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!