New Year's Eve

Christmas Day went well, with just seven of us sitting down to lunch. Although I still struggle with timings, I make extensive checklists for Christmas Day. As one of our friends remarked, we could probably have fed twice as many people. But that's part of the beauty of Christmas lunch, as far as I'm concerned: I don't have to do any cooking for several days afterwards.  

With most of the preparation done in advance, the day itself mostly involved setting things off at suitable times. I got up around 6.30 to do the first few: pudding in the steamer first thing, potatoes (prepared the night before) parboiled and left in hot water; red cabbage/apple/onion prepared and set off in the slow-cooker; carrots prepared and ready to go later; coconut cream whipped and put on the trifle.

The shepherds in my knitted Nativity set then arrived at the stable, and baby Jesus emerged from Mary, and was laid in the manger.

Christmas Eve

Although there are four Sundays in Advent, the fourth one is followed by less than a week - just three days, this year, in the final runup to Christmas. So rather than continuing my Advent posts, this is my annual Christmas Eve one, but continuing the daily updates.

December 21st was the fourth Sunday of Advent, and the church we're connected with had a communion service with carols rather than a more traditional 'nine lessons and carols'. I went to that, and enjoyed it, then chatted to some friends afterwards.

It's been our custom for many years to go out to eat at Alexander's on the last Sunday before Christmas. We got the idea from some friends many years ago. I can't technically say it's a 'tradition' because it wasn't handed down to us by parents or predecessors, but it feels like one. So at 12.30 we drove to the marina and then walked the few hundred metres to Alexander's.

Richard had the stifado, which he said was excellent. I had a mushroom omelette, which looked quite interesting, but wasn't as great as some meals I've had there. Still, it was filling and it's good to try something different. 

Third week of Advent

Sunday 14th December was the third Sunday in Advent. It was also a special anniversary for us: 48 years exactly since we went out on our first date, and 46 years since we got engaged. 

But there was no chance to go out to celebrate. I didn't go to a church service, either, as I knew I had to do a lot of cooking and baking in the morning. Every other Sunday our friends come over for an afternoon of games (with a DVD for the teenagers), followed by a shared evening meal. I always provide bread and a dessert, while they usually bring cut up vegetables and protein such as cheese, eggs and tuna.  Through the cooler months, I also make soup. 

In addition, I was hosting our local writing group lunch on the Monday. I wanted to ensure there we had enough variety of food, so I planned to prepare some of that on Sunday morning as well. And our Sunday lunch, which wasn't complicated as I used a previously frozen chicken dish, so I only had to prepare roast potatoes and veggies to accompany it.

I started around 10.00am after a leisurely breakfast and shower... and I tried not to rush, so I wouldn't get muddled. I first started the carrot and ginger soup, one of my favourites; I add previously boiled chick-peas in too, to give it some protein. Then I started preparing some chicken breast with a slightly spicy thick sauce, to serve cold on Monday. And put the ingredients for a loaf of bread in the breadmaker.

Then I leafed through all my recipes looking for something to make for dessert in the evening; nothing really inspired me, so I tried a lemon blondie recipe I had previously downloaded and printed. I had quite a lot of lemon juice which I had frozen last year from an excess of lemons, so it was good to use some of that up. 

By this stage, the kitchen looked like this:

I also wanted to make mince pies... so I had to tidy up a little, to make room for the food processor, and for rolling out the pastry. 

Second week of Advent

 I woke up on the second Sunday of Advent to see that it had rained in the night, apparently quite heavily. My phone showed rain predicted for much of the rest of the day, but I was able to go out for a short walk before breakfast. 

Later, I went to a local church service where the second Advent candle was lit. It was good to have an hour to focus on the real reasons for Advent. Afterwards there were a couple of Christmas craft stalls outside, where I bought some delicious-looking bakes and a couple of attractive crocheted decorations. 

By lunch-time it was raining in earnest, and continued doing so, steadily, for most of the afternoon. We had planned to go to one of the annual outdoor Christmas markets in the evening, but decided we would give it a miss this year. Even if it was not actually raining at the time, we thought the place would probably be very muddy. 

First week of Advent

 After expressing some frustration at November being much warmer than usual, December is finally showing some signs of autumn, if not the beginnings of winter. We still haven't had our central heating boiler serviced, but perhaps this coming week we should...

My only gesture towards Christmas before December was to make our Christmas cake, as mentioned in the previous post. I still have half of last year's mincemeat in the fridge, and since I can't find suet (veggie or otherwise) in the supermarkets, I'm researching different suet-free Christmas puddings. Recommendations welcome. It's probably a good thing, as I'm pretty sure our usual veggie suet is one of those ultra-processed products that we're supposed to avoid. 

But November 30th was the first Sunday in Advent. I made soup for the first time since March, to share with our friends who have a meal with us every other Sunday. I wasn't sure if it was really cold enough for soup, but everyone appreciated it. 

I did also start reading a couple of different Advent 'plans' on the Bible app that I use. The 'plans' are quite variable in quality, so I tend to read more than one at a time. 

On Monday, I bought some stamps and Christmas cards. I also sent out one card (to a friend in the United States), and we collected the first card of the season from our PO Box. 

In the afternoon I went to the local reading group pre-Christmas gathering, where we all took food to share. 

In the evening, Richard and I walked along the sea-front and admired the lights:

November remains warm in Cyprus...

 I wrote, in my previous post, about the weather cooling slightly at the end of October.  I assumed that the temperature would continue dropping, with - as so often happens - quite a sharp drop by the middle of November. 

I was mistaken. I should not make assumptions. 

I took a screenshot of the weather forecast on November 5th, when the daytime temperature was still 29 degrees - more like early October than early November.  I was quite excited to see a prediction of rain for a week ahead, and that the night-time temperatures would be dropping as low as 15. But no sign of the usual chilly weather by the middle of the month. 

After the autumn clock change

I know, after thirty-eight years living in Cyprus, that September is not going to herald the start of Autumn. I'm learning that October is really the end of summer, at least as far as I'm concerned. The humidity reduces, and temperatures do too, at least a tad. As I had explained in my post early in October, we started to experience under thirty degrees during the daytime, under twenty overnight. 

By the middle of the month I was wearing long (albeit very light-weight) trousers rather than shorts, and we were using our light (4.5 tog) duvet at night. We were still using ceiling fans, but had stopped using any air conditioning. I was more comfortable using the oven, and started doing a bit of baking again. Friends stayed in our guest flat, and we enjoyed a meal out with them one evening. 

The clocks went back in the early hours of Sunday 26th October. I like the extra daylight first thing in the morning - so it's light by 6.00am now, though that will change as the days get shorter. And there's something about the early nights (it's dark shortly after 5pm) - or maybe it's just something about that last week of October - that makes me feel more energetic, more motivated than has happened for several months over the summer. 

I walked to a church service that Sunday, for the first time in a while; I don't like walking anywhere in the daytime when the sun is beating down and the temperatures are high. And we had a peaceful day; I pottered a bit in the kitchen, and read, and in the evening we watched the first episode of Doctor Who series five (Matt Smith's first), which we thought very well done. 

A visit to Ikea

 As may be clear from other entries in this blog, I am not, in general, a fan of shopping. With the notable exception of bookshops, of course, and some thrift/charity shops. Grocery shopping is a necessity, but my preference is always to walk to a small local mini-market or froutaria than to have to spend time in a supermarket. 

I have rather mixed feelings about large stores like Ikea. I very much like some of their furniture, and many of their prices are excellent. They used to issue annual catalogues which I would sometimes flick through, although they were organised by room rather than by style of furniture, so I found them a bit confusing. 

We were quite excited when the first Ikea was opened, in Nicosia. When we first visited, early in 2008, we were able to find some bookcases we liked, and various other items. Since then we've made a few visits - usually when going somewhere else in Nicosia anyway.  One of our favourite things to buy at Ikea is their classic 'billy' bookcases;  I wrote a lengthy post about buying billies at the start of 2024.