The day with Mum, the evening with Friends

John was out on a bike ride this morning and I did my regular trip down to Emba to see Mum.  I didn't really need anything but it being a Wednesday took the opportunity to get meat from Shuks with my Wednesday 10% discount.

I suggested that maybe we could take a trip into the Old Town and go and investigate what Marks and Spencer had to offer upstairs where they have all their sale clothes because I can find nothing for her for Christmas and she said she wanted a long sleeved top.  Nowadays she has no idea what will actually fit and I don't think she realises how little she has become.  Her arms are really thin even though she insists that she still needs clothes which are far too big for her.  

The trip down to the 'sunken' carpark was relatively painless and we parked up by the glass lift which comes out at Cafe Nero and where the statue of the girl feeding birds is situated.  Sadly she no longer holds the birds in her hands or has them sitting by the side of her as they have been pinched on a number of occasions.  It is a sad sign of the times that crime is now more rife than it used to be - the economic situation doesn't help.

Mum declared that the old market is 'rubbish' - she can't have been there for years - I pointed out that it had been undergoing a refurbishment and we had heard good reports when people we knew had visited recently.   It is another sign of the aging process that she has become very negative - I had passed by a nice new cafe at the bottom of Peyia which has a little terrace and has been very busy the last couple of times I have gone by.  I suggested that she might arrange to meet with Lilian there.  Her response was to screw her nose up and moan that it was Cypriot (really?  in Cyprus? no way!!!) I asked what difference that made and she said that the clientele would all be smoking.  A bit of a generalisation I think but I said to her that before dismissing it out of hand maybe she should try it?

I managed to find several tops for her to try on.  We agreed on size 10 in the end but even then they were quite generous and the sleeves miles too long.  She chose two and I will ask Nicky if she will use her overlocker to take the sleeves up properly.  The tops will hardly break the bank - one being 5 euros and the other 8 euros 50!  Still if she is happy with them that is all that matters.

I think they have made some nice changes to this area of the Old Town.  I like the way the old colonial buildings have been done up and are side by side with modern installations.  Things have certainly changed over the last 30-odd years that we have been coming here and I am sure that most of it is viewed positively by tourists.  High streets and shopping areas the world over have changed - I am sure if Mum were to go back to Yeovil or Street she would be horrified by what she saw.

I came away from mums with some goodies.  The field adjoining Mum has black eyed beans ready to harvest and her neighbour Effie told mum that I could help myself which is good because I quite like them and we have Sonia coming for some supper on Monday and I plan to do a vegetarian meze so have found a recipe for using these beans.  I also got a bag of lemons - slightly under ripe but they will be fine for our purposes.

We spent a very pleasant evening around at Nicky and Mark's.  Nicky had made a fantastic curry with all the bits and pieces which is no mean feat when you don't have what most people would regard as a normal kitchen but she loves to cook and does a great job with all the different bits of kitchen equipment she has at her disposal.  This was a thank you for looking after the cats whilst they were away along with the box of Vasilikon wine they bought us - maybe we should set up a cat sitting business?  on second thoughts that is a very bad idea - we were so worried when we didn't see Roxy, Tabitha and/or Noodles!