Easter Saturday

 

We were going to spend a quiet Easter Saturday at home getting organised for tomorrow when we have invited Mum and Lilian to come for lunch.  We are having almost a full on Christmas Dinner save for the bread sauce which I love but seem to be the only one who does so I am not bothering with that but we are having everything else including home made stuffing and pigs in blankets.  Mum fortunately seems to be none the worse for her fall earlier in the week thank goodness.  We have also suggested that it is time to ring the changes after years and hundreds if not thousands of Sunday lunches together - we would just like to alternate things a bit and maybe do a Monday now and again.  We shall see how that works!

Pudding for tomorrow is going to be something a bit different - my hand was forced by limited ingredients as we are trying not to over buy or waste - this is a banana bread pudding.  I hope it is okay - it smelt pretty good when it came out of the oven and I will reheat it tomorrow and serve with cream.  In Mum's case she will have the cream with a bit of pudding on the side!!!

John has got the pool looking sparkling after all the dust storms and we have been putting the cover on at night to try and keep the temperature up.  Today it was around 20 degrees and I just thought it was about time I gave it a go.  

It was bracing to get in but actually once I had got over the shock it was really lovely and I will try and make more use of it this year.  Whilst I was in John got me to sort out the direction of the jets and so it is all now tickety boo and ready to go.  Unfortunately more dust is forecast for tomorrow so all his good work may need to be redone.

We had a shower and then went for a walk down into the village when we knew it would be quiet - tonight will see the main part of the celebrations with the bonfire and the firecrackers which will continue to be let off well into the early hours of the morning.  They sound like small bombs at times and look to be quite dangerous as can often be home made.  Still it is no different to our Guy Fawkes celebrations although now in the UK they are rather more policed and official than they are here.

We had been contacted by someone who reads our We Love Drouseia social media page.  He is visiting his father who lives in the village but he himself lives in South Africa.  He had asked if we might be free to put a face to a name and so we said that we would be in the garden in Finnikas this afternoon if he were passing - as it happens he couldn't make it because of a surprise visit from his nephew but that didn't matter as we like to go and see Phillipos and Marina anyway.

We had hoped to catch up with Di and Rob over Easter but they are busy getting ready for visitors and having been away to stay in Limassol last week are behind schedule.  It's been ages since we were all four together although John manages to catch up with Rob when Di is with her fitness group of friends on a Thursday whenever he can. 

Finnikas Garden was looking lovely and it was so sunny that we didn't sit at our normal table but chose instead to take one further into the back where it was in shade.  We hadn't planned to eat because we were having a little barbeque at home later but we were given a lovely fresh plate of Easter Flaounes (bread baked with halloumi and mint).  A lovely couple staying at the Droushia Heights Hotel on a cycling holiday organised by Helen and Al of Wheelie Cyprus came in to eat and we struck up conversation with them.  It is at times like this that we realise how privileged we are to be able to live in such a beautiful part of the world where all the trouble and strife seems to be a million miles away.  We are indeed lucky.  We have never been and will never be rich in monetary terms but what we have is priceless.   

We called into the cemetery to visit Dad and wish him, David, Les and Elena all Kalo Pascha.  Dad's plants needed watering and the little pansies will need to be replaced in due course.  I am thinking of potting up the container with some interesting succulents for the summer as they should survive without much water.

We had our little barbeque, just some lamb kofta and chicken kebabs from Shuks with salad, coleslaw and wedges.  I say just but they were delicious and it was just the right amount of food.  

We settled down to watch the remainder of Anatomy of a Scandal before trying to go to sleep but the bangs and shudders coming from the celebrations kept me awake although not John!