Progress...

So almost three weeks have passed and I have had my stitches out.  Woo hoo progress is being made.  My visit to Dr Lykoudis in Polis this afternoon was a bit chaotic as several of us had all been given 5pm as our appointment and he didn't get across from Paphos until about 5.30pm but I was fortunately enough to get called in first and he dealt with my stitches whilst discussing cars with Dr Manolis who us obviously looking for a new one.  It was a bit painful having the stitches removed as my shoulder had been drenched in alcohol so it all got a bit stingy.  I am to keep an eye on the wound and can now have periods of time without dressings or sling.  In fact I asked if I might go in the pool and he said yes but not to actually swim.  Review in 2 weeks (this time he didn't even give me an appointment time - I think he was hedging his bets) and then physio will start.

I knabbed Dr Manolis on my way out as he didn't have any patients and asked him about the blood test I had pre-op which had a high liver reading or at least I thought so.  Anyway he took a look and told me not to worry so I won't.  He said I clearly didn't have hepatitis as they had carried out my operation so u might like to watch my alcohol consumption to make sure it wasn't excessive - I smugly told him I hadn't had anything to drink for four weeks.  He looked at me as if I had gone berserk!

The heatwave continues

The heatwave continues and results on spectacular sunrises and even more spectacular sunsets.  This is so very different from the weather back in the UK where people are suffering the third worst July since records began.  I would happily share some of our heat as I currently cannot take advantage of it or the pool which is sod's law since John managed to fix it!

We had a visitor in the kitchen this morning  -  fortunately John managed to rescue it before the cats got to it as it was alive and relatively intact. I used to be quite scared of moths but the hawk moths and in particular the oleander hawk moth (in the photo) are beautiful and nothing to be scared of.

We heard from our No1 Stalkers today.  We do so miss not having them here on the island but know now that their return to the UK to be with family was the right one.  They have exciting times ahead as they plan a move to Cornwall, this time to something a little more permanent than their static caravan which is amazing.  We wish them the very best of luck with their search.

Fish but no meat

My freebie water lily from yay many years back continues to thrive but I have no idea if the same can be said for the fish I am hoping so but there has been little evidence of any fishy activity recently it might be because ot has been so very hot or ot might be that they are terrified of the swarm of wasps that come and take a drink.

Bless John he is doing his best with the cooking malarkey and tonight tackled a pasta dish with halloumi and pine nuts in a lemon sauce which was absolutely delicious and surprisingly John really liked it even though, shock horror, there was no meat!

My journey towards recovery

John continues to hone his culinary skills.  Tonight's 'flying saucer' was in fact fish being steamed en papillotte under cling film in the microwave.  I did have to suggest piercing the dome in the manner of Scotty from Star Trek by uttering the immortal words "she's gonna blow Captain" in a dodgy Scottish accent.  Danger averted and not a Klingon in sight.

Under the dome were perfectly poached sea bream on offer in Paps and when they are they provide a very reasonably priced supper and even better not too difficult to tackle one-handed!

During one of my dressing changes I snuck a sneaky photograph of my wound - the Eagle eyed amongst you will see it is not keyhole.

I didn't ask what the surgeon was going to do but for those interested I had acromioplasty and partial resection distal part of clavicle. 

With this comes quite a long recovery time and a bit of Krypton Factor trying to get showered and dressed!  I have invested in some cheap but rather unattractive pull up dresses and some industrial strength boob tube like bra things so I don't poke someone's eye out if I swing round in a hurry.  

XL in Sklavenitis would fit a munchkin so I hoist it up just prior to having the dressing changed then exit with teeny tiny steps otherwise it slips down to my ankles before I can say thank you and goodbye.  

It is all very depressing bit hopefully shortlived.

The Droushia Road is Fixed

Life is now a round of doctors visits and Mum visits.  We continue to ensure she sees us on a Sunday and mid week for shopping even though I am knackered and it is too bloody hot.

Today we were quite excited to see that the main road down to Droushia has finally reopened so we did a little recce to see what has been done.  Hopefully it will last longer than previous repairs.

Convalescing...

So not much happening during my convalescence.  My arm is trussed up and its stiff, painful and awkward.

John has taken over the cooking but under my tutelage as he has a tendency to go off piste and wing it.

Tonight we sampled Tomahawk Steaks from Naz which he persuaded us to buy when he had no local fillet.  I have never really 'got' the appeal of this cut but boy was it tasty and tender and John couldn't cut it up quickly enough for me!

I am discharged...

So I made it home, nothing much to report for days as the operation totally wiped me out and although I am in the spare room with the benefit of the air conditioning my sleeping arrangements mean I don't actually sleep.  I can't sleep on my back or my left side and have to be at an angle.

By day four I have a real dip.  Getting dressed is a nightmare, John doing my hair is a nightmare, eating is a nightmare.  On the plus side my Shein order for new outdoor cushion covers has arrived and they are perfect.

So the morning after the night before I am awake and in no pain thanks to the drugs being pumped through the port.

I am brought a breakfast tray which has everything you could wish for from Weetabix to scrambled eggs and some cheese and fruit and yoghurt, rolls and croissants!  No complaints from me on that score in fact I felt well enough to dig my menu out of the bedside cabinet to see what else I might get offered.

This was lunch, very nice to although rather difficult to manage with just one working arm.  

Throughout the morning I had a stream of nurses checking me and giving me medication.  I had been told I was likely to have three nights in so I was prepared for that.

I was in regular contact with John who was set to swap beds with me as he had nearly cut his finger off clearing up some glass.  Apparently one of the pictures at home had fallen over and smashed one of our decanters.  Fortunately he managed to steri strip it and bind it to stem the blood flow.  This was just as well because shortly after lunch I was told that after an X-Ray I was free to go home.  Dr Lykoudis said everything had gone perfectly.  He changed my dressing himself.  He seems to like to be hands on and in control of his patients.  Can you imagine that happening in the UK?

Operation Day

So I didn't really get a great night's sleep but the staff were lovely and I  managed to wheel the drip with me to the loo.

I was scheduled for my op around lunchtime so got jabbed and dripped.  My first port got put in my left hand and that was the side being operated on so got moved to my right where it all went wrong and my wrist swelled up and bruised so eventually went into the back of my right hand 

My anaesthetist was a lovely lady.  I was wheeled awake and put on the operating table which was a bit scary looking at all the staff and all rhe equipment but the next thing I knew I could hear my name being called and I was coming round trussed up with an icepack on my shoulder.

In Hospital...

I am tapping these posts one handed way after the event because otherwise I will forget.

So I was admitted into the Evangelismos Hospital in Paphos on the afternoon of Thursday 13th July.  

It was a 2 bed room which I shared with a very sweet elderly Cypriot lady who talked to herself constantly in different voices and different languages!

I had done all the pre op checks earlier in the week so I was attached to a drip and given a light supper before calling it a night listening to The Woman of Many Voices next door.

What Katydid next...

My friend is back - a super noisy Katydid with a buzz like one of those electric fly zappers!  It is living in the garden and migrates to anything which is green presumably as this will ensure it is camouflaged from its predators (including the cats who like to play with and destroy bugs like this).  Today it was admiring itself on the mirror above the herb planter, generally it can be found on the pot of mint that Liselotte brought with her last week - I shall need to be careful if I am making anyone a Pimms any time soon otherwise they might get more than they bargained for!

We were on a mission today to complete a sign Gail had asked us to make for Pete's garden Bar.  This was our second attempt as the first had been less than satisfactory.  Eventually, in order to get the letter size and spacing correct, we decided to print the wording, attach it to carbon paper, draw around the edges and then fill it in.  This was a pretty lengthy process but eventually we got it done and in time to give to Pete this evening.  Gail has been fending off his requests for her to order something in readiness for his birthday party in September knowing that we had it in hand.  I wanted to get it done before I go into hospital at the end of the week for my shoulder op in case it was a lengthy healing process and we missed our deadline.  Even if I do say so myself this photograph doesn't do it justice.

We had arranged with Gail to go up to Kaponas for something to eat this evening and then return to ours for the official handover of THE SIGN.  It was a glorious evening - one without humidity and condensation which was lovely and we had a gentle stroll up to the Taverna although we had to negotiate our way through the grain at the top of the road which is now completely blocked off and which means you get a shoe full of barley/wheat/whatever in the process!

The horses in the field by the cross roads are growing and look magnificent.  Sadly we didn't have a carrot for them as they wandered over expectantly hoping for a treat.  

We had a very pleasant evening at Kaponas even though we were the only people in which wasn't surprising because it was a Monday and it was early.  Our food was good and this evening she presented us with a magnificent crème caramel as pudding which was absolutely delicious!  

We wandered back home for coffee and the grand unveiling of THE SIGN.  Pete's reaction was amazing - we couldn't have got it more spot on if he had described what he wanted himself which was so gratifying.

 

A lovely Sunday...

Today we were having Jackie and Costas and Mum for lunch.  J&C were picking up Mum - they are generally late because something always happens with one or other of the businesses which demands Costas's attention but actually today they were reasonably on time!  It was an exceptionally hot day so I had opted for a light lunch and something which Mum could eat.  

We were having Coronation chicken with minted new potatoes, a salad of halloumi, orange, lettuce peas and spring onions (pictured above) a second salad of rocket, walnuts, pomegranate and grated kefalotiri  cheese and a bit of muhammarah for good measure which the only thing Mum could decline (it contains roasted red peppers).

This was to be followed by apple pie or plum crumble or fresh fruit salad.

I have to say it all looked and tasted really lovely BUT I didn't realise that Costas doesn't like fruit!!!! Everything had fruit in it except the potatoes and both he and Jackie are staying off of carbs!!!!  Still it didn't seem to matter too much, Costas just picked out the fruit and gave it to Jackie and bless him he did sample the plum crumble.

It was a lovely afternoon with them both - they seemed relaxed and well after their daughter's wedding and they are both great with Mum and she loves them both even when Costas was peppering his conversation with some colourful expletives!!!!

After they left we settled down for a bit of sport on TV - the Ashes day 4 which saw England victorious over the Australians in a very exciting game - which was then followed by the English Grand Prix from Silverston.  On that subject if any of you went to the Grand Prix and were unlucky enough to be taken ill you might have been lucky enough to have been treated by Dr Jordan Ford (yes really that is his name) and he is the amazing son of my lovely lovely BFF Hazel.  He was there working on call for the masses and taking in some of the race for sure as he is a super crazy F1 fan and has the perfect name for it!

We learned the other day that Jan's son-in-law Neill and her daughter and children are moving back from Florida where he was a football manager so that he could take up a position in the UK.  Neill is to be Head Coach at League One club Barnsley.  This is all very exciting, all very Ted Lasso save for the fact that Neill is Scottish.  Even more exciting is that I learned that he had previously played for Sheffield United.  OMG how excited will John be if Jan's family come over on holiday?  I think he will be looking to erect a flag pole so that he can have his SUFC flag in full view as a conversation starter!!!  

Over the weekend we bit the bullet and got the pool refilled which was a bit of a gamble because we had no idea whether or not we had solved the leak.  So far so good, the water level with or without the pump running has remained constant - we would expect some evaporation over the course of time particularly with it being so hot so that was encouraging.  John decided it was time for a dip before bed this evening.  We were shattered so actually we went to bed really early.   Charlie had come to check that all was well - I think he almost fancied a dip himself as he is feeling the heat.

What a day...

Boy we had a busy old day today - let's just say we were triple booked which is never a good thing.  We were supposed to have seen John's cousin Kaz and her partner Dip yesterday but somehow (naming no names and placing no blame) this never got put in the diary and we then arranged to go out with Lakis and Argy.  Kaz and Dip were fine about it and so today we were going down to the coast to Sentiero by the Sea for a spot of lunch.  Neither Kaz nor Dip had been there before and on a beautiful day with a light breeze coming in off the sea it was a lovely place to be.

It's nice to be able to show D&K new places so that when their family members come out on holiday they have lots of places to suggest they visit.  D&K are only here for a week, they hope to return in September but it is very much dependent on how well Kaz's mum and dad are at the time.  It is good for Kaz to get away for a bit of her time although I know she worries constantly about the family back home.

We had a super lunch together.  Poor Dip got ribbed mercilessly for choosing a rather girlie cocktail as his drink of choice!!!  I have decided not to drink from now until after my hospital visit is done and dusted so I was driver.

Karen ordered a pork chop, Dip and chicken and pesto pasta dish, John a home-made pork burger combo thing and I had a good old chicken Caesar salad which was very nice but I still think the one I had at Tea for Two was the best so far.

Even though we were dining in an establishment which is right near the sea and which is beautifully presented with nice attentive staff the prices are pretty reasonable in this day and age.  We ate and all had two drinks each and chucked in 20 euros each to include a tip.  It was lovely to catch up with them and we have everything crossed that we will see them again in September.  It's really nice to have some of John's family coming over regularly.  John and Karen would have spent many a school holiday together in Mablethorpe along with all the other cousins so we are just keeping up the tradition!  Sunshine corner has a rather different look and feel now than it did back then - that's for sure!

We raced back as I needed to start to get the food ready for tomorrow when Jackie and Costas from Tea for Two are coming with Mum.  No pressure then catering for people who own a chain of very well loved eateries!

We had hoped to pop over to see Argy and Lakis but our time ran out as we had been invited over to Gail and Pete's for the official opening of their 'back yard and bar'.  Gail and Pete wanted to thank, in no particular order, the builder Darren (with wife Denise) for creating their beautiful outside space, and their friends and neighbours who helped them out when they were living and sleeping in their lounge.  It was good to see Richard and Ellen who have been missing in action with visitors!

It was a lovely evening - the 'few' nibbles Gail had promised turned into a full on buffet and we had one of those balmy condensation free evenings which are so rare in Droushia!

 

Lots of Fruit...

We have been given a load of fruit from various places which needs to be used so this morning in readiness for Sunday I made a plum crumble with the plum compote I had made with the plums from Maria Lottino.  Costas and Jackie are coming for lunch and picking up Mum on their way.  

Fortunately, before a water cut which lasted from lunch-time until we don't know when in the night/early hours of the following morning, I managed to get three loads of washing done including our bedding.  Things barely even needed to be hung out it was so hot.  This means I have a load of ironing to do but as I can put on the air-con in the spare bedroom it isn't really a hardship.

We did 'stuff' today including a bit of shopping.  It was really too hot to do much else save watch the cricket as there was some pretty exciting play going on and the balance of the match keeps swinging from one side to the other.  This is a must win for England otherwise they will be 3-0 down and the Ashes retained by the Some Old Aussies...

We had an absolutely jolly 'bomba' evening this evening.  We had arranged to go with Lakis and Argy to Platea in Polis.  This is the Taverna run by the wife of the guy who did the catering for their party and the catering was top notch.   The Taverna is on a corner opposite the Hellenic Bank so not the best view in the world but inside their 'outside' area it is nicely decorated, fresh and clean.  This was to be a thank-you from Lakis and Argy for our help at their anniversary party and an early anniversary gift to us for 19th (32 years - who would have thought!).

There is not a huge menu but what there is, is clearly freshly cooked.  We decided to have a selection of starters and eat them before deciding on our main course because all too often we fill up on the starters and then can't appreciate the mains.  I had driven.  I am conscious that with my operation at the end of next week I should be a good girl and cut down on the alcohol particularly as my liver readings were somewhat elevated (could be the statins I suppose).  All this eating and drinking combined with my medication and lack of exercise has contributed to weight gain which I am feeling quite unhappy about.

Anyway the food certainly did not disappoint and I was pleased when Argy was happy to share a main course with me!  Our starters were delicious, freshly baked bread (3 different sorts) with hot cheese dip, a rocket and pomegranate salad with cheese, walnuts and preserved figs, feta saganaki and breadcrumbed haloumi with a honey and lime sauce - this was nearly enough but Argy and I then shared pork souvlaki which was the most tender I think I have ever had without a scrap of fat or gristle.

We then did something we haven't done for years - went for a cocktail in one of the beach bars in Latchi - The Island Bar and managed to snaffle a table right out on the decking by the sand.  We felt like we were on our holidays!

We only stayed for one but it was lovely and enabled Lakis and Argy to do some homework as to venues to take their sons and families to when they are over on holiday.

It was a lovely evening - rounded off with a coffee at 2B.  Many thank you Lakis and Argy but as you know from now on it is all 50:50

An Early Morning Walk...

We were up ridiculously early this morning.  Up and out for a walk by about 6.00am.  It is a beautiful time of the day.  We decided to walk to Arodes and grab a coffee if the coffee shop was open and then walk home via Inea.  I need the exercise - I have put on so much weight recently what with not walking and the medication I am on.  It is quite depressing.

The back rough road from the tip has mysteriously been tarmac'd for reasons best known to our Mukhtar apparently.  It just starts and ends at random.  It is all very nice, black and smooth but who needed it?  The large building plots are much further up towards Arodes so the road isn't for that unless there is to be some building here nearer to Droushia.  They will have to sort the dump out if that is the case.  People have become lazier and lazier and now seem to just throw rubbish out vaguely in the area of other rubbish which is stacked up along the road ruining what would be a lovely walk between the two villages.

We got to the coffee shop in Arodes as it was opening up and bagged a little table in the shade where we could enjoy our Nescafe and watch the world go by.  The square in Arodes is lovely and the CODS cycle there and stop everytime they go out.  John is hoping that soon both Pete and Rich will be back into the cycling fold and then Derek will be back to add to the numbers.

I enjoyed the walk.  The morning conditions were lovely - we even had a rolling mist as we approached Kato Arodes!  We were back home before we would normally get up!  It meant that we had enough time to go and have a coffee with Lakis and Argy before getting ourselves ready for our evening with Liselotte and John who we haven't seen for months!

We were having fish, new potatoes and salad and a lemon self-saucing pudding.  I had got the fish in Lidl yesterday - two really good sized sea bass were about 3.50 each which is a bargain.  They cooked up beautifully on the barbeque en papillote with some Asian spices and white wine for company.

Liselotte and John had brought a complete Pimms kit with them with a fresh mint plant, cucumbers and oranges, lemonade and Pimms.  We sat outside and enjoyed the lovely evening catching up and chatting.  

We ate our meal outside but then retired inside to play a very good natured game of Noms - our rules applied - we play it slightly different to Liselotte and John so when we are at theirs their rules apply!

I stuck to the Pimms and then went onto water but my clearer then normal head didn't help with the card game - Mr Wares was victorious on this occasion.

Liselotte and John have visitors soon but they are here for the summer so hopefully it wont be months before we see them again but if it is then we just seem to pick up where we left off.

A Bonus

So as they say money goes to money and so today Mum received a cheque from Atlantic Insurance which was the dividend for the shares which Dad used to have and which are now Mum's.  Not a huge amount but 144 euros is 144 euros.  It wont be available for Mum to spend for months as it takes the banks forever to clear a cheque!!!!  I duly went to Alpha to bank it on my way down to Mums for our regular mid-week meet up.  I would be all out of sorts for the rest of the week as this was Wednesday and not my regular Thursday but I had said I would go down earlier this week.

Last week Mum announced that her blood sugar monitor wasn't working which was a bit odd because I had checked it the day before to see what her recent readings had been (they are recorded in memory) they were low as I had expected.  I had said at the time that the batteries were showing that they were low so she had taken herself off to go and get them replaced and then it wouldn't work at all which led me to think that they had been put in the wrong way round.  She was quite indignant at that suggestion and had rung her doctor to ask for a new machine.  Dr Mala said she would issue a prescription and we would then have to collect it from the pharmacy at the General Hospital.  When we went on Sunday we ascertained that the batteries were indeed in the wrong way and that there was nothing wrong with the machine so we went to Dr Mala's to cancel the new machine.  

When I arrived today Mum said that her air conditioning unit in her bedroom had stopped working but she had contacted Fadi who installed it and he would come but he didn't know when.  I asked if I should have a look - she said I could but that there was nothing I could do it was completely dead.  It was completely dead - because it was switched off at the socket!  I switched it on and blow me if it didn't work straight away - there's a surprise!!!

We went shopping.  It was mighty hot down in Paphos, hot and sticky, but as Mum needed a bit of shopping in Lidl we went out.  I picked up some wine that was on offer - sporting a rather unusual name of Hemlock it was an American Cabernet Sauvignon and at a price which meant if it was awful there would be a stifado following pretty soon.  It was actually very very nice.  John and I had it with our supper sat outside later that evening.  So nice that we think we might shoot down and go and grab some more!!!

I have eventually managed to get through to Dr Lykoudis's secretary to confirm my operation.  It will be next week on 14th and I have to go in the night before.  I need to go and see the anaesthetist and she was going to arrange an appointment for me.  It sounds like I could be in hospital for two or three nights - deep joy.  I haven't asked what they are doing, I really don't want to know what I have got to look forward to.

On the subject of operations my sister text today to say that she has been to see the eye specialist after her recent cataract operation and they have advised that there is really nothing else they can do which is pretty unsatisfactory plus she has to have the other eye done in 3 months time.  They are hoping to restore some balance to her sight when she has that done.  It doesn't exactly fill you with confidence.

Wonderful news...

Somebody that we love dearly had some truly amazing news today - a win on the Premium Bonds and a big one at that!  

This was no scam or hoax it was a bona fide notification and it could not have gone to someone more deserving.  It is lovely when these things happen to the right people and we couldn't be more pleased.

I don't think we have ever known of anyone else winning this sort of money on the Premium Bonds although we have had a friend share a sizeable lottery win some years ago.

We had the maximum holding of Bonds for years when we were in the UK and won about 100 quid in total and we did the lottery from day one and never won a bloomin' thing.  That is our sort of luck but it doesn't stop us feeling happy when someone else's luck is better than ours.  It put a smile on my face - I don't know how I would have reacted to that kind of news in fact I don't think I could have been happier or more excited if it had been for me!

Last night Marianne gave me some tomato plants she had spare which was very fortuitous because I had been thinking about growing some but really left it a bit late - there had been none at the Garden Centre when I went to meet up with Yve.

These are not any old tomatoes these are apparently Black Zebra cherry tomatoes and should provide quite a healthy crop.  I do hope so.  I am thinking that with the rising cost of fresh foodstuffs I should grow a little more than I do but I would want whatever I grow to blend in with the rest of the garden so a couple of raised beds somewhere might be the answer - who knows?  I shall have to do some research first.  Anyway these five little tomato plants might shrivel and die and I might lose interest.

I had to cover the top with shingle to stop this being a nice new toilet for Charlie - he does like fresh compost but at the moment he is quite out of sorts due to the heat - he was sick this morning so we keep putting him in the spare room with the aircon on.

We have had a real problem with pests this year.  John has been stung by wasps twice going to the outside shower, the first time he thought he had wafted the culprit onto his skin from his towel but today he was positively dive-bombed and we realised that there was a nest built behind a sign we have on the outside shower door.  Hazel was lucky that she didn't get stung - they must have built the next since she left.

The other issue we have is bloody ants who seem to really enjoy a meal of cat food or cat biscuits.  Nothing we have tried so far have deterred the buggers so today I put a bowl of old food in the garden away from the house and covered the food with a mix of Bicarbonate of Soda and Sugar - blimey it was like a neon light advertising an all you can eat buffet - the ants came from far and wide - all the dark on the right hand side of the bowl are ants - once in they didn't seem to be able to get back out.  It may not kill them but it is keeping them away from the house.

We had a girlie bitch and stitch afternoon at Nicky's.  Ellen still has visitors and Jan is away so just the four of us.  Nicky put on a fabulous lunch with quiche and salad and the lightest of light lemon fairy cakes which were absolutely delicious.  It was good to catch up and good that Bee was able to come round on one of her rare days off work.

It was with much hilarity that we approached the project which Nicky had taken time and effort to put together.  The end result was inconsequential unless, like Nicky, you are super competitive.  It was simply a good reason for us to get together and whether or not we finished was irrelevant.

The project was a paper folding exercise.  We were challenged to make a three dimensional flat backed heart (in red) and a paper frame (in white).  The heart was to be mounted on card and then the frame affixed to the mounted heart.

Well it was a laugh although I do think Bee felt she had wandered into some parallel universe!  The good thing about it was we were indoors with the air-con on enjoying some female company, banter, food and wine.  

Mark had been out for lunch and came back and looked at the carnage of the paper folding and decided to take himself out of the mess!  That was probably a wise move.  I am not entirely what time we called it a day all I know was it was too late for me to make my daily call to Mum!!!

John had busied himself doing 'stuff' all day and had got the spare room ready for me so I could have a lovely, peaceful, cool and hopefully uninterrupted nights' sleep.  I do love him for that.

So here are the three completed hearts - we did finish them even though we were all a bit squiffy by the time we did!!!

Trying somewhere under new management...

So I am only going to blog if I have something to blog about.  Apparently Blogging is now old school and some of the lovely features that were available at the beginning are no longer available so that combined with the fact that over 12 years has elapsed since I first started means that I think there is less of interest going on in our little corner of the island than there was originally. Having said that we have a pretty full-on week ahead of us as we pack in things which we want to do before I go into hospital.

We are all feeling the heat at the moment but none more so than Charlie who has taken to sleeping in the shower room and sometimes even in the shower.  I felt sorry for him today so carried him into the guest bedroom which is normally a NCZ (No Cat Zone) and put the air conditioning on.  There was method in my madness as I planned to do some ironing after I had done a bit of sewing.  John was across the road at Mark's reducing the height of an out of control olive tree which was depositing all sorts of stuff on Nicky's washing.

Last night Argy had brought round a bag of plums which our neighbour Persephone had picked from her tree (or trees) here in Droushia.  They were magnificent and aren't destined to be preserved because they are firm and juicy and full of flavour so John will probably demolish them today!  It was really kind of Persephone to think of us.  I may be able to repay her with one of our passion fruit in due course.  The fruits are coming along nicely and one or two are absolutely huge.  I have told Argy to put a yellow sticker on the one she has her eye on or else someone else will bags it!

I spent some time in the garden today trying to get things under control for John.  It is amazing that, even though it is so very hot at the moment everything has put on a growth spurt.  Because I do a little bit every day it is kept under control but I worry that if it is left unattended for a few days it will become a jungle.  My progress was watched by a flock of swifts that were sat like musical notes on the electric cables across the way.

This evening we were meeting up with Marianne and Jeff at the Mezhn taverna in Kathikas.  This used to be called Sterazia and was where I had an unfortunate encounter with a slug in my salad.  Needless to say we only went there the once and it was open for a season and then closed, covid struck and it never reopened with the original proprietors.  It has now reopened under new management and is a family concern.  The food is quite typically Cypriot but with a whole load of small dishes which you can chose to make your own sort of mini meze/tapas affair.

It is actually a lovely building (it was newly built a couple of years ago) with a nice traditional feel and has a view across the valley down towards the sea.  The temperature was lovely, the chairs are traditional woven so rather uncomfortable to if you plan to go please take cushions!  The staff are lovely and include two youngsters, one of which was from Droushia who are learning so be prepared for a bit of confusion and less than slick service but all done with a smile!  Our salad ended up on the wrong table so we had to wait for another one to be prepared!

The atmosphere was nice, the food good and the prices reasonable.  It was good to see Fitos, Joanna and their younger son George patronising a rival establishment!  I bet they are glad that there is a taverna open on a Monday when they are not and it is only a short walk for them!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my little dishes and think it would be a nice place for a light lunch with the girlies.  A carafe of nice white wine was only 10 euros.

All in all a nice evening and good to catch up with Marianne and Jeff.