Sunday 14th December was the third Sunday in Advent. It was also a special anniversary for us: 48 years exactly since we went out on our first date, and 46 years since we got engaged.
But there was no chance to go out to celebrate. I didn't go to a church service, either, as I knew I had to do a lot of cooking and baking in the morning. Every other Sunday our friends come over for an afternoon of games (with a DVD for the teenagers), followed by a shared evening meal. I always provide bread and a dessert, while they usually bring cut up vegetables and protein such as cheese, eggs and tuna. Through the cooler months, I also make soup.
In addition, I was hosting our local writing group lunch on the Monday. I wanted to ensure there we had enough variety of food, so I planned to prepare some of that on Sunday morning as well. And our Sunday lunch, which wasn't complicated as I used a previously frozen chicken dish, so I only had to prepare roast potatoes and veggies to accompany it.
I started around 10.00am after a leisurely breakfast and shower... and I tried not to rush, so I wouldn't get muddled. I first started the carrot and ginger soup, one of my favourites; I add previously boiled chick-peas in too, to give it some protein. Then I started preparing some chicken breast with a slightly spicy thick sauce, to serve cold on Monday. And put the ingredients for a loaf of bread in the breadmaker.
Then I leafed through all my recipes looking for something to make for dessert in the evening; nothing really inspired me, so I tried a lemon blondie recipe I had previously downloaded and printed. I had quite a lot of lemon juice which I had frozen last year from an excess of lemons, so it was good to use some of that up.
By this stage, the kitchen looked like this:
I also wanted to make mince pies... so I had to tidy up a little, to make room for the food processor, and for rolling out the pastry.
I don't have a huge amount of stamina, so by lunchtime I was shattered, with my back aching. We ate lunch, and had coffee, and put the dishwasher on. Then I had to sit down for an hour before getting on with the rest of the tidying up.
Our friends arrived at 3.30pm rather than the usual 4.00, since the girls were helping to put up our Christmas tree, and other decorations. They (along with their older sister, who was not in Cyprus this year) have done this every year since 2012. They missed their sister, who usually does the organising, but eventually the tree was up, and looking festive.
The nativity characters were arranged suitably for ten days before Christmas, with Mary and Joseph en route to Bethlehem, and the shepherds watching over their flocks:
One of the shepherds appears to be acting as a guide to Mary and Joseph.
As for the magi, they were still a long way away:
Meanwhile I stood on a chair and put up last year's Christmas cards (and some from the year before, since we receive fewer and fewer cards each year).
Three of us then played a game, and the girls watched a Christmas film ('The Holiday'). It's rated 12, and when I saw it, I thought 15 would be more appropriate... but the girls are 15 and 17 now.
By the time we had finished, and eaten, and cleared away, I was once again very tired. So I had an early night.
On Monday I went out early to the fruitaria, to buy cucumber, peppers etc which I then cut up for the writing group lunch. I also made some hummus.
Around 10.00 members of the group arrived, including two people who left the group eighteen months ago, as this was going to be our final meeting. The group had been running for just over eighteen years. But for various reasons, we knew it was time to end it. When it started, back in September 2007, there were seven of us, five of whom were in our forties. The leader was in her sixties, and we had one member of around 70; our average age must have been about 50.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, we were eight people, including one of just 19. But she moved away, and of the seven of us remaining, the average age must have been around 70. Of course people well into their eighties can - and do - write. My late father published his autobiography when he was nearly 85, and his dystopian novel when he was 87. In the summer of 2025, after a couple of years of writing, with suggestions and some editing from the group, one of our members published her story.
But in September, enthusiasm started to wane. Sometimes only three or four of us met; it felt like a struggle to write something suitable to read aloud, and I was feeling that it was becoming a chore rather than a blessing. There's a time and season for everything, and both Sheila and I felt that it was time for the writing group to close.
I thought I would feel at least a little sad about it being the last meeting, but I didn't. Four people read something, out of seven present; then six of us (including Richard) enjoyed a sumptuous lunch:
Everyone had left by around 2pm... and, yes, I was tired. I don't think I did anything useful for the rest of the day. Still, we managed a reasonable walk in the evening, and visited the PO Box where there were two Christmas cards awaiting us. We appreciate the thought, and the generosity - postage from the UK is extortionate now, about six times the cost of us sending cards from Cyprus. And last year we heard of two cards which, though addressed and stamped correctly, had been returned to the senders.
On Tuesday, I don't think we did anything specifically Christmassy, though we enjoyed eating some of the leftovers from the previous day for lunch. I continued wearing different Christmas socks, and we appreciated the tree, the Christmas tablecloth and other decorations.
On Wednesday morning, we went to the Post Office to collect a couple of parcels from the UK. In the afternoon, I made this year's veggie 'sausage' rolls. They're based on a recipe by Delia which my sister makes, very successfully, every year. A few years ago I adapted it to become dairy-free, and it works reasonably well: I use ready-made frozen puff pastry (vegan), vegan 'cheese', and coconut dairy-free yogurt instead of the cream. I also use paprika instead of cayenne, as we prefer it. They're not as good as the original, but are appreciated by Richard and some of our guests who are also dairy-free.
They're quite time-consuming and messy to make:
Though easier when I use my food processor to chop the onions, turn bread into breadcrumbs, and grate the 'cheese'. They can be frozen uncooked but I prefer to part-bake them, then they won't need so long on Christmas afternoon.
On Thursday afternoon, I finished writing our newsletter which we email to a large number of friends and relatives, and also sorted out photos to go on the second page. After checking with Richard, I emailed it out to about 100 people. I then printed the newsletters we have received, so far, from others.
In the evening, we watched our DVD of the semi-Christmas romantic comedy 'Serendipity', which we had seen before but liked very much.
On Friday morning, we braved Metro supermarket, which was fairly crowded, so that Richard could order our turkey for next week. We did some other necessary shopping, and managed to spend enough to be given a free bottle of wine.
By the afternoon several more newsletters had arrived by email, so I read and printed those too. And in the evening we went to the Zouhouri Square Christmas market.
There was free entry, which was good... but, like last year, although quite crowded, it was rather underwhelming. If we had wanted to buy jewellery or fancy candles, it would have been good: there were several stalls offering variations on these. We had decided we would buy some 'street food' there for our evening meal.
Last year, I found some quite tasty Mexican food there, although the majority of offerings were deep-fried fast food with processed meat. This year, the Mexican booth wasn't there - or if it was, it was well hidden by the dense crowds watching children dancing.
So, after checking all the options, Richard opted for a large bratwurst in a roll - over-priced, but he said it was very good. And I bought an avocado/veggie wrap from Cafe Nero which is on the edge of Zouhouri Square; not exactly street food, but quite tasty.
Then we came home, and ate a couple of mince pies.
19th December is a poignant day for me (and my siblings); my father died on that date in 2022. So I it was perhaps appropriate that we then watched the last two episodes of Dad's Army series three, a TV show that was one of my father's absolute favourites when I was a child.
Saturday morning is my weekly house cleaning; sometimes more thorough than others. The only specifically Christmas activity we did was in the evening, when we went downtown to watch Sheila's youngest daughter taking part in the annual dance school parades. Costumes, apparently, provided by the municipality.
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