What a lovely wedding!!!

The weather today was dreadful.  Gale force winds and extreme heat - not good for a wedding and not good because it sparked two massive fires nearby.

We started the day with John going on a mega bike ride with Richard so because of the wedding we had decided to have a late and filling brunch and I invited Richard to join us because I haven't seen him in ages and I still want to tap him up to clean my carpets and my floors!!!

We managed to sit outside and have our brunch before the wind got out of control - quite scary really - we had to batten down the hatches as we were leaving at 3.00pm.  We got ourselves ready and stopped at the garage in Kathikas to check the tyre pressure and fill up with fuel.  The younger of the two guys who work there (Joyce) asked if we were going to Peyia and asked if we might give him a lift which were were happy to do - they are both such nice friendly guys.  Anyway on the way down we had to pass by one of the fires which was just above Pikni Forest and surrounding the house that sits back and looks like a Swiss Chalet, on returning from the wedding this was just about being brought under control but it was dark so we could not see the extent of the damage.  Anyway it transpired that Joyce lives just along the road from where Mum and Dad's old house was built - what a small world!

We picked up Mum and trundled off to the Columbia Beach Resort in Pissouri where Costas and Jackie's daughter Katerina was getting married.  We reckon we last saw her when she was a teenager - she is now nearly 30!!!!!

The little church in the resort is lovely and the flowers were absolutely amazing but it is a little church so really only a very small wedding group can get inside - the rest of us sat outside but unfortunately there was no way of hearing what was going on and even if we could we would not have understood it!

It is also a bit strange that you get random holidaymakers wandering around semi-naked to and from the sea!!!

Anyway we settled down, I realised that I actually knew the woman sat next to me - Jackie's oldest friend Jane who we haven't seen for years!!!

We had a nice time although I think it was all too much for Mum.  Jackie's mum on the other hand was the life and soul at the tender age of 93!!!  She had travelled over from the UK courtesy of assistance with some 'elderly' people.  She had spent her life fostering over 100 children, five of whom she adopted - Jackie being one of them.  What an amazing lady.

We were outside for the whole duration and Mum had not brought more than a short sleeved cardigan which she needed immediately even though I had suggested when we picked her up that she would need more than that.  

Needless to say she was cold and although there was an amazing buffet with everything from sushi to roast lamb I struggled to find anything she would eat.  The salad bar was so amazing that I stuck to that and we were lucky to have been sat right near the food and were the first to be called after the happy couple and before the melee ensued!!!

We were so happy for Jackie that after all her illnesses she had been able to see her daughter married and it was a really lovely event.  The hotel is set in a bit of a basin so the high winds didn't really trouble us and it was actually quite a warm and balmy evening.  I was in a sleeveless silk dress and didn't need anything extra so actually donated my scarf/wrap to Mum.

We waited for most people to have eaten before we quietly slipped away.  We had managed to get a golf buggy organised to drive us back up to where we had parked the car as we were never going to get Mum to walk back up that way.

So congratulations to Katerina and Chris - may they have a long, healthy and happy marriage.  Many thanks to Costas and Jackie for the very kind invitation to a lovely afternoon.  We will hope to see them soon once they have got over all the excitement.