A wet week, and some clearer flamingoes

After a fairly dry and mild few weeks, we've had rain again. Not the more normal torrential downpours that we used to experience in Cyprus, but the more useful British style rain, that is continuous for hours, with grey skies and a general chill in the air. On Wednesday it had been cold enough overnight that when I changed our duvet cover, I put both the thin and the warmer one together, to make an extra-thick covering at night.

Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of steady rain. Sheila and I had a brief conversation via mobile phone texts, deciding that we would not venture out to the Salt Lake trail, which would undoubtedly be very muddy. However we thought we would have at least a short walk in the park. 

It's hard to capture an image of rain... this is a puddle and the white dots are, I think, rain falling: 

I was wearing a light waterproof jacket with a hood, Sheila was armed with an umbrella:

We walked for half an hour or so, but it wasn't very inspiring. It rained off and on for most of Thursday, and Friday too.

This morning, however, dawned clear and sunny and we set off for the usual trail. It was rather muddy in places so we didn't go particularly fast, but managed 8km, plus the distance to the trail (about another kilometre from our house). 

Flamingoes, once again, were in evidence, and came out a great deal better in this photo. I like seeing the wind farms on the hillsides too:  

There really do seem to be thousands of the flamingoes this year... 

Afterwards, we walked to the fruit stall where I bought some tomatoes on special offer, and then saw a crate of mangoes for one euro! I managed to give some of them away, but still had four large mangoes - over 2kg - to process fairly quickly as they were a bit bruised. So I made another batch of mango chutney today. As well as three Christmas puddings, a crockpot curry for the evening, and some more dehydrated fruit (including a little mango). 

Another 4k walk around the Salt Lake trail...

In last week's post about Summer in Cyprus, I mentioned in passing that I walked 4km of the Salt Lake trail last Saturday with my friend Sheila. In the interests of accuracy, I should say that it was actually a 2km stretch that we walked - to the Airport Road and back again - but I did, in fact, walk more than that since it's a little over half a kilometre for me to get to the trail - and, afterwards, I went straight to the froutaria since I knew I wouldn't get there later.

I didn't take any photos of this walk, which was enjoyable until my foot - the one where I broke a couple of toes nine weeks previously - started to ache. And I was feeling extremely hot and sweaty by the time I reached home... and, worse, despite mostly walking in shade and wearing a sunhat, I developed a migraine within an hour or so. I took some Solpadeine and was fine later, wondering if I might have done better to take some sunglasses.

I didn't think to take any photos last week, so when I decided to repeat the experience this morning (Sheila regularly walks at least 8km first thing, but I'm not that ambitious...) I started out, having reached the trail, by taking a picture:

(It looks a bit fuzzy in this size, but if you click on the photo the enlarged size is much clearer) 

We didn't get very close to the lake, and I forgot about taking any more, but it does at least show that it's still pretty full of water after the wet winter we've had in Cyprus. Sometimes it dries up completely by about May.

We walked the same path - it's shadier than going in the other direction, but it was getting quite hot by the time we returned to the entrance shortly before 8.00am. Sheila had walked 8km before I joined her, so did at least 13km today. Five total (including getting there and back) was more than sufficient for me, but I was very pleased that my toes did not bother me at all. Not even the slightest discomfort. Tomorrow it will be ten weeks since I broke them, and I was beginning to wonder if they would ever be completely better. I'm very pleased that they are.

I was, again, extremely hot and sticky by the time I got home; I had breakfast and plenty of cold drinks, then got in a cool shower. I've been using the air conditioning too, but despite all that (and despite remembering sunglasses) I started another migraine. I never have coped well with getting over-heated - this is the main reason I don't go sailing with Richard. Still, heat-related migraines do seem to pass fairly quickly, unlike the ones brought on by eating anything containing MSG or equivalent.

Now that July is about to start, with - pretty much - guaranteed heat and humidity for at least a couple of months, I'm very thankful for a relatively cool house, and that shops etc open early enough that I can usually be home well before 8.00 if I must go out.

I don't think I'll be taking any more walks, for the sake of walking, until the Summer has passed. Still, it was nice to be out and very encouraging to feel that my toes are better at last.

Spring, we hope, is finally here in Cyprus

It has been the longest, coolest winter I can remember since moving to Cyprus over fourteen years ago. 

Of course, we expect a few days of chilly temperatures during January and February, and a bit of rain, off and on.  But this year we had two months where it was, almost continually, cold. 

I should perhaps qualify for those coming from countries where severe frosts, and perhaps ice and snow are common during the winter. It was never THAT cold in Cyprus (other than in the mountains).  I don't think the night-time temperature dropped below about 3C, and the daytime temperature was usually at least 8C. We had some sunshine too, in between some of the showers. 

But in a country with tiled floors, windows that don't always fit well, and not much central heating, it felt cold. Very cold. I wore at least three warm layers all day long. We used our extra-thick doubled duvet for much longer than we usually do. We've used a great deal more gas (for our central heating) than ever before.  There were a couple of days at the end of February when it seemed to warm up a little, only to have yet more rain and cold nights at the start of March.

We need the rain in Cyprus, of course. The reservoirs in Paphos are now full, which is great; the country should at least be well-supplied with water for 2012. And I do like the cold more than the heat of summer. 

Still, it's nice to have some more reliable sunshine, and to find that we can leave doors and windows open without the entire house feeling like a fridge. A couple of weeks ago, we finally got around to buying some bedding plants to replace the ones that withered away with the heat last summer.  I particularly like purple petunias:

Antirrhinums usually do well too, so I bought one for the planter outside our front door, and a couple of other rather pretty plants... unfortunately, I'd forgotten that local cats (including ours, sometimes) tend to sit in this planter so the plants already look a little squashed: 

It wasn't really until March 20th (the first official day of spring) that we started to feel some real warmth. I've only been wearing one warm layer for a couple of days now, with an extra one for the evening. Today when I popped out to the local supermarket, I saw some rather attractive orange flowers: 

The wildflowers are blooming everywhere too, giving the typical 'yellow' appearance to fields and waste ground:

And these:

And these, which are my favourites: 

I noticed a fine display of nasturtiums too: 

It would be wonderful if these spring-like temperatures could remain for a few months, before we have to shut all the doors and windows again just to keep the house a little cooler during the summer....

A brief visit to Agia Napa

Last week, our friend Alison was here to help with the year-end accounts for Richard's work. All was completed in record time, so Friday was a free day. The weather was a little warmer than it had been, and the sun was shining... so we offered to take her out for the morning. Alison had never been to Agia Napa, which is about forty-five minutes away from here, and a popular tourist resort. We would never go there in the summer when the town is packed with people on 16-30s type holidays, along with vast quantities of intoxicating substances, both legal and illegal. 

But in February, rather like the last time I was in Agia Napa - just over a year ago - it's quiet, almost empty. 

Our first stop, as usual, was the monastery. This time, it was open so we wandered in. We were intrigued by this animal's head and had some debate about it; a brochure explained that it is supposedly a boar's head:

Here's a view of the cloisters:

Inside, there was still considerable renovation going on, so there wasn't a whole lot to see, but still, it was a peaceful place and good to spend a few minutes wandering around. 

Just outside the monastery entrance is my favourite gnarly tree: 

And, as usual, there were some rather lovable kittens who would love to have come with us. Mostly they moved too rapidly to be photographed, but I was rather taken with this one: 

We decided to walk down to the marina. Richard always likes to look at boats, I like the sea (and sea-breezes) and Alison was happy to see anything new. At least, until she spotted the rather gaudy boat approximately in the top middle of this picture: 

We wandered around, then stopped to watch some men who wanted to get a fishing boat onto a boat trailer, without getting their feet wet. They did manage eventually! 

We then looked for an ice-cream place, but almost everywhere was closed. Eventually we found one cafe that was open, which sold dessert-like ice creams. Alison had one, but Richard and I opted for coffee instead. 

Then we drove home, and I took a picture out of the car window. I didn't really capture the beauty of the day, or the sun glistening on the sea, but there's perhaps a hint of it: 

And here, less beautiful, is one of the small electricity plants for the island: 

Going to Agia Napa for a few hours off-season makes a pleasant outing from Larnaka; it's about 45 minutes' drive, so not something we'd want to do often, but around once a year is fine for me. The only time we do anything 'touristy' is when we have visitors! 

Walk to the Kamares Aqueduct in Larnaka

It was about ten days ago that I went for a walk with friends around part of the Salt lake nature trail. We had planned to walk as far as the aqueduct, but left later than intended, and met the other friends part-way along. I commented at the time that I had never actually walked as far as the aqueduct.

So, when today was evidently going to be another warm (for January) and sunny day, I agreed to walk there..

Like yesterday, there were huge puddles everywhere:

And, yes, the sky really was that blue.

It's good - from the perspective of the island's water supply - that the ground must be so water-logged that these haven't drained away or dried up two days after the last rain. But it's rather worrying from the perspective of new mosquito breeding grounds appearing in so many places.

There was a mini waterfall with some rushing water, too, a little further along. Last year, apparently, the children splashed around in it and had fun. But it's fenced off now; it did look rather dangerous. So they were dissuaded from going down there.

Elisabeth had sat happily in the buggy for the first kilometre or so, but was eager to walk for a while. And Helen was starting to get tired. So she climbed in:

I suppose three kilometres is quite a way for a three-year-old, although she has done it before. Katie and Lukas were ahead when we caught sight of the aqueduct not far away:

According to Wikipedia, the Larnaka aqueduct (known locally as 'Kamares') was built in 1747 during the Ottoman empire, and was used to transport water until as recently as 1939.

Lukas immediately decided to climb part-way up the side of one of the many arches:

He's wearing a white shirt, near the middle of the photo.

Meanwhile, Sheila and the three girls walked across a plank bridge, beside yet another newly-formed large mosquito haven puddle.

I stayed with the buggy, and attempted to catch the sunlight just shining through one of the arches. I probably should have used one of the manual camera settings...

Katie wanted to stand next to Lukas, so Sheila helped her up:

But she didn't like it, and quickly came down again. So Sheila decided that she would climb up herself. Elisabeth put her arms out and said 'Up!' - so I lifted her up, and she sat there too:

It was all very pleasant, and we stood there chatting for a while.

The only problem was that, it being January, none of us had thought to take water with us, and we were all getting a bit thirsty. And we were nearly 3km from home. So the walk back was harder work, with Elisabeth wanting to be carried, and Helen insisting on being in the buggy for most of the way.

But we made it. I was quite surprised to see that it was 12.30 by the time we were sitting in our friends' kitchen, enjoying glasses of water. We had been out for two and a half hours. I was then a little shocked to find how very tired I felt by the time I walked the last 500m or so to our house.

A Sunny Stroll around the Salt Lake at the Solstice

(Apologies to those who are cringing at the excess of alliteration in the title!)

December in Cyprus can be chilly, but equally it can be sunny and warm during the daytime, with temperatures hovering around 20C (68F). Yesterday morning was one such beautiful day, and I was invited by some friends to go for a walk around part of the Salt Lake trail. It's not far away, and I hadn't been for a while; I knew the Salt Lake had plenty of water after the rain last month.

We could see the flamingoes almost as soon as we arrived - probably thousands of them:

They return year by year, although it's hard to see how such a relatively small stretch of water can provide all the food they need.

The sun was out, the sky was blue, and there were some pretty clouds over the mountains:

I don't know how far we walked - perhaps a kilometre or so. We weren't walking fast. There were small children with us, who kept stopping and starting, and we were deep in conversation, as ever. We walked towards the aqueduct, until we met the other family who were joining us, then we turned around and walked back.

At one point two of the children ran toward the Salt Lake, shouting... and the flamingoes took flight:

If you click on the picture to see the larger version, you can see how startlingly pink they are.

Somehow I didn't manage to take any photos of people, other than this one of Elisabeth, who is now 18 months old:

.. and this one of the bird-watching place, where some of us walked to and then took a break:

One month. Just one.

It was with a sense of shock that I realised, a few hours ago, that it's one month until Christmas. Yes, November has raced past, and we're almost in December.

All I have done in preparation for the festive season is to bake our Christmas cake, just over two weeks ago. I've only remembered to 'feed' it once. I haven't started the mincemeat, or the Christmas puddings. I haven't looked for Christmas cards, I haven't done ANY Christmas shopping, and I haven't thought about what to say in this year's newsletter.

In my defence - if I need one - I should say that it doesn't feel like winter. It doesn't even feel like November. And that's after thirteen years of living in Cyprus, so I'm not expecting the grey, rainy gloom of England in November. I did, however, expect a few rainy days, and a distinct cooling of the temperatures.

Today it is, actually, a tiny bit cooler than it has been. Sufficiently so that I'm now wearing my very useful light-weight zip-up jacket - made of thin cotton, just enough to keep out a chill. And I had to use the water heater twice this morning (forty minutes) before the water was hot enough for a bath. But we're still sleeping under the thin duvet, and I haven't yet worn a regular sweatshirt.

In the UK, it isn't grey and gloomy - it's cold and frosty. Some parts have had snow, others are just bitterly cold, although sunny. Here in Cyprus, we're still getting daytime shade temperatures of about 24C. Yes, that's chillier than it has been, but it's considerably warmer than it usually is at the end of November.

I am aware that the climate in Cyprus is much more like that of Bethlehem than that of England. Jesus probably wasn't born in December anyway (would shepherds have been sitting out on hills, cooler than the coastal regions, in winter? I doubt it, somehow). But even adopting the traditional date, it wouldn't have been grey and miserable as England can be. I should be used to sunshine as Christmas approaches, to seeing oranges and pomegranates as signs that winter is here, rather than expecting bare trees and freezing nights.

But even in Cyprus, non-religious Christmas cards show snow and robins and people warmly wrapped in thick coats ... I gather some of them do even in the Southern Hemisphere when Christmas comes in the middle of summer. Tradition is hard to break out of. And so, I must look at the calendar rather than the weather, and remember that I do have some Christmas baking to do.

Tomorrow. Or should that be 'avrio'?

Shopping in Larnaka

Some people like shopping. Others even talk about 'retail therapy' .. although it took me many years to realise they actually meant it, rather than (as seemed more likely to me) needing some kind of therapy after the pain of shopping.

I do like shopping online. I like bookshops too, particularly second-hand ones. And I don't mind walking to the local fruit shop or bakery, or even the small supermarket nearby, with a list, and an eye for possible extra bargains, and spending no more than five minutes in the shop.

Indeed, now we're only going to the supermarket about once a month, I don't even mind that.

But occasionally, when Richard isn't spending the day at King Malu, we think about things we need for the house, and then set out in the car for an hour or two of shopping. Inevitably I start with some enthusiasm, start to get pretty fed up after about an hour, and come home tired and headachey when we've finished.

Today was no exception.

What we went to do:

1) Look for some kind of sealant for around the bath
2) Look for something to discourage pigeons from roosting around the pipes near the roof
3) See if we could find out how much a new shower door might cost

I had a few other things in my mind, vaguely, if we had time or went near anywhere suitable:

4) Have a look for a few extra bedding plants, now the weather's less hot
5) Look for new trainers for both of us
6) Go to the Thrift Store to see if they have any centrifugal juice extractors

So.

We first went to NEK, an old-fashioned kind of DIY/hardware shop which Richard had been to regularly, but which I had never before visited. A nice place, no nasty fluorescent lights, various interesting bits and pieces.

We found the stuff to go around the bath, so that was good. I also spotted some of the multi-pin hanger things that seem to be necessary for our walls, since we have a couple of photos in frames which have been waiting for about six months to be hung up.


We found some chicken wire, after much searching, and Richard bought a metre of it.


We saw, very inexpensively, some of the little white sock things that we always need to go around the bases of our dining room chairs, to stop them screeching on the floor... but couldn't decide whether we needed 25mm or 22mm. So didn't buy any. (For the record, Richard was correct, and we should have bought the 22mm size).

Then we wondered where to look for shower doors. Ours were a bit old and manky when we moved here, with a crack that's become worse over the years, and now the other end has broken. It would be nice to replace them. We drove past a few shops that didn't look hopeful. I remembered a shop that sells baths near where we used to live, so we drove there... only to find it closed. Not closed down, just shut because it's the weekend.

So then we tried Andreou Bros, which is a rather bigger DIY shop with nasty lighting, so we didn't stay long. They did have a couple of shower curtains, but no doors of the kind we want.

As we were wondering where to go next - and my tolerance of shopping and driving was starting to get lower - Richard had a phone call from his optician. The varifocal sunglasses he'd ordered were ready. So we drove towards town, parked on a side street about half a kilometre away, and walked. It was rather too sunny for me, but we managed to stay in the shade for much of the walk.

So Richard collected the sunglasses. And then, because we were near a small shoe shop which I've found very helpful (and good value) in the past, we went there. Richard found some suitable trainers pretty quickly - the only ones left, according to the man in charge, and he could have them for 17 euros, although the new price is 35. We have to trust that this is so, but 17 euros isn't a bad price and they fit well and looked OK. No box, but that's not a problem:


However, there was nothing I liked in my size, although the guy tried to selll me various other shoes which I didn't like at all..

By then, I was feeling very tired indeed and had had more than enough of shopping. But we thought we'd just pop into the Thrift Store, in case they happened to have any centrifugal juice extractors.

As it happened, they did - but it was a huge, three litre one which would look ridiculous in our kitchen. So, although it looked almost new and was a very good price, we decided against it.

However, Richard spotted a Breville sandwich toaster, for nine euros. It looked in very good condition too, still with its box, and instructions. He very much likes toasted sandwiches, so we decided to buy it. If there's any problem we can return it on Monday.


We didn't use it at lunch-time, because my home-made bread is far too big for it:


- though of course we could cut them to size. This afternoon I popped around the corner to Orphanides Express and bought a loaf of ready-sliced bread that looked about the right size. We'll keep that in the freezer for Richard to have midnight toasties... or perhaps our evening meal on Sunday.

By the time we got home I was feeling exhausted, rather dehydrated and a bit headachey. We did, at least, succeed in the first two items on the list, and half of the fifth, and I suppose we succeeded in the sixth too since we did look for juice extractors, even though we didn't find a suitable one.

Bedding plants will just have to wait for another occasion.

Warm November weather in Cyprus

After tomorrow we will be two-thirds of the way through November. And while the weather here in Cyprus is undoubtedly much more pleasant than it was during the summer, it still hasn't turned into winter. My memory is of that happening after about the first ten days of November, previous years. One day we would be going around in tee-shirts and sandals, the next we'd be digging out socks and sweatshirts. We'd move from our thin duvet to the thicker one, and wonder if we needed them both together. We'd suddenly remember that Richard hadn't yet serviced the central heating, but really wish we could switch it on anyway.

However, that hasn't happened so far this year. The temperature today was 27C in the shade. I'm wearing jeans rather than shorts - I've been doing so for a month or so now - but have not yet got out any sweatshirts. I do have a very light-weight zip-up jacket which I'm wearing, sometimes, in the evening. And I'm using my winter dressing-gown first thing in the morning. Overnight temperatures are about 14-15C, and we definitely need the thin duvet.

But I've only once needed the electric water heater. Richard's planning to service the central heating tomorrow, although even he hasn't suggested that we might switch it on, so far. The ten-day forecast shows sunshine, with daytime temperatures of 25-27C.

There are times during the summer when I rather wish we were in the UK rather than Cyprus. But right now, hearing of frosts and rainy, grey days in the UK, I'm more than contented to be living in Cyprus. No doubt a cold spell will hit eventually, but in the meantime this dry, warm weather is just about perfect.

Not quite enough sun for our solar heating...

It IS the middle of November. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that, for the first time in MANY months, our hot water wasn't really very hot this morning. The day was a little overcast for the first few hours, so I suppose there just wasn't quite enough sun. I tried it two or three times before giving in and switching on our electric water heater for twenty minutes. That gave sufficient extra power to make the water more than hot enough for my shower, and since then the sun has been out, so it's fine.

Since we don't have anyone in our guest flat at present, Richard has temporarily altered the switching on the solar panels so that all the power goes into the hot water tank for the main part of the house. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference that makes.

In another couple of months I expect we'll routinely be using the electric water heater for 20, maybe even 40 minutes morning and evening. Once Summer ends in Cyprus, the weather does begin to feel more autumnal fairly rapidly. It won't be long before we need our warmer duvet at night.