Mum has a fall...

This morning started so well but just deteriorated which was such a shame...

First thing this morning John went round to hang a roller blind for George and Pam and I went round to finish the pruning of their lemon tree which is earmarked to be the only plant which remains when they have their outside space paved.  I am no tree pruning expert but based on the issues I had last year with our lime tree, which had such a tangle of branches it provided a lovely warm and humid breeding ground for mealy-bug, I know that trees need to be opened up to provide good airflow.

This Winter and the recent cold winds have meant that the lemon tree had been somewhat ravaged and so not expecting much from it this year it was an opportunity to give it a really good cut back.  I did this with the lime tree and it is already looking better for it.  No signs of mealy bug and fresh new growth coming now which will hopefully withstand any late cold snap and survive.   I took off all the spindly side growth and a lot of the massive thorns - I probably would have reduced some of the branches even further but (a) did not have my big secateurs and (b) didn't want to upset George because he is so keen that this tree remains.

At long last our garden is really springing into life.  It has been a slow process this year but dotted around the anemone's have put in an appearance and my one remaining ranuncula.  The osteospurmum, Californian poppies and wild poppies are also adding a welcome dash of colour.

Although the day's are a bit more sunny and warm the evening remain very cool (sometimes still in single figures) and we have heavy overnight condensation.  

I spent a little time in the garden doing some tidying up and checking to see if anything needed watering - the condensation helps in that respect.  

I am keeping an eye on the interesting sticks that we have still in pots - these were hibiscus and a weeping fig.  I am hopeful that I can see signs of life in the orange hibiscus but sadly still nothing on the lovely red one which Lakis and Argy bought me last year when I was poorly and still nothing on the weeping fig although this has happened to it previously and it took months before new leaves did finally appear.

This afternoon we had been invited to Lilian's 70th birthday afternoon tea at Peggy's in Peyia.  We had arrived and parked up and were surprised not to see Mum's car there.  We crossed over the road and waited for her to arrive which was just seconds after us and she parked next to our car.  The carpark is on a bit of a blind bend so John was going to cross over and make sure she got across safely but she set off and took two steps and then fell face first in the middle of the road.  It was awful to watch because we couldn't prevent it even though it seemed like it was happening in slow motion.  We had to run over and stop the traffic and pick her up.  She had broken her glasses and was in a right mess.  I was worried that, as she had put her hands out in front of her, she might have broken a wrist.  John collected up her glasses and went off to get some superglue to fix them and I took her across to Peggy's to try and clean her up.  She had hit her face, her wrist and both her knees and was bleeding profusely - her skin is so paper thin and it had really shaken her up.  She was worried that she had done some damage to the cataract operation but hopefully not.

The cafe staff were brilliant bringing her some water and the contents of their medical kit which enabled me to get her cleaned up and bandaged - she managed to fall during the Chemists lunch break so I couldn't get anything from them.  After her major fall last year I learned so much about wound dressing that once I got Mum home I knew I would be able to do the right thing.  She said she was ok to continue and I said I would drive her home and John could follow so we could make sure she was ok or as ok as you can be after you have been break dancing in the middle of a main road with traffic coming at you.

Lilian's afternoon tea was lovely.  John was well impressed because he had not been in Peggy's Secret Garden before and the venue is lovely - or it is if you were sitting in the sun as we were - in the shade it was still a bit chilly!  The food was excellent - way better than we had at Elea and it was great to see our neighbour Das in the kitchen doing his stuff - it augurs well for Mum's birthday as she is hoping to have afternoon tea there herself.

We got Mum home - I dressed all her wounds with the same cream and patches that they used at the wounds clinic and gave her a couple of paracetemol and told her to rest.  Fingers crossed she will be ok.

Our new neighbours came today, Janet and Derek.  They are embarking on renovating 11a which has been empty all the time we have been living here.  I thought it would be strange to have someone next to us but actually it is quite nice and it will be good to see that building made to look decent.  I wish them all the best in their endeavours and they know that they only need to shout if they need something.