Month: June 2010

I think the hottest day yet this year. It was 34.5 under the terrace in the shade.

We have a problem with our little almond tree and so I went to Perova Garden Centre with photos and a couple of leaves. They really are helpful in there and told me that I should scrape the gummy stuff off the tree  and then paint on a mixture of lime and water. They didn’t sell the lime but told me to go to a yapi market. I then went on to the yapi market and he said yes they have some in a 25kg bag!!  I told him I only wanted a small amount and so he told me to wait a second. He returned with lime in a carrier bag and told me he didn’t want any money for it ‘free’. Nice man. It is the yapi market that we use all the time but even so.  I had better not mention their name or everyone will be queuing up for their free lime!

In the evening the Wednesday gang, me included went to Fast Food in Alsancak. The meals were excellent as always. I don’t think I have ever had a bad meal there.  Chicken shish is 15tl and is accompanied by chips, rice and salad. Included in the price are also some dips, home made bread and a bowl of yoghurt each, oh and of course a plate of pickles ‘mother made’.  It is one place that is consistently good and as far as I am aware they don’t hike their prices for the tourist season either!

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Lunchtime the ‘X’ committee met up for lunch. Two members were unable to make it but the rest of us went to ‘Back in Time’. Yes, they are still doing their ‘2 for 1’ offer for lunchtime.  The restaurant has lovely sea views and a gentle breeze on such a hot day. Great until a very inconsiderate expat decided to park right in front of us. Yes, parking spaces up and down the road but obviously they weren’t used to walking more than two feet. We had to laugh at Mike’s comments when they left ‘Thanks for leaving your windows open so that we could see the view. ‘ The food was excellent and very good value for money and later Mike joined us at the table to tell us a few jokes.  One of the pictures shows Trish and Mike (white legs and all, which Trish was teasing him about!) taking a well deserved break.

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I spent quite a lot of time tidying up in the garden. The Pampas grass is getting quite huge now and I was wondering what we should do with it in the winter. I know you are supposed to burn them down, so  imagine my shock when I saw this little chameloens face poke out of it! He was obviously a baby as he was only about a third of the size of the one I saw last year. Maybe there is a family of them living in the Pampas, so burning won’t be an option. Sadly he didn’t like me taking photos of him and so disappeared back into the grass!

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I enjoyed a peaceful day at home. The builders don’t work on Sunday. It has become so bad that Bev asked me if I wanted to join them at a BBQ they were going to but I didn’t want to give up the one day of the week that it is quiet! It was lovely, I swam and sat and read a book!

I had a visitor during the day. It was so funny watching him/her because every time I put the camera near him/her, their huge antennae kept following it around. I am presuming it is some kind of mantid but can’t find this one anywhere.

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A new day, a clean house and pool and a nice walk in the mountains to start the day!

I went shopping and took some pictures on the way back, they have even been digging up the side of the road…..welcome to Malatya! I bought Cyprus Today. Details are in Mal’s online North Cyprus Free Press but a lot of stories about the poor auction victims from Kulaksiz 5 and a reminder that another auction is being held tomorrow for appartments in Girne. This time it is not expats but “their own”….Turkish Cypriots and Turkish. I fail to see how the government are not taking immediate action to stop this circus. Do they not realise what effect this will have on any future buyers?  A clear message is now getting over to the public….NO KOCAN= NO MONEY, the only way to protect potential buyers. In Turkey it takes a week to obtain Permission to Purchase.  Some people in the TRNC have been waiting 6 years for their permission to purchase. WHY??!!

In the evening I watched England’s first World Cup game. Mal has given me a link for ITV, so I can watch all the matches. Not an impressive first game 1-1 against USA but we have to take heart that the first game in 1966 was also a draw. Come on England!

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It was quite a treat to walk Rosie to the mountains without being knee deep in dust! Of course the rain had compacted it down.  Because of the rain I decided I should really give the house a good clean. I washed all the floors and I just could not believe the amount of dirt in the water and I do brush the floors every day but it obviously gets everywhere.I also slipped on the wet when pulling the bed out and landed on my knees…..ouch! Bruises tomorrow no doubt.

I cleaned the pool, only to realise that it needed backwashing because of the dirt that the pool is collecting. I am always frugal with water and so backwashed only to realise it wasn’t clean and I had to do it all over again! The second time the hose split right in the middle.

Not one of my better days but at least I didn’t feel, for a day that I was chewing dust. Having said that the digging was going on most of the day. I had just finished eating dinner when Lena rang and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner with her and Margaretha. I declined, I just felt so tired, I couldn’t even be bothered to go with them for a drink. I had an early night and didn’t even watch any of the World Cup! As David and Kenny agreed the day before, it really does ‘get to you’ all the noise and dust. I really shouldn’t complain when Mal is slogging away in the UK.

In the morning Patti came round to see me. In the afternoon David and Kenny invited me over for a BBQ. It was a lovely afternoon with excellent company and excellent food. I think it was also reassuring to know that I am not the only one who is so fed up with the constant noise and dust that the bulding is causing. I understand that in the South they are not allowed to build between April and October, so as not to upset tourists. I don’t know how true this is but a brilliant idea. If only that applied here. Whilst I was over the road, we had about 15 minutes of rain which obviously helped to dampen the dust down.

Well, I arrived at 2.00pm and hadn’t realised how long I had stayed, may have been something to do with the amouint of wine I drank! It was 9.15! Thank you David and Kenny I really enjoyed myself, nice to know I am not on my own choking on dust and also to catch up with all the news ‘around us’, some quite eye opening!