I think it has rained every day this week. Some light, some heavy. Sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes for considerably longer. Sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning. None of it, surprisingly, at the annoying angle that makes it come through our roof over the stairs. So all in all, I've been very thankful for the rain, albeit a bit sorry for anyone visiting Cyprus in the hope of some winter sunshine.
Mind you, the sun does usually shine in between the rain bursts. And while it's been on the chilly side, it's not really cold. I'm still going around in a warm fleece and sweatshirt, running the heating for an hour in the morning and a few hours in the evening, and using our double-thickness duvet at night. But people who arrived in Cyprus more recently, and tourists, seem to be going around in tee-shirts and shorts during the daytime. I have evidently acclimatised, at least somewhat.
I scan the online versions of the local newspapers every few days, to see what news there is about the drought situation. The Cyprus Mail a couple of days ago informed us that water is now almost double the levels it was this time a year ago. So that's encouraging.
Even more encouraging is that the current Minister for Agriculture appears to be a man with some sense and foresight. Plans for further desalination plants for Cyprus are not going to be cancelled this time, despite good amounts of rain.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Some of our books
About a month ago, I posted some recent photographs in my Facebook album.
Slightly to my surprise, a picture of Cleo received several comments. Only the comments were not about Cleo as such; they were about the tall bookcase on which Cleo was perched.
So, just in case it's of interest to people who read this blog too, I thought I would dedicate a post entirely to our bookshelves.
Here, first of all, are the majority of our fiction shelves, which are in the dining room. Cleo was no longer perched there when I took this one:
In our old house, Richard's books were in the bedroom, mine were in the study, non-fiction in the living room, and the general children's and teenage books were in our central 'atrium'. And, of course, Daniel and Tim had their own bookcases in their bedrooms.
In this house, we decided to combine our fiction in the dining room. But just the 'grown-up' fiction, and the older teenage books, such as those by LM Montgomery, EM Brent-Dyer, JK Rowling, LM Alcott and the like. They are alphabetical by surname of the author.
The children's fiction (about 500 books) is in our guest flat. As is some other fiction which we thought we wouldn't read again, but guests might enjoy.
Then there's another bookcase in the dining room that's by itself, because there are a door and window in the way, preventing it from being right next to the others. Here, under two paintings (by Richard's grandmother) are the T through W fiction books, and - since we had the Ikea shelves - two whole spare shelves!
It won't be long before those shelves start to be filled. In addition to about 20 books which, at any time, are out on loan to various friends, I have another 18-20 in my study bookcase, waiting to be read (or re-read). Those are the ones at the top in this picture; underneath are non-fiction books to read, or books about writing, or books for reference for my websites.
And then there are our main non-fiction shelves, in the living room. Actually the one on the left is our DVD bookcase, which is also starting to look surprisingly full, even though we only watch about one per month. We're really not a TV-viewing family.
Anyway, the bookcase on the left is the general non-fiction one, arranged not by author at all, but by a mixture of genre and size. The big ones are at the bottom. And on the right is the Christian non-fiction bookcase, roughly in alphabetical order (of author) but also has the biggest ones on the bottom, where they fit.
I didn't take photos of the other books - a couple of bookcases in Daniel's room, and three in Tim's, as well as one in our bedroom with Richard's sailing and adventure books, and his 'to-be-read' fiction, and a couple of shelves of art books sitting on the stairs.
I've catalogued most of our books at Bibliophil and Goodreads, though not yet all of them. At best guess, we have around three thousand in all, which doesn't seem like very many to me, but is considerably more than most people in Cyprus seem to have.
Slightly to my surprise, a picture of Cleo received several comments. Only the comments were not about Cleo as such; they were about the tall bookcase on which Cleo was perched.
So, just in case it's of interest to people who read this blog too, I thought I would dedicate a post entirely to our bookshelves.
Here, first of all, are the majority of our fiction shelves, which are in the dining room. Cleo was no longer perched there when I took this one:
In our old house, Richard's books were in the bedroom, mine were in the study, non-fiction in the living room, and the general children's and teenage books were in our central 'atrium'. And, of course, Daniel and Tim had their own bookcases in their bedrooms.
In this house, we decided to combine our fiction in the dining room. But just the 'grown-up' fiction, and the older teenage books, such as those by LM Montgomery, EM Brent-Dyer, JK Rowling, LM Alcott and the like. They are alphabetical by surname of the author.
The children's fiction (about 500 books) is in our guest flat. As is some other fiction which we thought we wouldn't read again, but guests might enjoy.
Then there's another bookcase in the dining room that's by itself, because there are a door and window in the way, preventing it from being right next to the others. Here, under two paintings (by Richard's grandmother) are the T through W fiction books, and - since we had the Ikea shelves - two whole spare shelves!
It won't be long before those shelves start to be filled. In addition to about 20 books which, at any time, are out on loan to various friends, I have another 18-20 in my study bookcase, waiting to be read (or re-read). Those are the ones at the top in this picture; underneath are non-fiction books to read, or books about writing, or books for reference for my websites.
And then there are our main non-fiction shelves, in the living room. Actually the one on the left is our DVD bookcase, which is also starting to look surprisingly full, even though we only watch about one per month. We're really not a TV-viewing family.
Anyway, the bookcase on the left is the general non-fiction one, arranged not by author at all, but by a mixture of genre and size. The big ones are at the bottom. And on the right is the Christian non-fiction bookcase, roughly in alphabetical order (of author) but also has the biggest ones on the bottom, where they fit.
I didn't take photos of the other books - a couple of bookcases in Daniel's room, and three in Tim's, as well as one in our bedroom with Richard's sailing and adventure books, and his 'to-be-read' fiction, and a couple of shelves of art books sitting on the stairs.
I've catalogued most of our books at Bibliophil and Goodreads, though not yet all of them. At best guess, we have around three thousand in all, which doesn't seem like very many to me, but is considerably more than most people in Cyprus seem to have.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Update on the Cyprus water shortage
As I type, the sky is grey and it's raining. Again. This winter seems to have been rainier than any I can remember for some years. I do feel sorry for British families who are out here for the half-term break, hoping for some sunshine and warmth, after a cold and snowy winter in much of the UK. It's only 15C today, and I'm feeling chilly despite wearing a warm sweatshirt and a fleece.
We are still limited to mains water every other day, for about ten hours. Since the cold water tanks are pretty big, this doesn't really pose a problem for us, although it reminds us to be reasonably careful. However, our neighbours still hose down their patios early in the morning, and wash their cars with hoses at the weekend (when the police are not working). The Cypriot mindset seems to be that rain will come eventually, and that there's really plenty to go around... despite the reservoirs being less than 10% full a couple of months ago.
Admittedly, the signs are somewhat positive at present. According to the Cyprus weekly, water stocks are rising. The reservoirs are now at around 12% full, and they hope that de-salination will provide the extra that's needed this summer. The water tankers coming from Greece will continue until March, but the contract will not be renewed. The government may even reduce the rationing.
It doesn't seem very wise to stop getting the water from Greece, or to consider giving us mains water all the time, since 12% is still pretty empty. Certainly, the island is looking very green at present, and according to a friend in Paphos, some rivers are flowing again. We've heard, too, that there's more snow than usual in the Troodos mountains. When it melts, it will help to replenish the reservoirs somewhat.
But there's no guarantee that next winter will have much rain, and if we start being given water continually, our Cypriot friends and neighbours will use their hoses daily, rather than every other day.
Ah well. This IS Cyprus. And I suppose the relaxed attitude of 'God (or the government) will supply the water' is more healthy than continually worrying about whether we're going to run out. Until we actually DO run out, of course...
We are still limited to mains water every other day, for about ten hours. Since the cold water tanks are pretty big, this doesn't really pose a problem for us, although it reminds us to be reasonably careful. However, our neighbours still hose down their patios early in the morning, and wash their cars with hoses at the weekend (when the police are not working). The Cypriot mindset seems to be that rain will come eventually, and that there's really plenty to go around... despite the reservoirs being less than 10% full a couple of months ago.
Admittedly, the signs are somewhat positive at present. According to the Cyprus weekly, water stocks are rising. The reservoirs are now at around 12% full, and they hope that de-salination will provide the extra that's needed this summer. The water tankers coming from Greece will continue until March, but the contract will not be renewed. The government may even reduce the rationing.
It doesn't seem very wise to stop getting the water from Greece, or to consider giving us mains water all the time, since 12% is still pretty empty. Certainly, the island is looking very green at present, and according to a friend in Paphos, some rivers are flowing again. We've heard, too, that there's more snow than usual in the Troodos mountains. When it melts, it will help to replenish the reservoirs somewhat.
But there's no guarantee that next winter will have much rain, and if we start being given water continually, our Cypriot friends and neighbours will use their hoses daily, rather than every other day.
Ah well. This IS Cyprus. And I suppose the relaxed attitude of 'God (or the government) will supply the water' is more healthy than continually worrying about whether we're going to run out. Until we actually DO run out, of course...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thirsty cats
Our cats have a water bowl in the kitchen. They don't drink milk - it's not supposed to be all that good for cats anyway - and they like their water to be fresh, changed at least daily.
Bizarrely, though, they also like drinking water from puddles, even when it's not at all fresh.
Even more strange, though, is that Cleo, who spends most of her time upstairs, likes to jump into the bath when anyone has finished showering, so she can lap up any drops of water that remain. She started doing that shortly after we moved to this house.
Then she started thinking that there should always be water to lap in the bath. She would jump in during the daytime in the summer, when it was dry, and make a fuss. So I started putting the plug in, and giving her some water to drink. After all, I didn't want Cleo to get thirsty, and Cyprus can get very hot.
I'm not quite sure when she decided that she would also use the bathroom sink. Or when Sophia realised too that this was a good place to have a drink. This didn't happen a year ago, or even six months ago. But nowadays, when I get up in the morning, I often find both of them sitting on the bathroom sink, asking for some water. It isn't even summer, and they could perfectly well come downstairs to drink at their bowl... but somehow I always give them some in the bathroom, then wait until they've finished before I wash my hands. In some fresh water, of course!
They don't drink together. Sophia, being the bossier one, usually gets in first. Here they are on a couple of recent mornings:
Bizarrely, though, they also like drinking water from puddles, even when it's not at all fresh.
Even more strange, though, is that Cleo, who spends most of her time upstairs, likes to jump into the bath when anyone has finished showering, so she can lap up any drops of water that remain. She started doing that shortly after we moved to this house.
Then she started thinking that there should always be water to lap in the bath. She would jump in during the daytime in the summer, when it was dry, and make a fuss. So I started putting the plug in, and giving her some water to drink. After all, I didn't want Cleo to get thirsty, and Cyprus can get very hot.
I'm not quite sure when she decided that she would also use the bathroom sink. Or when Sophia realised too that this was a good place to have a drink. This didn't happen a year ago, or even six months ago. But nowadays, when I get up in the morning, I often find both of them sitting on the bathroom sink, asking for some water. It isn't even summer, and they could perfectly well come downstairs to drink at their bowl... but somehow I always give them some in the bathroom, then wait until they've finished before I wash my hands. In some fresh water, of course!
They don't drink together. Sophia, being the bossier one, usually gets in first. Here they are on a couple of recent mornings:
Friday, February 13, 2009
Is it Spring in Cyprus?
When we lived in the UK, I loved the first signs of spring. Snowdrops poking through the ground herald the end of winter, then daffodils, and primroses tell us that spring is on the way. The trees that all lost their leaves start to show new life. This winter has been particularly cold in the UK this year. Temperatures below freezing for several nights, and more snow than has fallen in at least 18 years. Nothing to the cold we experienced when we lived in Colorado (in the USA) for a couple of years, but still much colder than usual.
Of course, in the UK it's sometimes hard to spot Summer. Spring lengthens, and then Autumn starts, with a few warm days - perhaps - some time in July or August.
In Cyprus it's rather different. Summer is pretty much guaranteed, from early June until late September. There's autumn - of sorts - which means that we start to find our sweatshirts and long trousers again after months of shorts and tee-shirts. We dig out the thin duvets, and get the heating serviced. We might even have to use the electric boost if the solar heating isn't working too well on the water.
We realise it must be winter when we need fleeces as well as sweatshirts, and the thick duvet rather than the thin one. But citrus trees carry on producing fruit, and many flowers still bloom. A few trees lose some leaves in Autumn, but not many. Each tree has its own cycle, and plenty seem to be evergreen.
As for Spring, it's a bit negotiable. There aren't many spring bulbs here; the ground never gets cold enough for them. But this morning I actually felt warm enough to go out to the local Froutaria without a sweatshirt on. There was a pleasant light breeze, and I suppose it was about 18C, but for some reason it felt warmer than it has done recently. For an hour or so, anyway. By lunchtime I put the sweatshirt back on again, and I'm not ready to abandon the thick duvet in favour of a thin one yet.
I mentioned that we used our sole lemon a few days ago. Today I noticed some lemon blossom on the tree:
Walking to the supermarket, I saw plenty of weeds on empty land, which we usually expect in March rather than February:
and also these rather attractive flowers, which I assume are some kind of marigold. They look bigger than French ones, but smaller than African ones.
Geraniums and bougainvillea are also colourful at this time of year, and many of the citrus trees are still laden with fruit.
This is a time of year when I really like being in Cyprus.
Of course, in the UK it's sometimes hard to spot Summer. Spring lengthens, and then Autumn starts, with a few warm days - perhaps - some time in July or August.
In Cyprus it's rather different. Summer is pretty much guaranteed, from early June until late September. There's autumn - of sorts - which means that we start to find our sweatshirts and long trousers again after months of shorts and tee-shirts. We dig out the thin duvets, and get the heating serviced. We might even have to use the electric boost if the solar heating isn't working too well on the water.
We realise it must be winter when we need fleeces as well as sweatshirts, and the thick duvet rather than the thin one. But citrus trees carry on producing fruit, and many flowers still bloom. A few trees lose some leaves in Autumn, but not many. Each tree has its own cycle, and plenty seem to be evergreen.
As for Spring, it's a bit negotiable. There aren't many spring bulbs here; the ground never gets cold enough for them. But this morning I actually felt warm enough to go out to the local Froutaria without a sweatshirt on. There was a pleasant light breeze, and I suppose it was about 18C, but for some reason it felt warmer than it has done recently. For an hour or so, anyway. By lunchtime I put the sweatshirt back on again, and I'm not ready to abandon the thick duvet in favour of a thin one yet.
I mentioned that we used our sole lemon a few days ago. Today I noticed some lemon blossom on the tree:
Walking to the supermarket, I saw plenty of weeds on empty land, which we usually expect in March rather than February:
and also these rather attractive flowers, which I assume are some kind of marigold. They look bigger than French ones, but smaller than African ones. 
Geraniums and bougainvillea are also colourful at this time of year, and many of the citrus trees are still laden with fruit.
This is a time of year when I really like being in Cyprus.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A single lemon
At the back of the house which we rented for nearly nine years, there was a huge garden. Mostly something of a wilderness, but it had some amazing trees. There were three flourishing lemon trees, as well as two or three newer ones. There was also a fabulous orange tree. There were pomegranate trees and mespila (loquat) trees and mulberry trees too, but I don't miss those in the least. Nor do I miss the garden. But I did enjoy being able to pick oranges or lemons for several months of the year, any time I wished.
When we moved to this house, with just a patio at the front, we bought an orange tree and a lemon tree, in pots. They don't seem to be doing anything spectacular, but each one produced exactly one piece of fruit this year. We've watched the lemon for some months now, first small and green, then lemon-sized and green, then gradually turning more and more yellow.
This week, we used it. In some hot honey and lemon at bedtime, since we were both feeling slightly cold-ish. And somehow it did taste better than making the drink, as we usually do, with lemons from the Froutaria.
When we moved to this house, with just a patio at the front, we bought an orange tree and a lemon tree, in pots. They don't seem to be doing anything spectacular, but each one produced exactly one piece of fruit this year. We've watched the lemon for some months now, first small and green, then lemon-sized and green, then gradually turning more and more yellow.
This week, we used it. In some hot honey and lemon at bedtime, since we were both feeling slightly cold-ish. And somehow it did taste better than making the drink, as we usually do, with lemons from the Froutaria.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Red sky at night
It's not often that we see attractive sunsets in Cyprus. Clear skies during the day mean that the sky simply darkens around sunset, fairly rapidly, and then it's night time.
But a few days ago, I happened to glance up as I was sitting at my computer, and saw this:
Well, that wasn't the exact view I saw. But the sky was like that. So I grabbed my camera and went out on my little balcony, and took several photos, of which these views were the best:
It didn't last long. Five minutes later, and the sky was dark. Still, I hoped it was enough for any shepherds in the neighbourhood to be delighted. Not that I've ever seen any sheep in Larnaka.
It wasn't even particularly accurate, as far as sky predictions go. It didn't rain the following day, but it was a bit grey. In fact, the sky was grey all weekend. Richard was in Limassol, doing the last part of his Day Skipper course so it's a good thing the weather stayed fine, albeit a bit dull.
But on Monday morning there was a brief storm with a lot of wind and a very light sprinkling of rain for a few minutes. And today there was a bit more rain.
Richard tells me that according to the weather charts - which he studies extensively these days - there is usually a big storm in Cyprus on or around February 9th. It still looks somewhat grey outside, although the sun shone for an hour or two just after lunch, so it may still come.
But a few days ago, I happened to glance up as I was sitting at my computer, and saw this:
Well, that wasn't the exact view I saw. But the sky was like that. So I grabbed my camera and went out on my little balcony, and took several photos, of which these views were the best:
It didn't last long. Five minutes later, and the sky was dark. Still, I hoped it was enough for any shepherds in the neighbourhood to be delighted. Not that I've ever seen any sheep in Larnaka.
It wasn't even particularly accurate, as far as sky predictions go. It didn't rain the following day, but it was a bit grey. In fact, the sky was grey all weekend. Richard was in Limassol, doing the last part of his Day Skipper course so it's a good thing the weather stayed fine, albeit a bit dull.
But on Monday morning there was a brief storm with a lot of wind and a very light sprinkling of rain for a few minutes. And today there was a bit more rain.
Richard tells me that according to the weather charts - which he studies extensively these days - there is usually a big storm in Cyprus on or around February 9th. It still looks somewhat grey outside, although the sun shone for an hour or two just after lunch, so it may still come.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
First week of February in Cyprus
Another week has sped past; I'm not entirely sure where it's gone. While the UK has had snow in the past few days - the most in 18 years, apparently, sufficient for many organisations to grind to a halt - Cyprus has been a pleasant 18-20C during the daytime, and no cooler than about 8C overnight.
It may still get colder again before spring is fully established, and I certainly hope we'll get some more rain. I gather the reservoirs are now close to 10% full, which is around the same level as they were this time last year. There's significant snow in Troodos, which will help as it melts, but we're still in serious drought conditions, with mains water only every other day and warnings to avoid using hoses on cars or patios. Not that our neighbours take much notice of the warnings!
My weeks have fallen into something of a routine. I usually wake up between 6.30 and 7am. I feed the cats, make some fruit-and-green tea, then sit and read, think, pray, and maybe write a bit. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I do some general dusting, sweeping and mopping of the floors around 8am, which takes half an hour or so, put on a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher if it ran the night before, then make fresh juice (apple or orange, usually) and take some, with some coffee, to Richard. Then I have my breakfast, followed by a shower.
On Mondays I put on the breadmaker, and then walk into town to check for mail at the PO Box. If I have anything else to buy in town - stationery, perhaps - I do that too. Then when I get home, around 10.30pm at this time of year, I hang out the laundry then sit down to catch up with the week's accounts on Quicken.
I type in every transaction we make, including cash, right down to buying a couple of bread rolls from the bakery for Sunday evening. I keep all the receipts... what doesn't help is that some shops round down, so that if, for instance, I buy fruit and veg at the Froutaria and the till says €3.97, they'll only actually charge me €3.95. So if the cash balances to within a couple of cents, I'm pleased. If any statements have come, I reconcile them with Quicken; if any bills need to be paid online, I do them too.
Then I read email and forums, and check Facebook, and the blogs that I follow, and check various other sites... until Richard gets home for lunch, theoretically at 1pm and in practise usually more like 1.30. We eat some of the freshly-baked bread, with hummus, marmite, tomatoes, cheese, or possibly (if it's cold) some soup reheated from the freezer.
Richard goes back to work after about an hour, and my afternoons are mostly pretty relaxed: I'm usually at my computer - writing, or doing work on my websites, or (this week) scanning in a lengthy document for a friend using OCR software so she can edit it on her computer. Oh, and I'm determined to learn some more Greek so I'm making the effort to work through the 'Learn Greek' course at the Kypros.org website. I've tried before, and never got past lesson 25. This time I've actually got to lesson 27. It seems to work best to listen to the same one every day for a week or so, until the new words and phrases sink in fully.
This week I also uploaded the past six months' worth of photos to the Kodak Gallery so I could order some prints. I often see Tim on 'Instant Messenger' in the afternoon, so we chat a bit.. and I might play some Facebook Scrabble if anyone else has made a move.
Around 5pm I start to organise our evening meal, and close the curtains, and (if it's mains water day) fill up our drinking water bottles, and anything else that needs to be done. We usually eat around 6.45 or a little later. Dishes go in the dishwasher... this week on Monday we then watched an episode of 'Quantum Leap' from a DVD, then Richard had to do some work (at home). Some evenings I might have more things to do on my computer, other evenings I read. I usually ensure the computer is off by 9pm at the latest.
On Tuesday mornings, I help at the local 'Tots' (mothers and toddlers) group; I have to leave the house around 9am to walk there in time to help put out the chairs, equipment, etc. This week I had some cheques to pay into our bank account, and wanted to ask some questions about Daniel's account, so I left a bit earlier. On the way home I often go to the Froutaria to buy fruit and vegetables that we need, and get home around noon. I'm usually pretty tired by then, so I sit down at the computer and read email/Facebook etc until Richard gets home for lunch.
On Wednesday mornings I make bread again, then I make the bed with clean sheets, clean the bathroom, and also dust/sweep and mop all the upstairs rooms and the stairs, and clean out both cat litter trays. I usually make some soup - in biggish quantities so there's some to freeze - and perhaps also some kind of cake. Wednesday is the day when Richard's office bookkeeper is in; he comes to lunch with us, as do any Egyptian or other visiting colleagues. I also sometimes clean out the fridge, if necessary, and (if I'm feeling really keen) clean some windows or the outside stairs and balconies. On Wednesdays I don't usually switch the computer on until after lunch.
On Thursdays, I now look after an eleven-year-old boy who has recently started being home educated. His mother has a meeting from 8.15am until around 10.30. He usually brings whatever project he's working on, which is usually extremely interesting, and also some books. So we talk a bit, and then when he wants to read, I sit and read too.
On Fridays we always used to go to Metro, our favourite supermarket, taking the car to do a major shop. But in the past few months, we've found we only need to go about once a fortnight. Having a local supermarket and the fruit shop nearby means I can easily pop out for small things we've run out of. So on the Fridays when we don't go to Metro, I either have a few extra hours for writing, or, if there's nobody staying in our guest flat, I clean it. If there's any ironing to be done (and I usually iron pillowcases and duvet covers, if nothing else) I do that on Fridays.
On Friday evenings a Christian house group meets in our home, starting with a meal around 6.30pm. We all do different parts of the meal, but as well as whatever I'm making I have to get the table ready, and clean up afterwards. I am particularly thankful for the dishwasher on Friday evenings!
And so, Saturday rolls around again. I do quickly run the mop over the floor on Saturdays, and also the stairs, and sometimes do an extra load of laundry if the basket's getting full. I often pop out to the fruit shop, too. But I don't have anything much else planned on Saturdays. Richard often goes sailing; this weekend he's doing the second part of the practical section of his 'Day Skipper' course in Limassol.
January seemed to go quite slowly, for once; when I thought back to Christmas it seemed a long time ago. But it's quite a surprise to find that a week of February has vanished already.
Life in Cyprus has a slower pace than life in the UK; people sometimes ask me if I'm bored, or 'what I do'... and when typed out as above, it probably sounds as if I do very little. But I'm never bored, and I must be reasonably busy as I rarely seem to find much time for reading other than an hour or so in the evenings. I like living here, and that's not only because of the lack of snow!
It may still get colder again before spring is fully established, and I certainly hope we'll get some more rain. I gather the reservoirs are now close to 10% full, which is around the same level as they were this time last year. There's significant snow in Troodos, which will help as it melts, but we're still in serious drought conditions, with mains water only every other day and warnings to avoid using hoses on cars or patios. Not that our neighbours take much notice of the warnings!
My weeks have fallen into something of a routine. I usually wake up between 6.30 and 7am. I feed the cats, make some fruit-and-green tea, then sit and read, think, pray, and maybe write a bit. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I do some general dusting, sweeping and mopping of the floors around 8am, which takes half an hour or so, put on a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher if it ran the night before, then make fresh juice (apple or orange, usually) and take some, with some coffee, to Richard. Then I have my breakfast, followed by a shower.
On Mondays I put on the breadmaker, and then walk into town to check for mail at the PO Box. If I have anything else to buy in town - stationery, perhaps - I do that too. Then when I get home, around 10.30pm at this time of year, I hang out the laundry then sit down to catch up with the week's accounts on Quicken.
I type in every transaction we make, including cash, right down to buying a couple of bread rolls from the bakery for Sunday evening. I keep all the receipts... what doesn't help is that some shops round down, so that if, for instance, I buy fruit and veg at the Froutaria and the till says €3.97, they'll only actually charge me €3.95. So if the cash balances to within a couple of cents, I'm pleased. If any statements have come, I reconcile them with Quicken; if any bills need to be paid online, I do them too.
Then I read email and forums, and check Facebook, and the blogs that I follow, and check various other sites... until Richard gets home for lunch, theoretically at 1pm and in practise usually more like 1.30. We eat some of the freshly-baked bread, with hummus, marmite, tomatoes, cheese, or possibly (if it's cold) some soup reheated from the freezer.
Richard goes back to work after about an hour, and my afternoons are mostly pretty relaxed: I'm usually at my computer - writing, or doing work on my websites, or (this week) scanning in a lengthy document for a friend using OCR software so she can edit it on her computer. Oh, and I'm determined to learn some more Greek so I'm making the effort to work through the 'Learn Greek' course at the Kypros.org website. I've tried before, and never got past lesson 25. This time I've actually got to lesson 27. It seems to work best to listen to the same one every day for a week or so, until the new words and phrases sink in fully.
This week I also uploaded the past six months' worth of photos to the Kodak Gallery so I could order some prints. I often see Tim on 'Instant Messenger' in the afternoon, so we chat a bit.. and I might play some Facebook Scrabble if anyone else has made a move.
Around 5pm I start to organise our evening meal, and close the curtains, and (if it's mains water day) fill up our drinking water bottles, and anything else that needs to be done. We usually eat around 6.45 or a little later. Dishes go in the dishwasher... this week on Monday we then watched an episode of 'Quantum Leap' from a DVD, then Richard had to do some work (at home). Some evenings I might have more things to do on my computer, other evenings I read. I usually ensure the computer is off by 9pm at the latest.
On Tuesday mornings, I help at the local 'Tots' (mothers and toddlers) group; I have to leave the house around 9am to walk there in time to help put out the chairs, equipment, etc. This week I had some cheques to pay into our bank account, and wanted to ask some questions about Daniel's account, so I left a bit earlier. On the way home I often go to the Froutaria to buy fruit and vegetables that we need, and get home around noon. I'm usually pretty tired by then, so I sit down at the computer and read email/Facebook etc until Richard gets home for lunch.
On Wednesday mornings I make bread again, then I make the bed with clean sheets, clean the bathroom, and also dust/sweep and mop all the upstairs rooms and the stairs, and clean out both cat litter trays. I usually make some soup - in biggish quantities so there's some to freeze - and perhaps also some kind of cake. Wednesday is the day when Richard's office bookkeeper is in; he comes to lunch with us, as do any Egyptian or other visiting colleagues. I also sometimes clean out the fridge, if necessary, and (if I'm feeling really keen) clean some windows or the outside stairs and balconies. On Wednesdays I don't usually switch the computer on until after lunch.
On Thursdays, I now look after an eleven-year-old boy who has recently started being home educated. His mother has a meeting from 8.15am until around 10.30. He usually brings whatever project he's working on, which is usually extremely interesting, and also some books. So we talk a bit, and then when he wants to read, I sit and read too.
On Fridays we always used to go to Metro, our favourite supermarket, taking the car to do a major shop. But in the past few months, we've found we only need to go about once a fortnight. Having a local supermarket and the fruit shop nearby means I can easily pop out for small things we've run out of. So on the Fridays when we don't go to Metro, I either have a few extra hours for writing, or, if there's nobody staying in our guest flat, I clean it. If there's any ironing to be done (and I usually iron pillowcases and duvet covers, if nothing else) I do that on Fridays.
On Friday evenings a Christian house group meets in our home, starting with a meal around 6.30pm. We all do different parts of the meal, but as well as whatever I'm making I have to get the table ready, and clean up afterwards. I am particularly thankful for the dishwasher on Friday evenings!
And so, Saturday rolls around again. I do quickly run the mop over the floor on Saturdays, and also the stairs, and sometimes do an extra load of laundry if the basket's getting full. I often pop out to the fruit shop, too. But I don't have anything much else planned on Saturdays. Richard often goes sailing; this weekend he's doing the second part of the practical section of his 'Day Skipper' course in Limassol.
January seemed to go quite slowly, for once; when I thought back to Christmas it seemed a long time ago. But it's quite a surprise to find that a week of February has vanished already.
Life in Cyprus has a slower pace than life in the UK; people sometimes ask me if I'm bored, or 'what I do'... and when typed out as above, it probably sounds as if I do very little. But I'm never bored, and I must be reasonably busy as I rarely seem to find much time for reading other than an hour or so in the evenings. I like living here, and that's not only because of the lack of snow!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Ten year anniversary for my home education website!
Ten years have gone by since I launched my first website at Geocities. It was a few pages about home education in the UK. The only reason I started it was that Daniel, who was 12, wanted to build a site; but it had to be in a parent's name before he was 13. So I registered, and then thought I might as well make a web site too... and since, at the time, there was almost nothing online about home education in the UK (despite hundreds of American homeschooling sites) that was my topic.
The site has gone through many changes in the past ten years. I delved into the 'Wayback archive' which has snapshots of websites over the years, to see how it used to look. The original URL of my site was http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/3262, which isn't exactly intuitive, but I must have used it so many times that I had no trouble remembering it!
The earliest mention I could find was June 1999 If anyone doesn't want to wait for the archive to load, but would like to see how it looked, here's a quick screenshot I took:
- I remember the blue background, a Frontpage theme that I quite liked. I had forgotten the ugly banner, though. It looks very dated now!
I wrote quite a few new pages over the months, then in 2001 decided on a radical - but much simpler - design. I kept the clip-art of the clarinet player and the boy reading - supposedly Daniel and Tim - but made the background light rather than dark. I did have one or two people email me to say they liked the blue, but I stuck with the new design. Here's how it looked in 2001, and here's a screenshot:
There was a 'contents' section if you scrolled down, but it wasn't very obvious, and although I liked the look of it, it wasn't very navigable.
I was getting a bit fed up with FrontPage as an editor, and had been given free the program Adobe PageMill with some hardware, so I changed to using that. I learned about HTML tables... and redesigned the whole site to this in 2002. Here's the screen shot:
- lots of links down each side, which people told me made them more likely to explore other pages. (For some reason the picture of the boy reading didn't load when I did the screenshot, but it was still there).
I stayed with this design for some time, making only minor adjustments - here's a 2004 version from the archive, with its corresponding screen shot:
Geocities had opted for easier-to-remember URLs by then, so my site was also known by my username of the time, sueincyprus, which replaced the Heartland/Lake/3262 part of the address.
The problem I had with the navigational tables was that every time I added a new page, I had to change the links on several others in order that people would find them. And as the number of pages increased well beyond 100, it became more and more unweildy. And as this combined with our home educating years drawing to a close, I did very little to the site for some time.
Then in 2006 someone suggested I register a suitable domain, move it from Geocities to a host, and instal some kind of advertising myself. I was still getting a few emails from people who liked the site, and seeing around 200 visitors per day, so I thought this could be an interesting project.
Richard provided some server space, and I registered home-ed.info, moving the site there in May 2006. I got rid of the tables and all the clip-art, which by now was looking distinctly old-fashioned, and tried to include text links on the front page. Initially, it looked like this - here's the screen shot:
I still wanted some kind of navigational structure, though, and I wanted to give the site fully 'clean' code. So I switched to using the open source (free) software KompoZer, and experimented with this style in early 2007 - here's a screen shot:
But I was never happy with it. So in Spring of 2008, I searched for some CSS templates, and learned a bit more about how to adjust the designs, and finally, with advice from family and friends, produced the home-ed.info site as it is today.
I still add to it, from time to time, and include extra links when they seem relevant. It now receives around 500-600 visitors per day, mostly via search engines. I get two or three emails per month from people who have found it helpful, often asking further questions, which I try to answer.
I hope the site will still be around in another ten years, but have no idea whether it will go through so many design changes in the next decade. I suppose it depends on website trends, and whether dark text on a light background suddenly starts to look terribly old fashioned in a year or two...
The site has gone through many changes in the past ten years. I delved into the 'Wayback archive' which has snapshots of websites over the years, to see how it used to look. The original URL of my site was http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/3262, which isn't exactly intuitive, but I must have used it so many times that I had no trouble remembering it!
The earliest mention I could find was June 1999 If anyone doesn't want to wait for the archive to load, but would like to see how it looked, here's a quick screenshot I took:
- I remember the blue background, a Frontpage theme that I quite liked. I had forgotten the ugly banner, though. It looks very dated now!
I wrote quite a few new pages over the months, then in 2001 decided on a radical - but much simpler - design. I kept the clip-art of the clarinet player and the boy reading - supposedly Daniel and Tim - but made the background light rather than dark. I did have one or two people email me to say they liked the blue, but I stuck with the new design. Here's how it looked in 2001, and here's a screenshot:
There was a 'contents' section if you scrolled down, but it wasn't very obvious, and although I liked the look of it, it wasn't very navigable.
I was getting a bit fed up with FrontPage as an editor, and had been given free the program Adobe PageMill with some hardware, so I changed to using that. I learned about HTML tables... and redesigned the whole site to this in 2002. Here's the screen shot:
- lots of links down each side, which people told me made them more likely to explore other pages. (For some reason the picture of the boy reading didn't load when I did the screenshot, but it was still there).
I stayed with this design for some time, making only minor adjustments - here's a 2004 version from the archive, with its corresponding screen shot:
Geocities had opted for easier-to-remember URLs by then, so my site was also known by my username of the time, sueincyprus, which replaced the Heartland/Lake/3262 part of the address.
The problem I had with the navigational tables was that every time I added a new page, I had to change the links on several others in order that people would find them. And as the number of pages increased well beyond 100, it became more and more unweildy. And as this combined with our home educating years drawing to a close, I did very little to the site for some time.
Then in 2006 someone suggested I register a suitable domain, move it from Geocities to a host, and instal some kind of advertising myself. I was still getting a few emails from people who liked the site, and seeing around 200 visitors per day, so I thought this could be an interesting project.
Richard provided some server space, and I registered home-ed.info, moving the site there in May 2006. I got rid of the tables and all the clip-art, which by now was looking distinctly old-fashioned, and tried to include text links on the front page. Initially, it looked like this - here's the screen shot:
I still wanted some kind of navigational structure, though, and I wanted to give the site fully 'clean' code. So I switched to using the open source (free) software KompoZer, and experimented with this style in early 2007 - here's a screen shot:
But I was never happy with it. So in Spring of 2008, I searched for some CSS templates, and learned a bit more about how to adjust the designs, and finally, with advice from family and friends, produced the home-ed.info site as it is today.
I still add to it, from time to time, and include extra links when they seem relevant. It now receives around 500-600 visitors per day, mostly via search engines. I get two or three emails per month from people who have found it helpful, often asking further questions, which I try to answer.
I hope the site will still be around in another ten years, but have no idea whether it will go through so many design changes in the next decade. I suppose it depends on website trends, and whether dark text on a light background suddenly starts to look terribly old fashioned in a year or two...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)