On decluttering

 I see a lot of references to decluttering on social media. Perhaps it's the circles I'm in; plus, of course, as soon as I clicked one link on the topic, I was inevitably going to see a whole lot more similar posts. Clutter is something of a divisive subject. There are people who like collecting a lot of things, and are comfortable around boxes, bags and other unsorted items. There are people who would like to be organised, but have difficulty finding spaces for things, or who don't have sufficent time and motivation to do anything about it.

There is also a third category of people who somehow manage to get things away, and tidy, without any apparent effort.  I aspired to be one of those as a young adult, but was firmly in the second category. The spirit was willing - well, mostly - but I was working full-time, and then had small children.  It was far more important to spend time with them - and they seemed to acquire a lot of stuff, too, mainly gifts from generous friends and family - than to keep the house tidy. 

Moving to Cyprus in 1997 forced us to be quite radical about our stuff. We donated some things to charity shops, although we had a large room and a couple of closets full of things we had stored, in addition to what we brought out. We also stored a lot of things in a friend's garage. In subsequent years, we moved more and more things here (mainly books), and when we sold the UK house, we gave away a lot of things that we had not used for nine years, and evidently didn't need.

Second week of Advent

 I woke up on the second Sunday of Advent to see that it had rained in the night, apparently quite heavily. My phone showed rain predicted for much of the rest of the day, but I was able to go out for a short walk before breakfast. 

Later, I went to a local church service where the second Advent candle was lit. It was good to have an hour to focus on the real reasons for Advent. Afterwards there were a couple of Christmas craft stalls outside, where I bought some delicious-looking bakes and a couple of attractive crocheted decorations. 

By lunch-time it was raining in earnest, and continued doing so, steadily, for most of the afternoon. We had planned to go to one of the annual outdoor Christmas markets in the evening, but decided we would give it a miss this year. Even if it was not actually raining at the time, we thought the place would probably be very muddy. 

Another week over...

 Wasn't New Year just a few days ago...? How can it be nearly half-way through January already? Time has a way of racing past, faster and faster and I really don't know where the last week has gone.

Part of that, I acknowledge, is that I've had quite a bad cold. Which I'll come to later... 

On Friday January 5th, we went for a walk along the sea-front to check our PO Box. And there, as so often happens at this time of year, we found ELEVEN Christmas cards. All from the UK, posted on different dates between the 5th and 17th December. 

So much for official 'last posting dates'. It all seems quite random. 

That nearly doubled the number of cards we received for the 2023 Christmas season, so I put them up along with those we had already received:

 

We do appreciate the cards that arrive. If you happen to be reading this and are one of the people who still sends us a card each year, then thank you very much. But we have been rather shocked at the amount of postage necessary to send a card to Cyprus from the UK. So please don't feel that you must! Electronic greetings are also welcome. It's rather sad that, even if folk post cards early in December, they can take a month to arrive. This is why I always keep the latest cards in an envelope along with our tree and decorations, and put them up the following year. 

So these, which we displayed right through December, are actually the cards we were sent for Christmas 2022 (many of which didn't arrive until early or even mid-January 2023)

The traditional times for taking down Christmas decorations range from January 5th (Twelfth Night) through to Candlemas (February 2nd). But having had ours up since December 1st, I felt that it was time to take them down on January 5th... so we made sure the knitted wise men arrived at the manger even though it was a day earlier than Epiphany:

In the evening, Richard helped me take everything down, and packed it away much more neatly and efficiently than I can manage when I'm doing the un-decorating alone.

And so, that was Christmas. 

Winding back a few hours, on that same Friday, which felt like a very long day, one way and another, I went to hang out the laundry I had done in the morning, only to find it still rather wet. I put it on to spin again, and nothing happened. Well, the washing machine made a lot of noise, but the drum did not turn at all. 

Uh-oh.

The washing machine, which was eight and a half years old, had been playing up for many months: I could no longer select the programme I used the most, and had to use a different one. Sometimes it was hard even to find that. We wondered about seeing if it could be fixed, but thought it (a) unlikely and (b) probably expensive. 

With a second major thing not working, we realised the time had come to buy a new washing machine.  Our previous one lasted nine years, and ended dramatically by boil-washing some clothes that never really recovered. Eight-and-a-half isn't significantly less. And whereas we were happy to buy a used (and probably elderly) steamer at the thrift store, just a day earlier, we didn't even look for a second-hand washing machine.  A steamer might be used ten or twelve times in a year, and we can manage quite well without it if we have to. A washing machine is used at least 150 times a year, with just the two of us, and I would find it extremely difficult to cope without it. 

So we went out to our favourite local white goods store, George Theodorou, after perusing their website, and ordered a new machine. To be delivered on Monday. And while many things have become more expensive in the past decade, I was slightly surprised to realise that our new washing machine was forty euros cheaper than the one we bought in 2015. And it comes with a five-year guarantee.

Our washing machine is located on an outside utility balcony, inside a biggish metal cupboard.  It works well; it's right by the washing lines, and it's not taking up space in the kitchen. 

But also in the cupboard, next to the machine, we tend to accumulate things like old cardboard boxes, ends of cans of paint - particularly when they're still in use - and unused cat litter trays. I also had a large bag of polystyrene beads for beanbags. At one point we had four beanbags, but one of them was damaged by one of the cats, and we didn't really think we needed four.. so I rescued the filling, and thought it would be useful for topping up the three remaining beanbags. The fillings tend to get squashed, so the bags become less comfortable with time.

It was, I think, a good idea. But I did that probably five or six years ago, and had not done any topping up. I also hadn't realised that the large bin bag in which I put the spare beads was a biodegradable one. And it started to biodegrade. I had noticed a few beans leaking out but hadn't done anything about it... and the slight leak, just a week or two earlier, had turned into a major cascade...

I might have left this for weeks, even months longer, although a high wind could have caused beans to go flying all over the place. But knowing that a new washing machine was coming on Monday was an excellent motivator. So on Sunday I set to work with a jug and a new bin liner... 

Richard helped, and between us we managed to tidy up the inside of the cupboard effectively, getting rid of some almost empty (and dried up) paint containers, and throwing out some of the beans which had become very grubby. 

On Monday the new washing machine was delivered and installed, and the old one taken away. I hadn't realised that the door was so dark, I couldn't see the laundry going around inside. But I guess it doesn't matter. 

The programme names seem a bit random; I've tried three different ones so far, and they all work well. The cycles are rather quicker than those on the previous machine, which is a plus point. 

On Thursday, when I went out for a walk with Sheila first thing, the flamingoes were right on the shore. It had rained a bit, and evidently there were plenty of fresh little pink shrimp by the shore. 

We can't get too close, or they become frightened, and my phone zoom isn't great - but I was quite pleased with this picture. 

2023 broke all the records for warmth, at least in Cyprus, and December was no exception. As I said in a previous post, I don't think the overnight temperatures dropped below ten degrees (Celcius, of course) and the daytimes were mostly 20-23 in the shade. 

Early January remained warm, too. But on Friday, for the first time, my phone showed slightly cooler temperatures when I got up:

And, indeed, it rained - not much on Friday afternoon, but today has been very grey, with rain more than once. A report in the Cyprus Mail said that snow is falling in Troodos. 

Perhaps winter is, at last, arriving. 

Oh, and my cold...

I had a slight sniffle on Monday that barely affected me. I walked with Sheila as usual first thing on Tuesday, but felt exhausted when I got home and very 'coldy' for the rest of the day. It was  really quite bad on Wednesday, then started to improve. It's pretty much gone by now. I didn't test for Covid; mainly because most of our remaining free testing kits have dried up entirely. But I checked several sites to see if there were any clear differences. I was sneezing a lot (common with colds, very uncommon with Covid). However I didn't have a headache, other than slight pressure around my sinuses on Wednesday (headaches are very common with Covid), nor did I have any aches and pains anywhere else. I was a bit tired, but not in a debilitating way. And my coughs were productive.

All of which is probably far more information than anyone reading this cares to read, so I'll end here. 

Christmas Eve 2021

 As has become a tradition, I'm writing a post on Christmas Eve to wish a very happy Christmas to anyone who might read this.  I don't suppose I'll turn my computer on at all tomorrow. 

So in keeping with the annual posts on this date, I'll begin with a photo of our Christmas cake which I iced this morning and decorated in much the same way as I have every other year. I was tired - it's been a stressful year, and a surprisingly busy December - so didn't feel like anything more creative: 

Richard and Tim took over the kitchen after I had done that, preparing and cooking the turkey. We always do this on Christmas Eve now; after it had stood for half an hour or so after being cooked, Richard carved it and it's now in the fridge in a roasting pan, so it can easily be reheated for an hour in the oven tomorrow. That way it can be served hot, rather than cooling down as everyone waits for it to be carved.

I'm not sure why I'm quite so tired this year; perhaps it's just my advancing years meaning I can do less. I've tried to limit extra baking and cooking to just one thing per day, and have not turned the computer on until after lunch. This means I've been slightly more productive in the kitchen than usual, but considerably less productive at the computer.  

In the early part of the month, other than making some mince pies (as mentioned in my last post) I didn't do much extra cooking; instead I focused on writing and posting cards, and organising Christmas presents for the extended family in the UK. However on December 9th I made three Christmas puddings, seen here in the steamer:

A couple of days later, I tried out a recipe which claimed to be 'failsafe' (a politer way, I suppose, of saying 'foolproof'), lemon bars:

I used dairy-free spread instead of butter, of course, and half wholewheat flour in the base, and made exactly three-quarters of the given amount to fit my tin. But other than those modifications, I made it exactly as given... it was very tasty, but quite messy to get out of the tin. I wished I had greased it although the recipe specifically stated that an ungreased tin should be used. 

However they seemed to be appreciated by the Larnaka Christian Writers' Group; the December meeting was held at our house, followed by our usual pre-Christmas potluck/shared lunch. Much food was enjoyed by nine of us. 

When I made the lemon slices again a few days ago (they really did taste good, definitely repeatable...) I used a silicon sheet underneath and greased the sides, and they came out rather better. 

I made other things to freeze for Christmas, managing to find space in the freezer although it's not easy, and did some extra cleaning, including Tim's room after Richard did significant amounts of tidying.  Yes, despite Omicron and increased Covid restrictions, our younger son was able to fly here on Monday. He said the flight was crowded and rather scary as several of the passengers were not wearing masks, or not wearing them properly. But he's here, and has finished the few days of isolating with us (Cyprus distinguishes 'isolation' from 'strict isolation', the latter only coming into play if someone tests positive).

We went to the Post Office yesterday to see if there was any mail and were surprised by quite a number of Christmas cards. Usually the majority don't arrive until after Christmas, so we keep them and then put them up the following year.  But we've had quite a few now, which is nice:

We send most of our Christmas greetings by email, with an update of a few significant events from the past year - most of which can be found by browsing this blog, despite the distinct lack of entries for the year. 

Tomorrow we'll be going to St Helena's for the morning service, where Tim will be playing, then back here to finish lunch preparations. Our friends will be joining us, with four of their children - not really children any more as the youngest is eleven . We'll eat too much then play board games, and then eat some more. And we'll try to remember the real reason for Christmas amidst the light-hearted indulgences of the day. 

Wishing every blessing to all who read this, with a safe and happy celebration in whatever form it takes. And praying for a more hopeful New Year. 

Christmas Eve greetings from Cyprus

I have written a post each year for the past decade on - or close to - Christmas Eve. So as Richard is currently carving the turkey, with the doors closed to keep the cats out, I thought I might as well continue the tradition. 

The previous posts have started with an illustration of our Christmas cake, each one pretty similar to all the previous ones. I iced this year's cake yesterday, using home-made icing (with aquafaba rather than raw egg white) and since we had almost an entire tub of glacé cherries, I put some of those on, just to make it slightly different from previous years.

This is not, of course a typical Christmas. We miss our sons desperately, particularly Tim who has spent every Christmas with us, other than one, until this year. But travel from the UK is difficult at present, with Covid-test requirements, and now seven days of hotel quarantine. There's no guarantee of being able to get back again, either. So, sadly, it didn't make sense for anyone in the family to come out to Cyprus this year. 

The case numbers in Cyprus have been getting worse, but - so far - we're still allowed to gather with up to eight other people in our home. Church services were cancelled, so everything moved online, including last Sunday evening's carol service. But the government has made a concession to the Orthodox Archbishop and has allowed congregations to meet (so long as they are masked, distanced and no more than one person per three square metres) on Christmas Day only. So we will be able to attend a live service tomorrow, rather than just streamed. 

Our local friends who usually join us for Christmas will, unless some disaster strikes, be coming for lunch tomorrow. Which means that, despite wanting to keep it simpler than usual, I found myself baking and cooking far more than will be eaten in two meals. I like to over-cater - much better than running out, although there has never been a danger of that. Besides, if there's too much food, then I don't have to cook anything much else for several days, and that's always a good thing.

It's been a long and depressing year, and I realise that it has been considerably worse for many others than for us. Our hearts go out to those who have been bereaved, or who have suffered badly with the virus and its after-effects. We hope and pray that the vaccines will be effective, and that, gradually, more normal life can resume in the spring. 

As I said in the last post I wrote, we only sent six Christmas cards this year, and didn't expect to receive many. Until yesterday we had received eight, two of them giving to us by local friends. Then we went to the Post Office to check our box, just in case there was anything... and there were thirteen cards, all from the UK, posted between November 30th and - astonishingly - December 17th.  And one card arrived in our letter box outside our house. 

So in addition to last year's cards, which we always put up as part of our regular decorations (since the majority arrive in January), we have MORE new ones than usual before Christmas this year, displayed on a couple of bookcases:

Rather than rambling on for longer, I will end this post with a photo of our living room a week or two back when Richard put a fire - complete with crackling noises - on our television. 

It almost made the room feel warmer:

Wishing peace and blessings to all for this most unusual Christmas season. 

Happy Christmas 2012

So, it's Christmas Eve. For anyone wanting to read about our year in a nutshell, here's a link to this year's Christmas Newsletter on our family site.

The cake is, at last, iced:

..although I had begun to wonder if my home-made marzipan would ever dry out. And there was a near disaster when a packet of cornflour, which looked almost EXACTLY like a packet of icing sugar, was accidentally used in the first batch of - well, royal cornflour, I suppose. Happily we had another packet. 

Gifts are wrapped:

...although, as ever, the Cyprus post has been rather slow and not everything has arrived. But that's okay. We don't mind if the Christmas season lasts a bit longer! 

Another batch of mince pies is made: 

... by Tim. Usually I make all our mince pies, but yesterday afternoon I developed a short-lived tummy bug, and although I'm over that now, I feel decidedly fragile and rather weak.  Richard had the tummy bug overnight, and has not got up today.

The stuffed turkey is in the oven, to be carved tonight, re-heated tomorrow.

... however, we had to ask a friend to drive Tim and me to Metro to pick up our turkey, as Richard was unable to get out of bed.  Then we found that they had run out of sausagemeat, although they had assured us that they did not need to be ordered. At least they said they had run out... until I was quite assertive in a way that does not come naturally to me, and somehow they managed to find some... which had been ordered by someone else! I could hardly refuse to accept it at that point.

So, all in all, it's been quite an 'interesting' day. We hope that tomorrow will be rather less so...

Happy Christmas!

Christmas tree, with a little help...

Last year, I asked for help from my three small friends (and their mother) when putting up our Christmas tree. It worked so well that I suggested they might like to help again this year. They seemed quite enthusiastic, so before they arrived this morning I got out the various boxes containing our artificial tree and ornaments.

Sheila and Katie managed to get the trunk and base together without my assistance, which is just as well since I'd completely forgotten how to do it. Helen, who had removed all the branches from the box and piled them randomly on the floor, helped me to look for the letters which showed where each branch went. Here she is with a 'D' branch, one of the biggest ones:

Elisabeth, who is two-and-a-half today, was a lot more helpful than she was last year, and quite understood the importance of figuring out which branches went in which slots:

When all the branches were in place, the bigger girls made sure they were firmly fixed, then started putting little ornaments on the tree:

Unravelling the lights wasn't too hard this year, as we'd managed to pack them away properly, so I placed them around the tree then moved it over to our usual spot in the corner near a power socket. Katie, once again, was the most enthusiastic about decorating the tree thoroughly:

I had even found a red felt shawl thing which we wrapped around the base to make it look slightly less unattractive...

... or more garish, depending on your viewpoint. 

Here's how the tree looks after dark, with the lights on:

Although we've been given two Christmas cards, and a third had arrived in our mailbox today, I don't suppose many will arrive before Christmas. Last year, the majority of our cards arrived in the middle of January. We'd undecorated by then, so I kept them, deciding to use them as decorations for this year. More and more people are sending electronic cards or email greetings now, anyway, but we like having a display of cards above our sliding doors: 

.. and behind the piano: 

I wrote our cards this year on Sunday and Monday, and we posted the ones to the UK today. We seem to send fewer and fewer cards every year: this year it was only 39 to go in the mail.  I hope they'll arrive before Christmas.

Twelfth Night already...

I don't know quite how it's happened, but tomorrow is Epiphany, the twelfth day after Christmas. And that means that, slightly confusingly, tonight is Twelfth Night. As explained here, Twelfth Night precedes the twelfth day.

According to one ancient tradition, Christmas decorations could be left up until Candlemas, early in February. But according to other traditions, they must be taken down before Twelfth Night... or stay up all year. I'm not one to feel bound by traditions; taking decorations down on January 5th always seemed like a good idea, since otherwise there's a risk that we stop even noticing them, and then they might still be there by Easter...

So, I was going to take everything down today. 'Everything' being our smallish plastic tree, a few pieces of tinsel, a small stylised Nativity scene, and several mini-wreath candle holders. And our Christmas cards. And there's the rub. This morning I walked down to our PO Box, and awaiting me were six more Christmas cards. From people who had taken the time to write them, and spent the money on stamps... and it seemed wrong not to have them on display for at least one day. I thought I might re-define Twelfth Night as tomorrow night just for once.

But, I have to admit, it makes me feel uneasy to do so. Evidently I am steeped in tradition far more than I wish to be. Something feels wrong about having a Christmas tree still up when Epiphany arrives even though in some cultures - though not, surprisingly, Cyprus - Christmas is celebrated on 6th January.

So I think I will take everything down and pack it away. Perhaps I'll keep the cards in a stack and look at them from time to time before I finally recycle them. It's the thought that counts, after all; friends and relatives thought of us when they wrote the cards ,and I thought of them when we opened and read the cards. The newsletters, from those that write them, will remain in a folder to browse at leisure.

As for where the past week has gone.. I really don't know. Somehow it feels like considerably more than a week ago that Tim, Stephen and Dulcie departed for the UK. While they were here, I took over a hundred photographs. Since they left, I've taken about five, of which three are below - just for the record.

On New Year's Eve, around 5.30pm, we had arranged a Skype call with several of my relatives - including Daniel and Tim - who were having a late Christmas get-together:


Then, when we said goodbye, we drove to our friends' home for a New Year's Eve get-together. Lots of good food:


...and some board games, which I quite forgot to photograph. I was extremely
tired by 11.00 but managed to keep going until midnight, when we said 'Happy new year' to each other, and came home.

On Saturday I was still rather tired, and did almost nothing. Sunday evening our friends came over for bread and cheese and leftovers (most of which they brought with them). After they had gone, we played a game of Settlers by Skype with both Daniel and Tim, who were spending a few days together:


So that was the weekend.

On Monday, it rained hard almost all day, flooding several homes in Larnaka, stranding some cars, and leaking through the roof over our stairs. Not as badly as it did before Richard and his friend made some repairs, but there's still one place which nobody has yet been able to fix. We filled two buckets of water from the drips...

And suddenly it's the end of Wednesday.

Writing Christmas cards, and a rainbow

Living in Cyprus, we have to ensure that Christmas cards to the UK are sent in reasonable time, with the hope that they might arrive at least a day or two before the 25th. I know that many people are well-organised, and sent out cards on December 1st. I am not one of their number. But kudos to those who do.

I did actually write our annual newsletter about ten days ago. But I wanted our sons to check it first; then it required some tweaking. It was Friday last week before it was finally printed. I thought I might write cards on Saturday, but somehow didn't get around to it... however, Sunday, I determined, would be The Day. Richard was out at a VHF radio course all day, and I wanted to get them in the mail today.

I knew it was going to take me a few hours, so, of course, I found several other vitally important things I needed to do instead. Some of which were indeed important and others which weren't. The sky was grey, and it was rainy and windy so I didn't plan to go out anywhere. But by 10.30am I still hadn't started on the cards.

I decided to turn the heating on for an hour's boost - it was that chilly - and make myself a cup of fruity tea.

Then I just wondered if any email had arrived in the past five minutes - as you do - and sat down at the computer. And browsed Facebook, And started playing one of those fast-moving silly games that I do at least limit to weekends.

Then suddenly my computer screen went blank.

It was a power cut. The first one we've had in a long time. And while I don't wish to spiritualise everything, it did feel as if God was taking rather drastic measures to ensure that I finally got started on my card-writing...

Despite the greyness of the day, and the rain, there was enough light in the dining room without using electricity. And the radiators had at least warmed up, and I'd made my hot drink... so I gathered my resources:


Cards. List. Newsletters. Address book. Pens. And the hot fruity tea.

It's sad that I think of card-writing as a chore. Once I've started, I love thinking about our relatives and friends, despite their being thousands of miles away, as I fold the newsletters, choose the cards, and write the addresses.

Last year (and I find it interesting that it was also on December 12th), I did something of a production line system for writing Christmas cards, adding all the addresses at the end. My fingers were cramping by the end, so this year I decided to do one card at a time. It worked considerably better.

After an hour, I'd finished about fifteen cards. I had decided to reduce the numbers somewhat; last year I posted 69 to the UK and wrote 29 for local people. In the event, I only gave out about half the local ones - people went away, or we didn't see them, or I forgot. Lots of people don't do Christmas cards any more, anyway.

I decided that if I hadn't heard from someone for three years, I would not send out a card. Of course I don't only want to send cards to people who send them to us - people can get in touch in all kinds of ways. But if I haven't heard a thing from them in the past three years, I think it's probably safe to assume that they don't particularly want to hear from us... that cut the numbers down somewhat.

Happily the electricity resumed after about an hour and a half. I took a break for some lunch, and noticed the sun coming out briefly. For a few minutes, there was a rainbow:


Then I got back to card-writing, with a cup of coffee and another hour's boost to the central heating. Unlike last year, the cats showed no interest until Tessie decided to come and help towards the end:


Even with reduced numbers, I had 51 to post, but I only wrote five for local friends. If I decide to write some more, I still have plenty.

Then, feeling virtuously efficient, I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online at Amazon.co.uk and Play.com.

This morning, the skies were blue, the rain had stopped. After a couple of hours of housework - rather necessary, inside and out, after the stormy weekend - I had a pleasant twenty-minute walk down to the Post Office where I bought stamps and then spent half an hour sticking stamps and air mail stickers on to my 51 envelopes.

Waiting in the PO Box were some Christmas cards from friends and relatives who are a great deal more efficient than we are. When I got home, I found the ones we had been given by local friends already, and discovered that there were ten altogether. Rather than risk losing them amongst other paperwork, I decided to hang them up.

The annual Christmas card writing day

My neck is aching a bit this evening, and my right hand feels a bit sore. One of my fingers feels as if it's about to develop a blister. Why, you might ask? The reason is that although I do a great deal of writing, it's generally - to be literally accurate - typing. During the vast majority of the year, my hand-writing is minimal.

But, since I finally finished the newsletter on Thursday, Richard popped to the office to print 100 copies of it this morning since he'd been too busy yesterday. He then went to spend the rest of the day working on King Malu. I'd had grand ideas about writing all our Christmas cards before the end of November. And then during last week. I even thought I might post the ones to the UK at the start of last week. It didn't happen, of course. And the last posting day is creeping up.

I've posted cards as late as about 20th December sometimes, and they've still arrived on time, but I would really prefer to send them earlier. Like Monday. And since I really need to allocate a whole day to writing our Christmas cards and folding the newsletters, and we're out to lunch tomorrow, it had to be today.

Over the years, I've learned to be reasonably organised about this. It doesn't come naturally to me, so I have to be fairly strict about keeping lists of addresses - in my little red book - and who we've sent Christmas cards to each year - in a bigger red folder. While we were in the UK in September, I bought a good number of cards which I liked - better value and much nicer than most of what we can buy in Cyprus. And I recently ordered some more return address labels from Vistaprint - a company which apparently doesn't have a very good reputation, but I've always been pleased with the service.

So, around 11.30 this morning - after doing a bit of shopping, and checking email, and Facebook, I could procrastinate no longer. Since Richard wasn't coming home for lunch, I set everything out on the dining room table, along with the obligatory cup of coffee:


At 11.45 I started at the top of my typed list in the big red folder, and wrote some cards. Of course, I think about each person as I write them. Sometimes I add a little extra note. I fold a newsletter to put inside the card, then write the name of the person on the front - on a sticky label, if the envelope is too dark, seal the envelope, and put a return address label on the back.

By 12.15 my hand was already starting to ache a little. I had done fifteen. Richard printed me 100 newsletters, and I expected to use most of them. It was going to be a long day.

I took a five minute break, then continued for another half hour. I managed sixteen that time. Perhaps I'd got more into the routine of writing, folding, sealing and writing again. I made some cheese on toast, then - not wanting to disturb my endeavours - ate it in the computer room, while I read some more email.

Naturally the cats were most interested in what I was doing. They're not allowed on the table, of course. They know it. But it doesn't stop them:


That was Sophia, at about 1.30, when I'd done another couple of batches. Then Cleo arrived;


She is bright enough to know that the red folder is of supreme importance, so she sat on it. She didn't realise I'd taken out my reference list, so I could check off each name as I wrote the names on the envelopes.

I kept going. It wasn't until I had nearly finished that Tessie appeared, and decided it wasn't really all that interesting:


At last, they were all done. 69 cards to post to the UK on Monday, and 28 for local friends. I suppose it's a bit odd that we still send over twice as many to the UK as we do to here, even though we've now lived here for twelve years. But about twelve of the UK ones are for relatives, and another significant number are very dear friends we have known for more than twenty years, some of whom have come to stay with us in Cyprus. Then there are a handful of people who we met here, but who have now returned to the UK. And there are some people who we've mostly lost touch with, but I don't want to lose contact altogether. The list has reduced quite a bit since we've been here, as people have moved on and not given us their new addresses, or perhaps we haven't heard from them in years and finally decide to give up.

Having written all the cards, I took another short break. Then came the last stage: writing addresses on the ones that have to be posted. That's what made my neck start to ache. I put the cards in alphabetical order (approximately) then went through my address book, finding and copying the addresses. I suppose it could be more automated if I kept the addresses on computer and we printed labels, but we tried that before and it never seemed to work very well. Besides, I do like thinking of everyone again as I write their addresses.

Tessie decided I had been doing boring things for too long, and came to sit on the address book:


But I persuaded her that my lap was more comfortable, and finished the last few.


I have a large number of cards left over - probably enough for next year. What worries me, though, is that I have seven copies of the newsletter left. There should have been one in each envelope, and there are 97 of those. So I should only have three left. It's possible, of course, that I somehow managed to leave one out...I can't believe I left out four. And there's no way I'm going to open every envelope to find out!

Christmas card

Our first Christmas card arrived this week. It's from a relative who always sends cards early, but I don't ever remember one coming in the middle of November.

It prompted me to think about Christmas again, although I don't expect any more cards for at least a couple more weeks. Tim has booked his flights home, so we're looking forward to seeing him. And of course I did make my Christmas cake. That was my gesture towards Christmas preparations. Oh, and we did sent a combined birthday/Christmas gift to Daniel some weeks ago. Too late for his birthday, but it may arrive before Christmas.

Today I made a small order from Amazon. I was going to order something from the Book Depository too, but while I was browsing, it went down for maintenance.

I need to make several more Amazon orders for various relatives. I need to make some mincemeat, and Christmas puddings. I must write our newsletter for this year, and send out cards, most of which will go to the UK. I don't usually think about this at all during November, and then rush to get it all organised in the first week of December. Usually overflowing into the second week. And maybe the third.

But it's possible I shall be away for the first week of December, so I'm trying to focus a little more on the fact that it's only a little over five weeks until Christmas....

I know some people seem to have everything prepared by about September, but I shall never be amongst their number. However, I'm quite enthusiastic about the thought of being ready by the end of November. If only I can stop procrastinating...