We will always remember where we were when we heard the news...

Read the post below this one - they were published out of order

Yesterday was one of those days in history that you are never likely to forget.  Whatever your opinion of Queen Elizabeth II her lifetime of duty to her country and her subjects came to an end.  A new chapter begins with a King and a world which has a very different opinion of royalty and the commonwealth.  I had not expected to feel so moved by the scenes broadcast on the television but I was and I know that John was too - she had been his boss for 28 years after all.

So it was a rather more sombre world that we woke up to today.  I was glad that we had special activities organised for today otherwise the temptation would have been to sit and watch events unfold on the television.

The boys were off to the par 3 golf course down in Paphos for some practice before they have their fancy-pants round of golf at Minthis Hills.  This is all part of the Great Droushia Golf Challenge and apparently John was victorious today.

The girlies were booked on a craft course in Neo Chorio where we had been last year.  This year the owner Anna was there to guide us through a beginners' lesson in decoupage.  I have done something similar previously but from things I had seen online so I didn't really know the correct way to approach a project.  On this display cabinet you can see examples of decoupage on both glass and wood.  So we spent quite a while checking out all the items for sale which were suitable for decoupaged.  We chose differently.

Janet and Jackie both chose to decoupage and embellish square mirrors and I chose to decoupage a glass vase into which I will place a votive and candle (I don't want to crack the fragile glass).  We spent four hours working on our items.  Regular members of Anna's Workshops were there including Gillian Carbine and a lady called Jane Harvey who thinks that it is John that does all the cooking in our household because she sees posts on Paphos Cooking Tips and Tricks which are actually mine but come up with his name!!!  It was a lovely morning and very reasonably priced and I am seriously considering pitching up in the autumn and doing some more as you can go and just pay for what you use so you can just take your own project and have the company.

We had lunch together and then John and I went home for a couple of hours to sort ourselves out and then the family came and joined us for a swim.  They were all a bit uncertain but the pool was just around 30 degrees.  Stan thought we were telling porkies but we got him to stand, wet, on the top step for a minute and then go back in the water - he was not convinced until he did and then he realised that the water actually felt like a warm bath!!!!  Our guest returned home for a quick change as we were eating in the village at Finnikas this evening.

We had an amazing evening at Finnikas.  When we arrived our neighbour Richard was in eating and drinking with the two mates which he has staying for a few days.  John wanted to buy him a few beers for giving us the sails we have put up outside.

We had pre-booked what we wanted to eat thinking it would be a 'light' meal but omg we had so much lovely food - I shared fish with Jackie whilst the other three had chicken souvlaki.  We also had salad, dips,  chips, pilafi and green eggs and some superb grapes and melon to finish off.

A lovely evening - poor Stanley was the brunt of our jokes though - sorry Uncle Stan but you know that we love you and we know that you take it all in good part.