Around Droushia

Our Saturday was lazy and a little disjointed as everything took a little longer to complete than we had anticipated!!  We did not rise early, we took our time having breakfast and then nipped down to Polis to get a few bit and pieces and then came home and parked up and unpacked and then went for a walk in the village.  The house in the picture above is being restored and rebuilt - I need to find a photograph of this from some years ago when it was beautiful but falling down - in fact I rescued a large bottle from there which was for poison and which I used as a vase for some time.  We don't know why the building is being refurbished - whether it is a community project or someone has simply bought it - I don't know the history but the President's Mother's house is directly opposite.

Since they have finished the cobbles (we assume they have finished) there seems to have been a general tidying up of many of the older properties.  This is on the road which meets up with the one on which Clare and Les live.  The house is a nice old property and looks even better for having the stone wall erected outside with the little inserts with mosaics inside.  We walked this way and called by to see if Les was there - he was but Clare was out shopping.  Les has put on weight since Clare has returned so physically he is looking in better shape but he still seems confused and 'out of sorts'.

This is a view of the centre of the village looking towards Marios's bar.  We still have the last vestiges of the Easter celebrations on show - my guess is that these will remain in situ for several months!  The village is very quiet and we can only hope that from now on the relaxation of restrictions and the possibility of some tourists will improve the situation.  We called by the post office to check the post and to have a little chat with Marina who was in there making Koupepia (traditional stuffed vine leaves which are sadly not my favourite).

We carried on through the village to go to the cemetery and water the flowers in the trough on Dad's grave and here we bumped into Bassam and his daughter Lola who were tidying up Elena's grave which is located directly behind Dad.  It was good to see them both and nice to see that they were visiting Elena even though for Bassam this is not his religion.  I take my hat off to this lovely man who lost his wife, the love of his life at far too young an age and then was left to bring up three young children on his own which he has done and they are, to his credit, fine young adults.  Lola is now taller than me but still loves to have a bit of a cuddle when we meet.  She and I are going to spend a few hours, when it is cooler, re-blacking the letters on Elena's grave and my Dad's grave.

Bassam invited us to call round on our way home and have coffee but we had organised to go and meet Ross and Jack who had bought Sheila and Klaus's house - we have been in contact via social media and I have met and spoken to Ross in person on a couple of occasions but we had not really met her husband Jack who had been very ill since they had moved in during out first lockdown last year.

We sat in the garden and had a drink and a chat so we could get to know one another.  As things have been shutdown, reopened, shutdown AGAIN they have found it difficult to get to know people in the village and build themselves a social life but we are more than happy to try and help them out.

It was very strange for me to go back into that house as I have not been since Sheila and Klaus moved out.  I have so many fabulous memories of my art mornings and lunches with them and Sunday lunches with John and Mum and Dad but I do think for Sheila and Klaus their move to Goudi was a really positive one even though we do miss them greatly.

I joked with Ross that I would take a photograph of her fabulous buddha which is in the garden and submit it in this week's challenge but I have already done mine.  She and Jack were in Oman for many years and they have some absolutely stunning bits and pieces which reflect their time spent in the Middle East.

We walked back home via Les's as Clare had returned from a shopping trip to Paps.  John spent some time with Les listening to him play his guitar and helping to find a missing plectrum - what was not actually missing just in Les's pocket and he hadn't realised.  I sat and talked to Clare who told me about the difficulties she had encountered trying to get out of Hong Kong to be with Les.  I have to be honest I had no idea what a struggle this had been - the Chinese administration make it so difficult if you need to leave and are not intending to return because you have to leave with a completely clean sheet - she explained that packing up the last of their things and shipping them back, clearing any outstanding tax and breaking her contract had been challenging and long winded - she was finally able to come to Cyprus on 'sick leave' and had been overwhelmed by the situation she found herself in on her return.  How sad - it makes both John and I feel so grateful that we have our health and we have each other and we have friends and family near and far to lean on and support us.