Month: February 2014

Bargains – Bon Marche Sale – FREE Delivery Code at bonmarche.co.uk & Boots Code – 10% off at boots.com & Currys Voucher Codes – 10% off at currys.co.uk & Butlins Bognor Regis – ‘Festival of Comedy’ Weekend at bigweekends.com &Discount Designer Clothing – 70% off at thehut.com & Travelodge Deals – Spring Saver Rooms at travelodge.co.uk

Ellie loves her games of ball in the mountains. We also met another dog walker from Alsancak and she ran all over the place with his two dogs. She was tired by the time we arrived home.

We have become a little concerned by all the “rumours” we are hearing about micro chipping dogs. We want the International chip, you never know when you may have to leave the country and we certainly would never be leaving Ellie behind. The latest snippet we have heard is “Kar’s vet is the only vet who is doing the international chip”. Not what the professor told us, so we will have to check again. So many rumours, so much gossip!

It looks as though the south aren’t quite behaving!

Thought for the Day – “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.”  ~ Paulo Coelho

Bargains – Brantano Voucher Code – 25% off at brantano.co.uk & The Hut Online Fashion Sale – 40% off at thehut.com &Blacks Voucher Code – 10% off at blacks.co.uk & The Hut Voucher Codes – 40% off at thehut.com & North Cyprus Holiday – 1 week 5 * all inclusive from £345pp at mercury-direct.co.uk

Another beautiful morning, so we had a very long walk in a different part of the mountains, seeing if we could find some different orchids but we didn’t. Over the years we have learnt where they “pop up”. It really looks like Spring now with the wild flowers blooming.

Margaretha came round in the afternoon and brought some Swedish cakes with her, in exchange I sent her home with some cake that I had made in the morning! She is going to Liverpool soon, so we were helping her with places to go and how to get there.

Thought for the Day – “How does the meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root and in that freedom bold. ~ William Wordsworth

Bargains – Gardening Bargains Discount Code – 20% off at leadthegoodlife.com & Boots Promo Code – 10% off at boots.com & Brantano Voucher Code – 30% off at brantano.co.uk & Glasses Direct Discount Code – 50% off at glassesdirect.co.uk & Currys Discount Code – 5% off at currys.co.uk

South Eastern Railways are also selling £10 return tickets from London to Margate/Dover/Folkestone and Deal. A bargain…a shame they don’t do it for £10 the other way round! But for a day at the seaside from London….very good.

We waited until the rain stopped before our muddy walk in the mountains and then the raindrops were still on the flowers.

A little battered rock rose but loved the colours…

Immediately in front of our house but next to the sea, we have watched the building of Merit Royal Hotel. Today we decided to go and have a nosey around and have lunch there. I don’t think many people know that you can have a buffet meal,  drinks included for 50tl a person. Personally I don’t think they advertise it enough. On arriving at the hotel, we enquired at reception about the “deal”. He had no knowledge of it and had to phone somebody else!! I think that proves my point.

Starters are soup or more meze than you can imagine, with salad. A good selection of main courses and soooo many deserts!!

The waiters are charming, the service and food is definitely 5 star. If you haven’t been, go and give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. White tablecloths, in fact everything is spotless. We had the rose wine, well only one small glass for me as I was driving as usual. It was French and excellent. Our drinking water was topped up constantly during the meal. After my one glass of wine, I asked for some sort of juice and was brought fresh orange, also included in the price. You can eat as much as you like and the waiter was constantly filling Mal’s wine glass. All this excellent food was followed by coffee. The view from the restaurant looks out over the sea. One of the best meals we have eaten in north Cyprus. The restaurant is open for lunch between 1.00pm – 3.30pm.

Thought for the Day – “People who love to eat are always the best people.” ~ Julia Child

Bargains – Ticks on Dogs – Lyme Disease Protection using a Scalibor Collar costing £12.90 from pet-supermarket.co.uk &Sainsbury Offers – Cook’s Collection Cast Iron Casserole Dish for £19.99 at sainsburys.co.uk & Sports Direct Sale – Batman Go Kart for £52 at sportsdirect.com & Boots Sale Offers – Remington Hair Straightener for £29.99 at boots.com & Maplin Electronics – Solar LED PIR Light for £19.99 at maplin.co.uk & Tesco Direct Toys – up to 50% off at tesco.com

More orchid spotting in the mountains but I haven’t found a bee orchid yet. After a lot of rain during the night the sun was out again.

Thought for the Day – “Life is a series of tasks that you absolutely must get done before they don’t matter any more.” ~ Robert Brault

Bargains – Butlins Big Weekends – Peter Andre UK Tour at bigweekends.com & Thames River Cruise – Includes Cream Tea £33 for 2 at lastminute.com & Wickes Sale – up to 30% off plus free delivery at wickes.co.uk & Tesco Direct Discount Code – £15 off £60 at tesco.com & Boots Offers and Sale – Champneys Facial Cleansing System for £19.99 at boots.com & Sainsbury Sale – Combination Microwave Oven for £99.99 at sainsburys.co.uk

A walk in the mountains and we were orchid spotting. We found a patch of Woodcock Orchids but they seem very early along with everything else, the warmth has obviously brought them out .

Mal is back to hedge cutting. The gardening is never ending.

We had our lunch outside and then the thunder started! The clouds came over the mountains and we had a little rain. Heavy rain in the evening. We need some rain!
Thought for the Day – “If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” ~ Terri Guillemets

Bargains – MandMDirect Discount Code – Free Delivery at mandmdirect.com & Discount UK Cycles – 20% off Kids Bikes at gooutdoors.co.uk & Thornton Easter Gifts – Eggs – 3 for £25 at thorntons.co.uk & Marks and Spencer Kids Clothes – 20% off at marksandspencer.com & Unibond Shower & Bathroom Silicone Sealant for £7 at wilko.com& Sainsbury Mini Food Processor for £11.32 at sainsburys.co.uk

Down to the beach. Ellie is getting very good at fetching her ball back but as soon as I stopped the treats, she decided it wasn’t worth playing the game any more…….she is not stupid, in fact a little too clever for her own good. She still doesn’t want to go in the sea!

We skyped grandson Torin as it is his birthday today. It sounds as though he has lots of nice things.

We watched the Spurs v Norwich match. Spurs could not get the ball in the net, what a shame but it was a good game.

Another hole in the ground in Broadstairs.

Thought for the Day – “Sometimes life is too hard to be alone and sometimes life is too good to be alone.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

Bargains – Debenhams Sale – Oakley Back Pack for £22 at debenhams.com & Bon Marche Online Fashion – up to 30% off at bonmarche.co.uk & Wallis Dresses – up to 30% off plus Free Delivery at wallis.co.uk & Unusual Tomato Plants – Tomtato – 3 pots for £29.99 at leadthegoodlife.com & Joop Homme Aftershave – 75ml for £15.50 at boots.com& Marks & Spencer Wine – 25% off at marksandspencer.com

I woke up with a bit of tooth ache/neuralgia, not sure what but pain killers did the trick. Mal offered to walk Ellie on his own so I could have a lie in. He said, he had to ensure that she follows commands with him too as it is me who has trained her. Yes, she did and was very well behaved evidently.

Torin, Scarlet and Jack came on the web cam. The picture was awful and the sound was very crackly. Our internet connection is not as good as it used to be and they are supposed to have upgraded it. You can see the trouble we had viewing!

We were going to Lambousa but I couldn’t be bothered so we just went to get some fresh  food shopping, mostly in  Ileli. I then realised I had forgotten to  buy a chicken so went into Starling. I took the chicken to the till and the cashier gave me 6 eggs too! Perhaps they could attract more customers if they actually advertised the eggs are free!  Cyprus Today.

We watched the Chelsea game…they were lucky!

Thought for the day – “In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.” ~ Albert Schweitzer