mmm mmm mmm Chinese...

We currently have Nicky and Mark staying and although we didn't have anything particularly planned for today we certainly DID NOT have wintry storms in the diary.  We had got up early and started the morning sitting outside having coffee but as Nicky feels the cold at the best of times had moved into the conservatory and then all of a sudden it went from being lovely and bright to black as your hat and we had a terrific rumble of thunder and then the heavens opened and we were pummelled by a hailstorm with hail the size of Maltezers - literally.

This weather does so much damage to the poor garden.  Only a half an hour earlier we were admiring the brightly coloured Osteospurmum over in Wendy and Bill corner and then once the hail had been they were bereft of petals.

We thought we had it bad up here but Phillipos posts a video of the weather in the village centre and it looked like a Winter Wonderland.  It is April for goodness sake - it is infinitely warmer in the UK - this is not what I signed up for!!!

We waited for the storm to pass and had some breakfast - we were going out this evening to the Gin Palace and Farmyard in Kathikas so wanted to pace any eating and drinking accordingly!

We embarked upon a game of Cards against Humanity which we decided was much more amusing when you had consumed a gin or two (which we hadn't) and then a game of UNO before Mark went for a snooze which was more of a power-nap before he and and John settled down to watch the footie at which point Nicky decided that a power-nap would serve her well before we went out.

We lined our stomachs with some sausage baps with fried onion which went down really well and after the horrible weather this morning the remainder of the day was dry and bright although there was quite a chill to the wind if you were outside.  I was not overly interested in the footie so was happy to sit in the conservatory until the temperature got the wrong side of 35 degrees and rising so had to admit defeat and go into the lounge where it was much cooler.   This is madness!!!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon chilling out, watching TV and chatting.  That is fine by us and it is fine by Nicky and Mark who have quite a hectic working life during the week so are glad to just recharge their batteries whilst they are here although I am not so sure Nicky was overly enamoured by the weather conditions - chilly mortal that she is.

We then had to take into consideration that we would have a bit of a walk from the Gin Palace to the restaurant this evening which involves a steepish slope and some cobbles and which had a bearing on our clothing and footwear when getting ready to go out.

I chose to wear the dress which Argy had given me for my lovely dress made from comfy stretchy material and even better it doesn't need ironing!!

We drove to Kathikas - John was going to leave little Kenny in the carpark and we had arranged for Tassos to pick us up in his Taxi later.

We got seats in the 'Adult only' area in the gin bar which is super comfy and ordered up our various tipples - I opted for Botanist with Ginger Beer mixer like I had had when we had gone for my birthday.  Rachel came in and we had a chat and Savvas was chatty too so it was a lovely atmosphere in there and Nicky and Mark were well impressed.  It certainly feels like you are somewhere much more cosmopolitan than little old Kathikas!!!

I am so pleased that the Chinese exceeded their expectations both in terms of the food and the price.  We shared ribs, satay, spring rolls and prawn crackers to start and then we had a red Thai Curry with Rice, Kung Po Pork with egg fried rice and Sweet and Sour Chicken with noodles.  We managed to eat just about everything and it was delicious - really delicious and at 20 euros a head including our drinks was really not a bad shout (as Dad would have said).  Tassos got us home safe and sound and Nicky and Mark retired to bed immediately - well it had gone 10 o'clock and that is way past their bedtimes!