Are we getting ready for Autumn or Winter?

 It is the end of September and we are being issued with weather warnings again - extremely high temperatures for this time of the year whilst our friends and family in the UK are putting their heating on - the world has truly gone mad.

It is hard to think about preparing the garden for the winter when the mercury is rising but if left so everything has to be done at the same time I generate so much garden waste that it is difficult to get rid of it.  At least now with the regular visits from the shoats and geep it is dispensed of quickly.

I was up mega early this morning and out and about getting stuff done.  I wanted to tidy up the vine which is beginning to look very autumnal and although the jasmine looked good and had flowered well all the growth right in the middle had died and so it seemed as good a time as any to give it a drastic haircut.

I like this bit of gardening but what I don't like is the mess that it creates.  Getting rid of the waste is one problem and then there are all the dead leaves and sticks which need clearing away in Bobster fashion which is time-consuming but actually rather therapeutic and satisfying when done.

The jasmine and the vine grow around the gazebo where we eat and I was conscious that this area had become home to a number of poo-machines - hawk moth caterpillars and at least two bright green grasshoppers that we were aware of.

I was pleased when I discovered the brown hawk moth caterpillar which had been around yesterday and amazingly both of the two bright green grasshoppers who hopped off to find a new home or at least to safety whilst I was running amok on the greenery.  There may well have been other things living there but I didn't see anything.

So here it is - Job Done!!!!  It looks so much cleaner and tidier and hopefully now the jasmine will grow back stronger.  We will need to cut the vine back again and the clock vine but for now what is left is fresh growth and the clock vine is still flowering so it seems a shame to take it down.  Tomorrow I plan to tackle the original passion flower which grows along the stone wall.

When we are home the cats seem to stick around near us.  I cannot be sure but I would reckon that Charlie is pretty comfortable in his chair!!!  He was the lucky one because we decided that all the other seating areas should be winterised and the soft furnishings but away before they start getting damp.

Minnie was most put out when the cushions from the furniture on the roof terrace were removed.  She mooched off to the steamers in Wendy and Bill corner only to find that they had gone as well!!!

The Do-Jo got the treatment next - everything packed away and the TV brought back indoors along with the cabinet which left us with a bit of a logistical conundrum but we sorted it - all I can say is thank god we are not minimalist!!!

We had started early before it got too hot and having reached a position where we wanted to stop we packed up and decided that we would reward ourselves with a swim.  

I had wanted to go to Tsakkas for a change but in the end we went to the normal place near La Plage. 

We had been on the way down to the coast when we received a call from Marky-Mark - he and Nicky were stuck in Peyia as their little car had a problem and they wanted us to drive down in the other car to rescue them.  They were waiting for the rescue people so we said we would go for a quick swim and then come and get them.  With that in mind we didn't go as far as Tsakkas and did what we said, had a quick and cooling swim.  When we got back to the car there was a message from Nicky to say that her mum's partner Bill was rescuing them so that was fine.

As we didn't have to go to Peyia and we hadn't had the outing we had planned we went to Porto Latchi corner and investigated what the icecream place had to offer.  John has pistachio and I had orange!

We returned home and decided to have a dip in the pool to get rid of the sea salt. I have to say that although the pool temperature was 27 degrees it felt a whole lot colder than the sea!

Having been up so very early we both decided to have an early tea and an early night.  We are on Fridge Surprise mode - I had cooked some pork on Saturday - Sticky Asian Port which needed eating up and there was some coleslaw and salad and some Lebanese wraps in the freezer so that was what we had - plus a lime jelly that I had made earlier.  You cannot beat a bit of jelly to get your tastebuds going when it has been hot and sticky and you have the taste of sea going on!!