24th May

When Janet, Jackie and Stan left at the end of their holibobs last year they gave me a Gardenia which I have nurtured because the one I had before went yellow and died.

At Christmas it looked to be forming buds so I was super excited and then - NOTHING  happened!!!

Two days ago I thought it was looking exceptionally sick in the conservatory because it had been so very hot in there so I gave it a good soaking and hoped it would buck its ideas up and it certainly did, as it has, at long last, produced beautiful fragrant blooms.

I know this should survive outside but it is so lovely and smells so beautiful that I am happy for it to remain inside where I can keep an eye on it and make sure it survives and thrives.

Thank you GUS and Jackie and my lovely Mother in Law Janet for this fabulous plant which is currently in the cool of the dining area along with half a dozen others which I have moved from the conservatory which is often showing temperatures over 40 degrees at the moment.

We are now able to start to create our new 'normal' whatever that is going to be so we are starting with Mum coming up to us for Sunday Lunch as she would have done prior to all the lockdown restrictions.

When we went to the nursery in Ayia Marina the other day we bought a plant to replace the one which Di and Rob had put on Dad's grave.  I am gutted that it went all crispy but I have brought it back home although I am not very optimistic looking at it.

The replacement is a cheerful yellow ensemble - I think make up of what we called Tagetes with a random Lobelia in the middle.

We are going to go up to the Cemetery every other day now we dont have our resident waterer on hand!!!  Anyway Mum was calling there today before coming to us and hopefully she will be pleased that it is all looking good and will be able to see that the row that Dad is in is now all finished and it looks lovely.

Mum arrived safe and sound - she has not been here since Mother's Day, the UK one and not the one they celebrate here so that was on March 22 and we were in two minds as to whether she should have come then.  We wanted to show her what we had done for Dad and Hadge.  We will now refer to this area as our Peace Corner and we are very pleased with it.

We had chosen to have Hunter's Chicken with wedges and coleslaw and apple pie and cream today because it is something which we know Mum likes.  I have asked her to come up with some ideas for future lunches even though I know that in the Summer her appetite wanes.  We have asked her to bring Lillian up which she is going to do in a couple of weeks' time and I must thank her for sending us some fabulous kumquats and peaches from her garden.

The boys were out tonight patrolling the grounds.  We had an unwelcome visitor last night which was Billy Big Balls Tabby who squared up to John once out in the estate almost goading John with a 'c'mon put em up' stance.  John and I were up at 1.00am trying to get him out of the garden as we had been woken by a noise which turned out to be Charlie and Chivers trying to stand their ground.  John had removed the catflap to the outside world in readiness for when Costas comes which made us realise that there was now nothing to stop Big Balls coming inside so last night before we went to bed we had to rectify the situation otherwise we were likely to have another interrupted night's sleep.