This morning there were a few spots of rain. I had already been out for my weekly walk to the Post Office and was home before it started. It only lasted about five minutes, anyway.
Then, around an hour ago, it began again. I always know when it's raining early in the season because of a distinctive scent that permeates the atmosphere. I learned from another blog that it has a name: petrichor. The Wordsmith site defines petrichor as, "The pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell." It comes from two Greek words: petros (stone) + ichor (the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology). Actually I thought ichor was the fluid supposed to flow in the veins of dragons...
It's been raining steadily for over an hour now. Not the wild, tropical rain that we sometimes have here, lasting perhaps twenty minutes and followed by brilliant sunshine. This is more like English rain, which should be much better for the plants and - we hope - the reservoirs.
It's a bit sad for the two people staying in our guest flat at present, particularly the one who arrived from the UK this afternoon, in the midst of the rain. But the forecast is good for the rest of the week, so we hope they will see at least a little sunshine.
I'm wondering if I should find our thin quilt for tonight, and maybe even make the switch from shorts to jeans tomorrow... not that it's cold yet, but heavy rain in the Autumn always seems to make the temperature drop by a few degrees. According to the weather site, it's only 24C right now - which is chilly enough for Richard to want to put on a sweatshirt. Tomorrow's supposed to be sunny and back to 28C though.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
No more teenagers...
Today is Tim's 20th birthday. So I now have two sons in their twenties... no more teenagers. Odd, really - we weren't with either of them on their 20th birthdays. Daniel had joined the Doulos nine months before he was 20, and Tim has been in the UK for three months now. Registration and induction for his course at Newman University College starts tomorrow.
We both saw him online for a chat on Instant Messenger (typing) and phoned him this evening to talk, for the first time since we flew back to Cyprus without him six weeks ago. I am very thankful for modern technology that enables such good, effective instant communication.
A friend came over for a couple of hours this evening, bringing some rather nice cream cakes from Perseus bakery, which we ate to celebrate Tim's birthday, even though he can't be with us.
Next year he'll be 21, and we hope to be with him - probably in the UK. We were with Daniel for his 21st too. Twenty-one is supposed to be a big milestone, but somehow from a parental perspective, 20 feels like a bigger one. Or maybe it's just that, for both of them, it was the first one when we could not be together.
We both saw him online for a chat on Instant Messenger (typing) and phoned him this evening to talk, for the first time since we flew back to Cyprus without him six weeks ago. I am very thankful for modern technology that enables such good, effective instant communication.
A friend came over for a couple of hours this evening, bringing some rather nice cream cakes from Perseus bakery, which we ate to celebrate Tim's birthday, even though he can't be with us.
Next year he'll be 21, and we hope to be with him - probably in the UK. We were with Daniel for his 21st too. Twenty-one is supposed to be a big milestone, but somehow from a parental perspective, 20 feels like a bigger one. Or maybe it's just that, for both of them, it was the first one when we could not be together.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The first rain of the season!
Sometimes it's as late as October. Occasionally we get a shower in August.
But this year, the first rain signalling the beginning of the end of Summer came today.
I had seen that rain was forecast for later this week. Yesterday it even forecast it for Monday. This morning, when I got up, it was decidedly cloudy. Following my intuition, I picked up my umbrella before walking to church.
Sure enough, around 9.30, I began to smell that scent that I suppose is typical of countries with a long, hot dry spell each year. It's the scent of damp air, of dust gathered from the trees and rooftops, and - perhaps - of plants and grass rejoicing. As I looked out of the side door, there was gentle rain falling. Several people were smiling, and someone offered a prayer of thanks.
It only lasted about ten minutes. But then, around 10.30 when I was walking home, I was caught in the second rain shower. It only lasted a few minutes, but I was glad of my umbrella. It's hard to capture rain as it falls, but this photo does show that the sky was cloudy rather than blue:
The sun came out after that, and the rain dried up. But then around 5pm this evening, there was another shower - more than a shower this time, it was heavy rain for at least fifteen minutes.
Everything looks cleaner now. And it feels a bit cooler. I do hope we have more rain this week as promised, although it won't be much fun for the two sets of visitors who are coming in the next fortnight...
But this year, the first rain signalling the beginning of the end of Summer came today.
I had seen that rain was forecast for later this week. Yesterday it even forecast it for Monday. This morning, when I got up, it was decidedly cloudy. Following my intuition, I picked up my umbrella before walking to church.
Sure enough, around 9.30, I began to smell that scent that I suppose is typical of countries with a long, hot dry spell each year. It's the scent of damp air, of dust gathered from the trees and rooftops, and - perhaps - of plants and grass rejoicing. As I looked out of the side door, there was gentle rain falling. Several people were smiling, and someone offered a prayer of thanks.
It only lasted about ten minutes. But then, around 10.30 when I was walking home, I was caught in the second rain shower. It only lasted a few minutes, but I was glad of my umbrella. It's hard to capture rain as it falls, but this photo does show that the sky was cloudy rather than blue:
The sun came out after that, and the rain dried up. But then around 5pm this evening, there was another shower - more than a shower this time, it was heavy rain for at least fifteen minutes.
Everything looks cleaner now. And it feels a bit cooler. I do hope we have more rain this week as promised, although it won't be much fun for the two sets of visitors who are coming in the next fortnight...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Building work in Larnaka town continues
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the road work going on in the centre of Larnaka.
They are still happening, unsurprisingly. It will probably be several months before it's completed, but at least it does look different each time I see the area. Disruptive to the shops around, I'm sure, and confusing for traffic, but at least work does seem to be proceeding.
Look closely at the left of this photo (you can click on it to see a bigger version, if needed) and you might notice a sofa. Yes, a sofa just sitting there next to the railings. It seems wonderfully Cypriot to provide somewhere comfortable for workmen to sit and drink their frappés when it gets a bit too hot. I'm just surprised there was only one.
Access to St Lazarus Church isn't all that easy, either, with roadworks going on all round, but that doesn't stop coach-loads of tourists from stopping there and snapping photos from all angles. They probably thought I was another Cyprus visitor doing the same.
The pedestrianised area seems to be coming along rapidly too. It will be very pleasant when it's finished. It does seem a little ironic (but again, very Cypriot) that nothing much happened during the cooler spring months, once the work had started. So it was chaos for the thousands of tourists who descend on Larnaka every year.. But now the weather's really far too hot for safety clothes and hard work, there are dozens of workmen keeping busy.
It might even be finished by about November, when all the tourists will have gone home...
They are still happening, unsurprisingly. It will probably be several months before it's completed, but at least it does look different each time I see the area. Disruptive to the shops around, I'm sure, and confusing for traffic, but at least work does seem to be proceeding.
Look closely at the left of this photo (you can click on it to see a bigger version, if needed) and you might notice a sofa. Yes, a sofa just sitting there next to the railings. It seems wonderfully Cypriot to provide somewhere comfortable for workmen to sit and drink their frappés when it gets a bit too hot. I'm just surprised there was only one.
Access to St Lazarus Church isn't all that easy, either, with roadworks going on all round, but that doesn't stop coach-loads of tourists from stopping there and snapping photos from all angles. They probably thought I was another Cyprus visitor doing the same.
The pedestrianised area seems to be coming along rapidly too. It will be very pleasant when it's finished. It does seem a little ironic (but again, very Cypriot) that nothing much happened during the cooler spring months, once the work had started. So it was chaos for the thousands of tourists who descend on Larnaka every year.. But now the weather's really far too hot for safety clothes and hard work, there are dozens of workmen keeping busy.
It might even be finished by about November, when all the tourists will have gone home...
Monday, September 15, 2008
Litter in Larnaka
People in Cyprus not only waste the seriously limited water in unbelievable amounts - watering not just their plants with hosepipes, but their cars, their patios, and even the pavement outside their homes - but they also seem to drop litter without even thinking about it. The only reason the towns are so clean, on the whole, is that there are men going around picking up after them almost continually.
Junk mail is a problem - we get wodges of it in our house letter box every week, advertising everything from learning English to inexpensive meat. There's no recycling facility, other than in Dekhelia, so unless friends are going there anyway, we reluctantly have to throw it all away. It seems such a waste.
Sometimes there's junk mail in our PO Box too. Not a huge amount - I suppose companies have to pay more for the postmistress to deliver one per box. And I've no idea why they do. I always take ours home, so I can throw it away tidily, but other people just drop it on the ground. This is what I saw this morning:
Junk mail is a problem - we get wodges of it in our house letter box every week, advertising everything from learning English to inexpensive meat. There's no recycling facility, other than in Dekhelia, so unless friends are going there anyway, we reluctantly have to throw it all away. It seems such a waste.
Sometimes there's junk mail in our PO Box too. Not a huge amount - I suppose companies have to pay more for the postmistress to deliver one per box. And I've no idea why they do. I always take ours home, so I can throw it away tidily, but other people just drop it on the ground. This is what I saw this morning:
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday again. Time flies.
I feel as if I should have a lot of time to Get Things Done, now I'm alone in the house most days, while Richard is at work. It's still hot in Cyprus, but considerably less humid. So much so that I didn't run the air conditioning in our bedroom at all last night - not even the hour or two while we get to sleep. Nor am I running it for so long in the study during the daytime.
But time seems to rush by, faster and faster. I do my morning chores around the house fairly early. On Monday I then went to the PO Box to check for mail - about a mile's walk each way - and then caught up on the accounts on the computer. Tuesday saw the re-opening of the local mothers-and-toddlers group where I help in the kitchen. It's now re-named 'Tots and co' since it's not always mothers who bring their small children these days.
On Wednesday I went to the Craft and Hobby Centre for a frappé and a meeting with the Tots and co leader and other helpers. On Thursday I always change sheets on the bed, dust, clean and mop the upstairs and clean the bathroom. On Friday we do our supermarket shopping for the week.
All of which seems to take care of the mornings, at least till about noon. But I thought in the afternoons I might resume my study of Greek, and do a great deal more writing. I have written and uploaded two new pages for my home education site this week, but I seem to spend much of my time on email, forums, and reading other blogs. Oh, and looking for crockpot/slow-cooker recipes.
It's my turn to do the main course for our house group meal tonight, and I was determined to use our crockpot for the first time. In the end I opted for French Stew, a dish I've made in the oven many times, which I know can also be done in a slow-cooker. It will be interesting to see how successful it is. Or otherwise.
Tomorrow Richard expects to go sailing, as usual, with someone from our house group. I shall do the ironing, and perhaps try something else in the slow cooker. The problem with having a large one is that it makes meals for eight people, which is a little excessive with just two of us. Then again, we can think of it as four meals for two, of which three can be frozen and re-heated in future.
Then I'll see if I can get some more writing done.
But time seems to rush by, faster and faster. I do my morning chores around the house fairly early. On Monday I then went to the PO Box to check for mail - about a mile's walk each way - and then caught up on the accounts on the computer. Tuesday saw the re-opening of the local mothers-and-toddlers group where I help in the kitchen. It's now re-named 'Tots and co' since it's not always mothers who bring their small children these days.
On Wednesday I went to the Craft and Hobby Centre for a frappé and a meeting with the Tots and co leader and other helpers. On Thursday I always change sheets on the bed, dust, clean and mop the upstairs and clean the bathroom. On Friday we do our supermarket shopping for the week.
All of which seems to take care of the mornings, at least till about noon. But I thought in the afternoons I might resume my study of Greek, and do a great deal more writing. I have written and uploaded two new pages for my home education site this week, but I seem to spend much of my time on email, forums, and reading other blogs. Oh, and looking for crockpot/slow-cooker recipes.
It's my turn to do the main course for our house group meal tonight, and I was determined to use our crockpot for the first time. In the end I opted for French Stew, a dish I've made in the oven many times, which I know can also be done in a slow-cooker. It will be interesting to see how successful it is. Or otherwise.
Tomorrow Richard expects to go sailing, as usual, with someone from our house group. I shall do the ironing, and perhaps try something else in the slow cooker. The problem with having a large one is that it makes meals for eight people, which is a little excessive with just two of us. Then again, we can think of it as four meals for two, of which three can be frozen and re-heated in future.
Then I'll see if I can get some more writing done.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Another warm week in Cyprus
September. I somehow feel as if the weather should be Autumnal, but it's still hot. Less humid (thankfully) but still much too hot for me during the daytime.
Cyprus started to come to life again this week after the summer break. All the shops and businesses were open again, and some of the schools returned on Thursday. Others will be back next week. A lot of ex-pats are still away - it's generally cheaper to go at this time of year - but others have returned.
What have I done since I last wrote?
General house things: cleaning, laundry, cooking. Email, forums, a bit of chatting in Instant Messenger with both Daniel and Tim. Talking with Richard about temperament and interaction styles, so that he could help someone else understand about personality differences.
On Wednesday I had my hair cut at a local place. A good cut, but a terrible blow dry, and not particularly good value. Half an hour late starting, too. But very convenient in the hot weather when I really don't want to walk down-town more than I have to. Then some colleagues came to lunch. On Thursday I took our BGCM (the Bissell 'Big Green Cleaning Machine')_ to the church hall, to clean the three large rugs used by the mothers-and-toddlers group. That took a couple of hours, and was very warm work but well worth doing.
On Friday evening the house group meeting in our home re-started after the summer, and last night we went to the annual inter-church meal at the Aradippou picnic site. Excellent food, and it was good to catch up with some people we hadn't seen for a while. Good views over Larnaka, too:
.. and observant readers may notice I've chosen another similar view to turn into a new banner at the top of this blog, since the previous one was really a winter photo showing an empty beach.
I've also sorted out, uploaded and ordered from Kodak some prints of our last three months' photos, during the past week.
I hope, as the weather turns cooler, that I will get rather more done!
Cyprus started to come to life again this week after the summer break. All the shops and businesses were open again, and some of the schools returned on Thursday. Others will be back next week. A lot of ex-pats are still away - it's generally cheaper to go at this time of year - but others have returned.
What have I done since I last wrote?
General house things: cleaning, laundry, cooking. Email, forums, a bit of chatting in Instant Messenger with both Daniel and Tim. Talking with Richard about temperament and interaction styles, so that he could help someone else understand about personality differences.
On Wednesday I had my hair cut at a local place. A good cut, but a terrible blow dry, and not particularly good value. Half an hour late starting, too. But very convenient in the hot weather when I really don't want to walk down-town more than I have to. Then some colleagues came to lunch. On Thursday I took our BGCM (the Bissell 'Big Green Cleaning Machine')_ to the church hall, to clean the three large rugs used by the mothers-and-toddlers group. That took a couple of hours, and was very warm work but well worth doing.
On Friday evening the house group meeting in our home re-started after the summer, and last night we went to the annual inter-church meal at the Aradippou picnic site. Excellent food, and it was good to catch up with some people we hadn't seen for a while. Good views over Larnaka, too:
.. and observant readers may notice I've chosen another similar view to turn into a new banner at the top of this blog, since the previous one was really a winter photo showing an empty beach.
I've also sorted out, uploaded and ordered from Kodak some prints of our last three months' photos, during the past week.
I hope, as the weather turns cooler, that I will get rather more done!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Another visit to Ikea and the Mall of Cyprus
I've always liked the Ikea style of furniture, but when we lived in the UK we only went there a couple of times. Perhaps because it was half an hour's drive to get there.
But we're big fans of Ikea here. It's been opened for a year in Cyprus, and it's half an hour's drive away... but we've already been three times. We went in December last year, when we bought various useful bits and pieces that we simply can't find anywhere else. We returned a few weeks later to buy a bookcase for our DVDs. And a smaller bookcase that we knew we would need somewhere. And some more bits and pieces... it's funny how we seem to go for one thing, and find several other items at excellent prices, which we didn't even realise we needed...
We went again in June, when we also visited the Mall of Cyprus. We were looking for blackout blinds, but - of course - bought a few other things too.
We finally put together the smaller bookcase just a couple of weeks ago. And when we'd done so, we knew that we could use the same size of bookcase in our dining room, where we had two large bookcases, and three small rattan ones. Unfortunately the cats think rattan bookcases are scratching posts, so they were getting progressively more and more destroyed.
We were also running out of space for our fiction library; it's probably only about 1000 books that we keep in the dining room (we keep most of the children's books downstairs in our guest flat) but they were getting squashed into the shelves. I was relying on other people borrowing them in order to have space for the ones that were left. When we were in the UK during the summer, I bought about twenty more fiction books... and there simply wasn't room for them.
So, we decided to splash out. We have a fund of money given us by various people at Christmas (and occasionally other times) which we're told to spend on something we WANT. Money given just to Richard generally goes on sailing things. Money given just for me usually goes on books. But when it's for both of us, we try and look for furniture or appliances that we both like.
So, we drove to Nicosia yesterday afternoon. First, we went to the Mall of Cyprus, where we popped into Carrefour... I had been thinking about having a slow cooker (aka crockpot) and we found one at an excellent price. Since it's Cyprus, we didn't have to choose between umpteen models and sizes: there was just one model. Two in stock. And since Morphy Richards is a good brand, we bought it. Rather bigger than I had intended, but that's not a bad thing.
Then we drove to the next door car park, so we could go to Ikea. We found the bookcases we wanted; they were - slightly to our surprise - all in stock. We went fairly quickly through Ikea, so as to avoid spotting dozens of useful things that we had never thought of - although we did pick up a couple of very nice candle holders, and some photo frames which we had wanted.
However, instead of several small items, we saw a drop-leaf table that we both liked very much. It's exactly what we'd been thinking of for the space next to our freezer: we needed a table of some sort there to put desserts or drinks on when we have potluck meals, and as an extension for when we have more than ten people to a meal.
We got everything home. We struggled up the steps - Richard carrying most of it, since Tim is no longer here to help! - and then decided it would be best to make everything that evening, otherwise we would have boxes sitting around for weeks...
So Richard started with the table.
It was more complex than I had expected, but Ikea instructions are really very good, and he soon had it together. It looks exactly right, too.
Then he started on the bookcases. Of course, the cats were very interested in all that was going on. Cleo started climbing in empty boxes, and batting about loose nails and screws. Tessie looked as if she was going to use one as a litter tray, so we put her outside quickly. And Sophia, as usual, wanted to be right where the action was:
Once the first bookcase was made, I had to start moving the books around, a job I always enjoy doing. I suppose it took a couple of hours in all, but eventually we finished, and were very pleased with how the dining-room/library looks:
Two of the rattan bookcases will be moved to Richard's office guest accommodation, where they should survive at least a while longer since there are no cats there.
And the third one is - for now, anyway - sitting in an empty niche we had on our staircase. We'd tried putting a plant there, but it didn't survive. Richard has a bookcase in the bedroom with art and sailing books, but they were overflowing, so he's moved some of the art books to this rattan case:
The cats aren't quite sure what to make of it. Perhaps they'll stop scratching it, since they don't often sit on the stairs.
Cleo and Tessie seem to be ignoring the new table and bookcases now they're installed as furniture, but Sophia is claiming them as her own:
But we're big fans of Ikea here. It's been opened for a year in Cyprus, and it's half an hour's drive away... but we've already been three times. We went in December last year, when we bought various useful bits and pieces that we simply can't find anywhere else. We returned a few weeks later to buy a bookcase for our DVDs. And a smaller bookcase that we knew we would need somewhere. And some more bits and pieces... it's funny how we seem to go for one thing, and find several other items at excellent prices, which we didn't even realise we needed...
We went again in June, when we also visited the Mall of Cyprus. We were looking for blackout blinds, but - of course - bought a few other things too.
We finally put together the smaller bookcase just a couple of weeks ago. And when we'd done so, we knew that we could use the same size of bookcase in our dining room, where we had two large bookcases, and three small rattan ones. Unfortunately the cats think rattan bookcases are scratching posts, so they were getting progressively more and more destroyed.
We were also running out of space for our fiction library; it's probably only about 1000 books that we keep in the dining room (we keep most of the children's books downstairs in our guest flat) but they were getting squashed into the shelves. I was relying on other people borrowing them in order to have space for the ones that were left. When we were in the UK during the summer, I bought about twenty more fiction books... and there simply wasn't room for them.
So, we decided to splash out. We have a fund of money given us by various people at Christmas (and occasionally other times) which we're told to spend on something we WANT. Money given just to Richard generally goes on sailing things. Money given just for me usually goes on books. But when it's for both of us, we try and look for furniture or appliances that we both like.
So, we drove to Nicosia yesterday afternoon. First, we went to the Mall of Cyprus, where we popped into Carrefour... I had been thinking about having a slow cooker (aka crockpot) and we found one at an excellent price. Since it's Cyprus, we didn't have to choose between umpteen models and sizes: there was just one model. Two in stock. And since Morphy Richards is a good brand, we bought it. Rather bigger than I had intended, but that's not a bad thing.
Then we drove to the next door car park, so we could go to Ikea. We found the bookcases we wanted; they were - slightly to our surprise - all in stock. We went fairly quickly through Ikea, so as to avoid spotting dozens of useful things that we had never thought of - although we did pick up a couple of very nice candle holders, and some photo frames which we had wanted.
However, instead of several small items, we saw a drop-leaf table that we both liked very much. It's exactly what we'd been thinking of for the space next to our freezer: we needed a table of some sort there to put desserts or drinks on when we have potluck meals, and as an extension for when we have more than ten people to a meal.
We got everything home. We struggled up the steps - Richard carrying most of it, since Tim is no longer here to help! - and then decided it would be best to make everything that evening, otherwise we would have boxes sitting around for weeks...
So Richard started with the table.
It was more complex than I had expected, but Ikea instructions are really very good, and he soon had it together. It looks exactly right, too.
Then he started on the bookcases. Of course, the cats were very interested in all that was going on. Cleo started climbing in empty boxes, and batting about loose nails and screws. Tessie looked as if she was going to use one as a litter tray, so we put her outside quickly. And Sophia, as usual, wanted to be right where the action was:
Once the first bookcase was made, I had to start moving the books around, a job I always enjoy doing. I suppose it took a couple of hours in all, but eventually we finished, and were very pleased with how the dining-room/library looks:
Two of the rattan bookcases will be moved to Richard's office guest accommodation, where they should survive at least a while longer since there are no cats there.
And the third one is - for now, anyway - sitting in an empty niche we had on our staircase. We'd tried putting a plant there, but it didn't survive. Richard has a bookcase in the bedroom with art and sailing books, but they were overflowing, so he's moved some of the art books to this rattan case:
The cats aren't quite sure what to make of it. Perhaps they'll stop scratching it, since they don't often sit on the stairs.
Cleo and Tessie seem to be ignoring the new table and bookcases now they're installed as furniture, but Sophia is claiming them as her own:
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