I know, after thirty-eight years living in Cyprus, that September is not going to herald the start of Autumn. I'm learning that October is really the end of summer, at least as far as I'm concerned. The humidity reduces, and temperatures do too, at least a tad. As I had explained in my post early in October, we started to experience under thirty degrees during the daytime, under twenty overnight.
By the middle of the month I was wearing long (albeit very light-weight) trousers rather than shorts, and we were using our light (4.5 tog) duvet at night. We were still using ceiling fans, but had stopped using any air conditioning. I was more comfortable using the oven, and started doing a bit of baking again. Friends stayed in our guest flat, and we enjoyed a meal out with them one evening.
The clocks went back in the early hours of Sunday 26th October. I like the extra daylight first thing in the morning - so it's light by 6.00am now, though that will change as the days get shorter. And there's something about the early nights (it's dark shortly after 5pm) - or maybe it's just something about that last week of October - that makes me feel more energetic, more motivated than has happened for several months over the summer.
I walked to a church service that Sunday, for the first time in a while; I don't like walking anywhere in the daytime when the sun is beating down and the temperatures are high. And we had a peaceful day; I pottered a bit in the kitchen, and read, and in the evening we watched the first episode of Doctor Who series five (Matt Smith's first), which we thought very well done.
So, after a peaceful Sunday not doing very much, I felt refreshed and eager to do something I had been putting off for a long time. I tidied and cleaned our utility balcony, which is just outside the kitchen. There were some old, broken mops and feather dusters, some broken pegs, and more: I managed to fill an entire bin liner with rubbish. I put away a couple of old sheets that had turned into dustsheets for plastering or painting, and then I spent quite a bit of time washing and cleaning the sink and its surrounds, and the floor.
I'm not sure it looked a whole lot better when I had finished - there's still paint on the sink, from times when paintbrushes have been washed out - but it was very satisfying. I had also walked to the fruitaria first thing in the morning for fruit and vegetables, sorted and put out the month's recycling, and done a load of laundry. In the afternoon we collected a parcel from the post office, and I sorted my grocery receipts from the previous couple of weeks.
Not a huge amount of activity compared to that of many of my friends, but I've never had a lot of stamina, so I was quite tired by the end of the day.
On Wednesday, I took my shopping trolley to the fruitaria, and also went to the fruit stall where I had noticed some excellent value crates of fruit. I was feeling enthused again, and bought a crate with about three kilograms of peaches, another with 2kg plums, and yet another with a kilo and a half of tomatoes. Five euros seemed very reasonable for all that.
Possibly I should have spread these purchases out over the week, since it was a bit tricky getting them all in the fridge. I did gently stew about one kilogram of the peaches.
I also made some bread, and some chocolate banana bars, since a friend was coming to work with Richard in the morning, and was staying for lunch.
On Thursday, I made some jam, for the first time in years. I had thought my jam-making days were over, as we've been able to find some good quality jam (ie without ultra-processed additives) at a reasonable price. And it's not one of my favourite tasks. But there's nothing to beat home-made jam, and those plums were just asking to be jammed...
I also managed to get out the two bin liners that were next to our washing machine, filled with excess polystyrene 'beads' from an old beanbag. The three that I sit in regularly - and they are excellent if I have a bit of backache - were feeling a bit flat. It was quite time consuming, as I had to be careful not to let beans fly all over the place... I had to sweep up quite a few when I'd finished, but that was another very satisfying thing to do.
It felt, for once, like quite a constructive week.
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