Goody goody yum yum!!

This morning I realised that I really cannot do late nights without paying a price.  John said he got a good night's sleep but snored for the duration so consequently I did not and then Charlie was tip tip tapping at the window super early wanting his breakfast so I cut my losses, got up and fed the cats and then retired back to bed with a coffee.  With only pickleball on today there was no reason for us to get up early so I was happy to recharge my batteries with a snooze and a lie-in and then I got a text from Nicky or maybe Mark saying that there were coming up because they wanted to sort out the electricity and water supply to their house.   That being the case there was nothing to be done but to get up and make John get up too!!!

The Kirby's duly arrived and we took them up to the Municipal Building to introduce them to Marianna so that they could sort out the water and getting the bill put into their name.

Outside the building we have a life sized scary faced Father Christmas which is the stuff of nightmares - his eyes alone are enough to scare small children.

We should have realised something was going on by the amount of cars and trucks that were parked on the waste land car park opposite.  Marianna's door was locked but we could hear muffled voices and the sound of rattling cups but a quick shufty around the ground floor (which afforded us a look at the new museum) revealed no-one, not a soul so I quickly took the back stairs up to the next floor and could see that there was a massive meeting going on - I recognised the outline of the Mukhtar at the head of the table.  We decided that there was nothing more that could be done here today so Nicky and Mark headed off to the Electricity Board office in Polis where we told them to talk to Mr Lefteris who we have always found to be very helpful.

I was so glad that I had taken the time to clean up everything from last night - there is nothing worse than being faced with Kitchen Carnage particularly if it is of the curry kind!!!  I hadn't really appreciated the gifts which Liselotte had brought.  A freshly baked loaf of bread which looked absolutely delicious, a bottle of wine and a packet of pork scratching both of which John has earmarked for Sunday when he will be watching the Mighty Blades playing Wolves and he has invited Les to join him - Les being a Wolves fan.

There was also a jar of Glogg Extract and some Dangerous Raisins - and thankfully the recipe for making some Strong Swedish Glogg which is the Scandinavian equivalent of Mulled Wine.  I shall most definitely be giving that a go - I like a bit of Mulled Wine at Christmas but my attempts can be a little hit and miss.

We went off down to pickleball which was not without some excitement.  Marios and his family were preparing the room next door, presumably for some sort of Christmas celebration for the dance school.  Marios's puppy was feeling left out so managed to squeeze through the partially open van door and appeared on our court.  Poor dog couldn't get a grip on the surface and was slip sliding around, not helped by the fact that he has yet to grow into his paws.  Anyway he was duly captured and Marios's children were charged with looking after him.  We now have an array of Christmas baubles hanging from the ceiling which add an extra element of difficulty and in our first game threw Liselotte's John completely!!  Anyway good games were had by all - lots of laughs and lots of banter.

We returned to Emba to have a cuppa and to do whatever little jobs Mum has listed for us before we made our way back home for what was going to be a very early night.  After quite a nice day down in Emba the weather turned stormy and in so doing provided a fabulous photo opportunity as a bright sun peeked out from a bank of black and angry clouds into an equally black and angry looking sea.  We were both knackered so glad that there was some leftover chicken curry so I didn't have to cook.  I am ashamed to say I fell asleep before Pointless.  The Kirbys are back tomorrow with an electrician - I have offered them lunch.