Sunshine

What a difference a day makes - no two days are the same at the moment (thank goodness).  John was taking Lakis's car for a run today and going down to Polis for a haircut and would no doubt get Elias's views on the economy, covid, masks and vaccination.  I wanted to start clearing up the garden before I leave it too late.  I started in Wendy and Bill corner where the living gazebo was getting out of hand and the wooden decking wet and slippery.  If and when my hostas put in an appearance this will be the ideal corner to put them as it is in shade and there is a small border behind the steamers which would benefit from something nice being there.

The large olive tree which is in Wendy and Bill corner we keep cut back into balls so it never gets the opportunity to produce fruit but the small one in the pot at the front by our bedroom has been loaded!  I am guessing I should have picked them but it looks such the archetypal olive tree that I have left them.  That bit of the front garden is reasonably tidy although the recent very cold weather has hammered the lemon tree which means that it probably wont fruit again this year.  We have had one lemon on it in all the years that it has been planted there.  John wants to take it out but I hate doing that to anything that is living.

I have a random wild Cyclamen that has appeared in the garden.  It is at the base of where the jasmine used to be.  The jasmine got some sort of disease so was bald and crispy at the bottom so we cut it right down in the hopes it will come back strong.  This has given this unexpected visitor the chance to bloom this year.  I have no idea where it came from but love the beautifully patterned leaves and delicate flowers and it is completely protected where it is.  This Cyclamen is the national plant of Cyprus.

The solanums look ravaged but fortunately the bald patches are showing the signs of new growth.  Now is a good time to cut them back and keep them in check so that they bloom well later on.  It is supposed to be nice and sunny again tomorrow so I will probably carry on with the garden - it was good being out in the sun today.  Yesterday we generated about 1.5Kw of electricity and today nearly 13!  I also managed to get washing out and dried and will now have to tackle the ironing.

John and I put a curry in the oven for our supper and settled down to watch some of the Winter Olympics which we have been quite enjoying although some of the sports are a bit bonkers and the GB team are champions at clutching defeat from the jaws of victory!

The curry was a new recipe for us Curry Pork Tenderloin it was nice but the jury is out as to the addition of the stock cubes - it made for a bit of a gloopy sauce which we weren't too keen on.

Sunday - a bit of a wash-out

We have a bit of a lazy routine on a Sunday if I have got the lunch all sorted which I had.  We take it slow and have a coffee and read the papers in bed and I like to check to see that the PV panels are up and active even if they are not generating much.  Today the monitoring system showed nothing, nada, niets, which was strange until we realised that the weather had taken a real turn for the worse and we were surrounded by a thick blanket of fog.  Just to make doubly sure that nothing had tripped on the PV system I shot out and used my camera with the long lens to take a picture of the fuse box outside, which is for the PV, and although it isn't particularly clear we could see that all the switches were 'up' so nothing had tripped there thank goodness.   

This was the view down to the coast - we couldn't even see as far as Andreas's villa over the field and Mum was due up to us for lunch which worried me so I sent her a picture and explained how bad it was and suggested she rang me when she was about to leave and I would give her an update because it is not the nicest of journeys when it is like this and you are traveling on your own.  

At 11.00am when Mum would normally leave I went out to check the situation.  It was marginally brighter but the visibility was still shocking so I took another photograph and sent it to her.  

She agreed to hold on for half and hour and then she made her way to us and I was very glad to see her arrive safe and sound.  She said she was the only vehicle on the road - as I pointed out she was the only person mad enough to venture out!!!

The weather was bad enough but was forecast to get worse at around 3.00pm so Mum decided that she would have her lunch but not hang around too long which we thought was infinitely sensible as the fog never lifted all day.

 I only had the vegetables to finish off and then I was ready to serve our meal so we sat by the fire and had a chat whilst we were waiting for them.  Mum had been out for lunch with Lilian yesterday but it hadn't been very successful.  I just hoped that she would like the meal I had prepared today because although it was braised steak it was braised steak with a twist!  Actually she ate a really good meal - I think she probably managed more than I did so John and I were really happy.

The meat was slow cooked and served with carrots and mange-tout and, something which I have not ever cooked before, roasted cabbage.  The wedges of white cabbage were seasoned with lemon pepper and basted with olive oil and orange juice and the zest of an orange and then put into the oven at the same time as the potatoes.  It was actually very nice and made a change from plain boiled.

Anyone who knows John knows that he absolutely, categorically will not eat anything with mushrooms but he had seen a recipe for roast potatoes where you prepare them in the shape of a mushroom and when they are cooked low and behold they look like a mushroom.  

He thought it would be nice to try them and to see Mum's face when he had them on his plate and she had them on hers because she doesn't eat mushrooms either!!!

It was all a bit faffy and they took ages to take on any colour but they tasted all right and we had a bit of a laugh over them.  Personally give me a normal roast potato!!

So Mum left early and I was a bit on edge until she text to let me know she had got home safe and sound.  She was a bit longer going home than she had been coming up but she said there was a lot more traffic on the road and she just took it slowly which was sensible.

Nicky and Mark popped over for an hour or so in the evening - they have been very busy putting insulation into their lounge roof and I think they just wanted to get out and get a way from it once it was completed!

Wood and food

We were having a leisurely lie-in this morning planning what we might do for the remainder of the day when we had a phone call from Christos (of Christos's Taverna in the village and also the new petrol station just beyond Gravity Road) that he was delivering our wood.  We had expected him this afternoon!  So we had about 20 minutes to get decent and to get ourselves galvanized into action!

John was packing the wheelbarrow and bringing it into the garden to outside the woodstore and I was inside the woodstore stacking in the space that had been allocated to this load which is to be burned next Winter.  

I usually end up with a stacked slope rather than filling the whole space so today I was taking my time and being careful to choose the logs so that they fitted in the space and I had them stacked back to front and side to side so that they would be unlikely to spill out.  I got so far and then it was all too high for me so John had to take over.  

It was a good load of mixed wood which included carob, almond, walnut and olive but no pine - John doesn't like pine!  All the pieces a decent length to fit in the wood-burner but varying width.  John was happy with it and when Christos went down to Arodes John with a load this afternoon Arodes John was happy with it too which was good.  

It was an unexpectedly bright and sunny day today, for the whole of the day so after completing my wood stacking exercise I decided that I would spend some time in the garden having a tidy up.  The recent frosts have meant that a couple of the plants outside, unaccustomed to such low temperatures, have taken a bit of a battering and look like they have 'melted'.  I don't know if this means they wont recover, I suspect that will be the case but I have cut them back and moved them so I can keep an eye on them and will leave them to see if they recover.  The forecast for the next week is very changeable indeed so it was good to make the most of a lovely day today to get some of the dead leaves and straggly plants tidied up.

Mum is coming for lunch tomorrow.  We had bought some lovely old fashioned braising steak at Shuks the other week and I had been given some kumquats which I know Mum loves.  I had found a recipe for slow cooked beef with ginger and orange and I decided to replicate that but use the kumquats instead.   I used the recipe here as the base for my meal leaving out anything that I know Mum doesn't like eat like garlic and I will probably not tell her it is a 'fusion' dish because she will make her mind up before she has even tried it!  John was making the pudding - he had seen something on tintyweb for an easy sweet so we were having an apple and ginger pie with grated pastry topping. 

For our supper this evening we were having crispy pork stirfry using a tenderloin from Shuks and serving it with egg noodles again as we had both enjoyed it like that in the week.  In fact I would go as far as saying that this has become our latest favourite supper and it is quick and easy and oh so tasty and quite inexpensive even though we did splash out on mange-tout!  I think I posted the recipe before but if not you can find it here.

Here is the finished article.  John said he couldn't begin to tell me just how good it was so at least that made up for the disappointment of the England Rugby Team chucking away a win against the Scottish in the six-nations or the woeful performances of the speed skaters in the Winter Olympics!  I left him to watch the late night boxing matches and relaxed in bed instead!!!
 

Getting some fresh air

Today our Friday felt very much like a Saturday so I shall be discombobulated for the remainder of the weekend - just so long as I don't forget to feed Mum on Sunday all will be well.  We have Braised Steak from Shuks penciled in for that day although I very nearly shelved that idea when Ellen from 5b brought me round a gammon joint and I know this is Mum's favourite (although not mine) which is why I don't often cook it!  Anyway it was very kind of Ellen and rather unexpected.

I had said to John that I wanted to go out today to revisit the place where we had our Wedding Anniversary picnic just over six months ago.  This was near Gialia reservoir and I wanted to see if this was overflowing as many on the island now are.  When we left Droushia it was bright and breezy but as we approached Polis it was looking very dark and threatening and then as we turned off to head up to the hills it started to absolutely hoof it down.  

We had hoped to do a bit of a walk but had to shelve that because it really wasn't walking weather or at least it wasn't when we were there but if you look at the photograph to the left you can see that there is some blue sky down towards the coast and in fact that was where the weather was coming from so had we gone fifteen minutes later we would have been ok!

When we had walked in the area last year we took a route which took us right around both sides of the reservoir and then we realised that part of the walk took us down a very steep fire break and back towards where we had parked the car - we had to rethink that part and fortunately managed to find a route which was a little less treacherous.  I hadn't wanted to walk that far today but had hoped to be able to get out on the causeway bit like we did last time.

Even though it was rather dark and very wet it was still lovely, peaceful and calm but what a difference it makes when the leadened skies make the reservoir water ressemble the 'Grey, Green and Greasy Limpopo River' unlike when we had been previously in early summer.

We decided to head down the hill and stop off at the picnic site with the shrine to the Transgender Monk/Saint (yes really - find my post from when we were there last time and all the information is on it).

There was no chance of doing anything much at the picnic site because it was very damp indeed and the water was bucketing down the gully.  Too cold to see the froggies today and too cold to sit on one of the benches and relive our anniversary!  Instead we decided to head on down to the Garden Centre and get the compost I needed and add to that a bacon buttie and coffee!

By the time we got to the Garden Centre the sun was shining and it was toasty warm in the cafe so we got ourselves a table, ordered an Americano each which we enjoyed whilst waiting for our bacon and sausage on brown rolls to arrive.  They were delicious and set us up nicely for the rest of the day because we were to have a late night - John's beloved Blades were playing on TV tonight but the game didn't start until 10.00pm so we had planned a late-ish date night supper of Shuks fillet steak, paprika chips and salad (which was absolutely superb as always).

We stopped off at Paps for a few bits - bumped into Nicky and Di and Rob - it is most unusual for us to see anyone we know when we shop in there!!!  Nicky was on her way home but we had a quick chat with Di and Rob over the fruit and veg before grabbing the few things we needed and heading home.

We didn't do much else for the remainder of the day save for catching up on this season's Apprentice before settling down for the footie match.  Tonight's opponents were Birmingham City complete with all their disgruntled supporters who were sporting white face masks because they deem their owners to be faceless.  Anyway the Mighty Blades managed to come from behind to win 2-1 and John was a very happy bunny.

Newbies

I forgot to post last night so read this one and the one below!!!

Today I was going down to Emba to see Mum and I had suggested that maybe we went out for lunch somewhere and, if Lilian was free, maybe she would like to join us.  Initially we had thought about going to Tweedies to avail ourselves of their fresh soup offer - 5 euros - no need to book just drop in.  Tweedies is where Mum and Lilian met on a similar soup offer which Tweedies were running in the winter in the evening.  Both Lilian and Mum had lost their husbands around the same time.  They struck up conversation that night and with something in common became friends.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Lilian was working until 1.00pm and the soup offer ran from 11.00am until 2.00pm so by the time we got ourselves organised it wouldn't have given us much time to eat our lunch so we decided that today we wouldn't rush and we would go up to the amphitheatre cafe in Tala because their inside area is cosy and they have a good selection of inexpensive light meals.  To keep it simple we all opted for a breakfast and a cup of builder's tea.  The cooked part of the breakfast was nicely done and clean and not greasy and it was accompanied by plenty of toast, butter and jam/marmalade.  I knew I was going to regret having that because Isabel was taking John and I to Fitos for our supper!!! 

Anyway we had a lovely hour or so at the cafe, we were kept company by one of the cafe cats who sat very patiently next to my chair hoping for a little bit of something but was sadly disappointed because we were assured that the resident felines do get well fed.  Mum ate a good meal - she clearly enjoyed the breakfast because I guess this is not something she ever cooks for herself - in fact she rarely cooks nowadays.

There had been some excitement in the estate today because a big Peter Morton Removals pantechnicon lorry pitched up and the people who had agreed to purchase 8a some time ago last Summer were eventually moving in.  I know he had introduced himself at the time as Pete and I believe her name is Gail but cannot be sure.  Anyway I am sure we will meet in due course - normally over the Green Bin!!

It was a quick turn round for me as Isabel was picking us up at 5.45 to go to Fitos for our evening meal.  We had booked table 1 and when we arrived Fitos wheeled over one of his gas fires so we were toasty warm.  It was lovely to see Isabel relaxed and enjoying herself because I know she had been looking forward to having Moby Dick and chips and the portion size of her cod tonight did not disappoint.  I went for the beef pie and John for a large pork chop.  It was one of those nights when we knew just about everyone who popped in which included Marinos and Marianna from the Garden Centre and lovely Tanja from the village.

A good time was had by all and we were home at a reasonable time.  I have agreed to colour Isabel's hair tomorrow and I am hoping to catch up with Mina.

A full on day

After a very long break due to all sorts of things, not least the weather, the Three Amigas were going to be walking again today - I was picking up Nicky and we were meeting Rachel in Kathikas and doing our original first time route to ease ourselves back in.  It was touch and go as to whether we actually went - it depended on whether you looked to your left when coming out of the front door, in which case you were greeted with blue skies and fluffy white clouds as per the photograph above or whether you looked to your right in which case you got the picture below!!!

Fortunately Kathikas is in the direction of the blue skies and fluffy clouds so we were hopeful that we would avoid a soaking.  As we drove to Rachel's we could see that the grey clouds were rolling across in our direction but that there was clearer weather coming on behind.  Fortunately we had all been sensible enough to have something waterproof to wear.

We set off in good spirits.  It was cold but we were just glad to be out in the fresh air and having a girlie chat together.  Even though it was a cold grey winter's morning the scenery was spectacular - there are green shoots everywhere and hopefully February will fly by and spring will be with us and warmer temperatures day and night.

Needless to say we got wet - there was a short sharp shower just as Nicky was completing her 'comfort break'!!! It was the only one and it didn't last long thank goodness.  We powered our way around - although a bit out of practice we didn't stop on any of the hills like we used to.  Hopefully now we will be back into a routine for Tuesdays because I think we all really enjoyed it.

How different was my lunchtime weather-wise!!!  After a month of trying I eventually got to go out with Di to the Garden Centre at Yialia.  Not only was it really great to catch up with her but the weather had bucked its ideas up and we were warm and toasty in the Garden Centre Cafe where we had a very leisurely sausage and bacon roll coffee and chat.  

Outside just up the hill we thought there was a fire out of control but it transpired that the trainee forestry commission lads were involved in an exercise regarding fire!  Down the hill there was nothing but blue skies and azure seas.  All along the edge of the cafe there were troughs of shocking pink cyclamen - it was all a lovely scene.

After we had eaten Di and I purchased some lovely violas at 50 cents each - I am going to put mine in the pot that held the Poinsettia that was on Dad's grave.

I also purchased 12 new terracotta pots for the hosta roots that Ellen brought back from the UK.  I got them at a really good price because I had bought so many - Di just needed to drive back carefully in order that they arrived back in one piece which they did.  

I am so glad that we made it today.  I really enjoyed the catch up and hopefully we can do it again soon - at least now we are less likely to be stymied by the weather. 

We were out again in the evening as it was Chinese New Year and Rachel and Savvas were doing specials at The Farmyard all day.

We don't need an excuse for Chinese from there and we are always happy to support them so we booked ourselves a table and went along.

The food was fabulous but I think our crispy chili beef and crispy chili chicken were about as spicy as I could take.  Savvas came over to ask if everything was ok and I was trying to catch my breath so couldn't speak - poor Savvas thought there was something wrong!!!

We had a lovely evening, in fact I had had a lovely day - just a bit of a shame that it was all on one day but that's just the way it happens sometimes!

Back home we trialed briquettes in the wood burner - John had got a few today because I wanted to try them.  They are supposed to burn hotter and cleaner than wood so as wood is in short supply and bound to go up in price I thought we should try alternatives.  The jury is currently out on the briquettes!

 

Little Boxes

We have to thank Ellen for kindly bringing some things back for us from the UK in her suitcase rather than in the container she has coming over.  After we had lost our TV box in one of the mega thunderstorms recently I had ordered a replacement (and a spare) from Amazon and had them delivered to her in the UK expecting them to come in due course as we are ok for TV as we have a working box and a semi-working box (which seems to be on its last legs).  John has been moaning about the dodgy one for days so he was pleased that these new ones had come earlier than anticipated and that was going to be his project this afternoon - getting at least one up and working.  

Ellen had also brought me the hostas I had ordered which had been delivered as bare roots as per the photograph above.  She was worried that they would not survive the length of time it would take for them to arrive in the container.  That was so kind of her because I expect she is right and now I have a better chance of getting them to grow.  One has begun to shoot already so I now need to get pots and possibly some more compost.  I am due to go to the Garden Centre with Di tomorrow so will get pots then.

We had opted for a quiet day today and it is the start of a new Droushia Lockdown Challenge - the subject is Bees, Honey, Hives and I decided to get my art entries done and dusted because otherwise the two weeks race by and I am panicking to get something done.

John was busy reading one of the books I had given him for Christmas and keeping an eye on the England cricket 20/20 match where England clutched defeat from the jaws of victory with a monumental collapse.

We were in the conservatory because it was infinitely warmer than the rest of the house because at that time the sun was shining.

When Ellen came round she said she was having trouble with her Alexa because she kept saying that there was a connection issue.  I explained that, because she had been using her in the UK she needed to connect her to the internet in the house here.  Ellen said she didn't know how to do that and was loathe to bother Richard as he was straight in busy trying to catch up on not working for the last 7 weeks so I said I would pop round and sort it as it would be a quick job - famous last words because I think after I had managed to set up the Alex app on her phone and change the internet an hour and a half had elapsed and it was peeing down with rain and we had a rolling mist.  For some reason Alexa refused to reset and refused to join the new network - typical woman being in a strop!!!  I had gone round in my slippers and no coat so was really happy to see John pitch up with a raincoat and a brolly!!!

We needed something hearty and warming for supper and I had some pork tenderloin that I planned to turn into a stir fry and serve with noodles.  This was a triumph if I do say so myself.  The pork was dusted in cornflour and piri-piri spices and stir fried with red peppers, snow-peas, chili and spring onions with a home-made spicy sauce.  I shall most definitely be making that again.  Here is the recipe Best Crispy Pork Stir Fry

Walking to keep Warm!

It was so bloomin' cold this morning that we decided to get togged up and go out for a walk to keep warm!  We have lost our Cypriot winter fuel allowance by virtue of being British even though we had been promised that the Withdrawal Agreement would protect our rights.  To add insult to injury this winter has been deemed soooooo cold that there has been a second winter fuel payment so we are double pissed off and it would appear that Cypriot residents don't realise that we are now being discriminated against.  It really peeves us because we love the village, we pay our bills and our taxes here but we are now classed as Third World citizens and the converse is not true for Cypriots who live in the UK so how is that fair?  We realise that this is a lost cause and nothing is going to change so we just have to take it on the chin but it does rankle.

Anyway initially we were just going to walk the long way round to the Post Office and then to the Cemetery and then return home but as we started to walk it did feel most definitely warmer to be out than in and so we extended our walk so that we took in part of Inea and then cut along the side of Inea's cemetery to come back into the village near Lordos 2 and then back to the village.

We saw that Clare's car was up at her house so we called by to see how she was doing.  She has a C-NC (cold - not covid) picked up from the school children she is teaching so we just had a quick chat over the garden fence.   

She is currently trying to decided where her future lies as she has been offered posts teaching abroad, including back in Hong Kong, as well as being offered a contract in Limassol.  I guess she just needs to take some time to do what it best for her and not make any rash decisions - she says that she thinks she now wants to settle somewhere and put down roots - maybe that is what Les's passing has made her realise - shame really that she was still working in Hong Kong when he was taken ill and had always intended to commute from there to the island so never really made the village her home.

We saw next to nobody on our walk - no-one else was mad enough to be outside - except for Bambos who emerged out of the Palates Hotel as we went by.  There were a few children playing in the empty streets but apart from that nothing - everyone has gone into hibernation and who can blame them?  We were thinking of stopping in the coffee shop and having a coffee but decided against it in the end as we thought it just might be too chilly in there and as we walked by we weren't sure if it was open anyway.

The countryside is recovering after its covering of snow.  I took this picture for my friend Georgia because if my memory serves me correctly the track leads down to the plot of land she owns and which she was wanting to sell.  You can't see the mountains from this point - if you could you would be able to see that there is snow on much lower lying ridges than we have seen in the past - I said to John I fancied going to see it close up but we have more bad weather warnings in place for next week so may have to wait.

We went to see Dad on our way back home.  Fortunately after all the bad weather his little plot is looking ok and the plants we planted recently are looking ok and in flower.  Dad's is the only one in his row that doesn't have a grave in front of it so the ground is a bit soft and soggy.  Once the row in front is complete I guess a proper pathway will be put in between the two rows which will make it easier.  

Once this bad weather has been and gone I really will go up and sort out the lettering - it has lost a lot of the black and would just look a bit smarter if it were seen to.  

Whilst there we went and paid our respects to David, who is at the far end of Dad's row, next to David is Les and then behind Dad is Elena.  One of the things which has really hit me recently is that moving away, covid and advancing years means that inevitably there will be people that we do not get to see again and that is a sobering thought.  Whilst technology makes it easier for people to keep in contact with a quick text or video call we get less and less emails and next to no landline phonecalls and a letter is nigh-on unheard of - I think people feel they are in contact because social media allows them to see what you are doing but that isn't quite the same as actually speaking.  I plan to try and be better at keeping in touch with friends and family this year.

We moved our date night to tonight because we had been out for a lovely lunch at Sheila and Klaus's yesterday.   Our steak supper was to be followed by watching The Mighty Blades who obliged today by securing a win.

We had splashed out when shopping and treated ourselves to some mange-tout peas which made for a nice change from frozen peas.  I had saved the batter for the onion rings from last week and had half a red onion that needed using up so did onion rings (they are not overcooked - the red onion coloured the batter).  We had hand cut paprika chips and some of Naz's outstanding local fillet steak and my home-made mustard sauce.

Those steaks do not shrink - or at least they do not shrink for us because we have them rare - and are absolutely melt in your mouth.  I am prepared to give up lots of treats to ensure I have my weekly steak but at less than 5 euros a steak don't think I will have to make too many sacrifices just at the moment.

A good day all round - tomorrow Mum is here but I have the meal all in hand so don't need to stress about it - this is good - the dermatologist and the periodontist have both told me I am not to get stressed and I am sure the cardiologist will say the same.   

Masterchef in Goudi

I had not realised quite how much snow we had had the other morning until I saw this photograph which showed the estate, the roads and little Kenny when it was at its worst.  Apparently at this time the roads were very icy and I can understand it having seen this now.

We still have a bit of snow hanging around outside the front door but that is only because John cleared the PV panels and all that snow slid off the conservatory roof and ended up in the front garden.

We had quite heavy rain first thing but that cleared up quickly and the remainder of the day was dry and reasonably sunny until late afternoon when we had a flurry of snow again.  

We were having a quiet morning before going to see Sheila and Klaus lunchtime which we were looking forward to because I was having a cookery lesson with MasterChef Klaus and learning how to make his amazing Kartofellpuffer - German Potato Pancakes - they sound much more exciting in their native language!

The cats do tickle me as they manage to find the cosiest and warmest spots in the house - Boris refused to move when I made the bed this morning so I made it round him and he was quite happy - Miss Minnie, on the other hand, was not because she always shoots back into the bedroom after breakfast to bag her spot for the remainder of the morning.  

I know lots of people don't like the idea of cats on the bed but I would so much rather know where our three are and that they are safe and sound.after what happened to poor Chivers during lockdown.  That still haunts me as I just feel I should have looked for him sooner.

So as I said we were at Sheila and Klaus's today for a catch up and lunch.  Here I am with my mentor Klaus learning how to make the Kartofellpuffer which is basically grated potato and onion, bound with flour and egg and seasoned and then fried.  The mixing bit is fun because you have to get your hands in and make sure everything is evenly covered.  

So we had a fabulous lunch, the huff'npuffs with chicken schnitzel and seasoned carrots and seasoned white cabbage followed by some fresh fruit.

We had a lovely few hours catching up and will be doing this more regularly now hopefully.  I shall just have to keep practicing the huff'npuffs before I serve them for Klaus!!!

We were out of contact whilst in Goudi until we were just about to leave and Klaus gave us his wifi password.  Mum had been to see the heart specialist and her doctor and had left a few messages so I guessed things hadn't quite gone to plan.  

When we did catch up it transpires that her sugar levels and cholesterol levels were up which isn't great but she is 86 nearly 87 so as I said to her if it just means she has to take a stronger tablet to keep it under control then do that rather than deny herself more and more food.

Oh yes forgot to say that we had another but milder earthquake this morning - epicentre just off Polis again.  We didn't feel this one but Sheila did.

Snow

This was the scene that greeted us this morning.  It was bloody freezing and I think I may have lost the fish in my little pond as that was well frozen over.  We had clear blue skies and John got up early to clear the photovoltaic panels so that we could make some electricity.  We are hoping that we just might make up the shortfall this month if the last few remaining days of January are kind to us.

First thing the conservatory was a very chilly 7.6 degrees but by mid afternoon after some strong sunshine it had risen to 19 degrees - our bedroom was 7 degrees and remained resolutely at 7 degrees despite having the shutters open and the sun streaming in.  There has been some heated social media debate about the withdrawal of the mountain village fuel allowance for we Brits and whilst we appreciate how lucky we are in the Summer etc etc a 7 degree bedroom is cold - even when we put the heater on in there we have been lucky to get it up to double figures - thank goodness we enjoy more summer months than winter ones.

When the snow is fresh it looks quite pretty.  It was to be quite short-lived thank goodness although we may well get more over the next few days.  John was going out with Rob this morning for coffee.  As I had letters that needed to be posted John had suggested picking Rob up and taking him down to Polis so that he could go to the Post Office and then they were going to have a coffee and a catch up at Coffee Island.

I had organised to go and see Isabel today having had to call off at the weekend when I found that my car had a puncture.  By the time I got myself organised and walked down to her house most of the snow had gone and the view was really spectacular.  I can understand why she likes to get up and look out of her picture windows at this vista in front of her.  She has been managing pretty well on her own and in this weather.  She really is one of the most cheerful and optimistic people I have ever come across and when she giggles you just have to giggle with her.  In spite of everything that life has thrown at her she never seems to get down.  She is taking time to decide what 2022 will hold for her but has decided that she wants to have the luxury of some sun on her bones before, or if, she heads back to Scotland.

There is quite a hill down to Isabel's house so I was very grateful when she insisted on giving me a lift home.  Mind you her dog Andro didn't want her to go so she had to make a hasty exit through the front door like a ninja in order to escape unscathed.  She has also insisted on taking us out for a meal soon as a thank you for all we do and have done for her.  We have said that she really doesn't have to, we would do and have done those things because we want to so I may just book something and we can split the bill.

John was not back when I got home although he returned shortly afterwards.  The snow he had cleared off of the panels earlier in the day was sitting like an icy lump outside the front door.  Even though it was sunny and that bit of the garden is sheltered there was little to no sign of it melting away any time soon.  I could have tried to shape it into some sort of snowman!!

We have not seen Sonia for ages.  She had to call off joining us on New Year's Eve as she wasn't feeling brilliant and the weather in January has hardly encouraged neighbourly visits.  We do keep in touch on the phone to make sure she is ok particularly after the earthquake and storms.  So this evening we had invited her to come for some supper which she agreed to do providing the pavements weren't slippery.  John had offered to go and escort her round but she is fiercely independent so weren't surprised when she said she would make it on her own.

To celebrate my reintroduction of dairy I was doing a simple dish of Halloumi and citrus salad.  I forgot to take a photograph so this is close save for the fact that I served the halloumi in muffins with a lime and lemon pepper mayonnaise and we had some paprika wedges because it was too cold an evening not to have a warm element to eat.  For pud I had made a filo pastry orange cake which seemed to go down well even though it hadn't cooked up quite how I was expecting.  I think the eggs I used were on the small side and I should have added another one.

Anyway it was a lovely evening and good to see Sonia looking well and relaxed - it was only 2 years ago at about the same time she had set her heart on buying 1a.

The aftermath

After really awful weather overnight which included a massive thunderstorm and power outage for five hours we were going down to Paphos and calling in on Mum.  The morning wasn't as bad as they had forecast - I had told Mum that if the forecast was correct not to expect us.  Little did I know that it was about 12 hours out - but more of that later.  

We had several things we needed to get done today and our leaving time depended on whether the establishments we needed were open on a Wednesday afternoon because it is still traditionally half day closing and some businesses, despite all the disruption of roadworks and Covid, hang on to that tradition for grim death along with the two or three hour breaks for lunch.  Fortunately the DIY shop, Glass Shop and Butchers were all staying open so we did not have to rush down - we had a leisurely brunch before setting off.

Our fabulous butcher Naz (Shukrou Meatmarket) kindly takes my order via text and has it ready for me - it started out as being a small order for two local fillet steaks and a pig's liver for the cats but during the morning John added pork neck and braising steak!  I suggested to Naz that I just hand my little pension straight over to him because that is where it seems to be going!!!  He is such a nice guy and his meat is wonderful and the shop is clean and modern and inviting.  Today my pig's liver was a gift from the shop - the cats will be pleased!!

When we arrived at Mum's we could see how much rain there had been overnight and this lake in the front garden was receding at this point!  I am amazed that ducks haven't moved in!  We had a few jobs to do for her - she needed a draught excluder fitted to the door from the garage into the house as the wind was whipping in through there and we put the edges on her new jigsaw right so that would leave her something to do when we had gone.  I am in the dog house because I have forgotten to do her on-line banking - she has a reminder set monthly, the account actually only needs accessing every three months but she gets a bit twitchy if I don't remember to do it!

Driving home the skies were getting quite angry and the waves were whipping up along Banana Bay.  I didn't get to capture it on camera but there must have been a circular break in the clouds and the sun came through casting a ring of lights onto the sea like someone was either going to be beamed down or beamed up Scotty.  What we didn't quite appreciate was that these clouds were the precursor to the bad weather that had been forecast and which arrived later in the evening - yet another scary thunder storm and this time it was Nicky and Mark's TV box that got wiped out.  We remembered to unplug ours this time.

We managed to collect and transport home our big mirror without incident thank goodness.  it is back in its rightful place over the fireplace and that was 20 euros very well spent - I am pleased because I didn't really want to replace it with something else.  We didn't have a bevel put in the replacement - we didn't think we needed it and we do actually prefer the mirror plain.

It was another cold night - we are so glad we have the woodburner although we are rather pissed off by the fact that the government is giving residents of Mountain villages a one off hardship payment to help with heating and because we are British we don't get it although we are permanent tax paying residents who live in a Mountain village.  Even though the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement has a section that covers non discrimination and we should be covered by this it would appear that this is being ignored.  I wouldn't mind but that will be over 700 euros we have missed out on and that would go a very long way to keeping us warm.  Our bedroom with a heater on for two hours was only 9 degrees.  The bedroom with the aircon unit that also heats was warmer but we don't currently sleep in that one.

Anyway enough of that as there is nothing we can do other than put in a formal complaint to the European Commission which we have done and it is being looked into apparently.

I finish with this picture of Miss Minnie who is a bit upset because Boris decided to squeeze himself into her basket.  Really he is too big to go in there but guess he found it nice and warm!

As I said a wild night followed - it was already snowing by the time we went to bed and the temperatures had dropped to just above freezing but obviously went lower as the night went on.