Fresh Air and Fun

The early morning earthquake today was all that everyone was talking about and answered the question as to why Minnie-Mou was acting so strangely yesterday.  Apparently animals can sense these things in advance.  After we had realised exactly what had gone on we checked the house to see if there had been any damage or any items which were not in their normal position but thankfully all looked to be ok.

I had arranged with Nicky that if it was dry today we would walk.  The weather forecast showed a window of opportunity mid morning but when we woke it was wet, windy and grim so it looked unlikely but we got ready and decided that we would get our waterproofs on and go for it.

I decided that if we stuck to the road going out of Droushia past the dump and walked to Inea and back we would be easily visible if we had to call John out to rescue us.  

As we began walking we did not think we would end up getting very far as we were walking towards a really big black cloud and it was cold to say the least but we carried on undaunted.  It is too easy sometimes to look at the weather and just turn over and not go out but if we are serious about getting fit and losing some of the Christmas excess we need to go out regularly and begin to push ourselves to do more.

We were not passed by many vehicles and those that did obviously thought we were complete nutters but when we turned right to head towards Inea we could see that the sky was a little brighter and apart from one short flurry of rain we managed to complete our walk and both agreed that we felt better for doing it.  We hope to go again on Thursday but the week's weather isn't looking great and whilst we don't mind getting caught in a shower we don't want to start out in rain.  

The plan for today was to meet up with Di and go out to the garden centre for a coffee/snack together but Di had been down to Polis early this morning and it had thrown it down and so text me to postpone our trip until next week when hopefully the weather would be better.  I thought that was sensible because at the time it didn't look like it was going to be anything other than grey, wet and miserable for the remainder of the day.

Back from my walk I had a shower and John asked what I wanted to do for the day.  I suggested we went to the cemetery to check on Dad.  The weather had ravaged the poinsettia that my sister had left there before Christmas and the flowers in the trough were looking pretty unimpressive.  I decided we should remove the trough and replace the flowers - only trouble was I couldn't get the trough out so John had to wiggle and tease it out for me.  Whilst we were at the cemetery the weather started to clear a little so I suggested going down to the coast to get some fresh air as we could see it was brighter down there and then John suggested we carry on and go to the garden centre ourselves as well as going onto the beach.

The garden centre was empty - not surprisingly as the weather had been so awful but it meant we could have a wander around and choose some plants for Dad.  There is so much to choose from but we decided to stick with some 'pinks' like we planted last year because they had lasted for ages and managed to thrive without regular watering.

It seemed a bit mean to only spend 4 euros on two plants and then leave so, as John had not been into the new cafe as yet, we decided to stay a bit longer and go in and sit in the toasty warm and have a cuppa together and a chat with Marianna who was obviously glad of a bit of company.  I will really look forward to returning again next week with Di.  We are so lucky to have the lovely place up our end of the island.

We stopped at the beach on the way home.  It was 18 degrees down on the coast so hardly cold but it was grey and the seas were rough and it was great to get some fresh air.  I had told John that I was looking for some sea glass for a project I want to do so we walked up and down the beach, narrowly avoiding the waves in search of sea glass but found none - not a thing!  You cannot believe that with all the rubbish that there is in the world that we couldn't find any but maybe it is because so much more now is plastic and not glass.

I was so glad that the weather had actually been kind to us and that we made the effort to go out in the end.  It is easy to get stuck indoors and do nothing - we are as guilty as the next person - but actually the island can be exciting and beautiful whatever the weather and, if you go up a road you haven't been up before you can sometimes stumble across a hidden little gem like this road which is near Polis.

We returned home and lit the fire and felt great.  Tomorrow we will be going out as we have arranged to see Mum.

I managed to make an appointment to see the dermatologist but he isn't available until next week so I have another week when I will abide by the rules and avoid the trigger foods.  I am getting more used to it now so I have decided that I will avoid them a couple of times a week anyway so that I can try and keep my histamine 'bucket' from overflowing.  The food that I was making this week took that into consideration anyway so tonight we were having the five P's - paprika poultry with peas, potatoes and peppers and it was absolutely delicious!  

We started to watch The Girl Before and had planned to watch all four episodes but had to call it a day after episode 3 because I was falling asleep.  Hopefully nothing untoward will happen tonight.