Winter Drawers On!

Winter has most definitely arrived and we are nearly at the end of January.  There has been substantial snowfall up in the Troodos as you can see from the photograph I took from our roof terrace.  It is cold inside and outside and I am not entirely sure which is the less cold when we do not have the heating on.  We try and keep busy during the day and light the woodburner late afternoon if we can.  Today John was going out with Mark and Rob and I had planned to do a bit of tidying in the garden after my trip to the Dentist. 

It was by follow up appointment with the Periodontist at Perfect Smile and I was a bit concerned that he might tell me that I still had issues as on occasions my gums have been sore.  Anyway he asked me how I had been and I explained to him about the allergic reaction and he was very concerned and took it all in and told me that he too thought Stress played a big part and that I was to try and keep calm and try and get good sleep - he has suggested, and I have had previously, a shield to stop me grinding my teeth during the night because even after 30-odd years after my major jaw operation I still cannot hold my mouth open for long and nearly bit his fingers.  Anyway after a deep (and painful) clean he declared that my gums were good, no sign of any infection and I was maintaining his work well.  Now I need only go for a clean every 4 months for the forthcoming year to ensure that the good work is not undone.  

On my way back home I stopped off at Marianna's to see if there was any sign of our water bill.  She told me to return on Monday if ours does not pitch up in the post which sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.  Then I swung by the post office to check for any post and had a quick chat with Philippos who was sorting out wood.  His house (although it is called Marina's House) is the one in the centre of the village which I like the most.  We received a late Christmas Card, although posted early December, from friends in the UK which brought with it sad news about health issues.  I wont go into details but if the person concerned is reading this you know that we are sending love and hugs to you.

I have to say that on my return I was in no real mood to get cold outside in the garden so did a quick recce round and swept the leaves up from the front path.  Everywhere else looked ok, a bit ravaged by the wind but my tidy up the other week made a good start.  I did find the solar light we had put up under the 'living' gazebo had been taken by the wind and was half way down the garden buried in amongst my narcissi (which are just about the flower).  

I lit the gas fire and waited for John to return.  He had had a really nice time with the boys at Fitos but his good mood was tempered by the card we had received.   He lit the woodburner and we settled down together watching a Rick Stein programme about Cornwall which last night had shown Caerhayes Castle - with which we have family ties, and then tonight there were shots of the area around Noss Mayo which was rather poignant and so we raised a glass to absent friends as we reminisced about times spent together.

Earlier in the day I had changed our bedding and, in view of the fact that our bedroom was only 7 degrees this morning, I had put a brushed cotton sheet on in place of the lovely crisp, but oh so chilly, Egyptian cotton one that had been on there.  It is amazing what a difference that can make when you first get into bed.  

We have electric blankets, in fact we have two or three but I prefer not to use them because even though the bed is cold when I first get in my medication, age and three cats mean I soon warm up.

The cartoon opposite is actually close to the truth in our household save for the fact that Boris and Charlie like to lie either down the middle between you or one either side of you.  It means that if you are the person pinned down by their bulk you are warm but unable to move for the duration.  As I have said before they each weight a stone so trying to shift them when they are sound asleep is hard work.