My penultimate post...

We had an impromptu trip down to Paphos today.  I couldn't bear to think of Mum struggling with her TV or sitting in the house in silence (save for Freddo) so consequently I didn't sleep (that together with the fact that I was very full from the food we had consumed at Kaponas last night).  John said he would come with me and we decided to sift through all the watches we have sitting around waiting for batteries and take them with us to see if Gregory was open in the Old Town. 

The morning did not start well as we could not find the remote control for the Firestick and we had been playing around with our old Android Boxes to see if we could find a more straightforward TV solution for Mum and then decided they were too old so would get rid.  I scooped up what we didn't want but had only put that as far as the spare room and it wasn't there and then I remembered that we had kept hold of some cables and bits and pieces and I had put them in a box and thankfully the remote control was there.  I then went out in the garden to clear up leaves and clean the outdoor cushions and as I tipped up the chipboard stuff underneath the cushions it just disintegrated in my hand then when I went to open the gate the key snapped off in the lock by which time John had had a complete sense of humour failure and of course it was all my fault.  The final thing was that in the Old Town trying to find our bearings I walked into a bollard which I hit with the middle of my shin where there is the minimum amount of padding and it bloody hurt and John wasn't overly impressed with me then either but I just didn't see it.

Anyway we did go to Gregory's with is right next door to the Kiniros Hotel in Makarios Avenue which is now pedestrianised but used to be a thoroughfare.  It is an amazingly bijoux establishment and the photograph above is the entrance way which leads into a hidden garden.  I think it is one of the most interesting and pretty places anywhere.

We took seven watches to Gregory.  A tiny elderly gentleman who has had that same shop for 50 years and who pitches up to work in a suit, shirt and tie.  Watching him change a battery is like watching a real labour of love.  He doesn't just change the battery he gives your watch care and respect and, even better, makes sure that they are set to the correct time which is a bonus on some of our watches.  Seven batteries changed came to 35 euros but John gave him 40 euros and wished him a Happy New Year and he seemed quite happy with that.

It was a glorious day and as we were leaving the watch shop we could hear a band up in the square.  The band marched down Makarios Avenue right past us.  It was lovely and the Old Town was heaving with locals frequenting any and every coffee shop or restaurant available.  The atmosphere was fun and friendly and if you had been a visitor here for the Festive Season it would have made your stay quite memorable.  Listening to Christmas Songs on a very warm December Saturday sitting outside drinking coffee is quite something to experience.

We had quite some success with Mum.  We got her TV setup in the Sun Room working and for the whole time we were there it was stable.  We gave her some tuition on how to move around so that she can find other things to watch and marked up her remote control with a series of dots to try and get her to press the buttons she needs to press not two or three at the same time.  In the end we decided one of the styluses that John's Mum had sent her for Christmas would be ideal and it seemed to be.  We at least got her pointing the remote control somewhere in the direction of the Firestick and not at the ceiling fan and she had stopped stabbing at the remote just gently pressing with the stylus.  I even took a picture of the handset and blew it up and annotated it so she could remember the buttons to press and what they did and the buttons she would never need to press.

On our return home I made some more Christmas Cards as I just could not face watching the Man City SUFC match although the result was nowhere near as catastrophic as it might have been.  

As a postscript shortly after I wrote this post Mum made the painful decision to have Fred put to sleep.  He had stopped eating and deteriorated very quickly.  The vet diagnosed that Fred was in the final stages of kidney failure and confirmed to me, when I went to sign the cremation papers,  that mum's decision was the correct one.  Poor Mum was devastated and she will undoubtedly feel a little more lonely as a result.

Rest in Peace Fred