Ten days into February....

Sometimes the days and weeks go by so rapidly that I forget to write about them. I start to take my life here in Cyprus for granted, forgetting that, to those elsewhere, even the smallest details can sometimes be interesting. (Or not. But I hope that those who find my anecdotes dull will not be reading this anyway...)


So, here are a few photos from the past week... representative of my life in general.

Last Sunday, our good friends came over mid-afternoon, as they do every other week. We gradually evolved a schedule whereby the children take it in turns to choose a DVD to watch (out of a carefully controlled selection of appropriate ones) and the adults hang out and play board games. Often it's Settlers of Catan, but last Sunday there was a visitor who was not familiar with it, so instead we played a low-key round of Dixit.

Our friends don't have a television, so watching a film is a twice-monthly treat for the children. We don't suppose it does any harm, but it's still a bit shocking how quickly they become mesmerised by the screen: a 'plug-in drug', indeed:

Two-and-a-half-year old Elisabeth is actually not yet very interested in films or television, so she usually comes to join us, and plays happily with spare game pieces.  After the film and game we have a cold meal together. Well, mostly cold. I make a couple of loaves of bread during the day, and during the winter I also make a big pot of soup. They usually leave when the children are ready for bed. 

On Monday last week I hosted the monthly meeting of the Larnaka Christian Writers' group: only four of us were there, as others were away or unable to come, but I think we had a good morning. In the afternoon I did email, some online writing, caught up with our accounts, and paid some bills. 

On Tuesday mornings, I usually walk for an hour or so with my friend Sheila, first thing, then walk to the fruit shop.  After breakfast and a shower, Sheila and her youngest three come over for a couple of hours to play.  Elisabeth has been intrigued by Lego since she was far too small for it (officially) - now she loves to play with the little people, getting them to wave to each other, or talk, or ride horses... 

She often tips the entire box of Lego people on the floor, but is extremely good at putting them all away again when it's time to go. 

Tuesday afternoon I do more writing and reading, usually. Then in the evening we set up a game of Settlers-by-Skype with our son Tim, who lives in the UK. We've been doing this long-distance game-playing sporadically for over two years now, but this is the first time we tried it using the television to show Tim's face:

Wednesday is my day for changing our sheets and pillowcases, and cleaning upstairs, and I often do a bit of cooking too. I had to make a new batch of lemonade on Wednesday; happily, some friends had dropped off a large bag of lemons from their tree a few days earlier, so I didn't have to buy any. I made another batch of coconut milk, too; we get through about two and a half litres each week. 

We're both getting over bad colds that we had over Christmas - the colds have gone, but the coughs linger.  It's not a huge problem, mostly, but does mean that my energy levels are not as high as normal. So just doing a bit of cleaning and cooking took up most of the morning.  In the afternoon a friend came over to borrow books and we chatted awhile, then I did a bit more writing, while it rained outside for most of the time. 

On Thursday morning the sun was out and most of the rain had dried up by the time Sheila and I went for our walk. There was quite a big puddle as we approached the aqueduct:

I liked the reflection when we got a bit closer: 

It felt almost as if spring were coming. March is, supposedly, 'yellow month', but the relatively mild temperatures and rain seem to have brought the wildflowers into bloom earlier than usual: 

Here are some more of them growing by the side of the trail:

The area around the Salt Lake has been growing gradually greener as winter has progressed. This, I think, is about the greenest it will ever be:

After the walk - we did the whole 8km - I went to the fruit shop, did more housework, more writing... and the day flew by like all the others.

On Friday evening our friends flew out of Larnaka, to Germany via the UK and then on to Costa Rica to visit some unofficially adopted relatives. We will miss them, as will this blog.  I didn't do a Salt Lake walk on Saturday... I hope I will, at least a few times while they're away, but without the motivation of a friend to meet I may just lapse back into inactivity.