Monday and all is good

I am not saying that Charlie is hungry but today I found him in the cupboard trying to pick out his own pouch!!!  Charlie is a tad confused by all the changes in the neighbourhood with so many new people around and it would appear he visits them all at some point or another so it is a good job that most of them are friendly towards him and hopefully Persephone is the only other one that feeds him.   He has certainly lost weight over the last couple of months but I think it is only because it has been so hot.

We have been lucky enough to spot some interesting birds over the last couple of days.  Neither of these are my photographs because our view was fleeting and the birds too quick or far away to capture.  The first was what turned out to be a Shrike which was on one of the electricity cables going up the concrete road from the main road.  I saw this bird with a pale throat, body and tail and dark head which sat with its tail pointing downwards and saw that it had a small beak - I had thought it might possibly be some sort of small bird of prey so wasn't far wrong but we had to do some investigation before I was satisfied that it was a shrike that I had seen.  We also flew behind a Hoopoe - I had thought they were migratory so hadn't expected to see one this time of year but as we came out of the top end of the estate and along the 'new road' before dropping down onto the old road a Hoopoe flew out in front of us and carried on until it settled into a tree.

We did our shopping this morning and then decided to go down to the cemetery this afternoon and give the plants a water.  Dad's little 'pinks' have flowered for months and still look good which is just as well as the Chysanths Mum bought from Lidl are struggling a bit.  I watered and dead headed and John took the hose and gave David's a water at the same time.

We are thrilled that Lakis, Argy and Kia have all been given a clean bill of health both from their NHS test which didn't come back in time for them to fly with it and from the test that they then had to take on arrival.  Now that we know all is good we went around to welcome them back.  Their holiday this year is going to be so very different from last year because they have arrived around the time they would normally think about leaving and Covid-19 has changed attitudes to socialising and the ability to do so.  The picture above is from last year when we had a very pleasant evening at the Latchi Family Resort with which they have a family connections.

They came with gifts for us which was so kind of them.  They are grateful that we keep an eye on their property when they are not there and for the things which we do for them whether they are in London or in Cyprus.  We do so with pleasure but it is really nice to feel appreciated.   It was a bit like Christmas with carrier bags of goodies - we get a bit embarrassed by their generosity but Argy said this time it was a bit different because they had brought with them a fabulous present for my 60th birthday.  It is a date they cannot forget as Lakis and I share the same birthday!!! They will be here now for a couple of months at least so we will have plenty of time to make more memories with them.