We woke this morning with both Minnie and Boris coming in feeling somewhat damp and then at around 6.00am the heavens opened for a short while. It is August - welcome to Sunny Cyprus - the world has most definitely gone bonkers.
We had earmarked today to go and tackle George and Pam's front garden and so were somewhat relieved that the weather was cooler. We had paid to have the front cleared some time ago and then had expected some of the Kailou's to come on holiday and decide what was to be done to the front. In the interim we covered over the bare earth with some weed suppressing membrane but could see lumps and bumps appearing from something growing underneath. We set about clearing the area with the help of Charlie.
The lumps and bumps revealed that the Four O'Clock plant or Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis Jalapa) had not been completely removed the first time and had now produced roots which were the size and thickness of my forearm and it would appear that if you leave the tiniest piece in the ground it will go forth and multiply. We removed what we could, John using the pick-axe, but know that we will need to do the job again if that area is not paved over soon.
We know that Stelios has been doing some work in the garden but although he has been doing a stellar job at keeping the shrubs in shape all the cutting he has done was simply left on the floor so we set about raking it up as best we could and getting rid of it. Charlie decided to take on a supervisory role and sat in the corner on one of our old chairs making sure we did a good job. You can see that the shingle used to be sparkly and white and now it is brown from all of the dead leaves. Shingle is great if it can be kept clean but here weeds grow in the smallest amount of dust so get established pretty quickly and without a garden hoover it is nigh on impossible to pick all the debris up and get rid of it. Still a couple of hours meant we left and it was looking better than it had done and we removed all the moonflowers that were sprouting up in the border because they are a bugger when they take hold and they are also toxic. We did a headcount when we left to make sure that neither Charlie not Boo had snuck into 11b and had a look around to make sure that none of Sharon's cats were in there so we could lock up. A couple of times Stelios has gone home leaving a cat inside - fortunately not long enough for it to do any damage because generally either I or John or Sharon realise that one is missing.
We had earmarked today to go and tackle George and Pam's front garden and so were somewhat relieved that the weather was cooler. We had paid to have the front cleared some time ago and then had expected some of the Kailou's to come on holiday and decide what was to be done to the front. In the interim we covered over the bare earth with some weed suppressing membrane but could see lumps and bumps appearing from something growing underneath. We set about clearing the area with the help of Charlie.
The lumps and bumps revealed that the Four O'Clock plant or Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis Jalapa) had not been completely removed the first time and had now produced roots which were the size and thickness of my forearm and it would appear that if you leave the tiniest piece in the ground it will go forth and multiply. We removed what we could, John using the pick-axe, but know that we will need to do the job again if that area is not paved over soon.
So after a bit of brute force, ignorance and elbow grease we got the front garden looking back to neat and tidy - for now at least. Boris and Charlie had got bored and taken themselves off to the back garden and so we decided to go and spend some time in there too whilst it was cool.
We know that Stelios has been doing some work in the garden but although he has been doing a stellar job at keeping the shrubs in shape all the cutting he has done was simply left on the floor so we set about raking it up as best we could and getting rid of it. Charlie decided to take on a supervisory role and sat in the corner on one of our old chairs making sure we did a good job. You can see that the shingle used to be sparkly and white and now it is brown from all of the dead leaves. Shingle is great if it can be kept clean but here weeds grow in the smallest amount of dust so get established pretty quickly and without a garden hoover it is nigh on impossible to pick all the debris up and get rid of it. Still a couple of hours meant we left and it was looking better than it had done and we removed all the moonflowers that were sprouting up in the border because they are a bugger when they take hold and they are also toxic. We did a headcount when we left to make sure that neither Charlie not Boo had snuck into 11b and had a look around to make sure that none of Sharon's cats were in there so we could lock up. A couple of times Stelios has gone home leaving a cat inside - fortunately not long enough for it to do any damage because generally either I or John or Sharon realise that one is missing.
After the challenge of making lunch yesterday with my old cooker we decided to go and see what was on offer down in Polis. Externally my old oven looked ok but inside it was like the black hole of Calcutta and as I said yesterday when the shelves got warm they warped and then fell off the runners. We had resorted to having two sets in the bottom propping up one of the shelves. The incident with the hot fat and my arm made up our minds that it was time for it to go.
We went down to the Electrical shop in Polis and had a look at what they had on offer and we both liked the look of a mid-range one from Midea which was a bit less basic than the other one and had a special rack thingy so that you could pull a shelf out and whatever was on it would balance so you could see what was going on. The price included delivery and fitting and we had to race home to beat the fitter as they were able to do it there and then. I have told John I am not actually going to use this oven so that it always remains sparkly clean!!!
We returned to Polis to do our shopping and Isabel's shopping - mixing with the great unwashed - mainly tourists by the looks and sounds of things. On our return John took himself off to make sure that Bassam was ok and that none of his family had been affected by the recent explosion in Beirut. Fortunately all was ok. After that John nipped down to see Les to make sure he was still ok to come for tea tomorrow and whilst there rescued him from a DIY job that was causing some angst.
John had a video call with his Uncle David this afternoon and David recommended a film to us which he had watched yesterday called Tommy's Honour. He said it was a good little family movie and so we hoped it would be one to recommend to Mum - sadly not as it was set in Scotland and even I struggled with some of the dialogue especially as Tommy Senior had a big old moustache and bushy beard covering his lips. It was a good little film though and took us nicely up to bedtime. So thanks Uncle David for the tip.
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