God save the Queen

We had been impressed with the highlights of the Jubilee celebrations that we had been able to see and I particularly liked this illustration which appeared on Social Media this morning.  The current art/photographic challenge is anything remotely connected to Queen Elizabeth II on this her platinum jubilee year and I am hoping we will get some lovely entries as it has been extended to the end of next week to allow people extra time to submit something.

We were having a quiet day today with not much planned - we are still waiting for our dehumidifier to come back from the menders - it suddenly stopped taking water out of the atmosphere although it sounded like it was working ok but wasn't.  It is under guarantee.  It was supposed to be returned to the shop where we bought it in Polis by taxi but seems to have gone astray!!!  We need to go down at some point but don't want to go down and then have to go back to collect it.

Some of the plants in the garden need a darn good haircut.  The osteospurmum which provide a border around the 'Japanese' garden have flowered and are now past their best so I cut them back so that they will green up and possibly flower again.  In the past I have let them go and they have become woody.  The only problem is that they look rather sad and weary until they perk up again.

The solanum at the end of the swimming pool, which was a gift from Mum's friend Eileen many years ago, has now become the biggest in the garden having been the smallest and I now struggle to keep it under control as it is too tall.  John wanted me to give it a trim but I decided to reduce it in size considerably.  Again it looks a bit sad and weary as by chopping out some branches we have some bare patches.  These plants (part of the potato family) are great survivors so should be back looking great by the time John's mum comes out to see us.

The polygala outside the kitchen window got similar treatment but come the winter I really want to give this a massive cut back and then maybe we might see it flower - normally it never gets to that point.

Supper this evening was the Mexican spiced belly pork strips I got some time ago from Naz.  I am never quite sure the best way to cook these so that they are tender and I was trying out a new recipe of smoky Spanish roast potatoes to go with them.

I have to say that the pork tasted better than it looked as somehow in the process I seemed to lose the Mexican marinade but the flavours were still there.  The potatoes were absolutely amazing and were accompanied by a nice salad.  

A long awaited catch-up

We were out for lunch today with Mum, Liselotte and John.  It was Liselotte and John's suggestion and they had booked Sonny's which used to be a favourite of Mum and Dad's - it is where they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.  

I know Mum finds it strange to go there without Dad but liked it when she knew all the staff and they knew her but thanks to covid the staff have changed.  The last time she went she didn't recognise anyone so she felt like a stranger in a place that had been so familiar.  

Today we traveled in style - John gave the Qashqai (aka Mrs Kirby) out for a Sunday afternoon drive and it is very comfortable although the parking sensors when banzai going up and down LL and J's drive as every bush along the way set them off!!!

We arrived at the restaurant as Mum had just parked up and was making her way inside.  I caught up with her and could see that she was smiling away because the owner Chris who has known her for years is no longer hiding away in the kitchen but is front of house so she was greeted by someone who knew her and made her feel special which was a great start to the day.  In fact she was on pretty good form - amazing what a change has come about since the offending medication was dropped.

We had a very pleasant few hours in the restaurant, Liselotte had booked inside which was better for Mum but we were right by a large window that was open and had a lovely view across to Coral Bay.  The restaurant was busy which was good to see and our meal was very kindly paid for by LL&J as a thank you for looking after J when LL is away visiting her Dad in Denmark.  We would quite happily do that for nothing!!!  

I was amazed to see, on nipping to the toilet, that Chris still has one of my paintings for sale in the restaurant, that must have been up there a good few years - he did sell quite a few for me but I think he concentrates more on photographs now and the paintings are just what are left over from previously.

We had invited Lakis and Argy to come round this evening for a drink with us.  Argy had lent me a book which had been written by a guy they had met when they were here last.  It was an interesting read - quite short with short chapters to easily finished in an afternoon.  

I am guessing it was self published and clearly written by someone whose first language is not English as it could have done with a bit better proof reading and editing but fair play to someone who wants to get a book out he has done that.

We had a nice evening just chatting in the conservatory.  The evening got quite cold and damp so we were glad to be indoors and it wasn't a late one.

We stayed up for a while watching the highlights of the end of the cricket - Joe Root came good.  John kept an eye on proceedings over lunch as both he and J are keen on their cricket.  We also watched the highlights from the jubilee celebrations.  Hats off to Ed Sheeran - he was amazing which is more than can be said for some of the other entertainers.

 

Congratulations Her Madge

For many this weekend marked massive festivities celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  We will be watching and flicking between that and the cricket.  I don't think I have anything in the garden with a Royal connection save for the fact that there is a purple clematis named after Prince Philip so this is the nearest I could get.  I have two clematis intertwined in the front garden - they were supposed to be different colours but I got two which are purple.  It used to be fairly common in garden centres to be told what you wanted to hear so I distinctly remember asking the woman at the London Road on the Mesoghi for a clematis that was not pink or purple and I got a purple one!  If I were to buy one again in the future I would speak to the lovely Marianna at the Garden Centre in Yialia because I know she will tell me the truth.

We got very little excitement with the cricket until very late in the day when England eventually managed to get New Zealand out in their second innings and went in to bat chasing an achievable total but lost wickets in quick succession.  At the end of Day 3 all hopes were riding on Joe Root which will make tomorrow interesting - can't see it going beyond Day 4.

It was my uncle Ivor's birthday today - he is Mum's only surviving brother and today reached the tender age of 93.  For many years he was his wife Margaret's carer (she had a stroke many years ago) and he was devoted to her - we feared that when she passed away he would go into decline but happily with the help of his family and in particular my amazing cousin Julie he is enjoying a new lease of life.  He is seen here enjoying Jubilee celebrations at Keinton Mandeville with his son, my cousin, Robert which clearly includes a bottle of real ale!!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Ivor - you are a legend.  

Also cause for celebration was the fact that it was 50 years since my aunty Phylis (mum and Uncle Ivor's younger sister) met her partner the lovely Simon.  They live in Australia and Aunty Phyl has endured years of illness but they are still there, still together and still enjoying life.

Who would have thought that Mum's family would have ended up being so far flung?  From simple beginnings in a small village in Somerset some of the siblings moved away and at one point were living in Canada, Australia, Cyprus and Wales.

We had company this evening when we went 'up top'.  The cats normally join us - they like the vantage point but Boo and Charlie took it a step further and went up onto the PhotoVoltaics - just a shame we can't teach them to give them a clean whilst they are there.  We are still concerned about Charlie who is still out of sorts and not overly impressed by having a shot of olive oil for a couple of days just in case he has eaten something which has disagreed with him.  He does seem to get increasingly confused as his surroundings are changing so we are not unhappy that he seems to prefer to stay in and around the house more now.  

We are out for lunch tomorrow so I didn't have to prepare food in readiness today and I wont have to get up early tomorrow to get it on the go.  We ate up some pork which had been part of a barbeque pack making it into souvlaki and it was lovely.

Looks like rain...

June has seen a cooling in the weather - today was overcast and a bit muggy but a good day to be doing a bit of gardening.  I am busy propagating some new purple basil plants from the one I originally purchased.  These will not last the winter but it is a pretty colour and easy to break a bit off and root in water.  

I spend the morning having a tidy up.  The osteospurmum and gazania are coming to the end of their flowering period and I usually make the mistake of not cutting the osteospurmum back hard enough and they get leggy and woody.  I am also waiting for the wild poppies and the nigella to set seed and then I can pull out the spent plants.

We are concerned about Charlie - he is out of sorts.  Having had Minnie poorly, now it is Charlie's turn.  He isn't eating which is a sure sign something is wrong and he is very vocal - we aren't sure whether maybe he has a bladder or a bowel issue - he was very vocal as a kitten when he had cystitis.  Poor baby we keep following him trying to witness him going to the loo - we have failed so far.  We are trying to get him to eat and have given him a slug of olive oil to help things on their way. 

We went for an early supper.  I am trying to make room in the freezer so we took out some pork for souvlaki tomorrow and a piece of sirloin steak which was part of a barbeque pack we got from Naz and which was a bit too fatty for my liking.  I decided to use this in a beef stir-fry and got rid of most of the fat as a result.  We had a quick trip to the supermarket mid morning.  Strange to be able to go in and choose for ourselves whether or not we wore masks.  I for one am not sorry this is no longer a requirement because today it was certainly very muggy today and so very unpleasant if you were forced to wear a mask.

It looked like it was going to rain this evening.  I don't know if it did but it was certainly very wet overnight and so for once I didn't need to do any watering.  There was a lot of noise around and about - someone somewhere was having a celebration which was accompanied by fireworks and what sounded like gunshots.  

We have been mesmerised by the first cricket test - day two today - guess what we will be doing tomorrow?

Winter Fuel Allowance

Now that we have had official confirmation that we are indeed entitled to the Winter Fuel Allowance and back pay on any sums which we didn't get previously we wanted to strike whilst the iron was hot and went off to find Marianna this morning - she had our forms waiting for us!!!  

I checked with her what other paperwork was required and she thought that my IBAN banking details where not recent enough even though they haven't changed for a while but have changed since we last received the allowance.  I decided to shoot off down to Paphos to get a new print-out whilst John was having his regular catch up with the Bobster in the village.  We then planned to get the forms sorted and return them straight away.  Interestingly we haven't seen any invitation from the Council Offices for people to go and get their forms so John was going to tell Bobby today because the paperwork has to be in within a couple of weeks.  The form for 2022 is different to previous ones because there are now extra sections which needed a bit of translation to understand.

It is a bit of a challenge to get to our bank because they are digging up the Mesoghi Avenue and making it dual carriageway - they will soon be digging up directly outside the bank.  At the moment you have to take a circuitous route around Lidl to get to Sklavenitis car-park and then you are forced to go down through the roadworks to find a way back out.  I realised that just after Lidl where the diversion offers you a left turn there is a park and a 30 minute car park which would allow me to nip to the bank and then drive back in the reverse direction without going all round the houses.  This was good and what else was good was that the bank was quiet and the miserable man on the counter  was having a jolly day today and was very happy to provide me with not one but two copies of my official IBAN details.  He even wished me a nice day - perhaps it was his birthday!!!

I even managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the London Road Garden Centre to grab a bag of compost on my way home.  The garden centres here are currently a riot of colour and beginning to introduce some different plants - today they had wisteria and they also had two different hostas - I think I have both of them from the ones which Ellen brought out for me.  I remember that Aunty Joyce and Uncle David bought me a hosta from here on their last visit a few years' ago but I don't remember it costing 12 euros!!!!  

I got back to Droushia and called into the cemetery to check on Dad and the plants which needed a bit of a water and then met John and Bobby walking down from Finikas to meet me.  I offered the Bobster a lift but he was happy to walk back home so John and I went home and tackled the forms and then took them to Marianna to be checked.  She went through them and was happy with what we had done so gave us an official receipt which I think is our green light and now we have to wait to see the money go into our bank account.

The remainder of the day was a quiet one watching the Jubilee Celebrations on the BBC - John particularly wanted to see the fly past which featured 70 aircraft and a spectacular display in close formation of 15 Typhoons in the shape of the number 70.  

It was all pretty amazing and something to be proud of - sadly the same could not be said about the England Cricket batting collapse - New Zealand only scored 132 all out themselves and initially England were coasting it but ended the day 116 for 7.  There was nothing for it but to console ourselves with one of our favourite suppers - Shakshouka (baked eggs) with a green salad and a jacket potato!

Ikea

I recently ordered a cheap and cheerful shoe cupboard from Ikea which arrived so poorly packaged that it looked like it had been kicked around the carpark several times.  I emailed to complain and they said they would dispatch a replacement and take back the old one.  The replacement was to have been packed in bubble wrap but instead came in a couple of sheets of brown paper with some visible damage.  Even more irritating was that it was supposed to have been delivered to our home but the delivery driver refused to venture from the centre of the village and John had to go down instead which pee'd him off.  I didn't open this package but took photographs and immediately emailed customer services.  They explained that at the time they didn't have any bubble wrap - REALLY?????? so sent it in brown paper but if it was damaged again they would swap it out and promised to send the replacement, replacement properly packaged.  How on earth this is cost effective for an item which cost under €25 is beyond me but hey ho.

I am pleased to report that my little pond shows signs of at least three little fish that survived the wet and wild and ultimately icy winter.  I hope they are not all male and that they produce a few more in due course.  The miniature water lily survived too and has produced its first flower of the season.  Hopefully as the leaves multiply it will help to keep the water clearer.  I am happy - I thought my little water ecosystem had been ruined.

On the subject of this year's exceptionally cold winter I am thrilled to report that for once the little man (or in my case woman) managed to triumph over the government.  Last year we were barred from applying for the winter fuel allowance which is awarded to permanent residents who live in mountainous areas.  We had qualified prior to Brexit and should have continued to qualify as a result of this benefit being protected by the Withdrawal Agreement but the Cyprus Government said a firm "OXI".  It is not an insignificant amount and to add insult to injury the winter was so bad they made a second smaller interim payment.  We were rather disappointed that as permanent residents and tax payers and supporters of our adopted country no-one cared.  Local Cypriot friends assumed we got the money as they did and couldn't understand why we did not.  So we teamed up with Jeff from Arodes who is a dab hand at getting things done and we followed protocol in making our disappointment at being discriminated against known and pointing out various paragraphs and undertakings in the Withdrawal Agreement which demonstrated that this was actually not legal and sat back and waited.  Periodically we would have a meeting with Jeff and Marianne over dinner in Fitos's to discuss our progress or rather lack of it until last week both they and we, received confirmation from the European Commission that we were right and the Cypriot Government had agreed to rectify the error and pay the allowance in the future and the back payments which we had missed.  Chuffed doesn't even come close - it was worth doing the research and pinging off the complaints and many emails.  We know what we will be doing tomorrow - going to the Community Office and grabbing the forms.

We had invited some of the Lordos 1 newbies to come round for a drink this evening and meet one another.  For us it almost served as a celebration of our discrimination success combined with an early celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  Sadly Nicky and Mark have both been poorly so they couldn't make it but there were about a dozen of us Lordos 1 dwellers assembled in our garden getting to know one another.   After years of living practically alone it is nice to have a sense of community here.  We are tucked away so don't really see or hear much so it was good to actually sit down and chat.  Thank you to everyone who came armed with a bottle and some nibbles.  God Save The Queen!!!

Bye Bye Masks

Today is the last day we will need to wear masks indoors (save for going to the hospital) and after two years and in the midst of a heatwave I cannot say I will be unhappy.  Thought it would appear that for many, judging by the people in the shops today, they have dispensed with them already.  I think the poor beleaguered business owners are sick and fed up of having to police the restrictions themselves.  At least now we can chose if we want to wear one and not get irritated by those who have flouted the rules.  Covid seems to have been forgotten and been replaced by concerns over the situation in the Ukraine, rising prices, illegal immigration and monkey pox.  The world is still bonkers.

We were off down to Paphos today to go to the bank and run some errands and to go and see if we could replace the garden brollies which the wind destroyed the other week.  We had a fairly successful and quite expensive time in Jumbos where we wonder what will fill the rows and shelves of items which are dedicated to masks and antibacterial handwash.  I am hoping they will bring back their supplies of candles.

We had arranged to go to Peggy's in Peyia for lunch with Mum and asked her to invite Lilian to come along because without Lilian I am really not sure how Mum would survive.  Tomorrow she and Mum are off to the Agia Anargyrii and then on Thursday to Tweedies for a meal.

Anyway we managed to get our favourite table in the garden - sadly it was rather humid and hazy so we didn't have the best view of the coastline but once the food came that went out of the window anyway.  The food there is lovely.

We all had a lovely lunch - it was relaxing and Mum is so much better - even Lilian said she was more engaging and she had been really worried about her so I am really glad that she expressed her concerns and I was able to go to the Doctors with Mum and get her medication sorted out and that it seems to be something as simple as that which caused such a down turn.

We made our way back home and unpacked all our purchases.  I forgot to add that we got another set of mesh points to extend our internet network to cover the far reaches of our garden - they are simple and easy to set up and were still on offer thank goodness, although the assistant didn't think so but I stood my ground and got them for the same price as we paid last week.  Now there should be no dead areas or black spots.

QE2

 

On what was possibly the hottest day of the year I decided to clean my windows.  I have not forgiven our resident window cleaner Richard (I am not the quickest) for wrapping in his hand and concentrating on the floor cleaning side of his business which is time consuming but lucrative.  I got out my window cleaning accoutrements and set to.  It was wasted effort because even at 8.30am it was too hot to get the stuff on and polished off before the sun set it like shit to a blanket.  I kid myself they look better but only in the dark and only then if you are wearing sunglasses.

The current art/photography challenge is anything connected to her Maj the Queen, it being her platinum jubilee.  I was trying to find some photographs with a royal connection from John's time in the Royal Navy, she was, after all, his boss for 27 years!

We were very fortunate to be invited to a Royal Garden Party when the Fleet Air Arm celebrated their Centenary Year.  We were living in Married Quarters at the time - 2009 and we went en masse from Yeovilton to Buck House.

It was an amazing sight to see thousands of Fleet Air Arm Servicemen in their best uniforms with partners and wives striding up the Mall and into her Maj's gaff!!!

I wore an amazing dress which was part of the 'Sex and the City' collection created for Marks and Spencer and I had a fabulous fascinator which my friend Alex had loaned me.  Our lovely friend Laura took that photograph - we were standing in the garden of our married quarters ready for the off.  It was certainly a day to remember.  I had never realised that the buildings of Buck House formed a quadrangle and inside they had flown in a couple of Fleet Air Arm helicopters.  It was the first and I think only garden party to serve alcohol as a benefactor had provided those attending with champers!

On the subject of helicopters (this is not my photograph) we are being buzzed by two which are taking part in a joint Cypriot/Israeli military operation.  They were night flying which took me back to my married quarters days and living in Yeovil when we were often entertained into the wee small hours by a variety of aircraft doing it in the dark!

The unseasonably hot weather continues - we sat out in the garden till really quite late but realised that we had not seen Charlie for quite some time.  Earlier in the day Savvas the Electrician had paid us a visit - he loves Charlie so Charlie had come to say Hi and then I couldn't remember seeing him again.  I had visions that the had hitched a ride in Savvas's van.  I asked him once before to check that Charlie was not being nosey and in his truck and Savvas joked that if he was then he would take him home with him and keep him.  John and I searched everywhere and found that when Savvas had gone to look at some electrical job John wanted him to do Charlie had followed and got locked in.  Fortunately not for long but long enough for me to realise he was absent without leave.  Anyway as it turns out the job John was enquiring about Savvas thought would reap us no benefit so that is money we don't need to spend.  John was thinking of having our solar panels laid down flat like the PV panels but Savvas said we would be better saving our money so we will.

Sunday Lunch with our Neighbours

It was to be a very leisurely Sunday for us.  Our neighbours Jan and Derek were taking us out for Sunday lunch so Mum was doing the same with Lilian.  This meant that we really had nothing to do until we left to go to the restaurant for the first sitting at 12.30pm.  Even when I have prepared our Sunday lunch on a Saturday I still have to cook it, plate it and serve it but today nothing, nada!!!  

I do not normally like going out for Sunday lunch but going to the Farmyard is the closest thing we have found to having a home cooked roast and Savvas's beef is absolutely the best and exactly how we like it - pink and tender.  There was leek and potato soup on offer followed by the salad counter then the roast dinner and a selection of about a dozen or so lovely little sweets.  It was leisurely and relaxing and probably the last time we will have to wear a mask in a restaurant as this gets completely relaxed on Wednesday save for visits to the hospital and as we are in the middle of a heatwave has not come a moment too soon.  There may well be times when we opt to wear a mask but it will be our decision and we wont need to get upset when we see people flouting the rules here.

We sat and chatted for ages at the table because we all seemed to be relaxed and comfortable.  I think Jan and Derek were suitably impressed which is good because hopefully it will be a venue they use again in the future.  They came back to ours to sit in the garden for the remainder of the afternoon.  It was a lovely temperature in the garden once the real heat of the day had passed but I knew it had been a hot one when I went into our bedroom and it was 26 degrees!!!

Mum had a nice time with Lilian.  I am so pleased that she (mum) seems so much her old self now that we have had her medication altered.  We are going to go down and see her on Tuesday and go to lunch at Peggies which I know she will enjoy as will we.

We are halfway through the current art/photographic challenge which is anything to do with Her Maj on this her platinum jubilee and having heard that Boris has nothing better to do than reintroduce imperial weights and measures in the UK I dug out my three old 10 shilling notes - crisp and with sequential serial numbers (had I placed them in the right order).  I hope they might one day be worth a fortune but somehow I doubt it!

Jan if you are reading this - it is very quiet without you both here and we have missed you!!

A Long Power Cut

John woke up with a start this morning - he had been dreaming that we had left all the washing up last night and that we would need to tackle that first thing and then he remembered we had done it all so prepared to relax and ease himself into the day when he had a phonecall from Costas the Aluminium Man to say he was outside the front door.  He had said he would call in today to look at the glass in the conservatory which needs replacing for one reason or another.  We have two units which have 'blown' and so normally have a bloom of condensation between the panes although one was completely clear today for some reason.  We also have a pane of glass which has cracked from top to bottom on the inside which is strange and we wonder whether when we had a series of earthquakes earlier this year that there had been a slight fault which the quakes aggravated and so in the end it cracked completely.  We will soon find out what the damage is - the added nause factor is that they will all need to have the protective film fitted again so double the expense.

We have a heatwave across the island at the moment and it is exceptionally hot so I wanted to sort out the plants which Argy and Lakis brought us last night.

The geranium is one of my favourites.  I have the same, if not similar, which I took as a cutting from my sisters years ago and which I cut back and repropagate every year and it flowers and flowers with cheeful pale pink blooms with a brighter pink pattern inside.

I had a plant which had died in a pot which is located out the front.  I had transplanted a lavender into it when we reorganised the front garden and it hadn't survived but I hadn't got round to removing it.  The pot is a lovely tall terracotta one and would be the ideal home for the geranium so that was plant number one sorted.

We also received a bougainvillea - I love them but I know that when the coloured bracts start to die off they go like tissue paper and get blown all over the place so I needed to find somewhere for it to go that would ensure that our swimming pool did not get covered.

The shape of the plant helped us to decide where it should live.  It had a long arched stem and a shorter upright one and so I thought it would be good if we could encourage it to grow and mask the guttering downpipe which is incorporated into our stone wall.  I set about digging the hole - John was off on an errand with Bassam.  It was hot and sweaty work digging the hole - not least because right where I wanted the plant to go I discovered a massive stone which I had to dig out - at one point I thought it was part of the foundation of the house!  In the end I did manage to get it out and I managed to find a bit of wire which I am going to use to mould the stems into the correct shape.  The arched stem will go along to the left and when the upright one is long enough it will be encouraged to grow up to the right.  It was a job well done and I am pleased that we have managed to find a way of hiding the brown downpipe which I have never liked.

Our last little job for the day which we thought would be a five minute one and then turned out to take a lot longer was to fit the fly screen which we got from Lidl.  I wanted something for our spare bedroom just to try and keep the worst of the bugs at bay if someone wants to sleep in there with the door open.

We chose this design because the cats should be able to push their way through one of the middle sections rather than scratch at the fabric and hitch it to bits!!!  Charlie was the first visitor - if he can haul his bulk through then anyone can!!!

We had a longish unexpected power cut this afternoon which was a bit of a bugger as we had planned to eat early and had only had some nibbles lunchtime.  On calling the fault line it appeared that it was quite major affecting Droushia and many of the surrounding villages including Kathikas.  We decided to sit it out and wait although it was not expected to return until 7.30pm!

Nicky was in the middle of cooking pork chops so we fired up our gas barbeque and she brought them over and John finished them off whilst she and I sad and had a glass of wine together.  Just as she was walking back with them done and dusted the power came back on at 7.00pm and had a little blip thereafter but we were able to heat up our leftover chili con carne and very nice it was too.

Celebrating an Anniversary...

Charlie, who we also refer to as Fatty, was being very optimistic this morning when he thought he would be able to get comfy in our little bread basket.  He does like to investigate the inside of my cupboards when he is 'starving'.  I hoofed him out and had to take the liner out of the basket and put it in to the wash.  I was in no mood for his shenanigans because it was Argy and Lakis's 49th wedding anniversary today and we had invited them round to have a curry with us so I was making everything from scratch, dips, curry, naans and pudding.

My new desk got its first use this morning - I was able to sit and make an anniversary card there.  Although I have still to find a suitable chair I just moved the Ikea wooden steps from the kitchen and put some foam on the legs so it didn't scratch the tiles and sat on that.  If I was going to be there for any length of time it wouldn't be comfortable enough but for a small job is was perfectly fine.  I am really glad the woman who was going to buy this desk from Furniture-R-Us decided to change her mind and the woman there rang me to let me know because it is perfect for what I want.

I spent most of the day in the kitchen but sat down mid afternoon to try and sort out my laptop which had had a complete hissy fit earlier and so I had to restore it back to a known good date which took forever - so long in fact that I actually fell asleep waiting and John fell asleep too.  I think that it it was so warm last night we had not slept particularly well. 

Anyway we got everything organised and Argy and Lakis came round at about 5.30pm because they, like us, like to eat early to give their food time to digest.  It was a beautiful evening and we were able to sit outside to have a pre-dinner drink before our starters.  They arrived bearing gifts - surely this was the wrong way round it should have been us giving them a present!!!  They came with a beautiful geranium and beautiful bougainvillea having been to the garden centre yesterday. 

We had a selection of dips, mango chutney, raita and indian tomato salad with home-made onion bhajis and a poppadom which went down exceptionally well.  The bahjis were probably the best I have made in a long time, I find cooking the onion first helps and I made them and then reheated them in the oven on baking parchment to make sure that they were cooked through and not greasy.

We had a chicken chasni curry with plain rice and home made naan breads which we thought were going to be a disaster because the yeast didn't seem to have much life in it and even when I put the dough to prove it didn't do very much but we managed to get them rolled out really thin and they cooked perfectly.  

We had a lovely evening.  The food went down well even though I still haven't quite got the heat right for Lakis - when he says he likes spicy he really does like spicy so next time we either all have blow your head off hot or I do his separately!!!  We even managed to stay outside for the whole meal even though I know that Lakis feels the cold.  It was a pleasure to have them with us and we were so pleased we could entertain them here.

It was not a late night and so John and I managed to get everything washed up and cleared away so we didn't have to get up early tomorrow - I never like to leave it hanging around anyway.

A trip to Emba

We were going down to Emba quite early this morning because we were going to see mum and doing some bits and pieces for her and we needed to go and do a bit of shopping and go to the butchers and we were also dropping our neighbours off at the garage that is sorting out their car.  This was a view that you don't often see - a mature olive tree being transported!!!  Apparently this is one of the few trees that can be moved successfully so no idea where this one was going but wherever it had been previously it had been there a very long time.

We had our regular weekly trip to the butchers - we didn't want much today but it is always a pleasure to see Naz because you can look like a bag of spanners and he always makes you feel a million dollars!!!  I am cooking tomorrow for Lakis and Argy's wedding anniversary - they will have been married 49 years god bless them and I am doing a curry so I was off to get some nice chicken to make it.

We had a successful shopping trip for once - particularly with regard to Lidl.  Mum usually brings up the weekly flyer and we earmark a few things and then go down to buy them and they would rarely have what we wanted.  Anyway we were in search of some replacement garden umbrellas having lost two in the tornado and they had some which were rectangular and very reasonably priced and one will fit exactly where we wanted it to go.

We also managed to get my new crafting desk into Kenny (with the seats down) and bring it back and put it into place.  It will give me somewhere to do some admin and some craft when I want to.  It fits perfectly into the space - I need to get a chair but there is no rush.  If nothing else it will provide some welcome storage.  To the left where there is a basket for the cat towels we are going to put a couple of Ikea shoe storage boxes in an attempt to get John to stop leaving his footwear all over the place.

This afternoon we called round to see Das because he has his mother over from the UK staying with him and Belinda for a week.  As I have my Brownie Badge for Dealing with Old Folk I was an obvious choice to go and say hello!!!  Anyway we stayed and had a coffee and a chat and then we called round to have a chat with Lakis and Argy before we returned home to wait for our chilli to warm through for our evening meal.

It was a glorious evening so we sat outside and had a little drinkie before going in and eating.  We were joined by the cats and it really was lovely - the garden is looking amazing even if I do say so myself.  I head from my sister to say that she was about to book to return in December which is good news - we will be having an early Christmas like we did last year and Mum is very excited.

A lovely walk

Being a sucker for punishment I was out walking again this morning.  We left a little later from Kathikas on what was possibly the hottest day of the year so far and we did so without a route planned so we were winging it a bit to make sure we didn't venture too far before coming back!

Just to prove I was there I am posting a rare photograph of my - a selfie I inadvertently took when I was trying to fire up Komoot to see if there was a suitable route already in the bag.  There was not!

Anyway it was good to catch up with Rachel - we haven't walked together for quite a while and she is always entertaining with her stories and anecdotes about her life and the trials and tribulations of running a business here having been slam dunked by both Covid and the rampant price increases which we are experiencing.  I do not envy her having to juggle her time in order to help with running their various businesses and look after the needs of her family - and in particular her son Athos Jack.  In spite of everything she still manages to laugh.

We have walked most of the tracks which criss cross the fertile basin which is down below Kathikas (and above Akoursos) on numerous occasions so although we didn't have a route in mind we were pretty confident that we would find one which afforded us a bit of shade.  It really is very pretty around here and hard to believe that you are just off the main road which runs from Kathikas to Stroumbi.

You can see from the skies (this was about 9.00am) that it was turning into a very hot day so we did about three quarters of our walk in the basin before making a decision that we should head back to the main road and cross over because then we knew we would only have about another 15 minutes before we got back to the car.

It was a nice walk and by the time I got home I was ready to continue on my sorting out of the house - John had gone into the village to meet up with Rob so I nipped across the road to have a coffee with Lakis and Argy before getting stuck in.  They have just had the outside of their house and surrounding area painted and the house is looking fabulous as a result.  The guys who did it were amazing.  Not only did they mask off areas they covered them in plastic including Argy's outside doormat!!!  It looked like a murder scene which had been cordoned off!!!  Now at least they can tick that job off of their list of things they wanted to achieve whilst they were here.  They were off to Paphos so I went home to do a bit more gardening and I am systematically going through drawers and sorting out items for charity or binning.

I am in two minds as to whether to sell my mountain bike.  I haven't used it for ages as I actually prefer to walk now and probably cover about the same distances as I would have done if I cycled because it is so hilly here.  The jury is out because once it's gone it will be gone never to be replaced save for something which has a motor!

Fully meshed

We had an early start this morning.  I had tried, unsuccessfully, to purchase something from Electroline on-line yesterday but the computer had categorically said NO to me creating an account and without said account I could not make it to the payment stage.  In an attempt to try and sort the internet blank spots in and around the house and garden I had seen that Electroline were offering their Mesh systems at half price and this was an offer not to be missed so John decided we should go down to the shop in Paphos and actually go in and purchase them.  This dovetailed quite nicely with our neighbours needing to drop their car off at Anthony the Peugeot guys gaff.  They put the roof down on their Cabriolet to accommodate putting their new TV inside but one of the side windows wasn't working and the roof wont go back up if the windows are knackered.  

We got the mesh devices and at the bargain price and were actually very impressed by Electroline which is probably the Cypriot equivalent of Curries or Dixons and so much more like the electrical stores one would be used to in the UK.  The assistant was very nice, polite and helpful so that was great.  I am now steeling myself for the installation which will, inevitably, result in some sort of heated debate between John and I as to setting them up.  I shall report on that when I have actually found the strength to do it.

We met up with Jan and Derek at The Grande supermarket which was a revelation to Jan who had not encountered the shop before nor has she been to Cycleband (The Grande's big sister).  Whilst in there we also bumped into Ellen so had a little Lordos 1 convention around the tinned goods aisle!

We did a quick detour on the way home to show our neighbours where Vasillikon Winery is located and to show them how lovely the location is.  The resident dog got all excited when he saw John because he knows that John will take a treat in for him.

Dog has had a haircut and looks beautiful as a result and has the softest velvety fur rather than the rather bedraggled shaggy look he sported previously.  I can never quite remember Dog's name but generally I would say I am not a dog lover but I cannot resist this one who has perfected the soulful eye appealing look and gets away with it every time.

The winery was busy with what looked like a wine tasting group of youngsters and so we had a good look round, took in the amazing view and made our way back to Lordos 1 dropping J&D back at their flat at Bassam's so they could get changed before they walked back down to their house to continue with the renovations.  I have to say that they both work like absolute trojans and the house next door is looking all the better for it.  They only have three weeks left of this trip and we are trying to encourage them to take some time out and have a bit of a break and a holiday before they go back to the UK.  Jan said they had brought their paddleboards with them but haven't had a moment to try them out and I have seen people with paddleboards on the stretch of coast along Argaka way.

With work being done next door and Lakis and Argy having their house painted it inspired me to get on and do something this afternoon which John had suggested the other day.  That was to clear out the 'glory hole' which consists of two original bushes which were planted a couple of feet away from the boundary behind which we hide the old Cypriot barbeque, a cat cage, a variety of different sized flower pots and some garden tools.

We worked the whole afternoon removing one of the two bushes and finding homes for the items hidden behind and then set about making that into a more usable space.  John's weights were given a new home.  The wooden structure behind, which was a bed John made for Chivers to sleep in located on the top of Bramall Lane which he never got to use because he passed away on that day, was turned round 90 degrees and the whole area smartened up.

This cost us nothing save for a lot of sweat and elbow grease but has made a huge difference to that area of the garden.  We were knackered but felt pretty chuffed with our effort.