We had a lovely sunny day today - the sort of day when you really want to get things done so we have revisited our 'To-Do' list to sort out things which John can do whilst I am away and taken a good look around the house to see what maintenance is required and what things would be nice to do but are not essential.

Today I decided to give the old table out on the decking in Wendy and Bill Corner a bit of a facelift using my chalk paint.
John constructed this out of one of our old wooden shutters and the wooden feet which we rescued from a massive cupboard Mum and Dad had constructed for the sunroom in their villa in Emba and which Nicky and Mark wanted to get rid of. It is 'rustic' to say the least but has huge sentimental value - I upcycled it once before but the elements have taken their toll and so today was the day for its second reincarnation. John sanded the top down and I painted it leaving the white feet below. It lives to fight another day and looks quite nice back in its position between the steamers which will soon have their blue striped cushions to match.
When we moved over we brought in the container an old wooden door which had been constructed from pier planks and which we loved - it became our front gate until it was replaced by an aluminium one - we liked the look of the wood but it would swell and shrink according to the seasons so drove us nuts because it would stick in the damp. Had it still been in situ this winter we would probably have been trapped in the house because it would have swelled to enormous proportions - never to be opened again!!!
Anyway the bottom of it had started to rot and in so doing had attracted a colony of termites so it needed to be sorted one way or another. The rotten bits were taken off along with the offending termites and summarily dispatched and John put a metal base on the bottom and it is now hiding the 'glory hole' in the garden where we hide the Cypriot Barbeque, Acroprops and garden tools. It is too good to chop for firewood so we wanted to find it a home and now we have done that.
I then decided to spend some time in the garden - some of the lavender bushes have quadrupled in size and although flowering really needed to be cut down to size otherwise they just get woody - why is it that you look at the size of the plant when it is complete and the bits you cut off seem to be four times as big as the plant was originally!!
I decided to be brave, or was it mad, and go into the swimming pool because it looked so inviting and the temperature duck shows it is about 16 degrees and we have been in it when it is much less than that. If you look closely at the photograph (blow it up in size) you will see Charlie peering through the conservatory door looking at me like I was some sort of nutter. I can confirm that the water felt freezing but I managed a couple of circuits and then jumped in shower for a warm. It can only get better from now on surely - although we still haven't got settled weather on the horizon.
We were going out this evening for a meze in the village at Finikas. It is difficult to judge what to wear because sometime it can be chilly in there although we knew Philippos would have the fire lit for us and John was taking him a present of some logs just to make sure! We called in via Clare and Les's to take a peak at the sunroom they have had erected over the last couple of days and then made our way down to the Taverna whilst Les found his shoes and socks. The village 'renovation' work has got as far as Stathmos and that road is now blocked. All that seems to be happening at the moment is that the roads around the centre are being dug up and this is causing disruption and concern amongst the few businesses that remain in that area. We don't know how we will get access to the post office when the work goes down the main arterial road to the village and if we cannot get to the post office we cannot get to Finikas. Philippos tells us that the businesses get no compensation whilst this is happening and it could take months. We really hope that in an attempt to improve the face of the village we will lose what shops and coffee shops we have because once shut they may never reopen which would be tragic.
We had a fabulous evening at Finikas - the food was up to its usual good standard and we had some additional dishes inour meze of Koupepia (stuffed vine leaves) and Stifado.
We have all vowed that whatever the road conditions are like in the future we will continue to come and eat as far as we are able. Philippos is worried poor man and he and Marina and his family are such nice people.
We have arranged to go out again next week before Clare and Les return to Hong Kong. We are due to go out with Droushia Dixie Dave and his wife Edda (a meal which was postponed due to Dave's dodgy ticker) and with Les being a bit of a musician we though that would be an ideal opportunity for them to meet - but this will be at Fitos by way of a change.
A good night was had by all and hopefully times like this will help to allay some of Clare's concerns about life after teaching - whenever that is going to be although maybe she will think we are a bad influence on her and Les!


John constructed this out of one of our old wooden shutters and the wooden feet which we rescued from a massive cupboard Mum and Dad had constructed for the sunroom in their villa in Emba and which Nicky and Mark wanted to get rid of. It is 'rustic' to say the least but has huge sentimental value - I upcycled it once before but the elements have taken their toll and so today was the day for its second reincarnation. John sanded the top down and I painted it leaving the white feet below. It lives to fight another day and looks quite nice back in its position between the steamers which will soon have their blue striped cushions to match.

Anyway the bottom of it had started to rot and in so doing had attracted a colony of termites so it needed to be sorted one way or another. The rotten bits were taken off along with the offending termites and summarily dispatched and John put a metal base on the bottom and it is now hiding the 'glory hole' in the garden where we hide the Cypriot Barbeque, Acroprops and garden tools. It is too good to chop for firewood so we wanted to find it a home and now we have done that.
I then decided to spend some time in the garden - some of the lavender bushes have quadrupled in size and although flowering really needed to be cut down to size otherwise they just get woody - why is it that you look at the size of the plant when it is complete and the bits you cut off seem to be four times as big as the plant was originally!!
I decided to be brave, or was it mad, and go into the swimming pool because it looked so inviting and the temperature duck shows it is about 16 degrees and we have been in it when it is much less than that. If you look closely at the photograph (blow it up in size) you will see Charlie peering through the conservatory door looking at me like I was some sort of nutter. I can confirm that the water felt freezing but I managed a couple of circuits and then jumped in shower for a warm. It can only get better from now on surely - although we still haven't got settled weather on the horizon.
We were going out this evening for a meze in the village at Finikas. It is difficult to judge what to wear because sometime it can be chilly in there although we knew Philippos would have the fire lit for us and John was taking him a present of some logs just to make sure! We called in via Clare and Les's to take a peak at the sunroom they have had erected over the last couple of days and then made our way down to the Taverna whilst Les found his shoes and socks. The village 'renovation' work has got as far as Stathmos and that road is now blocked. All that seems to be happening at the moment is that the roads around the centre are being dug up and this is causing disruption and concern amongst the few businesses that remain in that area. We don't know how we will get access to the post office when the work goes down the main arterial road to the village and if we cannot get to the post office we cannot get to Finikas. Philippos tells us that the businesses get no compensation whilst this is happening and it could take months. We really hope that in an attempt to improve the face of the village we will lose what shops and coffee shops we have because once shut they may never reopen which would be tragic.

We have all vowed that whatever the road conditions are like in the future we will continue to come and eat as far as we are able. Philippos is worried poor man and he and Marina and his family are such nice people.
We have arranged to go out again next week before Clare and Les return to Hong Kong. We are due to go out with Droushia Dixie Dave and his wife Edda (a meal which was postponed due to Dave's dodgy ticker) and with Les being a bit of a musician we though that would be an ideal opportunity for them to meet - but this will be at Fitos by way of a change.
A good night was had by all and hopefully times like this will help to allay some of Clare's concerns about life after teaching - whenever that is going to be although maybe she will think we are a bad influence on her and Les!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.