the left - it will look nice and neat and tidy and leave the right amount of space for the grave to the left.  The man that cuts the marble will need to come and take the final final measurements but Garry was able to confirm with us exactly what will happen next and we are very grateful to him for taking the time to come up today on his day off so that he could talk things through with us.

John is flying back to the UK today for a short visit to catch up with family, friends and football - this time he has scheduled it so that he will be able to get to see his beloved Blades at Bramall Lane.  He hates packing and so there was no urgency in him today to get a bag out and get it done!!!  My birthday is now a thing of the past and I will pack away my cards shortly but not before I see whether or not there is anything I can reuse to make some of my own.  I remember that when the Book People used to come round to work you could sometimes get a Greetings Card Book where you could record the dates of peoples' birthdays and anniversaries etc and then there would be pockets to put in cards in readiness.  Now that my craft cupboard is more accessible I want to be able to make more cards and thought this would be a brilliant idea so had a quick look in tintyweb where they were horrendously expensive to get sent over so I have tasked John with finding one to bring back - I tracked one down at The Works for a massive £4 and they have plenty of those shops in and around where he will be staying - he had better remember!!!

Amongst the lovely gifts that Jane brought with her for my birthday were some incense sticks and a pretty little holder.  I quite like the smell of incense although when John was in the Navy and we were living in married quarters he was always nervous about me lighting them because he thought they smelt like cannabis or smelt like they were trying to hide the smell of cannabis (although how he knows I have no idea because you couldn't meet anyone more anti drugs than John).

These, however, have a fabulous smell - according to the packet they are called Magical Dreams and are a blend of Bergamor, Orchid, Jasmine and Violet which is actually very delicate.  I have mounted the holder onto a wooden heart that I had in the house (it will catch the ash) and it will also match the two little heart shaped tealight holders that were also a gift from Jane.

With the prospect of John being away for 10 days I am busy putting together a list of jobs I can get on with without him peering over my shoulder cringing at my lack of preparation.  I am more of a 'roll my sleeves up and get on with it' person which can sometimes (for which read often) lead to a bit of a mess!!!

The case came out eventually - to be fair he is only travelling with hand luggage but apparently that requires as much, if not more, thought than packing a full sized case and to cap it all the recent glorious weather in the UK has now turned Baltic and John is flying into Manchester, picking up a car and then driving across to Chesterfield.  His mum informed him that there is snow around and Snake Pass was closed and as John has to traverse the Peak District then other roads might follow suit.  Last year the fog was so bad he was reduced to travelling at 10 miles per hour so he was prepared for a slow journey.

The cats are unsettled - they don't like to see suitcases and Chivers has sussed that it is John that is going away so he is doubly concerned because his Dad is leaving him and I don't figure very highly in his affection.

John decided he would rather get to the airport early so that I could get home in relative daylight bearing in mind the catastrophe that befell me last year when I picked up his cousin and her daughter and then hit a scaffold 'knuckle' and got a puncture and it was really late at night and I was on a stretch of road where there was nothing, now of course there is a petrol filling station nearby although I have no idea whether it is manned that late at night.

Leaving in good time meant we just tootled down to the airport - good job we weren't in a rush to get there or for me to get back as I saw seven lots of Police cars which were either sitting in wait to pull people or getting set up to do so.

John checked in and got through to departures quickly and I got home in daylight and without incident and all four furbs were waiting for me to open the cupboards and feed them even though we had fed them just before we left.

More birthday celebrations than the Queen!!!

Today was the third day of my Birthday celebrations - how lucky have I been this year?  It being Sunday we had arranged that Mum would come up as normal but with Jane and John and to save me from cooking we would go down to Molos for something to eat.  We aren't Mr and Mrs Rockefeller but we planned to pay for their drinks today.

It started out quite grey but turned into another fine and bright day but we had booked to eat inside because we know that the wind can be keen and then you sit outside and your food gets cold quickly.  Mum, Jane and John arrived around mid-day and I had another round of presents.  Mum had given me some money which I shall earmark for something special but she had also got me a very pretty vintage looking tray which I will put in the guest bedroom for the tea/coffee and cups and a bottle of Vanilla Vodka which was recently for sale in Lidl.  I quite fancied the idea of that as I love anything flavoured with vanilla and I think you probably drink it a bit like a liquer (neat with ice) rather than as a long drink with a mixer - anyway I will report back on my findings.  Mum had also got me a new super-dooper sandwhich toaster which will also do waffles and grill meat.  My old one is exactly that, old and the plates are not removable so trying to keep it clean is a nightmare and periodically we do enjoy a good old toasted sarnie!!!

It is a special bank holiday weekend in Cyprus as tomorrow is Green/Clean Monday when everyone goes and flies their kites and welcomes in Lent so Molos was quite buzzy with plenty of people sitting both inside and out.  In fact it was lovely to hear families sitting together and talking, young and old!  The food at Molos is pretty good, not exactly fine-dining but there is a good choice and they do a good children's menu as Mum has a small appetite and hates to waste food.



John Page plumped for the seafood pasta which he said was an excellent choice and which he seemed to really enjoy.  Jane had calamari, John had duck, Mum had barbeque spare ribs and I had salmon fillet in a dill and lemon sauce - my salmon had clearly been on steriods as the fillet was MASSIVE - in fact about double the size I was anticipating - I gave it a damn good go but couldn't eat it all and I have to say it was delicious - nicely cooked and the sauce was light and slightly sharp so it wasn't sickly.

After puds the two Johns and Jane took advantage of the sunshine and went for a stroll around the harbour.  Mum and I stayed in the restaurant, apparently Mum's back has been playing her up which is a real shame because I know she is keen to do a little walk when she can.  I didn't really have the best of shoes on and I didn't want her to be sitting in the restaurant on her own so stayed with her.

We returned to Droushia so that we could have a cuppa in the warmth of the conservatory - it had been a lovely lunchtime and it was nice to see sunshine and people down in Latchi.  A big thank you to John for driving because it meant all five of us could go in the HRV - not that either John or I were planning on having much to drink but we don't like to drink anything if we are driving - you can never be too careful at the moment as the Police seem to be everywhere doing spot checks.

Jane and John very kindly brought me a bag of goodies for my birthday which included the plaque above.  How true is that in our house???  We are forever arming ourselves with clothes rollers and fighting a losing battle with Cat Hair - we can't understand it - we never seemed to have anything like the same problem in the UK when we had three cats previously!

Also have to thank my lovely godmum Janet for sending me out a gift with Jane and John particularly as she has been so poorly of late.  It was lovely of her to remember me and it was lovely of everyone who sent cards, presents, or just best wishes.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

Today is my birthday and I have been promised by John that he is going to do everything today and I was to have a lie-in and breakfast in bed but the best laid plans and all that...

... to begin with the cats did not get the brief about the lie-in so Charlie was around early (6.30am) being naughty in the hopes that someone would feed him.  He had found one of the plaques in the bedroom and started tapping on it, quietly at first and then with more vigour as his requirement for food was going unheeded.  The someone who got up to feed him was me as John was gently snoring away.  I still felt full from last night's fabulous Chinese and had the rumblings of a baggy head so decided to take a couple of paracetemol 'just in case'.  The first one went down ok, the second hit the back of my throat and made a quick exit along with the water I had drunk to get the first one down.  This was not a good start and woke John from his peaceful slumbers.

He brought in my cards and my presents.  It is still lovely to get a physical card rather than good wishes posted on social media but I am concerned that there appears to be a recurring theme of gin bottles going on!!!  I am lucky that my birthday is going to be spread over a number of days so I will have further gifts tomorrow from Mum and Jane and John when we meet for lunch.  This year I received some very welcome additions to my wardrobe which, having recently been the recipient of a cull, is looking a little bare so thank you Di and Rob and thank you Argy and Lakis for ensuring that I can go out in future looking a little less like a Clampett!



Having turned down the chance of a bit of crumpet this morning we headed off down the hill lunchtime to go to the Souli for a spot of lunch.  It was a fine, bright but blustery day and although we chose to sit right next to the sea we might have been wiser to sit out in the sunshine because it was really quite cool undercover but we 'manned' up because it was so lovely to be able to be outside once again.



We had our favourite lunchtime snack of calamari but made a mistake of ordering salad and chips for two (they brought two massive plates of chips) to go with it because it comes with beautiful olive oil drizzled toast and so there was far too much food really but we were in no rush and sat there and made a good stab at eating it all.  I think we waved the white flag of surrender with only a few slices of green pepper and a few chips left.  I appear to be sporting a new and funky hairstyle in the picture above but John failed to notice the placement of a palm tree directly behind so that is the reason!!!

It was beautifully warm in the conservatory when we returned and I decided that I just might sit in there and check my eyelids for pin-holes whilst John watched the Mighty Blades be successful in their second local derby of the week.

John had planned to produce a three course meal for me today but having eaten so much lunchtime I told him not to go mad.  He started his culinary masterclass with some rather nicely created gin beverages taking some inspiration from Savvas in Kathikas last night.

We are at the tail end of the bottle of Botanist which Jane and John gave him for his 50th - this has been for special occasions only and obviously my birthday was deemed to be one of those.  He mixed in some San Pelegrino Pink Grapefruit mixer along with ice, a slice and a sprig of time from the garden and some crushed juniper berries.  MMMMMMM MMMMMM - he could have fed me baked beans after that and I would have been happy but bless him he did his own take on Hunter's Chicken with coleslaw and potatoes and it was very nice indeed.

We chose to batten down the hatches, light the wood-burner and chill for the remainder of the evening.  The cats were most appreciative!!  We don't know whether it was because it was generally warmer in the house anyway or whether it was the fact that John decided to burn a piece of oak from our latest delivery but bloody hell it was warm in the house last night - so warm that we had to throw the doors open to the conservatory and through to the bedrooms, so warm that none of the cats bothered to venture onto our bed for the night preferring to enjoy the balmy temperatures in the lounge., that is not a bad thing because last night Mr Boo took up residence right in the middle of the bed meaning it was impossible for John to straighten his legs!!!

International Womens' Day

It is International Women's Day today and when we stopped to fill up with petrol in Peyia where the man with the fabulous hipster metrosexual beard works (he didn't serve us today) I was presented with a glorious carnation to celebrate being female.  How lovely and somehow I couldn't imagine that this would happen at your local filling station in the UK.


We stopped at the nursery where we had got the flowers done for Dad's funeral last year and on International Women's Day last year when we went in to thank them for doing such a good job they presented mum and I with a dianthus each.  Mine has survived in the garden but it is nowhere near flowering yet.  Anyway we had stopped there because I had asked John to get me a small olive tree for one of the blue pots I have which currently houses an interesting 'twig' which was something which did not survive the winter.  We did manage to get my birthday present here - a nice healthy specimen which I will transplant in due course.  I want it to sit between the two old village chairs which I plan to paint duck-egg blue whilst John is away.

Friday is pickleball day and today we had a full house - all six of us present and correct and we all had good games.  We are short of a player for Tuesdays and Thursdays but it is so difficult to find someone with reasonable racquet skills who will commit so if anyone is reading this and they live near Emba and want to have a go please get in touch and if you look it up on tintyweb don't be fooled by thinking it is a bit slow - looks can be very deceiving!!

I left before the last game with Mum to go and have a cuppa and a fruit scone.  I will not be seeing her tomorrow for my birthday, instead we are stretching the celebrations out for the whole weekend and Mum, Jane and John will be coming up to Latchi to have lunch at Molos with us on Sunday.

As I said last year with my birthday being just a few days after Dad's funeral I wasn't really in the mood for much celebration so I think John wants to make up for it this year and will certainly have to pull his finger out for next year when it is a biggy!!  This evening we kick off the celebrations with a big night out in Kathikas with Di and Rob.

We started off in the Kathikas Square Cafe Bar going into the Adults only cosy snug so that I could have a gin or two before eating.  Savvas has hundreds to chose from but I settled for a good old Botanist served with ginger beer with a garnish of lime and thyme which was lovely - so lovely I had two!!  Di is not a gin lover but I am determined to initiate her in the fine art of gin-supping and have her up one evening to try the various ones we have in the cupboard.  Bobby stuck to a couple of pints of Oyster which he thoroughly enjoyed and John joined me by having Barkesten Gin with good old Schweppes tonic and a garnish of lemon and rosemary.  It was lovely sat in that little room - it didn't feel like we were in Kathikas it felt like we were in some trendy city escape so well done to Savvas and Rachel for creating what is truly an adult space.



Savvas and Rachel benefited from our pensions last night as we walked from their gin bar down to the Farmyard to indulge in a Chinese which was my choice.  It was warm and cosy in the restaurant as they had the fire lit and there were several tables of diners so there was a convivial atmosphere.  I really really enjoyed my food as I was really wanting to sample some different flavours from the normal Cypriot grilled food that we eat and we love.  The chefs are Nepalese (I think) so their take on Chinese may be different to others you may have eaten but their food is most definitely Far Eastern and it was oh so tasty.  We started with prawn crackers, chicken satay and spring rolls, then duck pancakes with hoisin sauce then we shared a beef dish, a chicken dish and a pork dish with boiled rice and noodles.  Initially I thought it might be too much food but we kept on going and by the time Tassos (taxi driver from the village) came to pick us up we had clean plates.  We had decided to leave Kenny in the carpark and taxi back to the Droushia Heights hotel and grab a coffee there to complete the evening.

We managed to get into the hotel just before the bar closed which was good timing and Kleopa was on duty so we had personal service as we sat on the comfy sofas by the fire.  It had been a really lovely evening - great venues, great food and drink and great company.  A brilliant start to my birthday weekend - tomorrow I am to be spoiled by John he tells me!  We had a brisk walk home - but it was lovely to do so in the dry and it wasn't as cold as we had thought and our four little fur babes were all sat waiting for our return.  Perfick!

A meal at the Page's

We have, by our standards, a busy weekend ahead as it is my birthday and we have arranged to go out with Di and Rob on Friday and then John has promised to spoil me on Saturday and then we are meeting up with Mum, Jane and John for lunch on Sunday.  I do not remember anything about my birthday last year - it was, after all, only a few days after Dad's funeral so I am guessing we did nothing and I would have wanted to do nothing but life goes on and so this year I think John wants to make up for it.  He had better get his thinking cap on for next year because that is to be a milestone for me.  Anyway so today we were having a quiet day at home before going down to Emba this evening, picking up Mum and then going on to Jane and John's for a meal there.

We did lots of bits and pieces some of which involved John contemplating his packing as he is going back to the UK for a visit on Monday - for a man who spent most of his working life living out of a suitcase he absolutely hates packing!!

I am pleased to report that the weather has bucked up its ideas which is good for Jane and John who are keen walkers and who have an early start tomorrow when they will be walking around Letimbou.  Our car, which had been sitting under the carport, showed an internal temperature of 27 degrees when we got inside but once we started it soon dropped to a more realistic 19 degrees but this is very pleasant and always leaves us with a dilemma about what to wear when we are leaving the chilly hills to go down to the warmer coastline.  Jane and John's rented apartment has aircon units which can also provide heat although not when she is cooking otherwise it all causes too much strain on their electricity supply!!



By the look of the sun as it set this evening we should be treated to another fine and warm day tomorrow.  In fact as the sun slipped down to the horizon it was absolutely enormous but sadly too far away for me to get a decent picture.  We arrived at Mum's in time for John to try and tackle her ongoing ant problem.  Ants are an issue over here in Cyprus - they just seem to find their way in anywhere.  The problem is exacerbated by the fact that they are making their way into the kitchen via the sunroom which was originally outside space so there are all sorts of nooks and crannies for them to investigate.  It is an ongoing battle but one which we are determined to win!

Hats off to Jane who, despite her protestations, produced a very nice meal from what is not an easy kitchen to work in, not least because the markings on the hob and knobs have been worn off.  Jane and John have been coming to Cyprus for years and were friends of Mum and Dad back in their Keinton Mandeville days which Mum and Dad left around 30 years ago.  It was sad but fitting that they were here when Dad died and it was they that we called to keep Mum company when we were racing down from Droushia on that fateful morning.  We were so grateful that they were there and still thank them for their help and support at such a difficult time.

Hats off to Mum too.  I know that this has been a very difficult week for her.  Anniversaries are hard as is revisiting places or re-doing things which we would have done previously with Dad but as I said earlier life goes on and we can still have, and will have, good times and fun together.  We had a giggle trying to do this selfie!!