Thunderstorm!

This morning dawned bright and sunny as usual for the time of year. After lunch it did cloud over a bit, as it has done for the last few days, but although I thought we might have a few drops of rain - as yesterday - I was more interested in the way the sky looked. There were a few rumbles of thunder evidently getting closer....

Suddenly it started raining, but not just spotting - it was proper rain and sounded quite heavy. My first thought was for the feral kittens - their only shelter was a cardboard box but that would turn soggy very quickly. It was under some trees, but not enough to stop rain pouring through. So I grabbed a kagoule and rushed out, to find some very wet-looking kittens! One of them managed to find a dry place so I moved some of the others there, but then the rain got so heavy that even that place was getting drips. So they all climbed on my lap and I sheltered them for a bit, assuming it would be five minutes of rain at most.  

Rain and yet more rain

After about ten minutes my legs were getting cramped and my jeans were soaking, and I realised I had only six of the kittens on me. I managed to gather them all up in my arms and move to the steps outside the kitchen, which is pretty well sheltered. I found the seventh kitten already there, mewing rather pitifully, looking as cold and sodden as the others.

Daniel brought me an old towel so I was able to try them one at a time, while the rest sat in a huddle on my lap, gradually warming up. There was thunder echoing all around which slightly worried them, but they were more concerned about being warm and dry; once they were dried they started washing each other and purring.

I stayed where I was for about half an hour, with Tim chatting to me sitting on his windowsill which overlooks the steps. We were amazed at the quantity of rain that was falling - heavier than we've seen for many months. There were several leaks in Tim's ceiling, so he found buckets and cool boxes to catch what he could. He also found a slight leak in the dining room so covered all the computers with plastic sheeting. Of course he had switched their computer off at the first sign of a thunderstorm, and I hadn't turned mine on yet - but we still didn't want them getting wet.  

I won't need to water for a few days....

The patio was soon flooded, and it looked as if our entire back garden was turning into a mini-lake. I suppose that's because the ground was so hard, the water just sat on top. Eventually it soaked in. Of course it's very good for the garden - maybe our grass will even turn green again - and I won't have to do the watering I had planned either tonight or tomorrow! In fact I might not even water on Saturday as it's been so thoroughly drenched today.

After about forty-five minutes the kittens were getting hungry so Tim passed some food out of his window for them, and I decided to go inside. So I folded the towel and left it on the steps, and they curled up to sleep there once they had finished eating. The rain continued heavily for another hour or so, and then it rained lightly for a while - it was over two hours worth of rain in all. Rain at all is almost unheard-of this time of year, rain like this was just incredible. Dan said the roads were flooded several inches deep.

By about 6pm the sun was poking through the clouds, the rain had stopped, and the floods had abated. So Richard found a couple of other cardboard boxes for the kittens, I found them a replacement old plastic tablecloth to put their food on since the original one was so muddy and dirty it was unrecoverable, and I found another one to put over the top of the cardboard boxes just in case it rains in the night. At least it should protect them somewhat.  

Visitors

We've had some visitors for a long weekend, which has been great. They're friends we've known for years, who go to our church in the UK. Their two sons are a little younger than ours, but the four of them seem to get on quite well. Our friends' younger son was captivated by the feral kittens and spent many hours outside playing with them.

They were only with us for the weekend, plus this morning, because the only reasonable flights they could find were to Paphos rather than Larnaka - and inclusive of a hotel apartment. So they arrived in Paphos on Thursday and rented a car to drive here Saturday morning. Mostly we just talked... it's so good to catch up on news.

The weather has been incredibly cool for the end of May. Today it's only about 25C. There have been grey clouds overhead since lunchtime, and there were even a few drops of rain about an hour ago. Our friends said they drove through a thunderstorm and quite a bit of rain on Saturday, when they were near Limassol. Amazing! Usually there's no rain after the end of April, and we're starting to use the air conditioning by the end of May. But other than about three days earlier in the month when the temps got to 30 or more, it's been extremely pleasant. Long may it last!

McKenzy Beach

Yesterday we took our friends to McKenzy beach. Not that it's really warm enough to swim yet, but one of them wanted to get his feet wet in the sea. Then we lay on beach towels and chatted about mutual friends and acquaintances, life, the universe and everything. It was peaceful, and the beach almost deserted. In a few months it will be teeming with tourists but even though this is a bank holiday weekend in the UK, there don't seem to be many visitors. 

Low flying aeroplanes

Actually McKenzy Beach isn't always peaceful, because it's right next to the airport. Planes land by flying just over the sea, so low it almost looks as if they're going to bump the heads of swimmers sometimes.  

Moulinex Hand Mixer

I bought my Moulinex hand-mixer around five years ago, for about £10. Previously I had had larger mixers, the kind that come with a stand and a bowl. However I had found some distinct disadvantages with this type of mixer: for one thing, they either take up a great deal of space on the kitchen work surfaces, or get packed away in a cupboard and then it's a nuisance to get them out. 

Then there's the problem that only one bowl (that supplied with the mixer) will fit the base, so if I wanted to mix two or three things in separate bowls, I had to keep decanting what was already mixed, and cleaning the bowl out. And if the bowl breaks, the mixer becomes useless, unless you can find a replacement. 

With some mixers it's possible to remove the main mechanism from the stand, and use it as a hand-held one, but I never found that this worked very easily - and it occurred to me that it would be much simpler to have a simple hand-mixer that could live in a kitchen drawer, and be used in any bowl without hassle.

• The Moulinex Supermix •

When we needed a new mixer, we checked what was available, saw that hand-mixers were all around £8 - £15, and chose a brand we knew to be reasonably reliable. The Moulinex Supermix Compact 150 came in a simple cardboard box with minimal instructions, but then it's a fairly simple appliance. The main body containing the motor is white, weighing about 750g, with a comfortable grip. 

 There are two types of mixing tool attachment: ordinary beaters, and dough hooks. The tools are attached by slotting them into holes underneath the body of the mixer, and pushing gently until there's a little click which ensures they won't fall out. They can easily be removed for washing by pushing down a button at the front, on the top, which releases them.

• Using the mixer •

To operate the mixer, there's a pale green gently serrated disc near the top of the body, which can be set to 1 for slow mixing, 2 for medium speed, or 3 for fast beating. Setting to 0 switches it off. I find it well-designed, so that it's easy to hold the mixer in one hand, and use my index finger to adjust the speed, depending on what I'm mixing and how thick it needs to be. With something like cream, for instance, it's best to start on a slow speed until it begins to thicken, otherwise cream will splatter out of the bowl. 

 • Effectiveness •

 I find this mixer works just as well as the more expensive free-standing mixers that I've used previously. Evaporated milk will whip thickly in about a minute, and egg white even more quickly. Cream sometimes takes a little longer. On the highest speed, these things will whip to very thick consistencies, with the expected peaks, and trails left by the mixer. 

I rarely use the dough hooks; if I'm going to make bread or pastry, I tend to mix them by hand, since dough can easily get caught up in the hooks, and it tends to take me longer to keep pushing it off than it does to do it by hand. However I've found this with every mixer I've used, it's not unique to this one.

• Other advantages •

 I very much like being able to use the mixer in any sort of container, whether a pyrex jug or a mixing bowl of any size. I also like being able to move it around the bowl, rather than having the beaters only in one place for the whole time, since this seems to me to give a more even mix. I find it easy to use - I just take it out of the drawer, slot in the beaters, plug it in, and it's ready to go. 

 While all these advantages would probably apply to any hand mixer, this one is by far the most comfortable I've used. The balance is just right, the weight is not so much that my hand gets tired, but nor is it so light that it doesn't feel sturdy. The speed switch is extremely well placed for comfort. 

 • Cleaning • 

 Cleaning the beaters is very easy, since they can be removed after use and washed with general dishes. The body can only be wiped clean (when unplugged, of course!) and my one minor complaint is that it's very awkward to clean some little indentations on one side, which are probably air vents, and seem to get clogged up easily with minor splatters of food from the mixer. 

 • Life of the mixer • 

 After five years, it still works as well as it did when new. I don't use it every day, but once or twice a week, on average. That works out to £2 a year (so far) so I consider that it's been extremely good value, and when it finally dies I shall have no hesitation in replacing it with the same model (if I can find it) or something similar, preferably by the same company. 

 • Availability • 

Alas, I can't find any online shops where this particular mixer is still sold, which is a pity as it's such a good model. However it can no doubt be picked up second-hand at many places. I would recommend this (or something like it) to anyone - even if you already have a free-standing mixer, as it's so convenient.

2023 Update

This mixer lasted well until the summer of 2014, so it had an excellent life. I would have replaced it with another Moulinex hand mixer, but was given another model by a friend which still works well. However, I would certainly recommend the Moulinex hand mixer as a good, easy to use and inexpensive mixer that can be packed away when not in use. 

Kittens playing

We still have the seven feral kittens, who I think are now about five-and-a-half weeks old. They are all eating kitty food softened with warm water, and cream cheese; they're also all managing to lap diluted evaporated milk from a tray, although they do still like to have a bottle between them afterwards - for comfort as much as anything, I assume. After their morning feed I wash their faces with a damp flannel, and then they play. Here are five of them involved in some game, moving too fast for the camera really.