Month: September 2015

Bargains – Thorntons Voucher Codes | 50% off | thorntons.co.uk & Allbeauty Discount Code | 80% off | allbeauty.com &Expedia Sale | 40% off | expedia.co.uk & Wallis Discount Code | 60% off | wallis.co.uk & Tesco Discount Codes | £15 off | tesco.com & Flowers For £10 | Free Delivery | Blossoming Gifts Discount

Mal and I do these ‘Bargains’ every day and I can say it is officially the countdown to Christmas, or so the shops think. We have received our first countdown to Christmas offer from Boots starting for 2nd October! Tesco Direct have also started. I have bought a couple of things but will have to get serious about it when we are back in the UK.

Meanwhile, the view from our front door, some serious hedge cutting needed!

We hadn’t heard from Acmenya about the car but went to see if the alternative car was in. No it wasn’t but evidently Ali had been chasing around all morning to find one. Could we call back later? So we went to collect our For Sale sign and then into see Steve, for our coffee. We hadn’t realised he was selling houses again and so we have asked him to sell ours. He is thinking this is the best chance of an agreement between north and south and then house prices will rise considerably. We told him we are in no hurry to sell at the moment. Back to Acmenya and Ali had the car there waiting. It wasn’t a Focus that we had booked but by this time I didn’t really care!

We decided to then eat out at lunchtime and so we went to Green Heights. Four other people were in the entire place…and us! It is just so peaceful up there I really don’t know why more people don’t go, maybe they don’t know about it.  Again I guessed prices may have gone up. Not at all, exactly as they were on our last visit.

Mal had a mixed grill for 25tl, 15tl cheaper than the one at Hanimeler and he said far superior and I had Chicken sis which was an amazing 18tl and was so tasty.

Gentle soothing classical music in the background, what more could you want? A long lunch followed by a couple of Turkish coffees and then back home for a swim as we hadn’t taken our cozzies to Green Heights. No one else was in the pool there.

At home I am almost back to my 100 lengths swimming.

We sat under the terrace and watched the moon come up. This is also an ideal location for lying on sun beds and star gazing.

Thought for the Day – “Wherever you go, whatever the weather , always bring your own sunshine.” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelou

Bargains – Debenhams Discount Code | 70% off & Monarch Cheap Flights | £29.99 | monarch.co.uk & Sainsburys Deals | £15 off Code For First Order & Tucci Clothing | 20% off | Tucci Discount Code & Butlins Adults Weekends | from £65pp | bigweekends.com & Last Minute Voucher Code | 30% off Sale | lastminute.com

I was woken at 3.30 as I was feeling cold with the air con on! I couldn’t find the controller in the dark, obviously Mal’s side of the bed, so I got up!  There was a house gecko sitting on the living room wall. Maybe he is just a normal gecko come in from outside as the house geckos seem to be more transparent looking.

A note on the Cyprus Problem, Property Issues.

All morning working, Mal doing some of the hedges with a break in the middle when he managed to cut through the electricity lead! Oh dear.

After a swim we went out to dinner. We stopped off at Acmenya first and Ali, the owner,  was there..”Oh yes there will be a replacement car tomorrow.” Yes, we know all about “tomorrows” with the Cypriots. Then we called in on the sign makers to have the phone number on our ‘For Sale’ sign changed to my  number. Mal took it in while I waited in the car. She would charge 10 tl for doing it and would do it while we wait. Of course Mal chatted to her about Rhys having had a business in screen printing and she asked if we can find out where he bought his inks from. Eventually Mal came out and it had the same number on it as it did when he took it in!!! Yes, she had changed it but was so busy talking had replaced it with the original number!!! We have to collect it tomorrow.

This time we went to Hanimeler for our dinner. I guess we enjoy restaurants by the sea.  Another good brandy sour, please note I only drink about half and Mal drinks the rest as I am always driving!

However the shock came with the bill, they charged FIFTEEN lira for it!! Almost double the price of last nights.  Mal also had another mixed grill, same price as last nights but nowhere near as good. We haven’t got a tan, I guess they thought we were tourists….not appreciated! Their big tip was reduced somewhat.

Guess who we bumped into on the way home?

Yes of course it was Steve, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since we last saw him. But nice to see him after all this time and he has invited us to go down for coffee before we go back.

To answer your question Clive, I still have my lovely Renault. It has been sitting under the car port as we took Ellie back to the UK earlier than originally planned because of an organisation playing silly buggers with us! So, the car needs a new battery and one tyre pumping up a little and I will sadly sell it. It has been so good but of course, it is never at the airport when we need it and it’s just sitting here. It still has a years MOT on it, any offers anyone as a run around? It has a new clutch and gear box. Ziggy has serviced it regularly and charges very little to repair (cheap parts and cheap tax ..about 60lira)

A nice home made brandy sour under the terrace when we were back home and just watching the stars. We keep thinking that Ellie is still here with us!! We do miss her but she is having a good time with Lou and Rhys, I bet there is all sorts of food dropped from their table with all those kids and she will be sitting under the table!  But Lou sent me this picture and she seems to have made herself at home.

Thought for the Day – “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” ~Dalai Lama XIV

Bargains – Avis Discount Codes | 25% off | avis.co.uk & Hobbycraft Discount Code | 50% off | hobbycraft.co.uk & The Hut Discount Code | 70% off | thehut.com & Garden Plants For Sale | 50% off | gardenbargains.com & I Want One Of Those Discount Code | Daily Deals 80% off & Laura Ashley Sale | 50% off | lauraashley.com

We drove the Acmenya van down to their office and the girl said they don’t have any manual cars at the moment so can we hang on to their van. No problem, we aren’t going very far as there is too much to do around the house. The Syrian dust seems to have got in everywhere and a couple of things in drawers in the kitchen have gone mouldy, EVERYTHING needs cleaning including the pool but thankfully it is a nice shade of blue, which we didn’t expect but David has been putting chlorine in for us,

Then of course there is all the gardening, we can hardly get to the front door the lantana has grown so much. I topped my phone up with credit last night and this morning Mal tried to do his, only to be told that he hasn’t used it for 6 months so he will have to buy a new sim card………well, that’s a new one to us. We do tend to use Skype and my phone.

So we worked all day, I just don’t know how the dust gets in so many cupboards. Then of course we jumped in the pool. The weather here is perfect, in the 30’s and we have a nice cool gentle breeze under our terrace.

In the evening we went to Incirli in Lapta for our dinner. We haven’t been there before but the staff are really nice and friendly and the food was very good. The bonus is, it is right next to the sea so we watched the sun set one side and then the moon rising the other as it became darker. As readers may know I am very fussy about brandy sours and theirs was perfect. Well worth waiting a couple of months for! And it was 8tl. I thought they may have gone up with the lira being so weak but no.

I ordered the mixed fish kebab, I would quite happily live on fish.  It was a kebab of salmon, another swordfish and another sea bass topped with 5 King Prawns…wow, it was good. They also brought us a huge bowl of delicious Cyprus potato chips and a large bowl of salad. I couldn’t finish mine, so Mal had to help me out in spite of the fact he had a huge mixed grill! Mine was 38.5tl and Mal’s 40tl, so very good value for the amount of food. Well worth a visit and a good choice for our first night here.

I have been plagued with mosquitoes in Preston and have 2 large areas on the back of my leg where I have had bad bites. I don’t seem to get them here in Cyprus BUT I forgot about the sandflies!! Horrible things. It was almost perfect sitting under the terrace having a drink when we were home…..just the sandflies were so annoying.

Thought for the Day – “It is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi

Bargains – Designer Shoe Sale | Free Delivery | allsole.com & Evans Cycles Discount Codes | £500 off | evanscycles.com & La Redoute Discount Code | 40% off | laredoute.co.uk & Bhs Discount Code | 60% off | Free Delivery | bhs.co.uk &Coggles Discount Code | 50% off | coggles.com & Dorothy Perkins Voucher Code | 60% off | dorothyperkins.com

We had a leisurely breakfast in the garden. This is one of Torin’s dogs, Boo.

Mal and I then headed for the airport. We left our car in the car park, a very good deal with Jetpark. Into the airport and my flight bag was searched and X rayed twice. I was told it was because I had a kindle in it and very little else? Well, that has never happened before.

The plane was on time but it was a later flight than we usually catch. The flight doesn’t improve and the Fly Pigs staff don’t either!

We had booked a hire car with Acmenya and the guy was waiting outside for us. I booked a manual and he had delivered an automatic, which I don’t like driving. He said no problem, it was his mistake so he drove us back to Acmenya (about a mile from our house) and gave me their van and said to swap it in the morning. You can’t say fairer than that. He also stopped at Ilelli so that we could get some shopping!

The road up to our house is in a terrible mess where they have been laying the water pipes and they have dug up the bottom of our paved drive. What a mess. It took me two attempts to get the van up the drive with all the mess at the bottom.

I think it was 2.30am by the time we got to bed but at least I was chauffeur driven almost all the way home!

Thought for the Day – “Take vacations, go as many places as you can. You can always make money. You can’t always make memories.”

Bargains – Boots Discount Codes | 50% off | boots.com & Kwik Fit MOT | Book Online | 10% off | kwik-fit.com & Allbeauty Discount Code | 80% off | allbeauty.com & Zavvi Voucher Codes | 10% off | zavvi.com & MyProtein Discount Code | 20% off | myprotein.com & Last Minute Voucher Code | 30% off Sale | lastminute.com

We are lucky enough to have a medlar tree in the garden and it has a lot of fruit on it. I often bought medlar jelly in Cyprus. Perhaps this year I can make my own.

 

Our walk took a very long time as we met Dave and his wife and their dogs on the way back and must have chatted for about half an hour. Dave has an allotment by Mals and they live at the other end of our road. The white pony came running to see Ellie again!

We packed and dropped Ellie off for her holiday at Lou and Rhys’s. From there, on to Torin’s. We ate out at the Indian restaurant, Raj Bengal, which is just along the road from his house.

When we went back home we had a very late night drinking and listening to 60’s music!! It was good as they loved the music as much as we did.

Thought for the Day – “You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.” ~ Michael Pritchard

Bargains – Marks and Spencer Discount Code | 50% off | marksandspencer.com & Allbeauty Discount Code | 80% off | allbeauty.com & Presents for Men Discount Code | 20% off | presentsformen.co.uk & Find My Past Free Trial | 50% off & Bhs Discount Code | 60% off | Free Delivery | bhs.co.uk & Brantano Voucher Code | 50% off | brantano.co.uk

We had our walk and then Mal spent the day sorting out the schools appeal.

I went to Westwood. I didn’t realise until I got there Tu Clothing is 25% off at Sainsburys and last week  I tried on a rather nice jacket that is now much more attractive at 25% off!

This was the parcel that DHL finally delivered a day late as they couldn’t find our house??!! Another driver brought it and it had on it “there are 25 houses in this turning and this is one of them.” It even had the post code and full address! Wouldn’t you think they would knock at any house, this is a village, everyone already knows who we are and where we live!

 

Thought for the Day – “I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.” ~  Thomas Jefferson

Bargains – Debenhams Discount Code | 70% off & Avis Discount Codes | 25% off | avis.co.uk & Argos Kitchen Electrical Sale | 50% off | argos.co.uk & Last Minute Voucher Code | 30% off Sale | lastminute.com & Wallis Discount Code | 60% off | wallis.co.uk & Debenhams Vouchers | Free £5 Gift Vouchers | debenhams.com

This pony waits for Ellie every morning, or if she is the other side of the field she trots across to see her. It must be something to do with being the same colour. She just loves Ellie and they snort at each others noses!

How very sad to hear of the deaths at the Mina  Hajj. More than 450 people have been killed. I can’t remember the name of the book now but I read about one girls pilgrimage to Mecca. I remember how horrific it sounded by the crowds and surges amongst the crowds.

Mal went to the allotment and I waited in for his parcel from the school that is appealing. It arrived at 6.30pm! Evidently the previous driver had it on his van yesterday but couldn’t find the house???!!!! That’s really good for an urgent parcel.

Thought for the Day – “Stay true to yourself and never sacrifice who you are for anyone.” ~ Zayn Malik