What a dreadful situation

 It is very hard to stay positive today with numbers of infections in Cyprus roaring away and England announcing ( at last) restrictions are to be re- introduced Wednesday of next week.

It’s a bit bloody late now mate.

That’s not to mention France and Germany who have been high news in the media, and everyone else.

Thinking about numbers is mind blowing.

Whatever normality we try and keep I sometimes think who do we think we are kidding.  

But, like millions of others , we knuckle down and learn to adjust to the ‘new’ norm, which now seems to be used as some sort of sick modern phrase.  Not one I have particularly taken to.

I don’t usually use my blog to have a rant but just couldn’t help it this morning.

Just to mark the day complete we have started making preparations to get our driving licences exchanged in line with the law and so I have been sorting out documents that we will need.

We are still enjoying sunshine and spend most days outside, so being a Saturday thinks glass of wine is in order.

Very best of luck to everyone and let’s hope people can stick to the rules and stop this virus from spreading any further.

I will be back soon, hopefully in a better frame of mind.

Stick to the day job!

 Yes,I think my sketching skills need some work putting in on them.

Before ........

Maybe I should have left it alone.

Oh,well, onwards and upwards. I am not going to let one small sketch ruin things.

I maybe can do better with the family tree.  

I was inspired by a post from an Australian friend of mine when she posted one that had been done for her father.

We had our first roasties from the new oven yesterday. Wow, what a delicious meal. Mini roast with chicken and roasted vegetables on the side. 

I did say I was going to keep the oven clean so will get on today to give it a spruce up.

We have been living off the freezer for a couple of weeks.

Every year when we approach the August holiday season we always stock up on food to avoid having to go shopping.  Well this year we sort of overdid it, thus living out of the freezer.

Only about five more days to go and we can go visit our butcher!

I have a feeling I may have mentioned this before, but then I have been known to repeat myself.

I finally worked out how to knit the draught excluder without having to use four needles.  That would have been a bit complicated. But anyway, it is now underway.

One of my mitts is completed and cardigan really looking good.

So, generally, all’s well with the world.

Off to clean the oven!

I enjoy a bit of chaos!

 On the proviso it is fairly organised at the same time.

My brain in chaotic which is why I am forever making lists to keep myself in check, seems to work for me.

Mr D says he thinks it is a touch of OCD, but where would we be without my lists?

One example is that because of the virus and various states of shielding, restrictions etc we have increased our cooking ( also with the use of an oven which actually works). With that being the case we have increased not only our stock of different flours but also a collection of herbs and spices.

In the kitchen. We have a glass fronted cupboard and said herbs and spices lived on the first shelf, sort of eye level.

It wasn’t really a good way of working, we had to move half a dozen to find what we wanted. So, I had a bit of a brain storm this morning.

I found an empty top drawer in the unit and decided to utilise it.  Having scrabbled around and found some (matching) plastic containers and, hey presto, all fitted away nicely.  We can also see the label on each jar - you may think I am slightly mad, which is as maybe but I am quite happy with the result.

Perhaps I should explain about ‘eye level’ and ‘top drawer’, we are both fairly tall and are getting a bit old to be bending to retrieve bits and bobs in the kitchen.

Now most of the hard work has gone from the garden I have started a couple of new projects, one being Mr D teaching me to play chess.

We got the chess set years ago but just never got around to playing.  It was only yesterday we noticed that half way down the left hand side one of the squares is the wrong colour!  Bit late to send it back now so will just have to get something to cover it.

Armed with my new, super duper face mask I made a journey of great importance ( and an acceptable risk) to go to the local wool and whatnot shop where the wonderful Jackie kitted me out with not one but three lots of wool and all the needles I need for the various patterns.

I would have had these needle years ago but went the way of the charity shop before we came to Cyprus.

This was all in an effort to avoid the virus which is running amok locally.

We also went on a small supermarket run at 7 this morning to pickup some essentials.

As usual the veg was awful so we stopped at another shop on the way home, wonderful display of fruit and veg.  Looking tasty and fresh.  But the best bit is they had risotto rice.

Well, in the words of Jamie (Oliver) you will have no trouble finding because no one else wants it.

Not true, we have been looking for at least three years we should have some fun making the two cheese risotto.

We do have a rest from meat every now and then.

Well, it’s been lovely as usual but I really must get on with at least one of my hobbies! Hope to see you soon.

Here we go again ...

 I may sound selfish but we always knew as soon as the government of Cyprus opened the airports that infections would rise.  And, sure enough, they have gone from about 1,000 in June/July to 2,500 now with the numbers going up by over 100 a day.

And just to add to the chaos there was, apparently, a huge engagement party in our local area last weekend  with staff being brought in from local restaurants and bars.

The government has also given way on the restrictions on number of wedding guests.  Are these people mad!

So, we are back to firmly self shielding.  We did it before and now we do it again.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen department we have had an interesting week with breakfasts after raiding one of our receipt book.  Scrambled eggs with anchovies, poached  pears with ice cream, to name just a couple.

Mr D has found a way to download books onto the Kindle, and is happily ploughing through the Game of Thrones books.  

Having watched the TV series, he recons the  books are far better.

Meanwhile, I am pressing on with my knitting and have resurrected my family tree.  Not sure how far I will get with it.  I did quite a lot before but got stuck.

No pictures today, but garden looking good and mini fruit trees coming along really well. 

More news soon, need some more readers though.

New oven

 It is amazing what you can do with a new oven which works!

Scone anyone?

In a field near us

 There is lots of work going on.

In one field the beans have grown at an astounding rate

and are now being picked by the Asian women in the lovely pointy hats they wear to shield the from the sun.

They will soon be in the shops and seem to be a main veg in Cyprus.  They taste quite sweet, a bit like garden peas but shaped like a butter bean.

The next field has a mixture of established olive trees on the road side which, judging by other fields,will be ready for harvesting any day.

The man who owns the field told Mr D that the olives this year will be sent to England.

This is a manic time for olive pickers, olives not sold to shops are taken to the press where the oil is produced.

We have never ventured inside but on some days during this season there can be as many as 30 to 40 vehicles waiting with their loads at one time.

The olive field also has avocado trees which have been grafted onto other trees over the last few years.

Their harvest season is going on now but the magic has not worked to make them soft, I don’t know how that is done!

If you look very carefully at lower middle you can just make out a pear on the tree,not a good picture but the best I can do on my iPad.

Hope you have enjoyed our little jaunt.  Of course, there is lots more going on in fields, but this is just a peek close to home.

Winter is coming!!

 As they say in Game of Thrones....  well, we are ready for whatever it throws at us this year.

The knitting is growing...

The log burner is waiting....

And the First load of lemon wood has arrIved and is neatly stacked ...

It is hard to believe we will, at some time, be heading for cold wet weather when it is still so warm.  I am not in a rush for it but it will be a bit of a relief when it does arrive.

I had a lovely long chat with my daughter today WhatsApp, which we have finally got u0 and running on my phone.  She has just has a week’s holiday in Cornwall and in spite of the rain she looks remarkably well rested.

Just wish she could get out here for a break.

Maybe next year to celebrate my 70th!

I have been taking loads of pics, and when I have sorted them out will post some on here.

This weeks lunch outing was at Finika Restaurant in Polis.  We used to go there when we first came to Cyprus (we had our 8th anniversary this week) but they closed for an apparent refurbishment. Well,that took 18 months and reopened a year ago, but what with one thing and another we have not managed to get there.

It was amazing, the service, the food,the ambience, we could not have asked for better.  One of the reasons we like going out for a late lunch is we usually have the place pretty much to ourselves, which serves us just right.

This weeks choice is. going to be Pantellis out on the Polis to Paphos road.  They advertise fish and chips, which is on of me favourites.  They also brag a couple of pool tables so that should be a bit of fun!  Will let you know how I get on.

Well, better get on with my knitting if  I am to finish by Christmas.  Have a good week.

The old and the new, the fast and the slow

 Going back a bit to ‘how does your garden grow’, I was thinking this morning what to write in my blog and went into the garden to get some inspiration.

That done, together with a few more photos, I looked through some of the pictures I have put together and thought you may like a walk down memory lane, and also some new stuff.

The Old

We have had the Passion Fruit plant for about three years.  I spent the first couple of years trying to get it to grow up the car port legs without much luck although I did get one fruit in the first year.

Anyway, I was watching a gardening programme some months ago and the clever Charlie Dimmock was talking about creeping plants and her advice was take them out sideways, not up. They don’t like it.

Well, I had nothing  to loose so I moved it over to the front fence and it taken off from there.

The best thing is this morning I have counted no fewer than four fruits, and that’s only the ones I can see.

The New.

We had ordered an orange tree last week when we were at the nursery, and I got a telephone call on Friday to say it had arrived.  How exciting.

We went to collect it yesterday and also get a new pot for it.  Have you seen the size of the pot?  Marianna at the nursery could have got in it!

Well, not being one to hang around we brought it straight home and got it in it’s pot, but first we had to move several pots.

While we were At the nursery I was also tempted to some hyacinths, I love the fragrance of them but will have to wait till spring For them to flower I suspect.

The Fast

28th August

15th September 

4th October 

Even though these are in my garden, I was still amazed at the dates when I went through the pictures!

I know things grow fats in Cyprus, but this is just silly, in a lovely way.

The Slow

Not much t say about the slow, except to tell myself sometimes to slow down and take it a bit easy.  I am not a child in a sweet shop!

Have a good week, and enjoy the slightly cooler weather.  Thanks for reading.

Invitation

 A few days ago I posted an invitation on a Facebook page for people to drop in and have a look at this Blog.

Well, I couldn’t believe nearly 100 people did and over the next few days there were still a fair few people looking.

Wonderful, I hope people found it, if not interesting, then at least a tiny bit amusing to see what goes on in our garden.

It has been a good week and the temperature has gone down by a few degrees which has made like much easier.

I was thrilled yesterday morning when I checked the garden to see one of the new lemon trees has blossom on it.

Also the autumn veg which I planted on Monday is looking very happy.  Everything seems to be on a mini scale but as there is just the two of us it is good to grow but I don’t want to set up a veg market!

We broke cover and went out to lunch in Polis on Wednesday at Moustakalis.  I think the last time we had lunch out was months ago.

People seem to have relaxed about the virus but we are still very nervous as we are both ‘high risk’, but don’t want to get paranoid.

The knitting is coming on and growing at a fair pace.  Mr D seems mesmerised by the actual art of the knitting needles.  I did offer to teach him but my offer was declined!

My daughter was supposed to be here this week but cancelled and went to the West Country instead as a matter of safety.  I miss her like mad but we will see her when things have improved, keep the faith.

We ordered our first loan of wood of the year the other day and will get another load in a few weeks.  Most suppliers ran out last year and we thought we would be prepared, seems a bit silly at the moment but won’t in November, which is when we had our first fire last year.

In the meantime we will continue to enjoy autumn and look forward to celebrating eight years of moving to Cyprus.

Off to make breakfast and then. A little trip to the butchers.

Stay safe and keep up with the social distancing.