Great friends and neighbours

After the last few weeks we were aiming for a quiet day at home today.  We are starting the long job of getting the garden ready for Winter - we had left things whilst we visitors because I always think the garden looks really bare but obviously lots of things benefit from a haircut.  We had decided to remove a couple of plants in the front garden - there was an oleander that never flowers (not enough sunshine I think) and my sage which was getting really old and woody and it is super strong in flavour so I rarely cooked with it as it was so overpowering.  It was actually nice to give this area a bit of attention and it looked tidier as a result.  I have replaced the sage with a little shrub which hopefully I will be able to keep small and apparently it has a lovely fragrance when in flower.  Time will tell!

Out the back we turned our attention to the vine and the jasmine.  The vine was over and done with and was busy covering everywhere with crispy brown leaves - the jasmine was ok on the top but where it grew up a post was bare and brown.  I decided to cut it right back - it has two chances and actually taking both those two down opens up the outside dining area - I quite like it!  You can see from the photograph that the weather continues to be glorious although rain is forecast for later this week.

This evening we had very kindly been invited to eat at Lakis and Argy's - their newly glassed in space was to be our dining area for the evening - we joke that it would be absolutely perfect if there were a couple of musicians up on the top balcony!!!

Doing what they have done to the space between the two buildings has created an absolutely fabulous and versatile space which they can eat and sit when it starts to get cooler here in the evenings.

We had a lovely evening.  Argy had cooked leg of lamb and her absolutely legendary unbeatably yummy roast potates which she served with salad and dips and cauliflower cheese.  It was absolutely fabulous and we know she had had a stressful day so we were doubly grateful to her.  I was also absolutely delighted to hear that she had cooked the fillet steaks I had got for her from Shuks and Lakis said they were amongst the best he had ever tasted - I know Naz will be thrilled to hear that.

Sadly Lakis and Argy are going back to the UK on Monday, earlier than they had hoped but circumstances mean that they need to go now.  They have achieved so much with the house this year, not only the glassed in area but also a great car port and a much bigger pump house than they had before - now John wont hit his head!!!  We said to Lakis he should get a selection of photographs of the house over time to remind them how much they have achieved.

A brilliant evening - they are such great friends and neighbours.