I take Mum on a nice drive...

This was our early morning sunshine on 20th December and the sun was strong enough to burn off the clouds and leave us with a glorious day.  It is infinitely warmer out than in except in our conservatory which was a very respectable 25 degrees for most of the day.

I had cooked the unknown piece of meat within an inch of its life and ended up with some pretty acceptable pulled pork which I served with some coleslaw and roasted hasselback potatoes and for pud we had a pear and raspberry crumble with cream and even if I do say so myself it was really lovely.  

With the past two Sunday lunches scoring highly on the Mo Tregunna scale I am expecting a culinary disaster to befall my efforts on Christmas Day - that is the law of Sod.

With the Mighty Blades involved in a bottom of the table tussle this afternoon at 2.00pm I decided to escape with Mum and go on a road trip voyage of discovery.  We started out by driving around the newly opened and cobbled streets of Droushia which Mum thought looked nice and then set off across country on the Androlikou Road heading down for Latchi where we planned to have a little walk along the harbour.  We came across a fabulous picnic bench in the middle of nowhere under an old Carob tree with far-reaching views down to the coast - years ago we would have earmarked this as a potential resting place for our Boxing Day pasties but Mum's days of a route march are long over.

It was a beautiful drive made even more beautiful by the deep blue clear skies of a Cypriot Winter like we used to have years ago.  There was a real warmth to the sun and I was beginning to regret my choice of jeans and jumper!!!  

We carried on down the hill heading towards the coast and swung by the home that Kia is staying in.  It is her birthday this week and she will be 91 - we think she is being taken out for her birthday and the Festive Period by her son (she will need a clear covid test in order to return) so we will pop by tomorrow with a card and a gift for her.

We parked up in Latchi by the harbour and took a walk on the far side down to the end and back.  It was glorious and by then I knew my wardrobe choice was completely at odds with the temperatures!!!  There were a few people walking about and a couple of people fishing but really it was eerily quiet - like some extra terrestrials had been and removed all the people - just leaving the port cats behind.

We got to the statue of Queen Regina at the end - what a view with the sea and the sky behind!

We walked back enjoying the sunshine and reminiscing about the times we had done that before with Dad and the Boxing Days we had supped Mulled Wine and eaten our pasties kept warm in Dad's 'hot' box creation (a cool box with stone sets heated in the oven and wrapped in tea towels popped in the bottom and the pasties cooked, wrapped and kept warm on top).  

One year we ate pasties sitting in the garden of one of the very exclusive beach front houses courtesy of some friends who looked after the property and had asked permission.  One year we ate pasties with Jane and John in a wheelchair because he had broken his ankle and another year we ate pasties with Elaine and her then husband Paul.  This year we will eat the pasties at home - at least then they will be freshly baked and they always taste better that way.

We returned home via the cemetery - where all is good but I have in mind to go get something festive to sit on Dad's grave - we can take it down on Christmas Day with a little 'snifter' so that he is included in the celebrations.