Catching up with Besties...

Wednesdays in March are proving to be very trying weatherwise - we had wild weather overnight and storms this morning which included thunder, lightning and hail.  I was due to go to Mum's so had to check her weather to know what to wear.  She had had storms but was enjoying a bit of brighter weather so I wasn't going to rearrange my trip.

It is cold, colder than in January and February.  We had our electricity meter read yesterday and this year we have managed to generate sufficient power for what we have consumed - or at least until now!!!  Everyone is saying that they have never known this coptic to have been so bad in previous years.    

Hopefully the dip in temperatures will be short lived and we can resume to more normal conditions.  My poor garden doesn't know whether it is coming or going and the pool is in a shocking state.  Today we realised that part of my shed roof had blown away (fortunately the additional layer of triplex John had put on top as extra protection).  It had been secured down and John had put a hefty piece of wood on top to make sure it stayed in place after it went walkabouts the last time but the winds last night had blown the wood almost over into the field next door and the triplex had flown away.  John went in search and found it halfway to Andreas's.  It was a bit battered but will last a little while longer.  

I did a quick walk around the garden picking up bits and pieces which had been lifted and moved - some of the flowers are looking in a right sorry state - such a shame as they were a picture - in fact I posted a photograph only the day before yesterday.

I got myself ready and went down to Mums.  I was taking some home-made pate for our lunch and Mum had got a nice baguette to have with it.  Today we were going to have a walk around her bungalow to check what needed to be put in place in case there is another power cut like last week.  She has an assortment of torches and LED lights which we strategic placed in areas where, should it be dark she might trip or bang her legs, she has the information as to what to do to ring the Electricity Board and what to look for in case a fuse has tripped.  She also has a nice new mobile phone case as my handiwork hit the spot with a minor alteration.  We had a lovely time together before I had to shoot off in order not to overstay my permission!

I stopped very briefly on my way home to try and capture the sea at Potama Bay (Sea Yous) - it was wild and rough and every shade of blue and green imaginable but my phone did not do it justice and I was needing to get back home anyway.  Last time we came that way the Police were doing spot checks on peoples requests to go out and I knew I would be there or thereabouts in Droushia providing nothing delayed me further.

By the time I got home it was to be a quickish turnround as we had been invited to Di and Rob's this afternoon at 4.00pm for a get together and a late birthday tea for me.  We have not seen them since my birthday when they called in for a cuppa.  They, like us, are keeping themselves to themselves and not mixing.  As we were saying, it is pointless getting wound up by what others are doing, or not doing, we just need to ensure we do what we are comfortable with to try and see this thing out.

We were quite excited about meeting up with them - like old times when we used to have our Droushia Days Out.  Who would have thought that there would have come a time when setting off for the day to discover new parts of the island or rediscover places not visited for some time would become subject to a request and then within a timescale of only 3 hours?  We hope that it will not be too long before we can do this again unencumbered by request, restrictions and masks.

Anyway I digress, Di had gone to town and put on a fabulous spread for us.  We started with a brilliant spicy sweet potato and carrot soup (I must ask her for the recipe) then there was a quiche with a pimped up coleslaw followed by crustless sandwiches, cheese and cucumber and smoked salmon and cream cheese.  This was topped off by lemon drizzle cake, little Bakewell type cakes and a fruit loaf.  It was absolutely fantastic and it was so very kind of her to go to so much trouble.  Thank you Di (and Rob) it really was very much appreciated.