Bloomin' Cold

Welcome to sunny Cyprus - this is what 12th March looked like first thing this morning.  It is cold and miserable and the winter has been to bloody long.  Fortunately the weather improved as the day went on so most of the snow disappeared and was replaced by sunshine but this didn't do much to raise the outside or inside temperatures.  We had such plans this morning to go for a walk and then work on the garden but that all went out the window.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast using the asparagus that Bassam had given us.  We had cheesy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and griddled asparagus with lemon and black pepper.  It was delicious and had the weather been better John and I would have gone out to where I know there is wild asparagus growing to get some more.  We had some of the nice filter coffee we bought the other week from Coffee Island and then set about doing some tasks around the house to keep ourselves warm.

John got some blocks to raise the head of the bed for me and because we have drawers underneath I have to admit this is not an area that gets cleaned as often as it should so today provided the ideal opportunity for me to get in and scrub it to within an inch of its life.  The four drawers got taken out and cleaned and tidied, the floor cleaned and washed and then put back in place.  We decided to change the bedding so we had a super clean bedroom and lovely fresh bedding to retire to.  The cats were completely discombobulated by the activity!

Today the goats, sheep, shoats, geep were back in the field next door taking advantage of the lush green growth.  One of the sheep gave birth just the other side of the wall and the lamb looked to be a little weak so we managed to get the herder's attention and he came over and swung the lamb by its back legs and then it bucked up and looked to be fine.  He moved them up towards the main herd and the next time I looked they had all gone so hopefully this little one will be fine.

The conservatory was the warmest place to be this afternoon - the sunshine raised the temperature to around 18 degrees and because everywhere else was so blooming cold that felt positively balmy.   You can tell it is generally chilly because the cats have got their fur all puffed up.  In fact they look positively chubby as our lovely neighbour Persephone remarked about Charlie!  This is Boris - he is actually the 'sleek' boy of the two but you wouldn't guess that from this picture!

The football this evening was a right old let down but our date night meal (currently moved to a Saturday from Friday) was a triumph and the breaded oven baked onion rings were just amazing.  I shall definitely be doing them like that in the future.  Our steaks tonight were fabulous and if anything just a little too big if that is possible!