A Christmas card from a dear friend

December is here - the weather is much better - in fact very pleasant indeed.  It is quite hard to think about Christmas when the sun is streaming in but my gift from Liselotte when they came for a meal was her infamous Mulled Wine Kit.  I have had it before and it creates the most amazing tasting festive tipple.  I know it is not to everyone's taste but the smell, if nothing else, is Christmas through and through.

Our next Christmas Day is less than a week away.  My sister arrives on Sunday 4th and we will be celebrating together on Wednesday 7th.  I am up to my eyes in wrapping paper and sellotape.  John wants to trim up on Saturday before we take Jane and John to the airport which, to be fair, is about the only day we have time to do it because our decorations are an eclectic mix - we have no theme and, as with just about everything else, we never agree!!!

John was going off on a bike ride this morning with Pete.  Richard is still testing positive for Covid although thankfully his mum Ellen is now clear.  I was going down to see Mum.  Unfortunately I couldn't arrange to get my hair cut today which would have meant just one trip to the Metrolops but Lumi can only fit me in tomorrow and I had promised to go down and break up Mum's week.  She didn't tell me that she had turned down an invitation for coffee with Sue and Fran, nor that she was going to see Lilian in the afternoon and Jane and John in the evening so she was hardly desperate for my visit but never mind.

Just before I was about to leave I noticed a new splash of colour in the garden - we have some of our double Narcissi flowering - they are so jolly and sweet.  Whilst I was out taking a photograph I noticed another splash of colour flying by - a large bird with speckled grey and white plummage - it was apparently a Sparrow Hawk which flew in and landed on one of the 'turrets' to our stone wall.  It was a beauty but too far away for me to get a decent photograph and it was quick thankfully as it flew away as Boo had started to take an interest in it.  Boo was quite confused as to what he had seen and spent ages sniffing around the turret after its departure.  Initially John thought it might have been a Merlin but finally settled on a Sparrow Hawk.  

It should have gone next door where there are sparrows nesting.  There used to be loads but Jan and Derek spent a lot of time closing up the gaps in the terracotta tiles where they loved to raise their families.  They didn't quite get all of them done so there is now a sparrow housing shortage.  Hopefully they will move on elsewhere.  They seem to be trying to find suitable accommodation in and around our PV panels as we can hear them skipping about in the morning and they are really quite noisy.  John and I are going to look out for some children's windmills to try and encourage them to go away!!

My drive down to Paphos was lovely.  The winter sunshine brings out all the colours of the countryside and the recent rain has turned the brown and parched landscape green again.  Days like today are the bonus of living where we do - we are still in shorts and flipflops as much as we can be until the late afternoon chill sets in.

I took mum to Lidl as she wanted some shopping and then to the Euro Shop in search of some Word Search books but sadly there weren't any - we used to be able to get them regularly but they, like many other items, have vanished from the shelves.  Shame really as it is one of the few things that keeps mum occupied.

WWe e had our first Christmas Card today.  We aren't anticipating many because the postal service in the UK is due to be disrupted by strikes and the cost of posting even the smallest card is now extortionate.

The card was from our lovely friend Isabel who returned to Scotland a few months ago.  I must have been psychic because I sent her a catch up message only a day or so previously.  She has had a difficult time since returning what with problems with her tenant and bringing her car back over from Cyprus.  Hopefully 2023 will be a better year for her because the last couple have been absolutely rubbish.

I realised that I did not have an address to send her a card and she has forgotten to give me her address so if she reads this then we are sending love and hugs and all the very best for the future.

I spent the remainder of the day trying to sort out Mum's missing pension - it would appear that when they closed her branch and moved the account to a different one her pension payment got returned even though we were assured that existing payments and receipts would not be affected.  More phone calls to Aviva and the DWP just when I thought it was all going swimmingly.

After making my calls I earmarked a few more parcels to wrap so that we can at least get into the spare bedroom once again.  Even though we are not spending much this year the gifts still seem to be accumulating.

Leftovers for tea tonight - You can't beat a nice colourful salad even on a Winter's evening.  Can you tell that John isn't so keen on pomegranate seeds hence his half has none!!!

If you are reading this it is actually New Year's Eve 2022 - All the best for 2023