Summer in Cyprus. Again.

 I have probably written about summer in Cyprus more than anything else in the past twenty years since I started this blog. And while I've started another couple of posts in the past few weeks, both are awaiting further developments before I can finish them. 

So, in the absence of anything else which I can write about today, here's yet another post about how summer crept up on us this year...

During May, I switched from jeans to shorts. I stopped wearing sweatshirts. We moved from our thin duvet at night to a duvet cover only, and then, by the end of the month were using just a flat sheet as a cover. I started using 'cold' water for showering; it doesn't really get cold in the summer, and the tepid, not-quite-lukewarm temperature of the water that has been in the outside tank is perfect for me. 

We cleaned our guest flat air conditioners at the end of May. We were expecting guests early in June, and wanted to ensure the air conditioners were available for them if they felt uncomfortably hot. We are at least somewhat acclimatised, and don't turn them on unless the room temperature exceeds 28 degrees. It had not, as yet, done so. 

However, by the first Friday of June, the forecast was for weather approaching that milestone. So we decided to go ahead and clean our upstairs a/c units. There are four on the main floor, and three upstairs; it took us perhaps forty minutes to complete the job. The house was pleasantly cool for a little longer, since they have to be run as cool as possible for ten minutes or so after using the cleaning spray.

Some of them, Richard said, looked fairly dirty inside. So next year we'll probably get them professionally cleaned. Assuming, that is, we remember before doing them ourselves...

Since the humidity was still low, I decided that it was an ideal day to start the annual curtain-washing. Up to 2013, this was an essential chore, and should probably have done more often than once a year. One of our cats, Tessie, used to spray. She was female, and spayed, but apparently it's not uncommon. Some of our books on lower shelves suffered, as did the curtains. As the weather got hotter, the smell in the curtains became more potent.

Tessie vanished twelve years ago, but I've continued washing the curtains almost every year in May or June. Cyprus is quite dusty, and I always like the fresh scent that permeates the house after washing curtains and drying them outside.  I say 'almost every year' because last year we flew out of Cyprus to the UK mid-June, and the curtains didn't get washed. After two years, they definitely needed doing. 

We have quite a few curtains, and I can usually fit three at a time in the washing machine. Everything I hung out on the line was dry within about an hour, so the washing machine was on almost continually, that day, and the following day too. 

With the curtains taken down, two or three at a time, I saw how dirty the windows were. It's unlikely to rain again until September or October, so I cleaned all the windows, inside and out. 

Along with curtains, I also washed the covers of our wheat bags, and the thin blankets we use when watching DVDs in the winter. When dry, I folded them to pack away in an airtight bag. We've learned from experience not to leave things like this unsealed, as they attract not just dust, but moths, and potentially other undesirable insects.

Since the weather wasn't yet too hot, I continued my early morning walks with my friend Sheila. On some evenings I went for short walks locally with Richard. In the middle of the month we went to Salina Park to an advertised 'Makerspace fair', which had a lot of booths showing what kind of things are done at the centre for youth.  We were surprised at how many people were there, given the minimal amount of publicity we had seen.

We were also interested to see that the café building, which had been empty since the park opened at the end of last year, was serving coffee. We didn't want coffee in the evening, but it was good to know that it was being used. 

I knew I wouldn't be using my oven much longer, and that we would start wanting ice cream. So I put the inner container for my ice cream maker in the freezer, in preparation. 

Regular June activities included a birthday lunch for one of our teenage friends, and the local Christian writing group last meeting of the season, followed by a potluck lunch. Richard has been assisting one of the members of the group with self-publication of her book. 

We were delighted to host some other friends for a leisurely lunch on June 20th. One of them was my most long-standing friend Anne, whom I met when we were both seven. We managed to stay in touch all this time, and even met up in the UK a couple of times, a few years ago. This time, my friend and her husband were in Cyprus for a wedding. It was the other end of the island, but they made the two-hour journey to visit us, which was very enjoyable.

As June progressed, the weather was slowly, inexorably, warming up. My last morning walk of the season with Sheila was on June 21st. She was going away for a week, and it was already approaching 25C at 6.15am.  My last use of the oven for the season was on June 22nd when we had our twice-monthly get-together with Sheila and her family, and I made a cake for dessert. 

And on Monday 23rd June, we started on our summer salads. Which doesn't mean we limit ourselves to lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes all summer.  In 2020, when we knew we would be here all summer, I scoured my recipe books for salad ideas. I checked the Internet, too. I jotted down some of the most appealing ideas, and - of course - adjusted them to our preferences, and the available produce. I try to make three or four salads first thing in the morning with a balance of ingredients. At least one will have some protein such as canned fish, air-fried chicken or legumes.  

On 23rd June I prepared a salmon (canned), cucumber and avocado salad; a peach, tomato and onion salad (with 'fake' vegan feta); and a wholemeal pasta salad with sundried tomatoes. 

This was our main meal, in the evening, but we only managed about half of it. So we had the same thing the following day, with the addition of some coleslaw with a lemon juice dressing rather than mayonnnaise. 

Another example is this, which we started a couple of days later:

The protein dish at the top is chopped boiled eggs with lightly boiled broccoli and leeks, the one next to it is mushrooms, new potatoes and green beans. Underneath the egg dish is a salad with lettuce, red grapes, avocado and walnuts, and the other one is the what remained of the coleslaw, which lasted us three days rather than two. 

There was rather a lot that had to be cooked in that second example, which is why I prepare these salads in the mornings, around 6.30 or 7.00 usually. The kitchen isn't too hot at that time, and there's plenty of time for cooked ingredients to be chilled in the fridge. 

There's enough variety in the salad recipes I use that I don't have to duplicate anything for a couple of weeks, but I might do so depending on what ingredients I can easily find. Our fruit shop has inexpensive, great quality avocadoes at present, so I've bought quite a few. They keep well in the fridge, for weeks, and give a nice smooth texture to contrast with the crunchiness of some other salad ingredients.

So we're all set for the summer, I hope. First thing in the morning I walk either to the fruit shop or round the block, to get a bit of exercise. Three days a week, I then prepare salads. I'll deal with laundry or whatever else has to be done before it gets too hot, then aestivate in my study with the air conditioning set to 28C. Not that I will actually sleep. I'll work on photos (I still haven't finished our 2024 photobook, and want to order it soon), and deal with any bills, and do some writing. I'll blog about the books I read, and perhaps work on my sites.