Spending time with Mum and then spending time with friends and neighbours...

I was going down to Paphos today to get my new lenses put in my glasses and to be a nice daughter and go and see Mum to help fill some of the void left in her week now she has neither pickleball nor the charity shop to go to.  Having said that, she seems to be doing pretty well socialising without my intervention.  Her friend Sue had been for coffee on Tuesday and Angela, Richard and Mum had gone for a long and leisurely lunch at Muse yesterday and tomorrow she is meeting up for coffee with her friend Heather so that is good and means that I am less worried about her being bored.

After quite an extended period of overly hot weather the landscape is looking brown and crispy and there have been several fires recently - not surprising really when people still casually and ignorantly toss cigarette butts out of car windows or worse set the fires on purpose - apparently very few are accidental.

I picked up Mum and we had a little bit of retail therapy together before I got my glasses sorted and then went back for a spot of lunch together.

We had a mooch around Lidl and I managed to get the pillow bolster and cover John wanted for the bed - apparently I was lucky to do so as they have been flying off the shelves according to the cashier.  John also benefitted from two bottles of an Ale which was sitting tantelisingly right by the check out.  These were a gift from Mum!

We then had a look around Sklavenitis as John was hoping they might have a couple more pairs of the shorts we bought there the other week but they only had the same colour he already had.

Mum got a bit of a bargain though.  They had some shift/tunic dresses in - not sure what has happened in the photograph because the one she is holding looks massive but it isnt!!!  The fabric was non-iron and a weight suitable for wearing in the autumn on its own or in the winter with thick tights and a cardy.  Anyway the price on the stand showed them as 15 euros which was cheap and ocassionaly things are hung under the wrong price tag and then you get a shock at the check-out.  Mum went and tried the red one on and liked it - it suited her and was just the right size and length so I decided I would check out the price on the price-checking machine that Sklavenitis has for customers and couldn't believe it when the price came up as 7.50 euros!!!!  That did it - Mum decided to have two!!!  We went to celebrate with a cuppa in the cafe!!!

I got my glasses sorted and can now see properly thank goodness and Mum and I returned to Emba for some beans on toast and a chat before I made my way back home where John had been busy making himself an aerator for the swimming pool.

He has been doing some research on the various levels of pH, alkalinity and chlorine required to keep the water in good condition and he is fighting a losing battle as the water source we use to top up when there has been evaporation is hugely high in alkalinity.   An aerator helps raise the pH by cooling the water and stops water stagnating so reduces the risk of algae forming (apparently!!!).  Anyway he decided he was going to make one and that is what he did whilst I was away and it cost him the grand sum of €1.75 and this is just a prototype!!!



This evening we were going out for a meze with Andrew and his multi-generational household along with Di and Rob.  John and I walked in with Andrew and Naimh, Luke, Connor, Mum Caroline and Grandmum Mary followed on behind.

On arrival we were absolutely stunned to learn that the lovely Philippos was in hospital having been taken ill with chest pains and was now recovering having had a stent put in.  We were quite humbled that the family had been prepared to honour the booking when clearly they had lots of other things on their mind so an extra special big thank you to Marina, Loukas and Andri because it was a fabulous evening and the food was superb - although far far too much even though Luke got his second wind before we had left to go home.  A second big big thank you to Andrew and his family for paying for all the food which was so kind of him.  It was such a lovely balmy evening (no condensation thank goodness) and having such interesting conversastions that we were in no rush to leave but mindful that Marina looked exhausted did eventually make a move.

We all walked together as far as Lush's where we said our goodbyes to Rob and Di but not before wondering at the sight of a half moon bathed in an orange light coming up over the hills in front of us.  As the rest of us returned o Lordos 1 we were met by Charlie who had come out in search of us which I wish he wouldn't as that road is now much busier as people have to circumnavigate the village centre.  He was ok though and trotted along by the side of us all the way home.  We sat outside under the gazebo for a final nightcap - well we did after everyone had been up on the roof terrace to check out the amazing stars - and not a single chorus of Temptation.

The Kailou/O'Connor holiday is fast coming to an end - we have suggested that Caroline and Mary check out Oniros tomorrow whilst the others are challenging one another on the go-karting track.