Oh Lord it is hot and now sticky which is not good. I really don't want to go out anywhere much and particularly not with the great unwashed on the island. There are worrying signs that the virus is not under control although arguably with greater testing comes greater detection rates.
The odd situation where Cypriot Nationals and Residents can return without a negative test and sit on a plane full of people who have had to pay for tests and come back negative is bizarre - if any one of the former prove to be positive how many of the latter will then test positive at a later date? Most of our visitors have decided to defer their travel here this year and we think that is a sensible thing to do especially as the 'air bridges' are likely to collapse at the drop of a hat so that on their return to the UK they have to self-isolate for 2 weeks.
When I say it is hot I mean it is so hot that the candles in the lounge have begun to melt and they are in the shade all day! It is a balancing act between shutting everything up and lowering the blinds to try and keep it cooler or opening everything up and catching whatever breeze there might be.
The trick is to manage the humidity levels in the house so the breeze solution is better in that respect. We have noticed that the cooler nights have produced more in the way over overnight condensation so the atmosphere is generally more humid during the day.
I would recommend to anyone who is living over here, and doesn't have one, to invest in a dehumidifier as it is amazing how much moisture they extract from the atmosphere. We have one in the bedroom area which runs just about all day, every day. The new one we bought recently from the electrical shop in Polis is compact, quiet, efficient and cheap to run. The first year we were here we had all sorts of problems with damp lingering around, not helped by the fact that our shower room sits between the two bedrooms and has no outside wall or window - just a little extractor so the steam was escaping into the bedrooms and causing issues.
After we had the last lot of windows covered in the UV film stuff we kicked ourselves for not having the backdoor and two small windows done at the same time. These face the early morning rising sun and so for most of the summer we have the blinds down and the curtain across the back door trying to keep it cool but this also makes it dark so we contacted Ian and asked him to do them when he was next up this way. He had said he would be with us about mid-day but came early which was good and got the job done quickly and now we have all the windows done.
As there is a test match on and Liselotte has eventually managed to get across to Denmark to see her Dad the two John's decided to spend a couple of hours together watching the cricket at the gin-bar in Kathikas. I was happy to drop them over and have some peace before picking them back up again.As we were leaving I could smell the unmistakable scent of fire followed by the sound of two fire spotting planes overhead and then later the rumble of the water carrying helicopters. The fire was in Droushia, initially it looked to be much closer than it actually was and we feared it was in the field just behind Kelly's but it was much further down than that. Hopefully nothing got hurt and it was just on open land and dealt with.
I noticed a new sign at the turning for Kritou Terra advertising a Bistro/Taverna which looks interesting. I am guessing, because the old sign for the Taverna in Kritou Terra has been removed, that it is he same place but under new management and with a new name. It would be nice to think there is another good eatery nearby. I shall see if I can find any information about the menu and maybe we might go and try it. I know that Persephone is here tomorrow for her holidays so I have told her about it as she and Savvas may well check it out as they have asked me about local tavernas in the past.
Just as I was pulling into the estate I managed to pick up a screw in the back tyre of Kenny - the workmen had got a digger to remove all their building waste earlier in the day so I am guessing it was a stray screw which escaped and sod's law was that I picked it up. It isn't too much of a problem here if you get a puncture as they will still repair them if that is possible and often free of charge so that will be a little job for John to sort out tomorrow as we still have The Pug available.
It was left-overs for us for tea tonight which included the sweetcorn I had forgotten was still in the microwave. Mmmm mmm mmm - chicken skewers, Cypriot potatoes, lentil salad and the infamous sweetcorn. Still as nice the second time round!!!
We settled down for the remainder of the cricket - wishing we hadn't bothered - England were woeful.
The odd situation where Cypriot Nationals and Residents can return without a negative test and sit on a plane full of people who have had to pay for tests and come back negative is bizarre - if any one of the former prove to be positive how many of the latter will then test positive at a later date? Most of our visitors have decided to defer their travel here this year and we think that is a sensible thing to do especially as the 'air bridges' are likely to collapse at the drop of a hat so that on their return to the UK they have to self-isolate for 2 weeks.
When I say it is hot I mean it is so hot that the candles in the lounge have begun to melt and they are in the shade all day! It is a balancing act between shutting everything up and lowering the blinds to try and keep it cooler or opening everything up and catching whatever breeze there might be.The trick is to manage the humidity levels in the house so the breeze solution is better in that respect. We have noticed that the cooler nights have produced more in the way over overnight condensation so the atmosphere is generally more humid during the day.
I would recommend to anyone who is living over here, and doesn't have one, to invest in a dehumidifier as it is amazing how much moisture they extract from the atmosphere. We have one in the bedroom area which runs just about all day, every day. The new one we bought recently from the electrical shop in Polis is compact, quiet, efficient and cheap to run. The first year we were here we had all sorts of problems with damp lingering around, not helped by the fact that our shower room sits between the two bedrooms and has no outside wall or window - just a little extractor so the steam was escaping into the bedrooms and causing issues.
After we had the last lot of windows covered in the UV film stuff we kicked ourselves for not having the backdoor and two small windows done at the same time. These face the early morning rising sun and so for most of the summer we have the blinds down and the curtain across the back door trying to keep it cool but this also makes it dark so we contacted Ian and asked him to do them when he was next up this way. He had said he would be with us about mid-day but came early which was good and got the job done quickly and now we have all the windows done.
As there is a test match on and Liselotte has eventually managed to get across to Denmark to see her Dad the two John's decided to spend a couple of hours together watching the cricket at the gin-bar in Kathikas. I was happy to drop them over and have some peace before picking them back up again.As we were leaving I could smell the unmistakable scent of fire followed by the sound of two fire spotting planes overhead and then later the rumble of the water carrying helicopters. The fire was in Droushia, initially it looked to be much closer than it actually was and we feared it was in the field just behind Kelly's but it was much further down than that. Hopefully nothing got hurt and it was just on open land and dealt with.
I noticed a new sign at the turning for Kritou Terra advertising a Bistro/Taverna which looks interesting. I am guessing, because the old sign for the Taverna in Kritou Terra has been removed, that it is he same place but under new management and with a new name. It would be nice to think there is another good eatery nearby. I shall see if I can find any information about the menu and maybe we might go and try it. I know that Persephone is here tomorrow for her holidays so I have told her about it as she and Savvas may well check it out as they have asked me about local tavernas in the past.
Just as I was pulling into the estate I managed to pick up a screw in the back tyre of Kenny - the workmen had got a digger to remove all their building waste earlier in the day so I am guessing it was a stray screw which escaped and sod's law was that I picked it up. It isn't too much of a problem here if you get a puncture as they will still repair them if that is possible and often free of charge so that will be a little job for John to sort out tomorrow as we still have The Pug available.
It was left-overs for us for tea tonight which included the sweetcorn I had forgotten was still in the microwave. Mmmm mmm mmm - chicken skewers, Cypriot potatoes, lentil salad and the infamous sweetcorn. Still as nice the second time round!!!
We settled down for the remainder of the cricket - wishing we hadn't bothered - England were woeful.
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