We were so much happier when we heard from Hazel that she had eventually got home safe and sound.  It is a good job she hadn't known what a nightmare was in store for her at the weekend.  These situations are all well and good when you have someone to share them with but when you are travelling on your own they are not such fun.

I did not have art today because sadly a dear friend of Sheila and Klaus's passed away very suddenly at the weekend and they are being good friends and are on standby should they be needed to help with the aftermath - bless them.

That being the case I took the opportunity to go and clear the front of George and Pam's house because although they are not sure whether they will be coming this year their son and family are due to arrive in two weeks.

The front garden has become something of a jungle because even with no care and attention what has been planted there or self seeded itself has just run amok.

I worked for as long as I could manage in the heat but didn't really break the back of it.  It looks tidier yes but as a result the true extent of the size of some of the more vicious succulents has been revealed.  The Agave in the left picture is as big as me and the leaves are like razors and the cacti in the right picture is just a mass of sharp needles.  I will speak to Andrew when he comes and George's daughter Louise to see what they think might be best to do with it for the future because before long I wont be able to keep it under control.  The back garden is not so bad as it looks like Stelios may have sprayed some weed killer but it is amazing how, even with shingle put down, the weeds continue to grow just living in the dust!

My clearing of the plants revealed a large pale brown hawk moth which I think is called Theretra Latreillii and will give Hazel and idea as to what the caterpillars she was fascinated by eventually turn into - these moths are not as interesting looking as the Oleander Hawk Moth but even so when they open their wings there is a lovely splash of coral pink to be seen.

John and I decided to go down to Polis for a little look as we had heard there are two new bars/eateries there and we wanted to be able to tell his mum about them in case she wanted to go with Jackie and Stan when they are over later in the summer.  One bar is just being constructed so that may not be open this season at all.  The other which is down the hill from the square was having the tables laid but it was in full sun and we didn't fancy just sitting there with a drink so we ended up going down to the bar at the campsite and sat in the shade enjoying the surroundings.  The campsite is less busy than when we came the last time.

We decided we would try the complimentary bottle of wine that Carol had given us from her room in the Azia.  We didn't expect much from a wine simply called "House Wine" and we weren't wrong as it was a rather nasty brown colour and smelt like Sarsons and indeed tasted like Sarsons.  We opted instead for the bottle of Ramos which the Bobster had brought the other week which went perfectly with the Chinese we had for tea.  I had frozen the leftovers from our anniversary and we were having that tonight.  It was equally as good the second time round and as I tried each of the three dishes individually rather than having them all on my plate at the same time got a better taste of them - the beef in black bean was particularly good.

We had planned to watch some TV this evening but it was such a lovely evening that we spent it outside.  John was listening to a TV broadcast which featured Chris Wilder, who as manager of Sheffield United, is the closest thing there is to God in our household!!!

We eventually moved to the day bed where we could be protected from the biting insects by sitting in under the mosquito net.  We had all the lights on and it was cool and lovely - we were in two minds as to whether to stay there and try and sleep the night but I haven't been sleeping very well of late and preferred to retire to my bed - bad move really as I woke with a line of bites up my arm where some bloody nosee'em had been eating his fill during the course of the night.  I also woke in the early hours remembering that I had forgotten to update my post to the blog - I did it at about 2.00am - sorry readers!