Checking out some properties...

I took this photograph last night in Finikas.  I must admit I haven't noticed these items before tucked away on a natural shelf by the stand Philippos has displaying traditional goods for sale.  I would like to think that someone has been in and carefully placed them in  as sort of "trendy interior design" fashion but I rather suspect they have just sat there for years - who knows maybe that radio still works!!!

We had a very exciting gift from Di and Rob - they have us summed up well - Bubbles for Gin - who would have thought?????  Initially I thought they might be some sort of toiletry but no, no, no they are little bubbles of juiciness to be popped into a drinkie.  We shall be trying them out during the festive season and are already on my list of things to track down when I return to the UK to celebrate Haze's birthday.  I have decided to bite the bullet and take a case as there are lots of things I can bring back - sadly Brexit or Greed (not sure which) now means that goods sent form Amazon or EBay incur extortionate postage charges and I mean absolutely ludicrous.

Today did not quite turn out as planned - not difficult as we did not really have any plans but we had not anticipated a visit from Mum but more of that later.  We had intended to go and do some shopping down in Paps but to be honest I couldn't really be bothered and I learned last week that often there is sufficient food in the house to russle up a decent meal for Sunday anyway.  We had a sausage casserole simmering in the slow cooker and as a result of my foray into the deepest darkest corners or my fridge I came across a whole load of tomatoes which were past their best so decided that tomorrow we would be having tomato soup so out came the new halogen oven so that they could be quickly roasted.  This week was to be Tomato and Orange soup because I actually had all the ingredients and had several manky oranges that needed something doing with them.  I shall report back on opinions tomorrow.

So the Kirby's were up again today tackling the garden and I had offered them a cuppa when they wanted a break and then we got a call from Mum.  Apparently her neighbours' gardener Spiros had approached her today to see if we wanted to buy a load of logs - most of which were olive and acacia which are both good burners.  So to cut a long story short Mum came as Spiros's wing man/woman to show him the way to our house and they duly arrived along with the wood and the tree trunk that has been sitting at Mum's waiting for John to cut up and bring home and even better Spiros had cut that up as well.  It was a quick turn round for Mum as she had to direct Spiros back - he is a very affable man but has limited command of English but even so that is better than Mum's command of Greek.  We were pleased to hear that she had got home in one piece.  Mum can be absolutely certain of being warm and toasty when she is up here and this early Christmas present was very welcome.

Nicky and Mark had a quick cuppa and then continued with their gardening for a short time before returning to Emba.  It is amazing how a bit of a tidy up makes all the difference to the houses that have been left unloved for so long.  We decided no shopping was essential today so we went out in search of the houses which Linda and Graham had asked us to check out for them.  We had recognised one as being the house that friends of ours used to rent so we knew where to find that one and we knew a bit about the history of that one.  We realised the second house was on the same development 'Little England' in Arodes which, having met Linda and Graham, was not what we thought they were looking for - the final property, a bungalow, we found more by luck than judgment but it was where we thought it might be and of the three was quite promising.    We decided that the best course of action would be to convene at the Gin Bar to compose a message with the information to Linda and Graham.  We were met at the steps of the Bar by a resident cat which we shall, in future, refer to as Batman due to the markings it has on its face!!

John set himself up for an afternoon of football watching (Charlton today as Sheffield United play tomorrow) by checking that the Old Speckled Hen was up to standard and I had a hot chocolate and we had a chat with Savvas and Savvas's Mum whilst taking in the afternoon sunshine, the weather is set to change next week so it seemed rude not to.  We got into conversation with a couple who are currently on holiday but interested in the possibility of a move to the Island so we were discussing all sorts of things from the cost of living to the new National Health Service.  They were a nice couple and we had a nice chat before we decided our sausage casserole was calling and we needed to get back home but not before we passed a van containing the biggest cabbages you have ever seen.  If I bought one of these it would last me the best part of a year!!!