Summer must be just around the corner in Cyprus

Visitors to this island might be forgiven for thinking that it's Summer. Particularly if they come from cooler climes. The sun has (mostly) been shining, and the temperature is pleasantly warm. If only this were, indeed, the weather to be expected for the next few months, Cyprus would be a wonderful place.

I determined, this year to be as ready as possible for Summer.. and also to delay its official onset in our household until June 1st. Last week the thermometer did climb to more than 30C one day, and I still held out. The following day it was back to 27C, which is much more pleasant, with a relatively cool 19C overnight. We still have the thin duvet on our bed. I haven't got out the frappé making machine yet, nor have I blended any smoothies, or run any air conditioning - although we did start using the ceiling fans a little last week. I haven't started wearing shorts yet, either. I abandoned my sweatshirt shortly after we returned from the UK three weeks ago, and put aside my trainers and socks for sandals. But I'm still wearing jeans.

And while it might be obvious to most people that right before summer is a good time to clean the air conditioning units, it's not something either of us generally remembers to do.

This year, I determined to do better. We have some special spray, and the job simply requires standing on a chair, opening a unit, removing the filters, washing out the dust, spraying the filters, then returning to the unit and spraying liberally inside that, wiping away any obvious dust or mould. Then, after five minutes or so, the spray has to be washed off the filters, and I shake them to get rid of most of the water... put them back, find the remote (sometimes a lengthy task...) switch on at the wall, and run for a couple of minutes to distribute the spray and to make sure that all is functioning as it should.

It only takes about ten minutes in all. The problem is that, in all, we have nine air conditioning units. And it's surprisingly warm work. So I've done our dining room, and the study, and also the two in our guest flat which haven't been done for rather longer than we care to think about, and were THICK with dust inside. I was going to do the living room and kitchen ones today, but was rather over-tired. I plan to do the bedroom units tomorrow.

And, although June 1st - ie tomorrow - was going to be my date for allowing Summer to arrive in our home, I think I may be able to delay it even longer. The forecast is for much of the same - no heatwaves imminent at all. I might start making frappés and smoothies just because they're so delicious, but if I can delay shorts, duvet-removal and air conditioning a while longer, it can only be a good thing.

Oh.. and for those wanting to know how Daniel and Becky are getting on, Dan has updated his rather neglected blog, with a post about how he's worried that he's turning into his parents....