Good Old Uncle John...

Today was a nice quiet sort of day as we did not have anything much planned until Simon, Melanie and the girls came round which was to be later this afternoon and then we were heading to Inea for something to eat.

John nipped down to Prodromi to do the recycling and to pick up a few essentials for our meal tomorrow and whilst he was gone I invited 
Bee around for a quick catch up to see how her trip to the UK had gone which included her first meeting with her newest grandchild.  I also wanted to see how the first encounter of their dog Lindy and their kitten Lola had panned out.  Lindy was confused and sought refuge, Lola ruled the roost - they will be fine then!!

It continues hot, we now have yet another weather warning for extreme temperatures - I have been getting up early and watering then but think maybe it is better to water at night then there is no danger of the sun scorching any leaves where moisture remains.

I usually do a pass around the garden in the morning to see how things are coping.  Some of the plants which I had expected to struggle - like the ferns which normally like cool damp spots are thriving - the geraniums are suffering and on some they have lost the colour in their leaves which is apparently heat stress.

On my walk round I was gutted to see that the lime tree has been attacked by the dreaded mealy-bug.  These are disgusting soft bodied things which can decimate the plants they attack very quickly.  I have been keeping an eye but the lime tree is in an area which gets very little breeze and so the inside of the tree is humid and damp and this is perfect for these bugs.  On-line it says a mix of washing up water and apple cider vinegar sprayed all over them in the morning and then blasting it with the hose at night to dislodge any remaining bodies.  I shall start this today and hope I can save the tree which did have some baby limes on it but fear I may have to bite the bullet and cut it right back.  I have had a good look round and think the infestation is confined to the lime thank goodness.

I had a quick catch up with Nicky - rescuing her from her housework in this heat seemed the least I could do!!

The Rogers' arrived late afternoon and good old 'uncle' John entertained the girls in the pool whilst Melanie, Simon and I sat in the shade and caught up on what has been happening in their lives.  We then walked to Inea to go and get a meal in the grill house there.  We had a lovely evening - although we thought there might be a rebellion by the girls when there wasn't any taramasalata!!!!   We had other dips, bread, salad, chips, chicken kebab and sheftalia with beers and cokes and water and it came to less than 40 euros for the six of us!!!  Anyway big thanks to Melanie and Simon for paying for our meal which we had not expected.  We have resolved to try and meet up more regularly and I have promised when it is a bit cooler to have them for Sunday Lunch with Nanny Mo.

I think it is fair to say that Frances loves John.  She took his hand and walked home with him chatting all the way whilst John entertained her by making shadow animals on the road in front of her.  Altogether a lovely evening.