Summer days

I sometimes get asked how I cope with the high temperature. Or what I do all day. Or what it's like to live in Cyprus.

I hope some of this blog answers some of those questions, but of course I mostly write about the unexpected, or the unusual - even by Cyprus terms - or things that strike me. Other times, little of note happens. Days drift by, particularly in the summer when it's too hot to do anything much during most of the day.

So... I get up around 6.30 usually, or earlier if one of the cats decides to miaow loudly at the window, or climb on me and flex her claws. I love early mornings in the summer, when opening a window gives at least a slight breath of cool, fresh air. I try to get a few things done when it's still reasonably cool: today I mopped all the floors, watered the trees I didn't water on Saturday, did a couple of loads of laundry and hung them out. Just everyday living, because that's what we do: Cyprus might sound exciting, even exotic to those who see it as a holiday destination only, but for us it's quite ordinary. It's where we live.

So it's rare for us to go to the beach. We went when our friends were here at the end of May, and to a church picnic a week ago, but we haven't swum in the sea yet. Perhaps we'll do so in the next few weeks, or perhaps not. During the daytime, the beaches are usually packed with tourists with skins in varying shades of red and brown. Crazy to get so much sun now we know how dangerous it is.

By about 10am this morning it was too hot to be outside, or doing anything energetic. I really don't cope with heat and humidity, although it's not quite as hot as it was for a few days last week. I switched on the air conditioning then and shut the windows.

I had some more email from Dan on the Doulos, so I updated his blog and also wrote him an email. I read about 60 other emails that had arrived, mostly on forums. I replied to a few. I did a bit of research about cleaning marble floors, because ours never seem to shine or look particularly good, no matter what I use on them. We bought a new Vileda AttrActive mop on Saturday because our old squeegee mop broke. It seems to be very easy to use and quite effective, but the marble-cleaning fluid always seems to leave a residue. Most sites seem to suggest using water only on marble, so I'll try that next time.

I read some reviews on Dooyoo, a site where I sometimes write reviews myself. At least, I used to, but it became slow and difficult to use. A few weeks ago it was revamped, and has a new co-ordinator, and it looks as if it's working well so I may get back to it again, particularly now I have to spend most of my time inside in the air conditioning.

And then it was lunchtime. Richard came home, eventually, and we made some sandwiches, had coffee, read for a while....

Yes, life here is much like life anywhere else. Perhaps slower in pace, definitely warmer than we're used to. Quieter than usual today because Tim is still in the mountains with the youth group camp. He gets back tomorrow afternoon, which is our 25th anniversary. Apparently 25th anniversaries often fall on Tuesdays though I'm not entirely sure why. I'm still not sure how I can possibly be old enough to celebrate a Silver Wedding, they're things that happen to parents and aunts and uncles.

Oh. We ARE parents, and I am an aunt.