Halloumi-fest!!

This morning I decided, quite madly, to tackle something we have been talking about for months - the Kickboards in the kitchen!!!  Our kitchen units have kickboards with a sort of rubber seal - in places the plastic 'corners' have broken and where the rubber seal touches the tiled floor it has got quite grubby.

John had contemplated replacing the kickboards with a piece of wood which would match the kitchen doors but first of all we had to investigate what was lurking underneath because the kitchen was installed at the time we moved in so we were pretty sure there was some rubbish still there from when the cupboards got installed and probably some dead wildlife, ancient cat biscuits and tied up crisp wrappers which Chivers will have knocked underneath.

We removed all the kickboards and I set about the task of cleaning what was underneath.  Where I could get access from both sides it was an easy but messy task but where I could only reach in from the front I had my work cut out.  We were right - there was builder's rubble and dust lurking at the very back but eventually I got it all cleaned up and I have to say that I prefer the look of the legs rather than the boards.

The cats are confused.com - they can reach underneath although currently there is nothing for them to try and reach but they cannot get underneath thankfully although that doesn't prevent them from trying to flatten themselves - Charlie is seriously deluded if he thinks he is going to get his bulky frame in there but I just know he is going to try.

This was a hot, sticky, messy but ultimately rewarding job and I was really pleased when it was finished.  We have decided to leave them like that for the meantime, maybe even for the future!

We went down to check the post and to have a look at the works around the amphitheatre which is where they started all those weeks ago.  We wonder if this area is ever going to look the same again.  There is still so much work to be done in this first phase and then there is a second phase which takes the cobbling further.  As we walked past Marios's new 'bar' he was still waiting for the electricity to be connected but was confident it would be later today - I hope he is not disappointed because Thursday is a major bank holiday and bugger all will get done then and possibly not much more on Friday.

We went to check the post.  There were several for Rob and Di and we knew they were out of the village because they had very kindly arranged to meet up with Mum this afternoon to eat at Elizaveta's restaurant.  Elizaveta used to be at Coast in Argaka and her new venture is in the building which used be the Wild Boar.

We took the post and told Di and Rob we would drop the letters off into their box after we had taken the weight off our feet and shared a Leon between us.

We returned home and received a call from David and Edda asking us if we would care to join them for a drink in their courtyard this evening as the village Halloumi Festival was taking places just next door but one from them.  We thanked them and said we would go because we hadn't seen them in a few weeks and it would be nice to catch up and then, as the Festival was free to enter, we thought we would poke our noses in and see what was occurring.

David and Edda are fine after what has been a pretty traumatic year for them with a nasty car accident and then David needing an emergency pacemaker fitted and it was nice to sit in their courtyard and share a bottle of wine - or two as it turned out.

We went into the festival not expecting much and were astounded to see how many people had pitched up - hundreds and hundreds.  In fact we were just going to skirt round the periphery and go home when we were called by Bassam to share his end of the table which was great and which also allowed David and Edda to join us when they arrived having stopped to get changed.

The festivities continued until 2.30am - we didn't stay until that time, midway through the singers we decided it was time to go home.  We had tested the cheeses and even sampled some trahana, drunk some wine and scoffed some of Lola's loukamades (honey balls).  The volume was incredibly and from our garden it still sounded like we were in the thick of it!