Month: April 2011

Mal launched his 3Cyprus Forum see link

I went to the shops to get Cyprus Today see link

At lunchtime we went and joined Bev and Gary for their anniversary celebrations along with others of their friends. Bev put on a lovely spread. Thank you both and a very Happy Wedding Anniversary to you.  Their ‘do’s’ always seem to have medics in attendance and today was no exception. ‘Nuff said.

We arrived home to discover quite a few more people had signed up to Mal’s new forum. The forum even has a ‘chat’ facility.

Thought for the Day – “Of all possessions a friend is the most precious. ” ~ Herodotus

Mal and I had a brilliant idea to change round all the rooms. We had been sitting thinking about it  for a while before we decided to do it.  So today was going to be the day. The first thing to move was one of the settees. We took doors off and no matter how much pushing and pulling we did, scraping paint along the way, there was no way the settee was going into the room we planned. So, back to the drawing board!

Mal has spent a lot of time recently designing a new forum. There is a rather power crazy moderator on one of the local forums who has excluded members and not given replies as to why he has done it.  So, Mal decided to start a new one. It will be www.3cyprus.com

I did more gardening with my little helper (Rosie!). The cats claws are all starting to flower now.

A MUST read for anyone who lives in the TRNC  see link

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Thought for the Day – “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”  ~ Dalai Lama

 

We had a phone call from David to ask if our mains water supply pipe ran across the road as it was split and leaking. Yes, our pipe does. From way back, when there were far less houses and no tarmac on the road that is how our water came and it hasn’t changed since. Now the road has been tarmaced our pipe is not fully covered so all the cars to and from the village have to drive over it. It is no surprise that it is leaking, it is just a thin piece of piping. The last time this happened they just repaired the pipe and didn’t sink it in.

I walked Rosie and discovered that the water was like a fountain. I rang the Beledeyir several times and no answer. Eventually someone answered the phone, when they were open and I told them about the leak.

By 9.30, no one had been in spite of the fact I told them the water was gushing out and so much water is just being wasted.  Just as I was looking again, the ‘clean machine’ road sweeper came along, stopped at the leak and he made a phone call. Perhaps they will listen to him now. The sensible thing for them to do when they repair it, is to sink it right under the road…….  we will see, they didn’t last time.

One man came out, replaced the pipe (didn’t bury it completely) and it was finished by 11.15. The water came back on in the afternoon.

More gardening. Mal dug up a very dangerous cactus. It was ugly and had lethal spikes which meant when I weeded around it, I always got stabbed. He hates killing anything but I’m afraid it was of no use and dangerous.  It has gone. It was the landscape gardener who put it in there, goodness only knows why.

 

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We achieved so much the previous day we decided to go into Girne, do some shopping and have lunch out.  What is it they say ‘the best laid plans’ ? I reversed the car down the first part of the drive and realised the brakes were not working properly.  I told Mal if I took it easy I should be able to get it down the drive without running into the Russian house! The hand brake wasn’t too marvellous but I limped down to the garage – Ziggy, whose garage is down by the Merit on the right hand side.

He was working on a car but stopped and looked at mine. The brake fluid was empty but the probelm was a broken part to one of the rear wheels. He made a couple of phone calls to get the right part. The first two didn’t have one but the third was a success. He had the car up on the ramp and as we didn’t want to put pressure on him, we said we would leave him to it. He said he would ring when he had done it. So, we decided to go to Cyprus Queen for lunch. We walked back there and although it said lunches outside it was shut. So, we walked to the New Bar Monte. They were shut too.

We then decided to go to our good old faithful, B and I Fast food in the village.  Just as we arrived there, the phone went and it was Ziggy who said he had finished the car! He is so quick. He told us that the part was 75tl and the total bill was 100tl. I also asked him if he could sort out the hand brake before I collected it.

As usual, a lovely welcome at Fast Food. We both had the chicken şiş which comes with salad, chips, rice and plates of pickles and plates of yoghurt and extra bread. It is a huge meal for 15tl. We had a drink each and then time to walk back to collect the car.

On the walk back we saw a whole field of ‘Field Gladiolus’ (Gladiolus italicus), they were beautiful. I have also added two photos of Ziggy’s garage in case anyone else wants to use him, as there is no name on the front.

The total bill was 100tl and Ziggy had repaired the hand brake as well. Excellent service and so quick to get back on the road again.

What a coincidence, Ken’s article! see link

We gave up with Girne and just popped into Starling. We bought some butter in there last week 1kg for 10.90tl. We thought we would taste it first before we bought too much. It is good, so we stocked up. They are also doing Persil Jel for 8.40tl instead of 16.80tl. The rest of the Girne shopping will have to wait for another day. I had sore feet as I had walked from the garage in flip flops which aren’t made for walking but of course I hadn’t known I would be walking that far.

Cyprus Today see link

 

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Thought for the Day -“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back” ~ Maya Angelou

 

Back to normal and we decided to paint the bedroom. Well, let’s say Mal was painting and I was masking everything possible…..he is not the most careful painter. All the curtains washed and the bed cover and all put back together again in one day. A good days work.

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Thought for the day – “Sweetness is a virtue that searches with patience for the good in every person and situation” ~ Brahma Kumaris

 

It was a bit of a ‘non’ day. I had a headache and aching sinuses, maybe pollen I don’t know but I felt rough all day. Mal spent time doing things he needed to do on the computer.

We had a picture of our little fairy Josie but as Lou said she is more of a tomboy. I am not surprised with all those brothers.

Thought for the Day – “What a bargain grandchildren are. I give them my loose change and they give me a million dollars worth of pleasure” ~ Gene Perret

 

We had a lazy Sunday and went out for lunch with Pauline and Chris. We went to Cousins Restaurant and very nice it was too. It was 17tl for two courses and we all had a mixture of the roast lamb and roast beef. They also bring to the table pots of mustard, horseradish and mint sauce. Again we all had the same sweet, white chocolate bread and butter pudding which came with ice cream. It was delicious.

Cousins is well worth a visit.

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Thought for the Day – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead