Month: March 2013

Bargains – Marks &Spencer 20% off luggage & Thorntons Free Continental chocs(worth £6.99) & Cotton Traders Ladies shoes £12

Electricity back, the weather has calmed down and the sun is out. What more could you ask for?!

The current situation in the south.

Mal and I went to Bamboo Beach market and collected our house number from the lovely lady Jean (picture). She is a very talented lady. That one will go at the bottom of our drive and she is making us another to go on the front door, which we will collect next Sunday.

More time in the garden.

David and Kenny are still without internet and Margaretha still has no electricty. We don’t have a Digiturk signal but as long as everything else is running, we are not that cconcerned and will ring them tomorrow.

Thought for the Day – “The Sun was smiling a hundred years ago and the sun is laughing today.” ~ Santosh Kalwar

Bargains – 1 night B&B + welcome drink £25pp & 10% off Dorma products & Chicco Jazz Baby High chair £34.99 & “We will rock you” top price tickets £39

What a night, no electricty and we were really concerned with the wind howling and the rain pouring down, what we were going to wake up to. I had to be at the dentist for 9.00am and our car port had taken a bit of a battering, a few plant pots had blown all over the place but apart from that, little damage thankfully. But driving into Girne, a lot of trees had been ripped down and hotel signs taken down by the wind as well. Stormy Weather.

We bought Cyprus Today. Front page today was “Strong winds wreak havoc.” In this article it said “Meteorology Department director Fehmi Oktay said winds reached up to 120kph yesterday – the speed at which storm force becomes hurricane force on the Beaufort scale.” I can believe that, it was horrific.

The dentist appointment went well and I now have a new bridge fitted at the cost of 1,350tl. That is far cheaper than one I had done in the UK about 14 years ago! I have to repeat that Ipek is very good. (Smile Care 0533 880 2700/0392 815 2812). I did tell her that I have a friend who is thinking about going but is really scared. She explained different people worry about different things and she will do all she can to help, anaesthetic gel before injections if they don’t like injections or they can listen to their ipod if they don’t like the sound of the drill etc etc. Hopefully I can persuade them to go now.

We arrived home to still no electricty! We were now getting concerned about our full freezer which of course we hadn’t opened. I went out to do some more gardening and Mal mooched about indoors having internet withdrawal. He decided every time a light flickered it would come back any minute!

7.45pm, 28 hours after the electricty went down, it came back on! Yeah. I hardly feel we can complain as I guess Kibtek were working flat out with so much damage.

 

Thought for the Day – “I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true.” ~ Audrey Hepburn

Bargains – Mamas & Papas Red Swirl Pushchair Package £49.99 & Easter Hotels up to 50% off & Seasons 5 piece set of Non stick pans (purple) £19.99 & Thriller top price tickets £37

It sounds as the Uk is in for some rough weather with amber warnings being issued for snow. Chris Evans (Radio 2) said you have to think positive – “at least your Easter eggs won’t melt!”

Russia don’t want to help with the south’s bailout. Funny, it is mentioned in this article, I said to Mal last night that Turkey are keeping very quiet about the “south’s gas”! BUT they did actually mention Turkish Cypriots claim to areas (gas) surrounding the south on BBC News. At the moment, we are flicking betweem Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC,and Euronews!

Talking of rough weather, in the afternoon Pauline, Chris and Hak, the lawyer came round. We were having a really nice chat outside and suddenly the rain started, then the storm and there was a real gale! We all came indoors as the rain was hammering down even under the terrace, then of course the inevatable ….the power went off! It was like a hurricane and needless to say, the strength of the wind and the force of the rain, we had no power for the rest of the night. We did manage to grab a lot of things before they found their way into the pool but got soaked in the process.

 

Thought for the Day – “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” ~ Charles Dickens

Bargains – Debenhams Spring Sale &  1 Night Easter Dinner, B&B £44.50 & Thornton’s Half Price chocolate Hamper &  Accessorize £5 off shoes

Avis Car Hire 7 days for the price of 5

It looks as though the south’s banks are going to remain closed until at least next Tuesday. The latest “rumour” concerning the South, I say rumour because not many seem to know exactly what is happening.

Another appointment at the dentist! I thought this was going to be the final one but no Ipek was not happy with the slight gap and so asked her technician to do the bridge again. Ah well, better it is right.

We talked to her technician while we were waiting. He lives in the South and half of his work is over there and half here. He told us that he will be moving to the North! At the moment he  can’t even use his credit card. He also told us that petrol stations over there are only accepting cash.

More gardening in the afternoon.

We sat watching the news in the evening but still no decisions concerning the south. They have until Monday.

Rumours abound!

I thought this was a good poster for the people who still don’t realise that the TRNC are not involved in this!

Thought for the Day –  “If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.”  ~ Benjamin Franklin

 

Bargains – Thorntons Half Price Chunky Easter Eggs &  Debenhams Free Delivery Code & Laura Ashley Mid Season Sale & Brantano Footwear 20% off & Free Delivery

Cyprus Today, for what it is worth, well, certainly not the 4tl I paid! Old news.

Margaretha came round in the morning and Mal sorted out her computer problems while I did some gardening. It was lovely and warm.

Continuation of yesterday’s problems in the south.

We spoke to Lou and Rhys in the evening. Rhys has decided to run a full marathon in October. He is doing it in memory of his uncle Bryan and raising money for Action on Bladder Cancer which is a fairly new charity. All the monies donated at Bryan’s funeral went to the charity and they sent my sister a very nice thank you letter.

So, the training begins with Rhys, which includes losing some weight! He has run half marathons before but never a full marathon. They are also both running a half marathon in June.

 

 

 

 

 

Bargains – Robbie Williams at Wembley + hotel £146 & 3 night Easter dinner B&B £135 & Easter Hand Tied Bouquet with free easter egg £29.99 &  “Jersey Boys” Tickets 50% off 

Very sad news that Can Denktaş, Rauf Denktaş’s grandson, committed suicide last night. Condolences to his family.

I was listening to Radio 2, Chris Evans and he was having a big discussion about the Bailout in “Cyprus”. Well done to the person who emailed in and told him they lived in the TRNC, North Cyprus and that we have the Turkish lira and are not involved. Perhaps a few more people will now understand!

Talking of the current issues, will the TRNC want to resurrect the peace talks now?

It looks as though Ollie, Oscar and Josie have been busy making their Easter bonnets for school!

The south has rejected the bailout terms!

 

Bargains – BHS Mid Season Sale  up to 50% off &  Premier Inn 2 night weekend Escapes from £69 & LED Camping Light £5.99 &  Dunelm 30% off Bedding

What a wonderful picture the Telegraph paints of Margate! Nearly as good as Turner’s! Talking of which one day we went the Turner centre it was shut. Oh and by the way, it has no parking there, so you have to park in the town. There are plenty of places to stay that are nowhere near the £150 a night they quote and anyway Broadstairs is a much nicer place to stay.  As for eating out, I wonder what is wrong with Yama’s, again a fraction of the price AND number 1 on Trip Advisor. I can recommend Yamas. BUT I have to say Anna Murphy has done her best to get the tourists back!

A beautiful day. We paid the bills first thing and then spent the day in the garden. I love this time of year.

The south of Cyprus bail out vote has now been delayed until tomorrow! They are saying around 6pm our time. They are also saying that the banks won’t be opening until Friday!

Thought for the Day – “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ~ Franklin D Roosevelt