(NB: If you've landed on this post after searching for Cyprus weather in general, rather than wanting to know what it's actually like from someone living here, my page Weather in Cyprus may be of more use to you than this rambling post)
It must seem as if I'm obsessed with the thermometer, looking at recent posts. The thing is, though, that one person's idea of 'hot' is another's idea of 'pleasantly warm'. We Brits are conditioned to be used to a relatively mild climate, where temperatures over 30C are pretty rare (and temps below freezing point in winter are also relatively rare). Not too hot, not too cold. When I was sixteen, we had a 'hot' summer by British standards, and I wilted on days when it was over 25C. Now I consider that to be a very pleasant temperature.
Last year we didn't have much extreme heat, at all. I don't think the temperature rose above 35C all summer. But this week has been HOT. I know it's Cyprus; I know the sun shines constantly at this time of year; I know it's good for tourism and the economy of the island. It's just that we don't expect extreme heat before the end of June. 30-32C, yes. 37C and over - no. On Monday the temperatures got to over 40C in the shade - that's so hot that outdoor work has to stop, by law. It's pretty rare that it happens, but on Monday all people in farm and building work outside had to put down their tools and go home.
I tried making bread in the breadmaker on Tuesday. Big mistake! Even though I used cold ingredients, it rose much too rapdily and then collapsed. On Wednesday and Thursday Richard bought us some bread for lunch from the local bakery. Today, it wasn't so bad. At 7am the thermometer in the kitchen read 'only' 30C. I wanted to make some ice cream, so I put on the air conditioner to cool the kitchen by a couple of degrees (making ice cream in a hot kitchen doesn't work either) then put on the breadmaker, too. I used water and soya milk from the fridge (the recipe says to warm liquids!) - and it came out perfectly.
Last year I enjoyed the coolness of the mornings. My Summer routine is to do any shopping or other errands around 7.30am when it's still cool enough to walk into the town, or to the local greengrocer for some fresh fruit. I also do my general housework, empty the dishwasher, put on a load of laundry, and so on. By 9am the temperatures (last year) were rising to over 30C so I would switch on air conditioning in the study, and spend most of the day here, reading or working on the computer. At around 5pm I'd switch on a/c in the kitchen, and cook... and then the evenings were usually cool enough to sit with open windows.
This year I've had to adjust, somewhat. I couldn't even walk to the greengrocer this week, let alone the Post Office. So I do hope it gets a little cooler, and that we can all adjust to a 'normal' Cyprus summer.
As for going to Troodos, as someone suggested in the comments... nice idea. It is indeed significantly cooler in the mountains, and very beautiful too. Many of the Cypriots have holiday homes there, and spend much of the summer in Troodos. But since we don't have a second home or any relatives in the mountains, and Richard has to work in Larnaka anyway, it's not something we'll be doing.
I do recognise that we're very fortunate to have so many a/c units, and to live in a country where electricity is reliable and not too expensive. But I still hope July and August will be a little cooler than this last week!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Heatwave. Again.
It was hot walking to church at 8.45am this morning.
It was HOT walking home again, about 11am.
Fair enough, it's the end of June. I've had air conditioning on in my study ever since I got back, and we used the kitchen/dining room a/c at lunch-time.
At 7pm I went downstairs to water the patio plants, and was surprised to find it still felt distinctly hot, despite there being no sun on the patio by that time of evening. Usually it's decidedly cooler by the evening. I checked the online weather out of interest, and it was 37C!! (That's 99F for anyone who still works in fahrenheit). More than body temperature.
Tim walked back from his evening service around 8pm and said it was still hot. By 8pm it's beginning to get dark, yet the temperature was still 32C.
I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come....
It was HOT walking home again, about 11am.
Fair enough, it's the end of June. I've had air conditioning on in my study ever since I got back, and we used the kitchen/dining room a/c at lunch-time.
At 7pm I went downstairs to water the patio plants, and was surprised to find it still felt distinctly hot, despite there being no sun on the patio by that time of evening. Usually it's decidedly cooler by the evening. I checked the online weather out of interest, and it was 37C!! (That's 99F for anyone who still works in fahrenheit). More than body temperature.
Tim walked back from his evening service around 8pm and said it was still hot. By 8pm it's beginning to get dark, yet the temperature was still 32C.
I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come....
Friday, June 22, 2007
Midsummer
It's hot. 32C in the shade outside (so, considerably hotter in the sun) and predicted to stay at that temperature in the daytime for at least the next ten days. Probably for the next ten weeks.
I have the air conditioning on in the study as I type, and we've used a/c in our bedrooms for the last couple of nights too. I am very, very thankful that we have this in our new house.
This morning it even felt hot when I came downstairs at about 6am. Most mornings I throw open windows and doors, and feel a pleasantly cool breeze. Today, it was still and warm. I looked at the thermometer on my kitchen scales, and it told me the kitchen was at 29C even that early in the morning. Ouch. I suppose that's because sunrise is at 5.30am currently - much later than in the UK, of course, since we're further south. I miss the light evenings (sunset begins about 8pm at present, and it's almost completely dark by 8.30pm) but at least it's a little cooler overnight, albeit humid.
Still, it was officially midsummer's day yesterday, which means we've had the longest day. So, although July and August will probably be hotter and still more humid, at least there will be fewer hours of daylight for the sun to shine.
I have the air conditioning on in the study as I type, and we've used a/c in our bedrooms for the last couple of nights too. I am very, very thankful that we have this in our new house.
This morning it even felt hot when I came downstairs at about 6am. Most mornings I throw open windows and doors, and feel a pleasantly cool breeze. Today, it was still and warm. I looked at the thermometer on my kitchen scales, and it told me the kitchen was at 29C even that early in the morning. Ouch. I suppose that's because sunrise is at 5.30am currently - much later than in the UK, of course, since we're further south. I miss the light evenings (sunset begins about 8pm at present, and it's almost completely dark by 8.30pm) but at least it's a little cooler overnight, albeit humid.
Still, it was officially midsummer's day yesterday, which means we've had the longest day. So, although July and August will probably be hotter and still more humid, at least there will be fewer hours of daylight for the sun to shine.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Cactus flowers
It's nearly a year since our friend from Egypt planted out several pieces of the overcrowded cactus we brought from our rental house.
Imagine my surprise when I noticed several shoots coming up from the larger bowl... with little red floweret things at the top. It did happen once before, two years ago, but then it was only one bloom and it wasn't as bright as these:
Here's a close-up of the one that looks the most colourful:
Imagine my surprise when I noticed several shoots coming up from the larger bowl... with little red floweret things at the top. It did happen once before, two years ago, but then it was only one bloom and it wasn't as bright as these:
Here's a close-up of the one that looks the most colourful:
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Summer is here
We've had a couple of weeks with scarcely a break in the sunshine. Well, other than at night, of course. The temperatures are slowly creeping up, too. Today I think it was about 29C in the shade, and it's predicted to be 30 or more within the next ten days. On Thursday I was cooking something for our evening meal that required a fair bit of last-minute attention, and felt extremely hot and sticky in the kitchen... then I remembered the air conditioning, which we hadn't used since last September.
I managed to find the remotes, and switched on the units for both kitchen and dining room (which is right next to it). I set them to 28C, as usual, but the reduction of humidity makes it feel considerably cooler. Suddenly cooking seemed more enjoyable. We only left them on for a couple of hours, but that will increase, I'm sure. Friday was slightly less hot, but by the time we went to bed the atmosphere felt a bit humid again so we put on the bedroom a/c units... Tim just for an hour or so, but ours stayed on all night. In the summer I'm even more thankful for air conditioners than I am for the dishwasher!
Tim and I have been wearing shorts for a while now, but Richard found some of his this morning; another sign that summer is here. I put the thin duvets away yesterday, too, leaving just a sheet to cover us at night.
Looking back, I see that last summer, when we were in the throes of preparing to move here, it was feeling distinctly warm by June 20th. We only had one air conditioning unit at our other house, and it wasn't working by the time we left, so we were very thankful to move at the start of July. Two years ago, I noted that Summer had really begun by June 28th - and we were trying, at the time, to get that one a/c unit repaired for one more summer.
Today is June 16th, which is a little worrying as it seems that I 'notice' summer starting a little earlier each year. At least we do have the a/c units to use when we need them, and our excellent ceiling fans.
Are there good things about Summer in Cyprus? Well, hundreds of thousands of visitors come here each year, more than doubling the population of the island, so presumably they like the heat, the warm sea, the pleasant beaches and the constant sunshine. But when you're on holiday somewhere, perhaps staying just over the road from the beach, it's not the same as actually living here. I still have to shop, and cook, and clean, and so on.. and even with the air conditioning on, I get things done more slowly and feel more tired.
But life in general slows down here. From 1pm to 4pm during the summer is official siesta time, where most shops close, nobody's supposed to make much noise outside, and a lot of people sleep. The schools have mostly finished, so some families will go into the mountains for a couple of months, leaving the seaside resorts to the tourists. Many of our British friends have gone to the UK for the summer too, within the last week or two.
Soft fruit has arrived in the shops, and that's a part of summer I love here. We've had abundant apricots for the past six weeks or so, and although the strawberries have just about come to an end, the 'froutaria' (greengrocer) shops now have wonderful nectarines, peaches, grapes, watermelons and more. I squeeze fruit juice first thing in the morning for the whole family, and in the past few days have been making fruit smoothies in the afternoon... it's good to experiment with new combinations.
I managed to find the remotes, and switched on the units for both kitchen and dining room (which is right next to it). I set them to 28C, as usual, but the reduction of humidity makes it feel considerably cooler. Suddenly cooking seemed more enjoyable. We only left them on for a couple of hours, but that will increase, I'm sure. Friday was slightly less hot, but by the time we went to bed the atmosphere felt a bit humid again so we put on the bedroom a/c units... Tim just for an hour or so, but ours stayed on all night. In the summer I'm even more thankful for air conditioners than I am for the dishwasher!
Tim and I have been wearing shorts for a while now, but Richard found some of his this morning; another sign that summer is here. I put the thin duvets away yesterday, too, leaving just a sheet to cover us at night.
Looking back, I see that last summer, when we were in the throes of preparing to move here, it was feeling distinctly warm by June 20th. We only had one air conditioning unit at our other house, and it wasn't working by the time we left, so we were very thankful to move at the start of July. Two years ago, I noted that Summer had really begun by June 28th - and we were trying, at the time, to get that one a/c unit repaired for one more summer.
Today is June 16th, which is a little worrying as it seems that I 'notice' summer starting a little earlier each year. At least we do have the a/c units to use when we need them, and our excellent ceiling fans.
Are there good things about Summer in Cyprus? Well, hundreds of thousands of visitors come here each year, more than doubling the population of the island, so presumably they like the heat, the warm sea, the pleasant beaches and the constant sunshine. But when you're on holiday somewhere, perhaps staying just over the road from the beach, it's not the same as actually living here. I still have to shop, and cook, and clean, and so on.. and even with the air conditioning on, I get things done more slowly and feel more tired.
But life in general slows down here. From 1pm to 4pm during the summer is official siesta time, where most shops close, nobody's supposed to make much noise outside, and a lot of people sleep. The schools have mostly finished, so some families will go into the mountains for a couple of months, leaving the seaside resorts to the tourists. Many of our British friends have gone to the UK for the summer too, within the last week or two.
Soft fruit has arrived in the shops, and that's a part of summer I love here. We've had abundant apricots for the past six weeks or so, and although the strawberries have just about come to an end, the 'froutaria' (greengrocer) shops now have wonderful nectarines, peaches, grapes, watermelons and more. I squeeze fruit juice first thing in the morning for the whole family, and in the past few days have been making fruit smoothies in the afternoon... it's good to experiment with new combinations.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Esther at Kurium
Last week was rather strange, and very quiet. Richard and Tim drove every day to Kurium for Esther setup and rehearsals (and the musical itself Friday - Sunday), and returned late at night. Never before midnight. On Saturday morning our latest visitor from the UK arrived, so that afternoon we all went to Kurium so we could actually see the show. We got there mid-afternoon, so were able to have a a look around first; our friend had never been to Cyprus before, and Kurium is quite an interesting site from the archaeological point of view.
The amphitheatre is a lovely place for theatre, looking as it does over nearby hills towards the sea. We were very impressed with the set, too, which looked most realistic despite being built out of polystyrene and wood, with loudspeakers hidden inside:
Tim's main job was ensuring a good quality sound recording, but he also helped with the setup and mixing of the sound. Each day the equipment had to be packed away at night, and then unpacked and set up again in preparation:
Richard's main job was filming on all three nights of the performance, for a production that should eventually go out on local TV as well as being made into a DVD. Some of his PA equipment was also used, and he too helped in the setting up of cables, speakers, microphones and more.
The musical itself was due to start at 8pm, and (given that this is Cyprus, and nothing starts when it's supposed to ...) it was almost on time. The production was very high quality. It was written by people in Limassol a few years ago, expanding the Biblical story of Esther into a two-hour musical. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was excellent. For much of it I could even forget about the discomfort of sitting on ancient stone seats... even with cushions it's not exactly comfortable.
The cast was pretty big, and it was nice to see one or two people we know in it. There must have been well over a thousand people in the audience.
The amphitheatre is a lovely place for theatre, looking as it does over nearby hills towards the sea. We were very impressed with the set, too, which looked most realistic despite being built out of polystyrene and wood, with loudspeakers hidden inside:
Tim's main job was ensuring a good quality sound recording, but he also helped with the setup and mixing of the sound. Each day the equipment had to be packed away at night, and then unpacked and set up again in preparation:
Richard's main job was filming on all three nights of the performance, for a production that should eventually go out on local TV as well as being made into a DVD. Some of his PA equipment was also used, and he too helped in the setting up of cables, speakers, microphones and more.
The musical itself was due to start at 8pm, and (given that this is Cyprus, and nothing starts when it's supposed to ...) it was almost on time. The production was very high quality. It was written by people in Limassol a few years ago, expanding the Biblical story of Esther into a two-hour musical. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it was excellent. For much of it I could even forget about the discomfort of sitting on ancient stone seats... even with cushions it's not exactly comfortable.
The cast was pretty big, and it was nice to see one or two people we know in it. There must have been well over a thousand people in the audience.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Start of Summer
A couple of days this week it's been very hot. More than 30C, and with the beginnings of humidity, too. Thankfully it's cooler today, with a nice breeze. But it's the start of things to come. From now until at least mid-September there's almost no chance of rain, so I have to remember to water my patio plants at least twice a week; more, once it stays hot all the time.
But it's June now, and it's Cyprus, so what do we expect? We're just glad we haven't had to use the air conditioning so far (other than a couple of days nearly four weeks ago when we had a brief early heatwave). I've gravitated to shorts rather than jeans - earlier this week - and haven't worn a sweatshirt for at least a fortnight. And I've started drinking frappés (de-caffeinated) after lunch rather than hot coffee. But we're still using a light duvet on the bed at night.
Today is also officially the start of Summer for Tim, who has come to the end of the second semester of his theology course today. He has been doing three modules since the end of February - the maximum allowed for correspondence course students - and somehow all three end-of-year essays were due today. Not good timing.
He could have asked for an extension for one or even two of them, but next week he's going to be working with Richard at Kurium in Limassol, recording the show of Esther that's being produced there at the end of the week. Monday is setup day, Tuesday rehearsals... they'll be there from 9am till late both days. On Wednesday and Thursday they hope to be able to go after lunch, depending on how well things are going. The actual performances are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and they'll be recording them all for editing afterwards, to be broadcast on Cyprus TV and also to create a DVD.
So Tim is not going to have much free time next week, and definitely didn't want the pressure of trying to finish an essay. So as he's not good at getting things done in advance, he's had a heavy week getting them all done! He finally sent them off by email about half an hour ago, and has gone to the sea-front to treat himself to his favourite raspberry sorbet dairy-free ice cream at Haagen Daaz. Then on to youth band practice - there's a big island-wide youth service in a couple of weeks at which they're playing - followed by youth group at 6.30.
So, Summer is here. Before long I'll be 'estivating' in my air-conditioned study for several hours of the day, not wanting to cook or go out anywhere. But everything slows down in the summer here; shops and businesses shut from 1pm to about 4pm for siesta time in July and August (sometimes in June too) and everyone's supposed to be quiet for the official siesta period.
But it's June now, and it's Cyprus, so what do we expect? We're just glad we haven't had to use the air conditioning so far (other than a couple of days nearly four weeks ago when we had a brief early heatwave). I've gravitated to shorts rather than jeans - earlier this week - and haven't worn a sweatshirt for at least a fortnight. And I've started drinking frappés (de-caffeinated) after lunch rather than hot coffee. But we're still using a light duvet on the bed at night.
Today is also officially the start of Summer for Tim, who has come to the end of the second semester of his theology course today. He has been doing three modules since the end of February - the maximum allowed for correspondence course students - and somehow all three end-of-year essays were due today. Not good timing.
He could have asked for an extension for one or even two of them, but next week he's going to be working with Richard at Kurium in Limassol, recording the show of Esther that's being produced there at the end of the week. Monday is setup day, Tuesday rehearsals... they'll be there from 9am till late both days. On Wednesday and Thursday they hope to be able to go after lunch, depending on how well things are going. The actual performances are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and they'll be recording them all for editing afterwards, to be broadcast on Cyprus TV and also to create a DVD.
So Tim is not going to have much free time next week, and definitely didn't want the pressure of trying to finish an essay. So as he's not good at getting things done in advance, he's had a heavy week getting them all done! He finally sent them off by email about half an hour ago, and has gone to the sea-front to treat himself to his favourite raspberry sorbet dairy-free ice cream at Haagen Daaz. Then on to youth band practice - there's a big island-wide youth service in a couple of weeks at which they're playing - followed by youth group at 6.30.
So, Summer is here. Before long I'll be 'estivating' in my air-conditioned study for several hours of the day, not wanting to cook or go out anywhere. But everything slows down in the summer here; shops and businesses shut from 1pm to about 4pm for siesta time in July and August (sometimes in June too) and everyone's supposed to be quiet for the official siesta period.
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