Old Photos

Today the boys were on one of their regular boys lunches except that this month Richard couldn't go and nor could Pete nevertheless the girlies were going to the Garden Centre for a mooch and a spot of lunch but not before I had introduced Jan to Festival Shoes in Polis where I was hoping to get a replacement pair of flip-flops for the 'posh' ones I have had for the past few years which are a bit Chanel-like.  Sadly they are not stocking them this year so I plumped for a 'slider' style slip-on which Jan send looked like Fendi but are in fact Fengi!  I have to say there was a nice array of sandals on offer and so I felt a bit mean only buying a cheap pair of flip-flops!

The Garden Centre was looking amazing.  We decided to grab a table for lunch first.  All along the outside of the cafe area there are hanging tubs which they use to showcase the plants which are currently in season.  Today they had a beautiful display of purple foxgloves mixed with aromaatic white jasmine.  The massive foxgloves were only 5 euros each and I was tempted but I am trying to sort the garden into more order rather than randomly buying plants and just shoving them in.

Lunch was lovely I had the avocado bacon chicken and egg bap without the bap and really enjoyed it.  Gail, Jan, Nicky and I sat enjoying the surroundings, the food and the company.  Gail is off to Nicosia later as she is scheduled for a heart operation tomorrow so I expect it was nice for her to do something to take her mind off of things.

While I was waiting for John to walk back from Fitos I got out some old photographs to sort through.  This one was taken in the late 80s when Mum and Dad bought their plot of land to have their house built.  This was before anything had been done and Mum would have been younger than I am now in that picture.  How time has flown by.  

This photograph is part way through the build and Dad is standing on the balcony outside what was to be their bedroom looking out to sea.  This was his dream and I remember that Mum couldn't visualise what the house was going to be like when completed so Dad made a three dimensional model and you could take the roof off and look inside at the first floor and then take the first floor off and look into the ground floor.  In those days they used to build the skeleton and leave it for several months to 'settle' then deal with any cracks etc before continuing.  I am not sure that they leave things like that now.

This photograph shows a very young John William Wiseman in what appear to be Speedos (God forbid).  This was a couple of days before Christmas Day and the pool had just been filled and he was determined to be the first person to use it.  The water was baltic and so it was the fastest length in history!!!!  There was so little building around the house back then and when it was built it looked like a huge house.  Now it looks tiny and is surrounded by houses, lots of them!

This final photograph showed the house in all its glory.  A lovely established family home with a pool and mature gardens.  A place where we had many amazing times.  Mum and Dad were right to sell it when it became too big but if they had realised just how bonkers rents would become I think they might have bought something smaller.  

Sadly these were all the photographs that I could find.  I am hoping Mum has some more.  I will ask her so that I can take a look if she has.