A lovely night out with Rob and Di

I did not sleep well last night and woke this morning feeling out of sorts.  I think the heat has got to me and I am just feeling a bit off which is not good because later in the day we were going out for dinner with Rob and Di to celebrate his birthday which was on Wednesday.  As a result I spent a very quiet day in and around the house increasing my water intake.

I have been really troubled by the situation in Afghanistan watching people desperate to flee the Taliban - having had many, many friends serve over there it saddens me to think that their efforts may well have ultimately been in vain.  There was also the terrible sight of 'Pen' Farthing with his Afghanistani staff and his rescued animals being turned away from Kabul Airport at the last minute even though they had thought they had all secured safe passage out of this hell hole.  There has been an update to say that Farthing and the animals have been allowed back into the airport for onward journey but not the staff and family members that he has fought so hard to protect.  

Today, August 27th, the island celebrates Saint Phanourios.  Each year on the eve of 27th Greek Orthodox's bake a cake called Fanouropita to honour Saint Phanourios/Fanourios and then the cake is taken to church to be blessed.  Saint Fanourios if the saint for Lost Things and worshipers ask hm to help find people or things which have been lost.  It is a fasting cake made traditionally using 7 or 9 ingredients - the numbers symbolise the mysteries of the church, the days of creation and the angels' battalions.  I believe the cake is then shared with 7 different households.

We were out fairly early this evening.  Di had very kindly offered to drive and she and Rob had chosen to go to No9 in Latchi which is right on the beach.  We did go a couple of years ago for Di's birthday which is earlier in the year and it was very very warm on that occasion so we went prepared!  Tonight it was a lovely balmy evening and we settled down for a good catch up on what we had all been up to since we last met.  The food was good - there is a small menu and it is nicely presented - what I call 'pretty food'.  John had a nice camembert salad to start, I had fried goats cheese with a sauce and Di and Rob both had scallops on black pudding.  Rob and I had fillet steak, Di a rib-eye Steak and John the rack of lamb and we washed it down with a bottle of Tsangarides Agios Ephraim.  It is though, right on the edge of our budget when it comes to eating out so we are unlikely to go again any time soon unless it is someone else's choice of venue.  Having said that it was a lovely evening with Di and Rob which we rounded off back at ours with a coffee and a night cap.