Bonkers!!

This morning I was a nice neighbour and took Sonia to get the results of her blood tests and to ensure she got her prescription ok.  There is a rough carpark next to the Doctors clinic upon which there is an ancient house which seems to be used to house chickens.  It was once a magnificent colonial building.  On the side the original construction can be seen where the screed has fallen away.  It is a fascinating history of how the houses here were originally built and you can get a distinct feeling of the Middle East with the sandy colouring and finish particularly towards the back was a couple of palm trees - all that was missing was a camel or two and to be fair it isn't that many years ago when these were actually a common sight on the island.  Sadly a lot of this history is disappearing as buildings fall in to disrepair.

All was good for Sonia - she is stoically getting on with things and seeing what she can and what she cannot manage herself.  She is fiercely independent so hates asking for help but as it is her good wrist she had injured she needs a bit of support for completing certain tasks and it is going to be a while before she is driving again.

On my return I decided to tackle the plants in the garden which need to be cut back for the Winter.  It is hard to think about that on a day like today when we had lovely blue skies and a real warmth in the sun.

We have a couple of really nice days forecast before some heavy rain again so we need to grab the opportunity to be outside when we can.

Whilst I had been down in Polis John had taken down the bigger of the two clock vines that rambled over the gazebo under which we eat. This left me with the smaller one which is out the back along with a bougainvillea.  Both are still in flower but it was their time to go.

Over the archway there is another climber with a lovely pink flower - I am never sure whether this is a Pandorea or Podranea or whether these are both the same but this one needs cutting right back in order to get visible blooms next summer - it flowers from the new growth so keeping it short means that the new growth isn't over the wall and gracing the field next door!

Finally I gave Frank a haircut - Frank is a hydrangea which belonged to Mum and Dad's friend Frank who lived in Tala and who was married to Thelma.  Frank was a dapper man who had run a plantation in Kenya many years ago before retiring to Cyprus and then moving back to the UK to live near his grandson.  Amongst the things which Frank gave us was this ancient hydrangea which graces us with a beautiful display of flowers which are the palest of pinks with a green tinge.

It lives protected under the metal steps that lead to the roof terrace which is just as well because it is the right size for one or other of the cats to sleep on.

Now I think everything that must be cut back has been cut back and fortunately the garden doesn't look too bare.  The osteospurmum and some of the gazania have started to flower so there is a little colour still.

I had got pretty hot cutting things back and clearing up so when I looked at the swimming pool looking all sparkly and nice and having watched a video about some old ladies who went for a cold swim every morning and declared that the experience was such a positive one I decided to go for a swim!!

Here I am then - November 23rd and the water temperature is about 15 degrees Celsius and it is bracing to get in that's for sure but once in I reckon I lost sufficient feeling everywhere for it not to feel too bad!!!!

I did a bit of a swim around and got out to warm up in the sun and then had the luxury of a lovely warm shower which left my skin feeling oh so clean and tingly.

John thought I was barking but as I pointed out to him we did it three years ago until the water temperature said just 10 degrees Celsius!!

So that was it for me for today.  We had tea already sorted as we had sausage and mash left over from Friday which simply needed heating up and we had completed one of the jobs on our 'To-Do' list so felt we had accomplished something today so settled down in the warmth of the conservatory to watch a bit of crap tv.

We are in the last week of the current lockdown and hope that next week things will relax a little as there is now just over four weeks until Christmas and I have done nothing although I have to say it is quite hard to think about Christmas when you have just got out of a swimming pool!!!

Days like today are a real bonus and make us appreciate how lucky we are living here.

Our supper was lovely and watched a couple of episodes of the Yorkshire Vet before deciding to call it a day and go to bed.