Flamingoes at the Cyprus Salt Lakes, as winter approaches

We've lived in Cyprus for seventeen years, now. It should no longer come as a surprise that Summer gives way to Winter in a remarkably short space of time. But, somehow, I never expect it.

We had some rain during September, but it wasn't until about a week ago that a very heavy downpour, lasting at least half an hour, left some significant water in the Salt Lake:

A couple of days later, my friend Sheila commented that she had seen flamingoes. They are migratory birds, either from somewhere in the Middle East or Africa... and they always appear (as I mention every year) almost as soon as the Salt Lake has enough water to support them.

But... how on earth do they know when it's time to come to Cyprus? It's not as if it's the same date each year.

If anyone knows, please do leave a comment!

On Tuesday we walked towards the Airport Road rather than the aqueduct, so as to get a better view of these amazing pink birds - and sure enough, there was a row of them in the distance, which can just about be seen as pink dots (possibly better if you click the image to enlarge it)

The sky was a bit hazy in the early morning, but the reflections of the hills in the water were quite stunning. Alas, my camera doesn't capture them well, but this gives a general idea:

Is it really getting cold? It seems that way to me,  although the daytime temperatures are still hovering at about 20C. In the house it's cooler; I switched from shorts to jeans about three weeks ago, and today am wearing a sweatshirt too.

I put the 'thin' duvet on our bed about two weeks ago, when the night temperatures dropped from mid-twenties (Celcius) to about 17-18. That might not sound cold, but we definitely needed some kind of cover, more than just a sheet or duvet cover.

A couple of days ago, I switched to the 'warm' duvet cover.  The kittens like the duvet very much...and so do we! 

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). 

Autumn in Cyprus and the changing of the clocks....

I seem to say it often around this time of year - so I hope it's not a sign of age. But I really don't know where the time goes. Tonight the clocks go back an hour in Cyprus (and indeed everywhere in Europe) signalling the Autumn season with darker evenings ahead.  It's just this week that the temperatures have dropped below 30C at midday and it begins to feel as if Summer might finally have come to an end. 

A Facebook friend commented that, looking at photos I uploaded recently, it seemed as if we'd done a lot of eating in the past couple of weeks.  This is reflected in the selection of pictures below... but it's not all we've done.  Still, even in the hotter weather of the first part of October, I did find myself doing a bit more preserving, partly using my new dehydrator, and partly taking advantage of very inexpensive fruit from a local fruit stall. With 13kg plums to use, I made my first ever plum jam:

I hadn't tried it before, under the impression that I wasn't very keen on it. But I don't eat jam anyway, other than on rare occasions... and it made a change from my usual apricot and strawberry. I was surprised to find that it was actually extremely good. 

A few days later Richard celebrated his 55th birthday, which has seemed like something of a milestone. He said he'd like to eat out, so we went to a new Mexican restaurant we had seen, not far from where we live. It has the not-terribly-inspiring name of Nuevo Mexico... a menu much like that we had previously enjoyed at Aztekas, and a rather garish Ikea-inspired decor. The waitress was excellent, the presentation of the food superb.... let down by lack of hotness, both temperature-wise and spiciness-wise. The desserts, however, were unbelievably good. We ordered two to share, including an out-of-this-world chocolate fudge cake:

Richard's second 'birthday cake', complete with candles, was a pizza cake created by friends who we had dinner with a couple of days later. The base was a giant chocolate chip cookie, the taste amazing:

Then on Friday for our cell group I made a couple of chocolate fudge cakes, decorated with dehydrated peaches. It was pretty good too, but vanished rather quickly with 16 of us involved. I didn't think to take a photo until we were half way through the second one - it tasted rather better than it looks!

And so to this week... on Friday we celebrated, in a low-key kind of way, 15 years since we first arrived in Cyprus 'for a couple of years or so'. It was a little cooler, and some of the plants on our patio looked a bit tired so we popped to the local plant shop and picked up a few bedding plants to brighten it up a little.  At last I've adjusted sufficiently to feel it 'right' that bedding plants go out in October rather than April or May.  Richard wore jeans all day and a sweatshirt in the evening, although I haven't reached that stage  yet.  But I did agree that we needed to put the thin duvet on the bed last night - and was thankful that I did. Night-time temperatures are down to about 17C. 

Given the number of extra calories I have consumed recently, including rather a lot of 'testing' of the dehydrator, it's as well that I've now got into the habit of walking, fairly briskly, at least 5km with my friend Sheila, three times a week.  Just occasionally, there's a wonderful bonus as when we rounded a bend in the path and were greeted with this: 

Words could not begin to describe it, and the photo is totally inadequate - all day, my mind kept repeating the words of the song: 'All heaven declares the glory of the risen Lord'. 

Early stages of Summer in Cyprus...

So.. a few weeks ago, I switched to our thin duvet at night.

Then, we started using the ceiling fans a little in the evening.

Then I started making sure I did any household chores/cleaning and shopping first thing in the morning - before about 8.00am if possible, while it was still pleasantly cool.

Then I started keeping my study door open and the ceiling fan on, most of the day.

On Friday I cleaned the air conditioners.

On Saturday, I made our first smoothies of the year:

Watermelon, peach and pineapple. A slightly odd combination, but it worked and they were very refreshing.

On Sunday, I found our frappé maker, gave it a quick wipe, and put it out in the kitchen to use over the next few months:

I had my first frappé too:

I felt hot on Sunday. I was out late morning for the first time in a while, at a group baptism including our young friend Marie... only half an hour or so in the sun, but I felt quite migrainey later.

Still, the sky was blue and I think the sea is beginning to warm up.

In the evening we went to the end of Jacob's 13th birthday party, and stayed on for a game.

Today is a public holiday, for Greek Orthodox Pentecost Monday, also known as Kataklysmos. Richard is out sailing, and I'm having a peaceful day on my own at home. 

Oh, and I finally put on some shorts today. For the first time this year.

Washing our thick duvet...

Life is not all exotic beaches and Greek food in Cyprus...

I have written before about the difficulty of washing our thicker (9 tog) double duvet, which I like to do each summer. Cyprus is a dusty environment, and cats sleep on our bed.. and I've read all kinds of unpleasant articles about dust mites, and the like.

Although our single duvets, and our thin (4.5 tog) double one will go, one at a time, in our washing machine, there is no way that the thick one will fit. At our old house I would struggle to wash it in the bath, which was near the back door, and then lug it outside to the line. No fun at all. At this house, our bath is upstairs, but we do have an outside sink by the washing line.. however the sink is not big enough to take the duvet. So, if anything, it's even more difficult to wash.

However.. this year, a friend mentioned that she had discovered that a double duvet would fit nicely in one of the washing machines at the Larnaka Marina. Since Richard is a member there, we decided to try it ourselves. Of course, being good at leaving things until the last moment, we had not got around to doing this during the summer when it would have made the most sense.

Last week, when the weather turned chilly, I found myself feeling extremely cold at night under the thin duvet. So, finally, on Sunday, we decided to take the duvet to the marina. We even remembered to take some washing powder with us.

Unfortunately, we had not realised that it would not take coins. Richard called the friend who had told us about it, and she told us that we would need to buy a token at the office. But the office is closed over the weekend.

So we came home, and found a single quilt which I have not yet washed this year, and placed it, without a cover, over our light-weight (covered) duvet, for Sunday night. Cleo was happy:


I was too, as it was very cosy, and I slept well.

Richard had the day off on Monday (yesterday). So, mid-morning, we returned to the marina. Just before leaving ,I wondered aloud how we would get the duvet back when it was still wet... and we picked up a large black bin liner. I was rather glad to have remembered that.

This time - after a brief hiatus when we were given the token for a different machine - we managed to get it working. Even with this big machine, the duvet only JUST fit inside:


We went for a walk while we waited for it; the cycle lasted about an hour. It wouldn't quite fit in the bin liner when it was done, but most of it did. We sat it in the back seat of the car:


I wanted to put a seat-belt on it but Richard thought (correctly) that it would be fine.

Rather than lugging it up the stairs - it was still fairly heavy, despite a powerful spin - we hung it out downstairs on our guest flat washing line:


Despite it being a sunny day with a little breeze, it gets dark around 5.00pm now, and the duvet was not fully dry by then. I did manage to flip it over onto another line to allow the other side to dry, but we decided to leave it out overnight and keep the same arrangement with the added single quilt.

This afternoon, about 4.00, I went down to check again. This time, the duvet felt perfectly dry, so I bundled it up in my arms and brought it upstairs. I was going to put a cover on it, and put it on our bed, but this is what I saw:


I didn't have the heart to disturb them. Nor, if I am honest, the energy to try and fight with a clean duvet cover. Wednesday is the morning when I usually change the bedding anyway, so I put the sparkling clean duvet in Tim's room with the door closed... the temporary arrangement will stay in place for another night.

Autumn coming - perhaps - in Cyprus

Two weeks have flown by. We had visitors in our guest flat, and saw various friends as ever... being an Introvert it's hard for me to think of much else. But I was quite surprised to find that I had not written on this blog for nearly a fortnight.

In that time, we seem to have moved from Summer to the start of Autumn in Cyprus. There have been a couple of short bursts of rain, and the humidity has pretty much gone, making the evenings a great deal more pleasant. We have not used any air conditioning at all for over two weeks now; ceiling fans and open windows are sufficient during the day, and the nights are a great deal cooler anyway. The weather site for Larnaka tells me that the night-time temperature is around 18C, which is still warm enough to sleep with no covering but a light cotton sheet, but cool enough that air conditioning would be counter-productive.

Summer really wasn't too bad this year. We had no major heatwaves, and the threatened power cuts were short-lived. The island now has sufficient generators that there have been no further power outages since early August.

I'm still wearing shorts and a tee shirt, and sandals, but it won't be long before my jeans and trainers come out. I do prefer winter clothing, on the whole, despite the fact that it means more laundry. I'll have to find at least the thin duvet, too. The days are getting shorter - by 6.30 last night I was turning on lights and closing the curtains, and this morning when I woke just before 6.00am it was still dark out.

Summer must be just around the corner in Cyprus

Visitors to this island might be forgiven for thinking that it's Summer. Particularly if they come from cooler climes. The sun has (mostly) been shining, and the temperature is pleasantly warm. If only this were, indeed, the weather to be expected for the next few months, Cyprus would be a wonderful place.

I determined, this year to be as ready as possible for Summer.. and also to delay its official onset in our household until June 1st. Last week the thermometer did climb to more than 30C one day, and I still held out. The following day it was back to 27C, which is much more pleasant, with a relatively cool 19C overnight. We still have the thin duvet on our bed. I haven't got out the frappé making machine yet, nor have I blended any smoothies, or run any air conditioning - although we did start using the ceiling fans a little last week. I haven't started wearing shorts yet, either. I abandoned my sweatshirt shortly after we returned from the UK three weeks ago, and put aside my trainers and socks for sandals. But I'm still wearing jeans.

And while it might be obvious to most people that right before summer is a good time to clean the air conditioning units, it's not something either of us generally remembers to do.

This year, I determined to do better. We have some special spray, and the job simply requires standing on a chair, opening a unit, removing the filters, washing out the dust, spraying the filters, then returning to the unit and spraying liberally inside that, wiping away any obvious dust or mould. Then, after five minutes or so, the spray has to be washed off the filters, and I shake them to get rid of most of the water... put them back, find the remote (sometimes a lengthy task...) switch on at the wall, and run for a couple of minutes to distribute the spray and to make sure that all is functioning as it should.

It only takes about ten minutes in all. The problem is that, in all, we have nine air conditioning units. And it's surprisingly warm work. So I've done our dining room, and the study, and also the two in our guest flat which haven't been done for rather longer than we care to think about, and were THICK with dust inside. I was going to do the living room and kitchen ones today, but was rather over-tired. I plan to do the bedroom units tomorrow.

And, although June 1st - ie tomorrow - was going to be my date for allowing Summer to arrive in our home, I think I may be able to delay it even longer. The forecast is for much of the same - no heatwaves imminent at all. I might start making frappés and smoothies just because they're so delicious, but if I can delay shorts, duvet-removal and air conditioning a while longer, it can only be a good thing.

Oh.. and for those wanting to know how Daniel and Becky are getting on, Dan has updated his rather neglected blog, with a post about how he's worried that he's turning into his parents....

Ups and downs in Cyprus..

I don't really know what happened to last week. It was quite a shock to discover, on Saturday, that I hadn't taken a single photograph since Epiphany, nine days earlier. I suppose life was back to normal after the Christmas break, with the addition of a new colleague for Richard staying with his family in our guest flat.. but evidently nothing worthy of recording with my camera.

So on Saturday morning when we went out for a walk with the new colleague and his toddler daughter, and I enjoyed the blue skies, and warmth (for January), I did manage to remember one picture of the Salt Lake, taken from the park area:


I reflected on how pleasant it is to live in Cyprus at this time of year, free from snow and bitter temperatures. It's cool enough to need a duvet at night, and a bit of heating evening and morning, but warm enough that in a sweater and fleece, I felt almost too hot by the end of the walk.

In the evening, Tim suggested another game of Settlers-by-Skype. And even though Richard was rather tired - he had gone back to the office Friday night after the house group meeting, and did not get home until nearly 6.00am!! And then got up four hours later - it seemed like a good idea:


Tim totally creamed us both. For those who know about Settlers of Catan, this was the final board:


Tim played white, and won with 12 points. I had six on the board. Richard had five on the board, and a victory point card. So Tim's score alone was the same as ours added together... a resounding victory.

Late Sunday morning, as with the previous Sunday, I joined my friend Sheila and her three youngest at one of the local parks. Katie (five-and-a-half) is very good with Elisabeth (seven months):


Here they are on video a few minutes later, when Elisabeth was more safely anchored in the swing by her sling:

And here's my youngest-best-friend Helen, who was two in September, also enjoying the swing:


A while later, Sheila handed Elisabeth to me, so that she could climb a tree. I think she hoped I wouldn't be able to get my camera out while holding a wriggling baby, but I did:


Katie and Helen, on a nearby roundabout, were rather worried about this turn of events. And when Sheila reached the top, Katie explained how she could get down again...

... then went a little way up herself. Evidently a tree-hugger:


Little did I know that the spell of pleasant weather would come to a close. It must have rained for most of the night, and most of today too:


I did manage to walk down to the PO Box in a dryer patch this morning, where I found:

- six Christmas cards, some of which had taken a month get here
- the cover for my Kindle, ordered from Ebay on Christmas Day. So that took three weeks to get to Cyprus.
- my Holland and Barrett order, very well packed, all in excellent condition. That only took a couple of weeks to arrive.

There were also a pile of bills, and our Barclaycard statements for December. I can see why today - particularly given the grey skies, chilliness and almost continual rain leading to more leaks over our stairs - is considered 'Blue Monday'. Still, if today is the most depressing day of the year, the next few days should get better...

Disclaimer: I am well aware that compared to the vast majority of people in the world, I am very well off. A slight leak in the roof is nothing, compared to serious flooding in parts of Australia and elsewhere. Grey skies and rain are decidedly preferable to snow, and we desperately need rain in Cyprus. Even bills aren't too bad when we're able to pay them... and yes, I am thankful for my family, for good friends, for living in Cyprus, and - today in particular - for knowing that six more people thought of us around Christmas time, not to mention the safe arrival of my ordered goods.

But I reserve the right to use a bit of hyperbole...

Sunshine in Cyprus

The sun has shone all day. As it did yesterday. And Friday. And, indeed, most of last week, ever since the brief storms with rain and hail last Monday.

So much for the weather prophet who insisted that it would pour with rain mid-week.

It's predicted to continue this way - with temperatures up to about 22C during the daytime - for the next ten days.

Dressing in layers is important at this time of year in Cyprus. It's quite chilly first thing in the morning. By about 9am it's usually very pleasant; cool enough to need a light sweatshirt or jacket if sitting down, but warm enough to want to discard it if going out for a walk, particularly if carrying groceries home.

Yesterday I wore a thin sweater for most of the day, but did discard it once or twice. Today I've worn a light fleece, and have removed it several times. Now it's evening, it's cool enough to keep it on. It's not cool enough for the central heating to kick in - it's set to about 15C at present - and I quite like wearing an extra layer. I haven't regretted switching from shorts and sandals to jeans and trainers. Nor have we found the 9 tog duvet to be too warm at night.

The cats, who sprawled out on the floor or on the tops of bookcases most of the time during the summer are now enjoying their winter sleeping places. Cleo can usually be found on our bed, Sophia and Tessie on one of the sofas. Or my beanbag:


Richard had an interesting - and very Cypriot - experience this morning, when he tried to find out how to dispose of some out-of-date flares. Not 1970s trousers, that is, but distress signals for the boat.

Getting chillier in Cyprus

I usually wake about 6.30am at this time of year. Sophia thinks I should get up when it gets light, and mews loudly to let me know. However, today she didn't do her duty, and I was still fast asleep at 7.30am. I came to, aware of a loud noise somewhere. The dustmen? No, not that kind of noise. A neighbour with a power tool? No, not that kind of noise either. It was some kind of banging, which sounded as if it were somewhere quite close.

Then I heard rain pattering against the window, and some wind. Perhaps, I thought, it was an empty dustbin blowing about.

So I got up, and pottered about, and started my day.

It wasn't until mid-morning, when I looked in our outside letter box that I spotted it. A bill from the gas man. In our previous house, we had small gas canisters which had to be replaced fairly frequently. Here, because we have gas central heating as well as gas rings for cooking, we have a large barrel, which has to be topped up by a man who comes in a truck. He doesn't come in the summer. But around this time of year, he starts appearing. Theoretically it's about once a fortnight, but in practise it's nearer once a month.

The bill was stamped with today's date, and time of 7.31am.

Evidently the banging was the gas man at the door.

Since it's Cyprus, and people mostly don't pay bills immediately, or even on time, we won't have to pay this until next time the gas man comes. And I suppose Richard will have to service the heating system at the weekend.

The weather this year really has changed rapidly from summer to (almost) winter. All right, so temperatures of 20C aren't exactly chilly, and even the night-time 16C isn't THAT cold. But in a house with tiled floors, it doesn't feel at all warm.

It's only a week since I put our thin, 4.5 tog duvet on the bed. I wasn't even sure we'd need it at first. I assumed it would be fine for at least a few more weeks.

I was wrong.

Today when I changed the sheet and pillowcases, I also decided to put the warm 9 tog duvet on the bed. I don't think I've ever done that quite so early in the year. In 2007, I put the warm duvet on three weeks later.

I wore a sweatshirt all day today, too.

The forecast is for sunshine and warmer weather in the next few days; I just hope it doesn't get as hot, again, as it was at the end of October.

The end of Summer in Cyprus

It's strange how quickly the weather changes between the seasons in Cyprus. A week ago, it was still hot and somewhat humid. Richard and I both caught some kind of 24-hour stomach bug over the weekend, which wasn't very pleasant. Mine started with feeling very shivery on the Friday night; I could hardly stop my teeth chattering, and was convinced it was getting chillier already. But the thermometer on the kitchen scales read 26C even at 8pm, and Richard assured me it was still warm. He's the one who usually wants a sweatshirt and other warm clothes long before I do.

The weekend stayed warm, too. And Monday. On Monday afternoon I took three small children for a walk in the Salt Lake Park, since their parents were both ill; one with something like we had, and one with a flu bug like the one I had a fortnight previously. It was about 4pm when we went out, and sunny. Perhaps a little less humid, but certainly not at all chilly.

Tuesday morning I walked to Tots with the same three children, as their parents were still not well. We went somewhat slower than I usually would, but still I was very warm by the time I got home.

Then, within the space of about half an hour, the sky changed from glorious blue to this:


Richard was on his way back from Nicosia, and phoned to say that it was hailing: the fields were all white. By the time he arrived home, it started raining here. For fifteen minutes, it poured down. Then, as usual in Cyprus, it stopped and the sun came out again. At first it felt quite humid, as the rain evaporated, but that eased, and by the evening, there was a wonderfully refreshing breeze.

Tuesday night we almost felt chilly. So on Wednesday, when I changed the sheets, I found our thin (4.5tog) duvet and put it in a cover. I thought it might be too warm, but it was wonderful. It rained more in the afternoon.

On Thursday, rather than getting dressed in shorts and flip-flops, I got dressed in jeans and trainers. I didn't feel too warm at all. It rained again. And on Friday. And Saturday. And today. As I type, I can hear thunder rumbling around the hills, and hear a patter of rain outside. It's gentle rain, exactly what we need, and I'm enjoying it. Today I've been wearing a light fleece. The temperature must have dropped ten degrees or more in the past week.

The only people I feel sorry for are the families who came out from the UK for their half-term break, hoping for warmth and sunshine.

Summer in Cyprus - time whizzes by

Ten days since I last posted. I had to check my Google calendar to remember what we've been doing - and it's not much. Summer is undoubtedly here. My jeans and trainers have gone away, and I'm in shorts, a tee-shirt and flip-flops. The air conditioning is running in my study at the moment, as the computer is on and computers don't like temperatures over 30C.

There don't seem to be any more mosquitoes about - they don't like hot weather. Instead, there are cockroaches. Ugh. Since we're up a flight of steps, we only get flying ones that manage to get in the house, and they're the ones about to die anyway, or so rumour has it. The last couple of mornings I've come down and both times discovered two roaches, lying on their backs, giving a last wiggle. The yogurt pot technique works well, and has even been adopted by a couple of friends.

So.. a summary of the past ten days.

Monday 1st June: last proper meeting of the Larnaka Christian Writing Group before the Autumn. A half-hour walk to get there, but one of the members kindly offered me a ride home. I accepted gratefully since the weather seemed to have turned into summer overnight.

Tuesday 2nd June: I helped out at Tots, as usual - the local church-run mother-and-toddler group. I mainly work in the kitchen, plus clearing up at the end, but also chat to some of the mums when I have a free moment. I enjoy it, but the hall is warm. It closes in July and August, which is just as well. A ten-minute walk to get there on a good day, but it took me more like fifteen in the hotter weather. I was offered a lift home which I gratefully accepted.

Wednesday 3rd June: I change the sheets, wash sheets/pillowcases and towels, and clean the bedrooms on Wednesdays. And we have the bookkeeper at Richard's office to lunch. So cleaning and lunch preparation (even though it's just bread and cold things) takes most of the morning, now it's hotter.

Mid-afternoon, Richard took the older son of some friends sailing as a birthday treat, and I spent the afternoon with the rest of the family. Then we stayed to dinner, and a game of Carcassone. Very enjoyable, but I was shattered by the end of the day.

Thursday 4th June: my last morning until the Autumn for looking after a home educated boy who lives in Nicosia, while his mother attends a meeting in Larnaka. Not that I do very much - he brings some work, and some books, so I just offer space, chat a bit, and make him a drink. But it does mean I have to be up, dressed and breakfasted before 8am.

Friday 5th June: In the morning, we did a biggish shop at Metro supermarket, and I did some ironing. In the evening, some other local friends came for a meal, with their visiting young adult nephew. We had a good evening, and played a round of Tabloid Teasers, which they hadn't played before.

Saturday 6th June: Richard went sailing with two youngsters. I washed and hung out the throw on my study sofa, as it was looking pretty grubby. I went to the Froutaria and bought some more fruit and veg, and made us three more litres of lemonade (lemon squash) since we were running low. In the evening, Richard and I watched a DVD.

Sunday 7th June (Greek/Eastern Pentecost): Richard went sailing with some people whom he met at a gathering of Larnaka home educators. I decided I would go to the service at the new building leased by the Larnaka Community Church congregation. It's a little further away than the Greek Evangelical Church, where services used to be held, but I got there, walking, in fifteen minutes, which wasn't too bad in the heat.

Can't say I enjoyed it, other than the part where the nine-month-old baby of some friends wanted me to hold her for about twenty minutes. It was too hot (air conditioning is not yet installed) and sticky (chairs still have plastic covers, since there's work being done on the ceiling still). There were far too many people for me to feel comfortable, including, I suspect, quite a few visitors. The PA system howled around three or four times, which was very painful, and the whole atmosphere was too emotional for my liking. Still, it was interesting to see the new building, converted from a gym in the past few months, and to catch up with one or two people I had not seen for a while.

Monday 8th June (Kataklysmos): this is a major public holiday in Cyprus, celebrating not just Pentecost but legends to do with Noah's flood, since Larnaka was, reputedly, founded by one of Noah's grandsons. Booths selling local sweets and cheap toys (etc) are set up along the sea-front all week, and it seems that half the island is present. That doesn't include me. I went once, years ago. Never again.

Richard, however, went sailing once again, for the annual Regatta. Yes, that's three days in a row. It's a good thing I like my own space, and am very happy being at home with just the cats for company. I didn't do anything much - I did some cleaning and laundry, reviewed a couple of books I had finished reading on my book blog, did some more reading, wrote some email, spent time on Facebook and forums, and so on.

Tuesday 9th June: Tots in the morning, again. Even hotter than last week, so I was very glad of a lift home with some friends, who came in for a drink of lemonade and a chat for an hour or so.

Wednesday 10th June: I went out to the Froutaria shortly after 7.30am and noticed that there were some apricots on special offer. They will probably get cheaper still as summer progresses, but I decided that if I was going to make apricot jam it should be now, rather than when the weather is even hotter. So I bought a couple of kilograms of apricots, among other things, and made double quantities of my jam recipe, which produced about eight jars. I think we now have enough jam to last the next year or so, which is good.

I also made another jar of lemon curd although it looks as though lemons won't be available for much longer. They're basically a winter/spring fruit.

I didn't finish all that until midday, which gave me an hour to do my sheet-changing/laundry/bedroom cleaning, plus taking a shower, and organising cold lunch for Richard and the bookkeeper. I banked on them not arriving until at least 1.15, which is just as well as I wasn't ready until then.

This morning: I finally got around to ironing and folding the sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers from the guest flat, and also defrosted the little freezer in there as it was getting iced up, and didn't have anything in it anyway.

So.

Interesting.

I had felt as if I'd done almost nothing in the past ten days, but checking the calendar and completed task-list, it's more than I thought. The problem is that when I've been busy in the mornings, I don't seem to be able to do anything constructive in the afternoons - well, other than filling water bottles and watering the plants, when the mains water is on (every other day), and catching up with email, and Facebook, and forums. And chatting, from time to time, with Dan or Tim online. And of course sorting out our evening meals, but there are so many individual portions of leftover food in the freezer that I haven't been doing a lot of actual cooking.

Tomorrow evening we'll be going to a local independent house group, Saturday Richard will probably sail again, Sunday we're invited out to lunch with yet more friends, Monday I'm out for lunch again, this time with the Larnaka Christian Writing group. Oh, and I need to ensure the guest flat is clean, and make up beds, and buy a few groceries for it since our next visitors are arriving early on Tuesday morning.

May hurries by in Cyprus, and Summer approaches...

I'm not quite sure what happened to the first couple of weeks of May. It's a transition month, weather-wise. I'm still wearing jeans in the daytime, but no sweatshirt. For the past few days, I haven't even added an extra layer in the evenings. We're still using the thin duvet on the bed.. but I don't suppose it will be for very much longer.

Richard has started using water from the fridge to dilute lemonade rather than water at room temperature. Today I found our frappé maker, deep within a cupboard, and gave it a wipe, finding a place on the kitchen counter-top again. We had our first frappés of the year after lunch.

And, you might ask, what has been going on in our household in the past fortnight? I find that question hard to answer, but here are a few random highlights:

- a family from the USA stayed in our guest flat for just over a week. They found a place to rent very quickly, as well as some used furniture to buy, and yesterday Richard helped them to move. The husband will be working with Richard's organisation in a technical role. The rest of the family will be home educating - that's yet another home ed family in Larnaka.

- I looked after a three-year-old for one morning while the rest of her family were at a conference in another town. It was both enjoyable and tiring. I find three-year-olds delightful, and am always happy to read a story again.. and again... and again... On the other hand, I really do like my own space and time alone, and was not at all upset when, after staying for lunch, her family took her home again.

- We enjoyed a Sunday lunch gathering with Richard's colleagues and their families, where people could meet the new folk and we could relax together.

- We attended an independent Christian house group starting with a meal, rather like the one that used to meet at our house which (sadly) has now stopped. A big advantage of this newer one is that it is not affiliated to any one church congregation; another plus point is that children are involved too. It meets fortnightly rather than weekly, which may also be a good thing.

In addition, life has continued as usual... I've started trying to work out what to do with our family web site which has been at Geocities for the past nine or ten years. Geocities is closing later in the year, so if the site is to continue it will need to be moved and probably redesigned. This blog continued where the site left off.

Last night we went to play 'Settlers of Catan' with some local friends. Tonight some other local friends are coming for a meal, and to play 'Scrabble'. On Saturday Richard's taking a family sailing; I shall probably go along too, and sit on the beach with whoever is not sailing at the time. Soon it will be too hot for me to be out in the daytime at all, so I might as well make the most of this ideal weather where the seashore breezes make the temperature perfect.

On Sunday evening some relatives are coming to stay in the guest flat, so I'll be organising meals for them for the next ten days. We then - currently - actually have two weeks where the guest flat is empty, the longest gap so far this year. There are still a few gaps over the Summer months too, although we're having more visitors in July and August than ever before.

Life in Cyprus is - on the whole - very good.

Spring ambles towards Summer in Cyprus

When we first came to Cyprus, we didn't think Spring existed here. There are no snowdrops, no daffodils, no primroses. No clear season when apparently comatose trees and bushes suddenly show signs of new life. No glorious blossom bursting into life.

But now we realise that of course Cyprus does have a Spring season. It might feel like a British summer at present, but it's the best time of year as far as I'm concerned. Summer will come all too soon, with heat, humidity, and general apathy and tiredness on my behalf. But right now, we're at the height of Spring. How to tell? Here are a few pointers that happened this week:

• I switched the 9 tog duvet for the 4.5 tog duvet on the bed
• I stopped wearing trainers and socks, and got out my sandals and flip-flops again
• I stopped wearing a sweatshirt all day
• We kept windows open until it started to get dark
• We switched the central heating off entirely
• I had to start watering the plants on the front porch
  
• Richard didn't need to use the electric water heater to supplement the solar heating for his evening shower
• I saw this blossom near St Lazarus Church in Larnaka town:

It's not summer yet, because I'm still wearing a sweatshirt in the evening; I do need to use the water heater for my morning shower; I'm still wearing jeans rather than shorts, and Richard hasn't yet shed his sweatshirt!

Yet more rain in Cyprus

I think it has rained every day this week. Some light, some heavy. Sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes for considerably longer. Sometimes accompanied by thunder and lightning. None of it, surprisingly, at the annoying angle that makes it come through our roof over the stairs. So all in all, I've been very thankful for the rain, albeit a bit sorry for anyone visiting Cyprus in the hope of some winter sunshine.

Mind you, the sun does usually shine in between the rain bursts. And while it's been on the chilly side, it's not really cold. I'm still going around in a warm fleece and sweatshirt, running the heating for an hour in the morning and a few hours in the evening, and using our double-thickness duvet at night. But people who arrived in Cyprus more recently, and tourists, seem to be going around in tee-shirts and shorts during the daytime. I have evidently acclimatised, at least somewhat.

I scan the online versions of the local newspapers every few days, to see what news there is about the drought situation. The Cyprus Mail a couple of days ago informed us that water is now almost double the levels it was this time a year ago. So that's encouraging.

Even more encouraging is that the current Minister for Agriculture appears to be a man with some sense and foresight. Plans for further desalination plants for Cyprus are not going to be cancelled this time, despite good amounts of rain.

Is it Spring in Cyprus?

When we lived in the UK, I loved the first signs of spring. Snowdrops poking through the ground herald the end of winter, then daffodils, and primroses tell us that spring is on the way. The trees that all lost their leaves start to show new life. This winter has been particularly cold in the UK this year. Temperatures below freezing for several nights, and more snow than has fallen in at least 18 years. Nothing to the cold we experienced when we lived in Colorado (in the USA) for a couple of years, but still much colder than usual.

Of course, in the UK it's sometimes hard to spot Summer. Spring lengthens, and then Autumn starts, with a few warm days - perhaps - some time in July or August.

In Cyprus it's rather different. Summer is pretty much guaranteed, from early June until late September. There's autumn - of sorts - which means that we start to find our sweatshirts and long trousers again after months of shorts and tee-shirts. We dig out the thin duvets, and get the heating serviced. We might even have to use the electric boost if the solar heating isn't working too well on the water.

We realise it must be winter when we need fleeces as well as sweatshirts, and the thick duvet rather than the thin one. But citrus trees carry on producing fruit, and many flowers still bloom. A few trees lose some leaves in Autumn, but not many. Each tree has its own cycle, and plenty seem to be evergreen.

As for Spring, it's a bit negotiable. There aren't many spring bulbs here; the ground never gets cold enough for them. But this morning I actually felt warm enough to go out to the local Froutaria without a sweatshirt on. There was a pleasant light breeze, and I suppose it was about 18C, but for some reason it felt warmer than it has done recently. For an hour or so, anyway. By lunchtime I put the sweatshirt back on again, and I'm not ready to abandon the thick duvet in favour of a thin one yet.

I mentioned that we used our sole lemon a few days ago. Today I noticed some lemon blossom on the tree:


Walking to the supermarket, I saw plenty of weeds on empty land, which we usually expect in March rather than February:

and also these rather attractive flowers, which I assume are some kind of marigold. They look bigger than French ones, but smaller than African ones.


Geraniums and bougainvillea are also colourful at this time of year, and many of the citrus trees are still laden with fruit.

This is a time of year when I really like being in Cyprus.

First week of February in Cyprus

Another week has sped past; I'm not entirely sure where it's gone. While the UK has had snow in the past few days - the most in 18 years, apparently, sufficient for many organisations to grind to a halt - Cyprus has been a pleasant 18-20C during the daytime, and no cooler than about 8C overnight.

It may still get colder again before spring is fully established, and I certainly hope we'll get some more rain. I gather the reservoirs are now close to 10% full, which is around the same level as they were this time last year. There's significant snow in Troodos, which will help as it melts, but we're still in serious drought conditions, with mains water only every other day and warnings to avoid using hoses on cars or patios. Not that our neighbours take much notice of the warnings!

My weeks have fallen into something of a routine. I usually wake up between 6.30 and 7am. I feed the cats, make some fruit-and-green tea, then sit and read, think, pray, and maybe write a bit. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I do some general dusting, sweeping and mopping of the floors around 8am, which takes half an hour or so, put on a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher if it ran the night before, then make fresh juice (apple or orange, usually) and take some, with some coffee, to Richard. Then I have my breakfast, followed by a shower.

On Mondays I put on the breadmaker, and then walk into town to check for mail at the PO Box. If I have anything else to buy in town - stationery, perhaps - I do that too. Then when I get home, around 10.30pm at this time of year, I hang out the laundry then sit down to catch up with the week's accounts on Quicken.

I type in every transaction we make, including cash, right down to buying a couple of bread rolls from the bakery for Sunday evening. I keep all the receipts... what doesn't help is that some shops round down, so that if, for instance, I buy fruit and veg at the Froutaria and the till says €3.97, they'll only actually charge me €3.95. So if the cash balances to within a couple of cents, I'm pleased. If any statements have come, I reconcile them with Quicken; if any bills need to be paid online, I do them too.

Then I read email and forums, and check Facebook, and the blogs that I follow, and check various other sites... until Richard gets home for lunch, theoretically at 1pm and in practise usually more like 1.30. We eat some of the freshly-baked bread, with hummus, marmite, tomatoes, cheese, or possibly (if it's cold) some soup reheated from the freezer.

Richard goes back to work after about an hour, and my afternoons are mostly pretty relaxed: I'm usually at my computer - writing, or doing work on my websites, or (this week) scanning in a lengthy document for a friend using OCR software so she can edit it on her computer. Oh, and I'm determined to learn some more Greek so I'm making the effort to work through the 'Learn Greek' course at the Kypros.org website. I've tried before, and never got past lesson 25. This time I've actually got to lesson 27. It seems to work best to listen to the same one every day for a week or so, until the new words and phrases sink in fully.

This week I also uploaded the past six months' worth of photos to the Kodak Gallery so I could order some prints. I often see Tim on 'Instant Messenger' in the afternoon, so we chat a bit.. and I might play some Facebook Scrabble if anyone else has made a move.

Around 5pm I start to organise our evening meal, and close the curtains, and (if it's mains water day) fill up our drinking water bottles, and anything else that needs to be done. We usually eat around 6.45 or a little later. Dishes go in the dishwasher... this week on Monday we then watched an episode of 'Quantum Leap' from a DVD, then Richard had to do some work (at home). Some evenings I might have more things to do on my computer, other evenings I read. I usually ensure the computer is off by 9pm at the latest.

On Tuesday mornings, I help at the local 'Tots' (mothers and toddlers) group; I have to leave the house around 9am to walk there in time to help put out the chairs, equipment, etc. This week I had some cheques to pay into our bank account, and wanted to ask some questions about Daniel's account, so I left a bit earlier. On the way home I often go to the Froutaria to buy fruit and vegetables that we need, and get home around noon. I'm usually pretty tired by then, so I sit down at the computer and read email/Facebook etc until Richard gets home for lunch.

On Wednesday mornings I make bread again, then I make the bed with clean sheets, clean the bathroom, and also dust/sweep and mop all the upstairs rooms and the stairs, and clean out both cat litter trays. I usually make some soup - in biggish quantities so there's some to freeze - and perhaps also some kind of cake. Wednesday is the day when Richard's office bookkeeper is in; he comes to lunch with us, as do any Egyptian or other visiting colleagues. I also sometimes clean out the fridge, if necessary, and (if I'm feeling really keen) clean some windows or the outside stairs and balconies. On Wednesdays I don't usually switch the computer on until after lunch.

On Thursdays, I now look after an eleven-year-old boy who has recently started being home educated. His mother has a meeting from 8.15am until around 10.30. He usually brings whatever project he's working on, which is usually extremely interesting, and also some books. So we talk a bit, and then when he wants to read, I sit and read too.

On Fridays we always used to go to Metro, our favourite supermarket, taking the car to do a major shop. But in the past few months, we've found we only need to go about once a fortnight. Having a local supermarket and the fruit shop nearby means I can easily pop out for small things we've run out of. So on the Fridays when we don't go to Metro, I either have a few extra hours for writing, or, if there's nobody staying in our guest flat, I clean it. If there's any ironing to be done (and I usually iron pillowcases and duvet covers, if nothing else) I do that on Fridays.

On Friday evenings a Christian house group meets in our home, starting with a meal around 6.30pm. We all do different parts of the meal, but as well as whatever I'm making I have to get the table ready, and clean up afterwards. I am particularly thankful for the dishwasher on Friday evenings!

And so, Saturday rolls around again. I do quickly run the mop over the floor on Saturdays, and also the stairs, and sometimes do an extra load of laundry if the basket's getting full. I often pop out to the fruit shop, too. But I don't have anything much else planned on Saturdays. Richard often goes sailing; this weekend he's doing the second part of the practical section of his 'Day Skipper' course in Limassol.

January seemed to go quite slowly, for once; when I thought back to Christmas it seemed a long time ago. But it's quite a surprise to find that a week of February has vanished already.

Life in Cyprus has a slower pace than life in the UK; people sometimes ask me if I'm bored, or 'what I do'... and when typed out as above, it probably sounds as if I do very little. But I'm never bored, and I must be reasonably busy as I rarely seem to find much time for reading other than an hour or so in the evenings. I like living here, and that's not only because of the lack of snow!

Busy week

It's been quite a tiring week, one way and another.

Richard was away in Egypt for four days, so I was on my own. The first time, really, in about twenty-two years. There have been the odd day or two - when Richard was travelling, and the boys at youth camp, for instance - but I don't think I've been alone with just the cats for four days in a LONG time.

It would have been easy, I suppose, to let the days drift by with no structure at all, but Sophia ensures at least that I get up when I'm supposed to, and eat when she expects me to. Not that I tend to lie in bed in the mornings, anyway; once I'm awake I have to get up.

On Tuesday, as well as helping at Tots and hunting for turkeys, I had to wash my beanbag. The reason is that when I got up, it was immediately apparent that a male cat had got into the house. The cats' feeding dish was totally empty, and there was a dreadful smell in my study. Tessie, our youngest cat, sometimes leaves a little calling card which isn't particularly pleasant, but it's nothing like the stench of a male cat. And I found where it was - a large wet patch on my beanbag. Ugh.

I blotted what I could with kitchen roll, and sprayed with cleaning spray, but it was soon obvious that I needed to take more drastic action. So I found the large plastic sack we were given when we bought the beanbag, and emptied the polystyrene beans into it. Then I washed the cover by hand, rinsed and spun a couple of times in the washing machine, and hung it out to dry.

When I got back from my walking, I aired out the study, but couldn't seem to get rid of the smell. I checked every square centimetre of the floor on hands and knees, and the curtains, but simply couldn't locate it. It seemed worst near my desk. It took quite some time before I finally realised the smell was from the kitchen roll I'd used to blot the worst, and had then - without thinking - put in my bin! Emptying the bin solved that one, thankfully.

By late afternoon it was dry, so I put the beans back (a process which was NOT easy, particularly on my own... but I managed with very little spillage) and all was well.

On Wednesday, I made my Christmas puddings and a little over three kilograms of mincemeat. Remarkably efficient, since I don't usually do anything for Christmas before the start of December (other than the cake). I'm not entirely sure what we'll do with three Christmas puddings and all that mincemeat, with just the two of us, but no doubt will find some way of using them.

On Thursday, I decided to clean the living room furniture with our three-in-one shampoo machine. I'd been thinking about this for some time as they were beginning to look a little grubby, and it's the end of moulting season for the cats. But first I needed to vacuum them. And, procrastinating about both, I realised I needed to clean out some kitchen cupboards.... and then thought of ways of slightly reorganising them.

So I did that, and then vacuumed and shampooed, and then did my regular Thursday upstairs cleaning, and made the bed with clean sheets and duvet cover... it was 4pm by the time I'd finished everything!

Richard got back very late Thursday night - or, rather, 2am Friday morning. We did our supermarket shopping on Friday around 9.30am when he woke up, and bought a couple of chickens since I couldn't find a turkey. He popped into the office for a couple of hours, so I made a pecan pie, having found some pecans at a new local shop that sells nuts and coffee beans. I had forgotten just how long it takes to shell 180g of pecans...

The meal went well, with eleven of us (including two children) sitting down to a feast with a mixture of American and British dishes. We talked about what we were thankful for; and although I am thankful for many things - my family, my health, this house, and much more - the one thing I felt overwhelmingly thankful for, as I looked around the table, was our dishwasher!

Rain, rain, don't go away...

For the past couple of weeks we've had glorious sunshine, almost continually. Well, not at night-time, of course, and as it's dark by about 5.15pm since the clock the sunshine doesn't last that long. But it's been pleasantly warm; yesterday it was more than 25C around lunchtime. I've been wearing a sweatshirt in the evening, and we're using a thin duvet on the bed, but that's all.

However, the weather often seems to break around the end of the first week of November.

This morning, I woke while it was still dark to hear thunder rumbling around the neighbourhood. I thought I heard some rain, too. However the cats were asleep and I really didn't want to get up, so I drifted off again until about 6.30 - later than usual, but Sophia didn't wake me for once. It looked a bit damp outside, with the sky rather grey; as I got up, it started raining again in earnest.

In Cyprus, when it rains, it really chucks it down. As much rain falls in half an hour as we sometimes get in half a day in the UK. And it continued raining for at least half an hour. I had to fetch a bucket to put on the stairs, since the ceiling leaked... but that always happens in heavy rain, particularly if it's windy too. The cats complained that I wasn't switching the rain off, of course.

Then it stopped.

Now in Cyprus, when the rain stops, the rule is that the sun comes out, and dries up all the rain.

But that didn't happen. It stayed grey, and about half an hour later it came on to rain again. Just as heavily. And it continued, off and on, for most of the morning.

We do need the rain. But rain in Larnaka, apparently, doesn't help much. The papers reported at the end of October that while Larnaka and Nicosia had above average rain for the month, there was almost none in the Limassol and Paphos areas where the reservoirs are. So they were still only around 3% full. I do hope today's rain fell somewhere useful. Of course, I didn't have to water the plants, which is a good thing. Nor did any of our neighbours. But they were probably out in the evening, when the rain had stopped, hosing down their patios and pavements to get rid of the mud and leaves that would have fallen...

I wore a sweatshirt all day today. The forecast is for only 13C tonight, so I might change to our warmer duvet tomorrow, if it feels chilly. Maybe it will warm up again... but it feels as if the end of Summer has now gone, and the start of Winter is here. Autumn in Cyprus is something of a non-event, since the trees all have their own personal schedules.

I suppose we need to think about getting our central heating working again...

Eleven years since we arrived in Cyprus

October 26th was a Sunday back in 1997 too, when we travelled to Cyprus as a family for the first time. I was incredibly stressed. I really didn't want to leave our reasonably comfortable home and lifestyle in Birmingham, and the whole process of packing up the house, and deciding what to take was something of a nightmare.

I didn't have a blog back in those days - I don't think they even existed - but I did keep a journal of sorts, and then transferred the contents to our family website - you can read my thoughts and feelings of the time from October 1997 on the RSDT site which still exists, even though I no longer write on it.

We only came for two years, initially. I was going to educate the boys at home, in accordance with the National Curriculum of the UK, for up to nine months before putting them in school. And I was quite sure I would never get used to the heat, or putting toilet paper in bins rather than down the loo, or the mosquitoes.

And here we are, eleven years later. We sold our house in the UK in July 2006, and bought one here. The boys never did go to school; they were home educated until they were eighteen. Far from being socially isolated or backward in any way, Daniel (now 22) is currently living in a community of 350 on the MV Doulos, working as the audio-visual manager. Tim (20) is in his first year at Newman University in the UK, and already has two part-time jobs as piano accompanist to choirs.

We got so used to the toilet paper bins that it's a bit of a surprise not to find any when we're in the UK. We got used to mosquiotes, too. I'm pretty good at catching and killing them in my hand, even - bizarrely - at night, when I apparently manage to get them by sound alone. We no longer react to their bites; they don't even itch any more, but the bzzzz at night is a bit irritating. We have an ultra-violet zapper that gets rid of most of them before they get to the bedroom.

Most surprising of all, at least to me, is that we've acclimatised somewhat to the heat. I suppose it's about 25C today, but rather than feeling hot, it feels very pleasant. There's a breeze coming in my french windows at present, which is almost cool. Not cool enough to put on a sweatshirt, but we're using a thin duvet at night, and I've put away my shorts for the winter.

The day we arrived eleven years ago was the day when the clocks went back in Europe, just like it was today. But whereas this year I could enjoy the extra hour in the morning, I hardly noticed it back in 1997 when we had to change time-zone anyway.

For years, Birmingham felt like home. But since we moved to our own house, Cyprus feels like home at last. Most of the time, anyway.

Here's what our first (rented) house in Cyprus looked like shortly after we moved in. We were only supposed to be able to have it for two years - in the end we were there for nearly nine.


Here's what we looked like in the summer of 1997, shortly before we flew to Cyprus:


... and here's how we look now - taken in April this year, the last time we were all together for a while: