In the garden

 
We started our day with coffee at Lakis and Argy's - although it has been about 6 months since they went back to the UK now it doesn't seem like they have been away at all.  It was a nice start to the day.  We had warned them that the weather has been less than settled but they were more than happy with today.  You can see from the view from their terrace that everything is still lush and green.  The peace was somewhat shattered by the Israeli Jets on manouevres flying at low level over the top of us!

Our project for today was to bury the Ikea wooden decking slabs into the shingle at the back of the house.  John isn't sure about them but I like them.  I worked hard on this area changing out plants and cutting plants back and making sure that the shingle was clean.  I worked round from the kitchen door to Joani's Place and then to the edge of the decking where the outside dining table is situated.

I was satisfied that by the end of the day these areas were about as tidy as they could be and I am now keen to tackle the rest of it.  The only trouble is I want the wild poppies and the Californian poppies to have set some seed otherwise I wont get them come back next year.  John is out on his bike tomorrow morning so that is what I will be doing whilst he is away.

Jan gave me a present today - she has an ice-maker which she doesn't need because her big fridge freezer makes its own.  I brought it home and managed to find a manual for it on-line so we filled it with water and pressed the buttons and waited....

....and waited and then we realised, Houston, that we had a problem.  Underneath the lid was a plastic flap which, when working properly, shoves the ice which has been made into the basket.  Not having been used for a while the plastic flap had adhered itself to what was underneath so once we had freed it then away it went.  It was a bit like the penny shove machines in a penny arcade and we got very excited to see the rice being shoved into the basket.  John got so carried away that he must have made enough ice for a royal garden party!

So thanks Jan we will be making use of that and I think it may come in handy for Pete's birthday bash later in the year.

As a thank you I asked her and Derek to come round for a drink particularly as Derek's footie team Sunderland had secured a place in the Championship Play off Finals.

They came round after we had eaten supper.  Jan said it was just what she needed to relax and get away from all the jobs they need to get completed before they go back to the UK in two weeks time.

Our supper may not have looked great and it was made up of leftovers but it tasted bloomin' lovely.  Pasta with haloumi, ham and pepperoni in a nicely spiced tomato sauce with onions and peppers and chili.