I get double presents!!!

It was with some relief that John checked the repair to the swimming pool water pipe and found that he had fixed it.  Ok so it meant we had lost a lot of water in order to get the area in a position where John could glue in a join but that was a small price to pay because initially we thought this might end up being a bigger job.  We were able to replant the Podranea (in the pot on the left) and hopefully it was only out of the soil for a short period of time and will recover.  The other tree is a Magnolia which Dad insisted on buying for me.  It always makes me think of him.  Today I was removing the aging leaves - it will soon be bare.  The hydrangea in the pot next to it is valiantly still flowering so will not get cut back for a while yet.  

Out the front the Plumbago has put a spurt on at long last and is flowering - I think this struggles a bit from not getting enough sunshine as it is sheltered by the roof of Bramall Lane.   We were having a little tidy of the garden this morning because Jane and John were coming up with Mum for Sunday Lunch and we were popping round to say goodbye to Gregoris and Dora who are busy getting ideas for their house from all the changes happening to the other houses on the estate.

The Hydrangea yielded a few of its remaining blooms for a floral display that I put on the dining table to make it look a bit more attractive.

We had woken to rain so decided that we would eat indoors because Mum feels the cold so much.  As it happens by the time Jane and John arrived the sun had come out and it was very pleasant, in fact it was too hot in the conservatory which was hovering around 30 degrees - this is comfortable for Mum but practically tropical for the rest of us.

Jane and John's car, which comes with the apartment, has an oil leak so Mum was driving and picking them up.  We had thought about meeting at the cemetery and then going to the Hotel for a drink but when Mum was leaving the weather was suspect (lots of thunder rolling around mixed with the dulcet tones of bloody hunters shooting left, right and centre) and my potatoes were reaching a critical stage when they arrived.

Bless Jane she brought with her my 60th and 61st birthday presents!!!  A really lovely earring and necklace set and matching bracelet which were really lovely.  I am just hoping that their stay this time is less stressful than when they arrived pre-pandemic last year and got caught up in our first lockdown.

We were having Stifado today - it is my go-to dish which always seems to hit the spot.  This was being served with Cyprus roast potatoes (still nowhere near as good as Argy produces) and peas and seemed to go down very well.  The meat was beautifully tender and I didn't overcook it so that we ended up with thick gravy.

Our pudding was Mary Berry Bread and Butter Pudding with the addition of some ginger jam on the slices.  It was delicious.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their lunch which was good and we sat for the remainder of their time here in the conservatory catching up on the intervening months.  As the clocks changed early this morning Mum was mindful that it would be getting darker earlier so they left around 3.30pm and got back to Emba safe and sound.

We called round to catch up with Nicky and Mark as we haven't seen them in ages - the kittens are now all grown up and have left home - JOKING!!!! but they have grown although not enough to be spayed yet.