Archives for August 2016 | On The Island

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016Thursday, August 4th, 2016

Wednesday 3rd August 2016

We went around the orchards for our walk. I have to say the apple trees are absolutely laden with fruit but of course too early to pick those yet. Mal has been learning a little Polish so he can say a couple of words to the workers who are picking the apricots! They looked a little shocked when he tried this morning.

We then went off to Canterbury and had our lunch in Canteen. It’s really nice in there for a snack. They make a really lovely salad and of course I had a Groupon voucher for it. So a salad and a baguette, a latte and a mango tea all for £5.40! I rarely pay full price if I can get it cheaper.

We have a caravan holiday coming up and I knew we had to settle the balance sometime soon. Easy to do online until I noticed the balance was £25 more than I had made a note of, so of course we had to phone them. I booked it when dogs went free and they said ooops, they had added the dog fee by mistake! It’s a good thing I keep account of all of these things!

I have just seen the official Ric Sanders Trio photos from Folk in the Barn….that’s my head on the left! I think that I could have taken better photos, had I remembered my camera!

Thought for the Day – “Always end the day with a positive thought. No matter how hard things were, tomorrow is a fresh opportunity to make it better.”

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016

Tuesday 2nd August 2016

For anyone in Cyprus who wants to see the turtles……this is from Karsiyaka Turtle Watch……………….

“????????????????EXCAVATION TONIGHT????????????????

We will be conducting an excavation and release of any hatchlings that we find tonight. So please meet at The Turtle Shack on Guzelyali Beach, Karsiyaka at 6.30pm. We are starting a bit earlier because the nest is further up the beach, so anyone wishing to come and watch the excavation should be aware that there will be a 5-10 minute walk along the beach and back again. If you just wish to come along and watch the release that will be done nearer The Turtle Shack about 8:15pm. See you all there ????”

It rained during the night so a slightly wet walk and the orchards were the best choice unless we wanted to wear wellies. None of the workers were picking this morning so we had more apricots to eat!

A day spent spring cleaning and sifting through “stuff” and dumping a lot.

Thought for the Day – “The secret to a long life; Eat half, walk double. laugh triple and love without measure.” ~ Tibetan Proverb

Monday, August 1st, 2016Monday, August 1st, 2016

Monday 1st August 2016

August already! Time seems to go by so quickly.

Apricots for breakfast again! The pickers are still working in the orchards. Ellie now has a taste for them, I guess because they are so sweet! I have to give them to her or she tries to eat the stones as well! She also found a mole and really thought she was going to catch it, thankfully she was a little too late.

David informed us that we had a viewer last week at the villa and also that our household pump was not working. Theirs had failed too, so they had the electrician in for us as well as themselves. We needed a new capacitor and they needed a complete new pump. We both learnt a long time ago to buy the more expensive Italian pumps, which we did and Davids has only lasted 18 months!! He is so good sorting things out for us.

I also rejoined English Heritage with a discount. We have joint senior membership and I think possibly one visit to Dover Castle pays for that. The twins are coming to stay later in the month and so we can take them there as membership allows you to take in 6 kids as well!

We tidied up the gardens and cut the lawns in the afternoon as rain is supposed to be coming soon.

Fat club in the evening and another pound gone, could have been more had I not been out for two meals and that yummy ice cream…….maybe!

Thought for the Day – “The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.” ~ Judy Garland

Monday, August 1st, 2016Monday, August 1st, 2016

Sunday 31st July 2016

A walk through the woods with Ellie, there are so many nice walks around us.

After breakfast we went to Howletts. We have an annual pass for here too. They are such good value for people like us who live so close by and love going to see the animals.We arrived just after they opened to avoid the crowds! The Javan Gibbons look so cuddly and it was one of my photos I had taken previously that Howletts used on Facebook. Arina, the gorgeous Siberian tiger was asleep right over the far side of her compound so no photos of her but I do like watching the primates. We listened to the talk about tigers. There are 6 kinds of tiger (according to Wingham Wildlife there are only three!) I believe there are 9 but three are already extinct. There also seems to be a bit of controversy about the names used. I have to say I am far more inclined to believe what I hear at Howletts who are into the conservation of endangered species.

They also have amazing ice cream there, especially the Kentish Honey and Honeycomb. I can’t resist that one!