New Experiences

Dip was up and off early this morning.  He has a late flight from Paphos.  I was up and off early because I needed to go to Paphos to go to the bank and I was taking Mum to chose a new mattress.  It is getting increasingly difficult to get access to the bank.  Thankfully you can still park at Sklavenitis supermarket and walk through but it is quite a mess.  I don't know the timescale for getting this finished but they are nowhere near that position yet.

Mum's bed it some bizarre Spanish size so the local mattresses don't or won't fit so John is going to have to adjust the bed to move the footboard 5 centimeters so that we can get a standard king-sized mattress.

I took Mum to Steptoes because that is where we got ours last year.  They have quite a few to chose from and they are happy for you to lie on them and try them out.  I am hoping that by getting something modern and supportive it will mean that Mum's back is less of a problem for her in the mornings.  

 I made her try as many as she was able to reach - some of the really deep ones are too tall for her but eventually we narrowed it down to two, I didn't tell her the prices as one was about half the price of the other, I wanted her to decide based on the comfort and she actually chose the dearer one.  We paid for it and arranged for delivery next week when John will come with me to make the adjustments to the bed.

The staff in Steptoes are really nice and helpful - young but polite and the girl who served us switched from Cypriot to English flawlessly.  I couldn't really tell if Mum was pleased about the purchase or not - I gave her the option to go home and think about it.  Whilst we were back in Emba I got Mum to try walking with the stick we got when she hurt her leg - not the stick with the 3 legs but the retractable one.  I had mentioned I thought she was unsteady on her feet or walking without confidence and she said her recent fall had made her feel nervous.  I know that she probably hates the thought of a stick which is a visible sign of her ageing - like her hearing aids - but she did give it a go and later text me to say that she felt better with it so that was progress.  She wants to give this one a go to see how she gets on before going to have one made for her and that is fine and that is her decision.

On my return home John, Richard and I went for a walk - we had hoped to find To Arhontiko Tis Elenis open in Inea for some lunch but it was closed so we walked back to Kaponas where we had a meal and I got Eleni to cook my chips longer and they were perfect.  It was really nice sat there and it is only 5 minutes from where we live which is great.  Richard announced that he is going into semi-retirement and wants to get to know the village better so this was an ideal start.  I hadn't seen his mum for ages so on our return I popped round to have a chat with her.

Sitting in the cool of the garden this evening I was accompanied by my new friend Katy.  Katy is a Katydid - so a sort of cricket.  She is living in one of my basil plants - you would think she would always be visible but no I went to water this one and she suddenly emerged!!