Colder and coughing...

So, last week it felt a bit chilly, and I reported recovering from a cold. I did indeed continue to improve, other than continuing with the nasty cough. Just as Richard did over Christmas. I don't think mine is quite as bad, but it's lasted well over a week now, and kept me awake until very late on Wednesday night. There are a lot of bugs and viruses going around, it seems. Cyprus certainly isn't immune to them, as some people might assume.

Nor, indeed, is Cyprus immune from cold weather. Last week's 16C seems quite warm compared to today, when the weather site tells me it's only 12C currently, mid-afternoon. The sun was out this morning, but I had to walk briskly, wearing a fleece and a sweatshirt, to keep even reasonably warm when popping over to see our friends whose three youngest children are also suffering coughs and colds in varying degrees. Last night we were down to about 6C. I'm very thankful for the central heating that comes on, morning and evening, and which can be given an extra hour's boost if necessary (as it was at lunch-time today) to take the chill off the house.

I'm also thankful for fresh lemons, and reasonably priced honey, to make our favourite hot drinks in the evenings. Soothing for sore throats and coughs, and rather delicious too.

There were a few spots of rain earlier in the afternoon. The sky overhead is grey. I am reminding myself that I like winter a great deal better than summer in Cyprus... but it's still hard to get moving and motivated. According to the weather site ten-day forecast for Larnaka, we're supposed to have wall-to-wall sunshine tomorrow, with a high of 14C, then slightly warmer temperatures at the end of the week, and rain. We seem to have had quite a bit of rain recently, but apparently it's not yet enough. Every winter the officials worry about the state of the reservoirs; 49% full may be worse than this time last year, but it's a great deal better than it was three or four years ago.

For those wondering if we're affected by the riots in Cairo - the answer is: not really. We're not all that far away geographically speaking, but Cyprus is a different country entirely. There have been some evacuations from Egypt - about thirty Cypriots and a hundred and fifty Americans - and it's possible that one of Richard's colleagues and his family will get here, though we're not entirely sure where they would stay as the various guest flats we know (including ours) are all full.

So, if the demonstrations end reasonably peacefully, as we hope and pray, there is unlikely to be any real effect here.