Month: November 2016

There was a horrendous storm and 4.00am it sounded as though the roof was coming off! Sol slept through it all. We were getting up at 5 anyway to catch our flight back home. The plane was on time. A lot of people got off the plane at Istanbul and then next to me across the aisle John Partirdge, got on at Istanbul. He plays Christian in Eastenders. I thought it was him and this was confirmed by the fact that he spent the entire journey watching back to back episodes of Eastenders. So, I took a sneaky selfie!

We landed at Stansted and again Mal’s passport wouldn’t work at border control! We then waited for our baggage. My case came and so did Sols. We waited ad waited and waited. Mal’s case was nowhere to be seen. We ended up going to lost baggage with the bar code we were given at Ercan. No his case had definitely not entered Stansted!! When it did arrive they would arrange for it to be sent to him. Great. We collected the car from the car park and we were half way home and someone phoned Mal saying they had taken his case in error and could we go back to the airport. Erm no!! They ended up saying they were going to take it back and find theirs. By the time we arrived home the airport called and said they would not pay to send it now as it was not their error even though they denied it had even arrived at Stansted!! We now have to organise a company to deliver it to us. I am not driving all that way back again.

Of course we took Sol home and collected a very excited Ellie. She went mad when she saw us, doing laps of the front garden!

Later we watched the Man Utd v Hammers game. After Man U’s third goal Mal decided he was too tired to watch any more!! It had been a long day. Considering Cyprus is now 3 hours ahead, that means we had been up since 1am UK time!

Thought for the Day – “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start  with the person nearest you.” ~ Mother Teresa

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We were to have had a nice last evening meal out. That didn’t happen, the “boys” had a cooked chicken from the supermarket! That was followed by an early night as we had to get up early the following day for our plane home.

Thought for the Day – “One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”

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A day off and so we went into Girne. It was really nice to have a wander around in the sun and then we went to the harbour to have a very leisurely lunch.  We ate at the Harbour club mainly because it was the only one that didn’t try and drag us in. The restaurant owners were told not to do that but they obviously don’t bother listening. It was a really nice day out.

After a lovely day we went home and watched Fantastic Creatures and then about 8.30 I started getting really bad pains in my stomach again. I couldn’t lay down in bed all night because it was so painful. I think it was gastro enteritis but this is the third bout I have had since I came out here but this was the worst. I only managed about an hours sleep.

Thought for the Day – “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask the answer is always  no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” ~ Nora Roberts

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I had forgotten, the hunting season is obviously in full swing as we were woken by the gun shot.

In yesterday’s Cyprus Today there was an article about Willy (our neighbour) as he gave a talk about his time here in 1964 which led to him being arrested, deported and serving a prison sentence. I wish we had been here for the talk. He is such an interesting man and also has a wicked sense of humour. Now we will have to wait for the book!

Having spent a lot of money on textured paint, we have decided it is not as “textured” as we have used before. One wall is complete but we have decided to leave the others until our next visit when we will buy some more and so we turned to the gardening and lopping bushes/hedges etc! We never have enough time here.

Then of course we had to go to Açmenya for our 25tl (£5.80 at today’s exchange rate).Sunday lunch. Yes, they are still doing it for 25tl, 3 courses with help yourself desserts, coffee and brandy and the waiters are amusing too. As always, a brandy sour, they make good ones there, and a toast to Sue. I miss her every time we come over.

The “boys” had seconds on their desserts, oh too much food!

Back home we sat out by the pool until the sun went down then indoors to watch the football with the log burner roaring.

Thought for the Day – “Character is how you treat someone who can do nothing for you.” ~ Ramandeep Singh

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We were up earlyish and I went to Atakara to buy some fresh olive bread. They didn’t have any so I bought some hellim rolls instead and also Cyprus Today.  Straight after breakfast Mal and Sol were out painting the outside. Textured paint first coat.

They worked all day.
In the evening we went to our favourite restaurant, Charcos in Lapta.

They now have new tables to replace the glass ones. A good thing, as with Mal’s varifocals he always seemed to be banging his hand on the table. Christine has painted them all and the back of the chairs. She told us that she painted 321 roses in all and was up until 3am some mornings trying to get them finished!

As with all her art work, beautiful.
I had the sea bass which is always huge and very tasty here. Sol and Mal had the mixed kebab. We had home made lentil soup first,dessert was quince. Everything was as always, perfect. It’s an all in price including the coffee and brandy.

We love this place and Christina is always so welcoming. They also buy the food fresh every day.

Back home and we had the log burner roaring. It went down to 11 degrees outside.

Thought for the Day – “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces just good food from fresh ingredients.” ~ Julia Child

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Today is Black Friday and retailers have sent so many bargains to us and also we were looking for Christmas presents, which we can organise to arrive when we get home. One really good deal is the Amazon Fire Tablet, only £29.99. A couple of those ordered!  Lots of good things at Sports Direct too. Apart from that more sorting the walls out, painting the waterproof layer on and then we went to buy all the paint for the whole job.

A nice sunny day again, so we have been so lucky with the weather.

In the evening we went to Morelli in Karaoğlanoğlu. We haven’t been there for years. It was a nice meal although Mal’s meat was a bit tough but the desserts were good. Sol and I ordered the chocolate souffle which turned out to be chocolate fondant. We did tell the chef his error but he insisted that is what the English cookery book told him! The waiter also asks if everything is “tickety boo”!!

The central log fire was very welcoming and warm.

Sol is rather passionate about his food as he is training to be a chef and already knows a lot. It has become quite scientific in the top restaurants nowadays. At the moment he attends catering college and works part time in the Samphire in Whitstable.

Thought for the Day – “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.” ~ Virginia Woolf

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Mal and Sol worked on the outside walls, scraping all the loose paint. They did have a break in between.

I was gardening and heard someone repeatedly shouting “Hello” then realised it was our Russian neighbour Sergay, from the house to the left and below us. He wanted to know if I had any questions??? He then said about the clearing of the land below us. I called to Mal to speak to him as I don’t like the man, we had arguments before when he tried to dig up some of our land when Mal wasn’t here! Anyway, Sergay decided he would come up and talk to us! He is a very nosey person who likes to know everything that is going on. He has told us for the last three years that he wants to buy our house, so we take most things he says with a pinch of salt. I left Mal to it. He also wanted to cut our trees, no thank you. That was only so he would get more light on to his garden. Well, we like them just the way they are.

We had a power cut that started at 10am!

We had arranged to meet Margaretha for lunch at Blue Song as we had brought a few things over for her. It was lovely to see her, she is such a good friend. We just sat down and were chatting when David and Kenny came in, so we moved the tables together so they could join us. They decided to come out as there was no power at home but David hadn’t shaved so didn’t want his picture taking! He is funny. So, it was a really good lunch.

Thought for the Day – “Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave and impossible to forget.”  ~ G Randolf