A different sort of Sunday...

Today we were having a bit of a different Sunday because my sister Kaye is here staying with Mum so they were both coming up.  Last week we had the most terrific hailstorm which resulted in me being able to build a snowman or rather a hailman!  Anyone having arriving on the island this last week will think we have been exaggerating about the abysmal winter we have suffered because the thermometer is rising.

 We wanted everything to look nice and didn't know whether Kaye would fancy a dip in the pool - apparently she braved the sea yesterday!!!  I have to say that although the garden has struggled a bit and I have lost a whole load of lovely plants there is a splash of colour in the garden provided by the annuals that are currently at their best.  The poppies are fabulous - it is just a shame that they do not last for very long.

Another stunner is the jasmine which grows up a post of the gazebo where we would be eating later.  If I had the facility to capture the smell you would be overwhelmed - in fact it is so strong Mum might struggle to sit there.

I am so glad that we managed to get the rugs put away yesterday and the floor cleaned in the conservatory because just for the moment it looks lovely and clean.  Our house is our house - bijoux - for which read small and we struggle with storage space and an inability to not be sentimental about belongings so our home is rather more cluttered than we would like although I reckon if someone came in and Marie Condo'd it all our bits and pieces would just creep back in.  I was looking at the photographs of my sister's newly revamped and enlarged kitchen and thought it was just beautiful but just knew that our whole house would probably fit in that space and there is also the question of the funds required for such a refurb!

So this is me with my sister Kaye and mum - I don't see any family resemblance between Kaye and I so I joke that one or other of us must have been the milkman's!!  People see similarities between me and Mum and did between me and Dad so I think I probably inherited the worst bits of both of them.  Kaye got the thick curly hair and I got the thin fine stuff - she is naturally thin and I carry a few extra pounds, she has beautiful skin and I got the acne from age 12!  Not that I am bitter or anything!!

We went to the cemetery to visit Dad's grave.  I had hoped that the work might have started on his surround but it remains the same although looks fine as the flowers are still in bloom.  From there we went on down to Latchi to take a little walk along the sea front before stopping at Molos for a drink.  It was not as busy as I had thought it might be as it was Easter Sunday for the Greek Orthodox Church and a long bank holiday but guess that Cypriot families were probably enjoying it all together.

Mum drove home and we got caught up in a massive traffic jam just before we reached our house!!!  On that subject the main road to Latchi is no open although it doesn't look like the work on the collapsed road has been completed - if it has then it definitely isn't going to last.  Maybe it was just reopened for the bank holiday but it appears that everything has been underpinned by dry sand!!

We had decided upon a barbeque for lunch taking into consideration the various food dislikes and allergies made for an interesting menu - my sister doesn't eat dairy products so declined Halloumi even though she said she hadn't ever tried it.  Who doesn't like squeaky cheese?  that is just plain odd!!!  We settled for chicken skewers because I reckoned you couldn't go wrong with that and some Cypriot roast potatoes and a selection of salads, dips and pitta bread with home made barbeque and satay sauces.  It all seemed to go down well and we weren't left with too much so got the quantities right.

Mum and Kaye are coming back up again on Wednesday and the three of us are having a girlie lunch down in Polis - which will give John a bit of piece and quiet!!  Mind you as Lakis, Argy and Kia arrive tomorrow they probably wont let him be on his own for too long before there is a call for coffee!!