The bright start does not last...

It was a fine bright start to the day but sadly it did not last and it was bitterly cold even in the sun.  Not entirely sure what is happening to global warming but it ain't happening here!  I was going down to see Mum which I try and do every week either on a Wednesday or Thursday to break her week up.  She was having a temporary cleaner come today as her regular cleaner Kim is away for a few weeks.  It is the same girl I have asked to clean George and Pam's house before they arrive.  I don't know her so it would give me a chance to see what her work was like.

I went out the back of Droushia - it would be a really lovely run if it were not for the dump (official or unofficial I don't know which) but once you have managed to go past the detritus the countryside is fabulous and at the moment the colours are super bright when the sun shines.

It was a bit disruptive at Mum's - not only did the cleaner come but also the guy who was to repair the water damage to the ceiling of the main bathroom.  Sod's law is that the workman came after the cleaner and not the other way round because in typical Cypriot workman fashion he didn't put down any sort of dust sheets and just scraped the paint off the ceiling!  I cleaned up after him.  It didn't take five minutes - it just needed sweeping up and wiping down.    It was also cold in Mums because apparently her normal cleaner doesn't like the heating on - blimey I think she would change her mind at the moment.  For someone who feels the cold I don't know how Mum can sit in that house sometimes and the point is she can afford to use the central heating even though the price of the oil has shot up the trouble is that she and Dad never had central heating and didn't like to put it on.  I keep telling her that she has already paid for the fuel and if there is any left over when she pops her clogs then the oil man wins!

Anyway I stayed until it looked like it was going to rain and made my way back home.  I had done the shopping I wanted which included stopping at Shuks for our weekly meat order.  I had planned to go to Sklavenitis to get some cat food for Charlie but the road system is a nightmare so I didn't bother and went into Grande instead where I managed to get some different Felix for Charlie which I hope he will eat - he has suddenly become very picky which is not like him.

I stopped off just before getting home to get some more cuttings of the wild clematis I had found when out walking with John one day.  The ones I took I put in water - they haven't died but they haven't done anything else either.  I have put one in compost to see if anything happens but that is looking a bit sick.  I asked in the garden centres if I could buy one of these but apparently not so I need to try and get one to root.

Once home John became Masterchef - we had taken a load of stuff out of the freezer to get it eaten up - it had gone there when I had to cut out a load of food stuffs from my diet - there was some homemade tomato sauce, pastourma, chorizo and pizza cheese and we had some Greek pittas which we were going to use as the bases.  These were absolutely delicious.  We added onion and chili and peppers and wacked them in the microwave convection oven for 15 minutes.  There are four pittas in a pack so we made four and donated the uneaten one to Richard because we know he is struggling with his shoulder at the moment and having to work like a demon to catch up for all the time he was in the UK.

It was a lovely start to the evening.  Once again though the Mighty Blades spoiled the party - or at least the match officials who deemed the goals scored to be offside - decisions which nobody seemed to be able to understand.

I didn't stay up to watch what ended up as a 0-0 draw - I took myself off to bed with a pair of bedsocks as company - the bedroom hadn't got the slightest bit warm during the course of the day and the cats were staying in with John and the wood burner which was a sensible choice!!

How cold?  well this is Boris seemingly auditioning for our next Christmas Card - he stayed like that all though the night!!!  John's cousin's partner Dip has arrived for a break at their apartment in Paphos and even he is questioning what has happened to the weather!!!