Another fabulous walk and we avoid the rain!

The weather today was a real change from yesterday when it was so hot and muggy - today it was stormy but as Liselotte and I were walking down in the Valley at Akourdaleia I reckoned we should be ok and we were - in fact it was quite warm at times - warm enough for me to take off my dayglo top!!!

As we are still subject to time restrictions we met at the Herb Garden and I adjusted the route slightly so we didn't go up any blind alleys and added a different loop home which turned out to be a much more scenic and less arduous than the one which I had taken with Nicky.  I didn't know it was going to be like that but was glad it was because Liselotte likes a bit of rough road as opposed to tarmac!!!

Liselotte could remember that she had walked some of this route in the past but was more than happy to be walking it again and I was able to point out to her some of the beautiful plants that were growing along the roadside.  So many beautiful orchids and once you can recognise their form you can pick them out immediately.  I would like to think I might be able to find a book on the orchids of Cyprus - I have a book on Cyprus Flora which was Dad's but it doesn't have much about orchids.

This is not my photograph but I was very very excited to catch a glimpse of a fox which ran across our path as we approached the church of Agia Paraskevi - it shot down the ravine and we couldn't see where it went thereafter but I was chuffed because I have only ever seen one at night and a couple which were dead on the side of the road.

Our final little loop took us up to the little church where Welsh Caroline and French Clem got married and then on a tiny path which the walking Girlies had taken on our first walk ever last year!!!  Even though the weather looks iffy we had avoided any rain.

All in all a very nice walk and I shall do much the same with Rachel on Saturday but maybe miss out the first loop and add it at the end just to ring the changes.

The coptic got gradually worse as the day went on so we battened down the hatches and got the house ready for a Farmyard Takeaway which is about the best remedy for a coptic storm.  We were warm and cosy with a lovely meal and a little drop of vino to keep the storm at bay!!

A Warm Coptic Storm is Upon us

It is Wednesday and it is blooming hot because it is the start of the Coptic Storm called El Hossum which is the equinox bringer gale and which lasts 8 days.  Today it is bringing warm sand laden winds from the Sahara but then tomorrow is is bringing rain!!!!  It was hard to work out what to wear as it would be infinitely warmer at Mum's!!!

I had suggested to Mum that if we had time we might nip down the road to the garden centre and have a look but in reality that would have been pushing it and she said that she wanted some help with a jigsaw she had started - she hadn't realised that the pieces were normal sized rather than the over-sized that she finds easier to handle.  It was a tricky little number which featured four cats and I helped her out enough for her to be able to finish after I left.  We had a nice lunch together and John and I will be back down again on Sunday with lunch - she has requested Hunter's Chicken and I am more than happy to oblige.

I had to stop off en route because I had arranged to pick up some small hand-made 'shutters' which I want to put in the garden somewhere - not sure where but I have some birthday money and I want to put it towards the garden.  I also have plans for the metal container which Bassam gave me - I am going to plant it up with herbs after I have painted and distressed it (hopefully).  

The lady selling the shutters turned out to be the Mum of Rhys who played for John's 50th and my 60th!!  It was a super quick handover and all I have to do now is decide what is happening with them.  

Sadly the strawberry man wasn't at the Coral Bay junction today which was a bit of a shame as I had earmarked a fresh punnet to have with our tea tonight.  Fortunately we have a few left from my birthday as they were in reserve if the mango mousse thingy didn't work out!!!

I had left John this morning indulging in his new hobby - genealogy!!!!  He has decided to try and do his family free - initially he is starting using family memories and the freebie search sites on tintyweb before he decides whether or not to pay for more information.  If anyone reading this has any tips pleased let us know before we kill one another - I would do it one way, he listens to my advice and then ignores.  I did so many bloody complicated family trees at work for the probate department that I do feel I have a little bit of experience and some of them were done without the aid of any computer system or internet help.

Tonight I am over the moon because we had salad earmarked for our supper and it was being served with oven baked chilli infused brie and crispy bacon.  Look at the colours in that salad - how could you not enjoy a meal like that????  It was fabulous and we both really enjoyed it - the chilli infused brie was nice and I would buy it again if I see it on offer in Paps again.  Early night as I am walking with Liselotte in the morning weather permitting.

Happy Birthday to Me

 

Last year was my special birthday and John organised the most wonderful celebration and we were almost completely oblivious of what was to come in terms of Covid and our lifestyle.  Today my birthday meant that I was one step closer (in age) to getting called for my vaccination so we didn't have anything much planned except that John was walking with Liselotte and I was walking with Nicky, then later in the afternoon Di and Rob were joining our bubble and the four of us were to have a drink together before they went home and John became Chef Extraordinaire and cooked my meal.

Nicky and I were walking from the Herb Garden in Pano Akourdaleia down to Agia Paraskevi Church and then down to Kato Akourdaleia and back - it was to be a shorter but hillier walk than I normally tackle with her - her choice as she is hoping the exercise will have a positive effect on her nether region and thighs!

The descent to the church was absolutely stunning and it became a bit of a lesson in the flora of the island as we passed all different kinds of orchids.  I do love a good orchid and this year the giant ones are in abundance in all colours from white through to deep purple.  Today we also came across bee orchids and the suitably named Naked Man orchid!!!

I am not entirely sure how much descent we did but it was more than usual and as we walked it began to get warmer and warmer - I think Nicky slightly regretted her choice of sweat top!!  This path takes us down to the main road at Kato Akourdaleia - it is really hard to appreciate just how close you are to civilisation when all you can see for miles and miles are trees and fields.

We had a long hard slog back up to Pano Akourdaleia from Kato Akourdaleia but we took it slowly - we would make a decision as to how far we would go before having a breather and then we would turn round and look at the view behind us - that makes everything worthwhile and today we had several wow moments which is always very satisfying.

John had been to town today and visited the florist to get a bouquet made up for me from him and the cats including the gone but never forgotten Chivers.  On special occasions throughout our relationship he has given me the same configuration of one white rose surrounded by red ones.  The white rose is me surrounded by love and the combination signifies unity and truth and true love.  They are beautiful.

We had a very welcome hour or so with Di and Rob - it seems like a lifetime since we have been able to do anything remotely like socialising with them - we are supposed to be getting an announcement this week but the numbers are on the increase so we are not holding our breath - if we can we have invited them to come up and eat some supper with us next week.

My evening Birthday supper was superb - we had fillet steak from Mammas, skin-on paprika wedges, onion rings and coleslaw and mustard sauce and then followed that with a mango fool pudding.  It was lovely - it may not have been a 'special' birthday but it was certainly very special particularly in this mad mad world we find ourselves living in.

We find something very special, rare and endangered...

Monday and I had a lovely surprise visit from Sheila as she was nipping by to drop off a bumper bag of beautiful fruit and a birthday card for me for tomorrow.  She is looking really well and thankfully Klaus has recovered from a recent bout of ill health. It would be so good to be able to see them under less confined conditions and hopefully this week will bring an announcement which will allow us to do just that - fingers crossed!

As we had nothing much planned for today and as the weather turned out to be nicer than we had anticipated we decided to go and have a little bit of exercise and check out the route John has planned for his walk with Liselotte tomorrow as there were a couple of 'tracks' which we had chosen from the map and as we have found out these tracks can sometimes be impassable, been built over or simply don't appear to exist anymore!!!

The countryside is looking at its absolute best at the moment and it was glorious to walk around in the fresh air and be able to take our time as we were simply walking the unknown bits and driving the bits in between so we had bags of time.

I know that this photograph is out of focus but the sunshine on the phone did that but thank you Nicky for the tip on how to try and make sure that when I take them in future this doesn't happen or is less likely to happen!!!  Anyway we went down one very rural path which led to nowhere and at the end were these beautiful and unusual wild flowers growing everywhere - I have never actually seen anything like it before so on my return I posted them up onto the Biodiversity of Cyprus NGO group to find out what they were - I had an immediate reply to say these were very rare and endangered so not to divulge their whereabouts in case someone cuts them, or worse dig them up.  

These magnificent plants are Fritillaria Persica and are absolutely stunning.  I could not believe that the first place we found them there were hundreds of the purple spikes all around us and then again in a second spot I found a few more.

The path may not have lead anywhere in terms of a circular walk but in terms of hidden treasure this was right up there.  Beautiful, beautiful nature - you really cannot beat it.  I absolutely love the orchids which are in bloom at the moment but these knocked them into a cocked hat.  I see that the bulbs are available commercially and so therefore, hopefully, grown for that purpose not stolen from the wild so if I could get some I really would, but only legally.

We took Kenny on some right old off-roading but it was fun and we were very careful to go and recce the pathways first to ensure we didn't get stuck!  This was about the worst and I stood in the road at the bottom to ensure that John and Kenny got down in one piece which they did but it was a bit of a boneshaker.  On one path which John deemed 'fit for Ken' I put my foot down and said I would prefer he didn't - as the track petered out at a running river where the bridge was not wide enough to cross I felt this was a good call!!!

Anyway it was all great fun and we had a brilliant time exploring yet another hidden area in this beautiful corner of the island.  John got his walk for tomorrow sorted give or take a few bits and we got some fresh air and fun (no need to seek further amusement and pay and go into the zoo - which will mean something to anyone who knew my Dad!!).

Back home we tackled the cakes which Persephone had dropped off yesterday when she called round to check on Charlie and to hand over a bucket of tiles which fell off the sign when Tassos cleared the green area.  She came with Lemon drizzle which was amazing and some bourekia which tastes so much better than it looks.   Many thanks lovely neighbour it was very much appreciated.

We rounded off the day with a lovely pre-birthday drink at Nicky and Mark's which enabled us to have a good catch-up and Nicky and I are walking together in the morning.  John and I then went home to have our fabulous curry made from the leftover lamb shanks.  A smokey Lamb Dopiaza using on the Curry Frenzy Kits which was an absolute winner - you cannot go wrong with their mixes and the lamb having been slow cooked twice was melt in your mouth!!

We have lamb - mmm mmm mmmmmmmmmmm

This time last year we had a bumper weekend because Mother's Day (UK not Cypriot) and International Ladies' Day both happened and as a result Mum and I went shopping together and had a fabulous Cream Tea courtesy of Nicky with Nicky and her Mum Liz in Mum and Dad's old house then on the Sunday Mum, John and I went to a brilliant concert at the Winery with a buffet lunch and a glass or two of vino!!!  Sadly this year things are not the same - not least because UK Mother's Day is next Sunday!!!

This weekend, in spite of all the restrictions, we have treated ourselves to make it feel a bit special and, as a result, we have had a bit of a lamb-fest!!!

One of the things which I do miss from the UK is lamb - we have some sort of hybrid goat/lamb meat which can be quite stringy and often comes with a distinctive strong flavour which I don't like and I have yet to disguise.

Saturday night we had big fat juicy lamb shanks from the fabulous Shukrou butchers.  Admittedly they were frozen but they were New Zealand and lamb as we know it.  I slow cooked them and if anything they seemed to get more plump as the cooking went on - they were absolutely delicious but €13 for the two which is probably quite expensive by UK standards but there was so much meat that there was enough for me to turn into a smokey dupiaza curry for John and I on Monday night with a portion left over to give Les a little taster.  So really pound for pound or euro for kilo it didn't really work out expensive and we shall definitely be having them again and the local stray dogs who have attached themselves to Andreas's house benefitted from the bones!

On Sunday we were having a special pre birthday lunch with Mum and she had been kind enough to get a pack of lamb tenderloins from Kolios butchers - again frozen New Zealand, a different company from Shukrou but again just delicious.  I had part cooked most of the meal on Saturday so all we had to do was transport it to Mum's and finish it off.  I know she doesn't mind her lamb pink but not bloody so I had cooked hers for a little longer than ours because we really don't mind how rare it is.  Again this isn't a cheap choice around 15 euros for a pack which has about 5 small tenderloins inside but aside from a bit of sinew there is no waste.  I think it is fair to say that we all enjoyed this meal - there were three clean plates and we rounded it off with some lovely strawberries and fresh cream.  A lovely start to my muted birthday celebrations this year.

I walk with a Substitute today!!!

So I had to call in a substitute for Rachel when it came to walking today - she wasn't available so I had to take John with me instead - his conversation is somewhat different to that of the girlies!!!!  I had plotted a new route from Kritou Terra to Terra and back and round but Narky Nora had given me a track which appeared to cross a river but when we got to that point it was so overgrown we couldn't continue although John is keen to go back with clippers to see if we can open it up.  We had another track which took us across a field and then another which we couldn't find at all - it wasn't a problem as I can read a map so had alternatives up my sleeve so we could complete our exercise within our allotted time.  We loved it and we didn't argue - RESULT!!!

Although I had been through Terra with Nicky earlier in the week and thought we were retracing our steps we obviously didn't as we suddenly turned a corner to this amazing and magical view - wow and I mean wow what a beautiful place to sit and take in your surroundings.  I am in love with Terra and the interesting and diverse buildings and dwellings.

This is the approach to the first track, which was the one that led to nowhere - well not exactly nowhere we just couldn't push through but beyond that building we descended into a wooded dell which was beautiful and lush and cool but sadly impassable at the moment.  We could see where we wanted to be - so near but yet so far.

I replotted out route which caused Narky Nora to go into a flat spin - but our alternative took us through some beautiful countryside and then onto a track which led us across a field and down into a valley where we had to cross a river - fortunately there was a strategically placed stone so that I didn't have to get my boots wet!!

I took some video here (posted below) and as a result Narky Nora went to sleep at this point and for that reason we continued walking on the road when we should have turned right and found a track which took us cross country - will have to leave that for the next time but the views from the road were stunning so we didn't really mind.

Having missed that track our walk was shortened so as we came back up the main road to Kritou Terra we added in a loop turning right and coming up a hill passed an amazingly bonkers house (or pair of houses) on the left hand side where the owner was in love with stone so if it could be clad it was.  The plot or plots covered a massive area with an ecclectic mix of garden ornaments including a random lampshade, plaster cast of one of the 7 dwarves and a life sized eskimo doll sitting in a chair!!!

Our reward for the last minute detour is that you return to Kritou Terra on a beautiful rural path which takes you along a ridge with spectacular views and and bit of downhill at the end when we usually have to finish on uphill.    I have to say it was a fabulous way to spend 3 hours in beautiful sunshine!!!

Christmas comes early - or late!

I might be pleased that John managed to resurrect the gas fire, I know John is pleased too as that will save us some money for a while whist we decide upon a permanent replacement, but there is one member of the family who is ecstatic - Charlie!!!!

This is Charlie when he is ecstatic - he adopts the same posture when he is tired or trying to be cute - this is not what he does when he is hungry - he wails and scratches at the doors or taps at my display cabinet - I prefer Charlie when he is ecstatic!!

Joking aside we are coming out of winter so the requirement for the gas fire is getting less - we will continue to use it and then spend the summer doing our homework to see what we can get to replace it.  We think we will stick with gas as we like the look and it is clean and currently reasonably economical and only the other week John purchased some large gas bottles so we have plenty we need to use up.  March hasn't started out anything like as warm as February ended so we still need some heating to take the chill off the lounge in the evenings.

On the subject of Winter we have just received a Christmas Card from our lovely friends John and Sue Boulton - she posted it in the UK early December and it has arrived in time for my birthday!!!!  

Not that we don't think of them at any other time but we especially remember them on Christmas Eve which is their wedding anniversary and we spent many a lovely lunch with them on that day.  I remember a particularly fabulous one at the Northover Manor in Ilchester which I think was the year I was recovering from a major operation so that would have been 2001 I think.

Susan is my inspiration as she has for years battled terrible illnesses but always carries on regardless even during the toughest times.  Even during these difficult times she and John purchased an old property in France (in fact they purchased two) and they completely refurbished one and we went to stay - it was in a tiny mediaeval market town in the Limoges area and it was beautiful.  I later learned that the mother of my friend Louise Rance (who I met here in Cyprus) used to live in the same town - what a small world it is. 

So I will finish this blog with actually some real signs of Spring in the garden - the anemones have started to bloom and I love them.  It is always a bit of a surprise as to which ones survive but we have them in this shade of pink and others in blue.  Anyone gardening up here in Droushia would do well to plant some bulbs as they do well.

The mix of warm sunshine and some overnight rain recently has been ideal for the plants in the garden and I shall need to get out soon and start cutting some things back!  

The fish in the little pool must be active too as Boris is very interested in what is going on - he uses the pool as drinking water but recently we have caught him 'fishing' with his paw in the water - fortunately the mosquito fish are small, fast and difficult to see so hopefully they will evade capture.

Memories keep popping up of this time last year - who would have though that as we celebrated Nicky's 50th, the renewal of her and Mark's wedding vows on the beach, Mother's Day and my 60th life thereafter would not be quite the same again - we have friends who are now more hopeful that they may get to travel here this year - fingers crossed - time will tell!

The Hills are Alive!!!

So this was to be rather a different Thursday for me because I was walking with Rachel but not until this afternoon.

My morning was spent doing housework and ironing accompanied by the woeful England cricket team who had won the toss in India and chosen to bat and had obviously not heeded the advice of the 7p's (proper prior preparation prevents piss poor performance) because they put in a piss poor performance even though it was quite exciting from an Indian or neutrals' point of view.

John spent most of the morning trying to sort out our gas fire - I am sure he would rather have been watching the cricket but I kept him informed of our progress - or lack of it.

After having uttered the immortal words "I don't like to say so but that fire is really behaving itself nowadays" the other day the fire decided to start playing up and then not working at all.  John had it in bits yesterday when I was at Mum's and found a component that was faulty and he didn't have any idea as to whether or not he would be able to fix it.  We know that we bought that fire way before we moved over and it was stored at the shop and then at Mum and Dads and then when we had it fitted it was a right old nightmare (a very long story which you can find somewhere in the early posts of this blog) - since then John has replaced just about every part of it but now we don't think parts are still available and getting them from the UK would cost us an arm and a leg so if it had died we decided we would have to go and find a replacement when restrictions are eased enough for us to want to go down to Paphos to look.  I have to say the boy done good because he managed to repair it and it will last a little longer - at least it gives us some breathing space to find a replacement.

I felt quite happy to go out walking knowing that I wasn't leaving John with a nasty and possibly expensive job on his hands and the weather was fabulous - so much so that I had to find some shorts and a vest because I could see it was going to be pretty warm.

I met Rachel at the Farmyard and we walked down towards Akourdaleia and then turned right and went across country to Theletra.

Most of this walk was new and unknown territory.  Normally at Theletra we turn right and walk back towards the main Stroumbi/Kathikas road but today we were turning left onto some very minor tracks which took us through some lush and beautiful countryside.  We headed across towards the top of Akourdaleia.

This was a tough walk.  We scrambled down some very steep paths which were basically constructed of shale so had to be careful not to trip and fall - particularly as there was a ravine to our right.  Then we came out onto a better road which we could see disappearing away in front of us going up, up. up - Rachel christened this our 'Labrynth' walk as we couldn't quite see the route we would be taking.  I didn't want to worry her but part way through the walk Mrs Narky Nora gave up the ghost for some reason so our route was down to my map reading!!!

We walked until we met the main Kathikas/Akourdaleia main road and then turned left to come up the main road for a short way before we turned right and went across country to make our way back to the Farmyard - it is always interesting to walk with Rachel because she can often tell me who lives in which house or a bit of local social history and in return I hope she gets a wow moment (in a good way) as she takes in the scenery.

She did incredibly well today because we had several long and very steep hills to negotiate and one of the worst was right at the end of the walk when we were both feeling pretty knackered.  She just got on with it and actually power walked up the last bit with me trotting on behind as she has a much longer stride than I do!!!

We managed the 10km just within our allotted time and although a bit hot and bothered both agreed that it had been another lovely walk.  I don't know if she will be able to come out on Saturday - it will be work and home life permitting - if not I am going to drag John out instead.

Fortunately we had lasagne left over from last night so supper was just a reheat and we had fresh salad and garlic bread with it.  It felt so much like a Saturday that I will be at sixes and sevens all day tomorrow!!!

The forecast looks fair for the next week so not sure what we will do tomorrow - I really need to get out into the garden now that we have had some rain - everything has started to sprout again and there are still things that need to be cut back having been ravaged by the storms.

Stormy

The normal routine of my lockdown week has been somewhat disrupted this week and so I am struggling to work out what day it is save that I was going to Mum's today for lunch so that means it is Wednesday!!  The weather was very stormy this morning so I had to pick my moment so that I could avoid any thunder and lightning.

I did manage to catch the strawberry man at Coral Bay who looked like he was about to pack up and go home and we had earmarked strawberries for our pud this evening.  They are local and in season and a punnet from him is 3 euros whereas in the supermarket they are edging up to 4 euros and they are fresh and firm and keep that way in the fridge for a couple of days.  We have them as they are, nothing on them and nothing with them and they are beautiful.

I had lunch with mum and then we did a bit of sorting of her airing cupboard - Lilian's charity shop and I will benefit from some goodies which Mum no longer needs or wants.  I rescued some grey throws which will be ideal for saving the furniture from the cats.  On that subject I got to nurse Freddo this afternoon - a new slim-line Freddo - and as the subject for this week's challenge is Eyes I thought I might get him to sit still enough to take a photograph but absolutely no chance - every time I thought I had cracked it he moved!!

The weather when I got home had deteriorated - and we knew we were in for a storm.  As we looked down towards the coast and Polis and Argaka it was absolutely as black as your hat with a few strange white clouds (looking like smoke) peeking up behind Andreas's house.  

This was in stark contrast to the weather seen from the other side of the house (towards Kathikas) which is where I had come from!  Mum said that she avoided any storms but during the course of the evening we got bursts of heavy rain, rumbles of thunder and the odd flash of lightning although for once we did not lose power.

We had a lovely evening - I had prepped supper yesterday so we were having lasagne, garlic bread and salad followed by the strawberries.  The house was toasty warm because John had lit the woodburner earlier and our lovely meal was followed by a rare but very welcome win by the Mighty Blades!!!

Terra and Kritou Terra

Monday Monday - so good to me - Monday Monday we are walking - me and Nicky!  

Tomorrow is Nicky's birthday so we had decided to walk today and I had wanted to find a new walk which was not too long and not too much in terms of ascent and descent and I had plotted one which started in Kritou Terra and then went to Terra and back.  I wasn't exactly sure what route it was going to take but all that area is beautiful.

In Terra we were fascinated by a house which had a fabulous set of arches being constructed in the garden, constructed or preserved - we weren't entirely sure until we got up close and then although they looked old and original we believe they were being built new to look old.  The house was called Villa John and we will return at some point to check out the progress.

Terra is a very interesting village - there are some fabulous houses and a lovely feeling of calm - even the dogs were really quiet - we passed two husky types who viewed us with suspicion but nothing else - not a bark!!!  We were enjoying a different sort of walk which took us through some village life - normally we walk in countryside.

We turned away from the village into some absolutely stunning countryside - everything is so lush and green and full of colour and full of the smell of broom which is heady and fabulous.   I didn't have any idea what sort of walk I had plotted but this was turning into a real winner.

We passed by an old cemetery which we think might have been Turkish - it was quite overgrown and the headstones were a strange shape with weird writing on them.  I shall have to look at the origins of Terra to find out whether it had a Turkish population at some point in the past.  Anyway we carried on walking and Nicky asked if we might be going anywhere near the waterfalls but I had to admit that at this stage I really didn't know.

As it happens, and not clear from this photograph but we did end up walking along the path which looks down onto the waterfalls and it was stunning.  Looking across we can see that the path down to the cave has been furnished with wooden hand rails to make it safer - the first time we walked down there, there was nothing at all so you took your life in your hands!!!

We did not take the route straight back into the village - no, no, no that would be too easy!!!! we walked up past the waterfalls and then off to the left and round in a loop from where we had the most fabulous panoramic view of the whole area that we had walked.

As we returned to the place where we had parked the car we realised that Kritou Terra was still celebrating Christmas as they had their nativity scene still out!!!  We had completed nearly 9Km with a reasonable and acceptable amount of ascent so that we weren't completely knackered on our return.  Although we had heard a couple of very loud rumbles of thunder we had managed to avoid any rain or inclement weather - actually it had been a really lovely walk.