10th January

For the majority of the day we had lovely sunshine - then the forecast stormy weather arrived.  Before it did John and I went out to recce a bike ride for this afternoon.  John wanted to incorporate Kritou Terra.  It is a steep descent down to Kritou Terra ergo there would be a steep ascent out.  What we learned was that the 'long' ride was a step too far in terms of the distance and the difficulty and that the 'shorter' ride was probably best done in reverse - not cycling backwards but reversing the route which meant that the CODS would have that lovely steep ascent at the end of the ride.  I am concerned that John may lose two good friends at the end of it!!!  On the plus side the views are amazing and there are a number of coffee/comfort break venues - in Inea, Arodes and Kritou Terra.

Before John went out on his ride he decided to change the plumbing pipe work under the sink because when he installed the new washing machine 'The Beast' we needed to replace an angled bit with a straight bit to ensure that there wouldn't be any leaks.  There hadn't been any but John said it would be a quick job and the right job.  So he went off to Glykkis to get what he wanted.  

It wasn't a quick job - the plumbing pipework used now is different to what we have in place so you can't just replace an angled bit with a straight bit and as a result it didn't get done and we added a water leak from the cold water tap on top.  John was singularly unimpressed and there were a fair few 'buggers' emanating from under the kitchen sink.  

He got it to a position where there was no leak but there was no fix either so the cold water tap is out of action for the time being which isn't an issue for me.  I bundled him out on his bike to take out his frustration on the Kritou Terra ascent.

Whilst John was out I got on with my New Year sort out - today tackling my craft cupboard which has got rather unruly and spread from the cupboard into the drawers of my desk.

I have kept back some of the Christmas Cards we received this year - we had some really lovely ones and it always seems a shame to bin them so it is good that Mum's friend Fran recycles them.  Mum took a stack with her on Sunday.  These I am going to use myself but I am not exactly sure how!

John did not lose his mates - they stuck with him even after the great Kritou Terra Ascent which just about finished them all off I think.  Not only did they not ditch him Pete and Gail came round for a drink this evening.  Gail has had her sling removed and is undergoing physio and has actually been able to drive.  She is doing well.