Feeling hot, hot, hot

 

We are in crazy hot temperatures at the moment so I am not too upset when the cats demand an early breakfast in the cool because it gives me the opportunity to watch the sunrise over the hills and to see the colours streak across the horizon where below there is a flat calm sea.  We are lucky and sometimes we take all this a bit for granted even though we try not too.  It's a great time to go for a swim too - and if early enough crawl back into bed with a coffee - but today is Sunday and Mum is coming so I like to make sure everything is organised for lunch.  Today something in the slow cooker - pork chops in an orange sauce which will be served with minted new potatoes and carrots and peas.  Or at least that was the plan but I couldn't find, and still haven't found, the carrots I bought the other day.  All that was in the veg box were two very limp and uninspiring specimens which we tried to revive with some iced water - this was partially successful but in the end Argy came to my rescue with a bag of lovely fresh carrots that I could use.

The super hot weather is taking its toll on Charlie who, with his bulk and his fur, struggles to find somewhere cool to sleep - given the opportunity (like today) he sneaks into the spare room, which is deemed a cat free zone for the sake of any visitors, and jumps up onto the chest of drawers where the window is open and gets a cool breeze coming in over the swimming pool.  I haven't the heart to move him today but have to remember not to lock him in!  I tell John that Charlie is guarding my ironing!

Mum arrived safe and sound and this week decided that she would have a bob around in the pool.  We had got a 'noodle' for her to keep her afloat but to be fair our pool is not so deep that she is ever really out of her depth.  She is not overly confident in the water at the best of times.  Until she moved to Cyprus with Dad she never swam and then when they had their own pool and she could use it without anyone else around her splashing and making waves she taught herself to swim.  She used to do it every day but once they moved to the bungalow without a pool she didn't swim and now her confidence has gone and she finds the water cold.

We dried off and sat at the outside table for our lunch.  I love our walled garden - it might have cost us an arm and a leg but it is beautiful and we spend a lot of time looking at the stone and seeing what we can see - there are a lot of 'faces' looking back at us and today I spotted a new rather ghostly one which I had not noticed before!

Lunch went down well I think and there is enough left over for John and I to have tomorrow.  This may well be a big day for Nicky and Mark and if so we have asked them to come over - we have a bottle of Champagne on ice waiting to see whether or not they have sold their house in Emba after nearly 4 years on the market.  It will be bitter sweet as this was the house that Dad and Mum had built and it was Dad's dream.  I think he would be chuffed to think that someone else loves it enough to buy it and want to live in it.  Anyway if it all goes through we will be celebrating with the Kirbys and I want us to have eaten beforehand.

We asked Lakis and Argy to come and join us for a drink after Mum had gone - we were going to go up onto the roof terrace and I am not sure that they have ventured up there before.  It was a beautiful evening and Lakis said that if he lived in our house he would spend all his time up there looking at the ever changing view.  Tonight Charlie ventured out of the spare bedroom and came up to join us.  Charlie loves Lakis!  We stayed 'up top' until Lakis began to feel a bit chilly and then we retired down into the conservatory.  We are lucky to have the choice.