Sunday 18th December

Another nice and bright sunny morning prompted us to be energetic for our last morning and cycle.  Up to faros lighthouse, along the coastal path, past the beachfront houses we can only admire, across fields, into the village and home.  A total of 50 minutes and not out of breath!

Full English breakfast at the Kebab Station - our last time eating there for breakfast as they will relocate into the village for the new year, followed by the last tidying up in the garden.  It didn't take long to pack and one suitcase we took back to UK was completely empty.

Taxi pick up for the airport and before we knew it flight was underway and back in Uk in 4.5 hours.  Good Steve won the 'pick the parents up from the airport' reward whilst Emily and Andrew flopped about in front of the television.

Is it good to be back?  Well perhaps the answer will come in two weeks time.

Saturday 17th December

Preying Mantis watches garden labours!

Heavy overnight rain meant no bowls today.  A shame because as well as missing playing it would have been nice to wish everyone festive greetings.

So with the sun shining it was out in the garden and spending time browsing the net.  Booked flights for Lillian to come to Qatar with me in January and then for us to stop off in Dubai for a week on the way back staying at the new Holiday Inn at Al Barsha.  It will be good to catch up with people in Doha and Dubai, especially Tommy and Eliza and the Cracknells.  Expect we will see lots of changes.

A quick trip into Larnaca and then to the Cottage pub to follow Ipswich to a second successive victory.  Times are changing at last.  Too much to drink meant a late night  leaving the brain tired this morning so that's about it for yesterday.

BA flight at 1625 this afternoon (Sunday).  Looks as if we will need our winter woolies whereas it is already 62F here at 0809 hrs.

Friday 16th December

 An enjoyable day starting with a visit into Larnaca to buy mince pies form Marks and Spencer - what a treat?  Surprisingly these traditional pies are not readily available here.  Well the places where we shop anyway.

Whilst in Larnaca made time to photo the Xmas trees mentioned earlier in the week.  Didn't get them all but the slideshow to the top right I hope gives you the idea.

Back home it was time spent int the garden whilst we waited for the repair man to come and finish the hole in the bathroom ceiling that had appeared with the first rain storm of the year.  It was a good job that Lillian was here to phone straight away and get someone to come and deal with the leak.  All credit a good job has been done and you would not know there had been a hole some 20 inches in diameter.  Although we are miffed with Quality Group not to have sorted the roadway leading to the compound and most importantly the telephone lines for good internet connection the after sales service has been good with a quick response and every little snag dealt with properly.  Worriyngly see have had an email saying that nobody, except us are paying the maintenance charges and the consequences of no maintained pool etc.  Can't understand the shortsightedness of the other owners, but with only 4 of the 15 houses permanently occupied it is somehow not surprising.

A lovely evening spent with Bowls club members at the lighting of the Kiti Christmas tree and the switching on of the new fountain in the new park next to the old church.  Everything new.  Santa arrived on top of a bus along with bowls club members who were the sponsors - we arrived too late to have the ride around the village - fortunately!  Normal stalls with hot chestnuts, wine, mince pies (donated by the bowls club), carols sung by the local school and traditional dances.  The mayor spoke in greek, of course, and briefly in english.  It was a nice to mix with the locals.

A meal in the Taramala Tavern, which was mainly full of locals watching the local football on TV.

Thursday 15th December

A beautiful day with temperatures reaching 75F on the patio during the afternoon.  Blue skies, nothing but blue skies.  You can live with sweater in the morning and again in the evening with days like this.

Panoramic view of the Kiti & Pervolia Bowls Club

Thursday is Bowls morning and today we took along new friend Gareth who Lillian met through her Greek classes.  For him the first day was watching but he seemed to enjoy the atmosphere and will come again to 'have a go', perhaps on Saturday.  The morning started with rounds of applause to the club team who had won their first match of the 'Island' league with a responding 18-2 home victory against Farmagusta.  I would think home advantage is a powerful thing as mats are surely different and with the odd minor slope on ours would take some working out for visitors.  Having said that there are some incredibly accurate bowlers at the Kiti Club so a win was probably well deserved.

The normal two matches with a narrow defeat having been winning 7-0 after two ends and a good win in the second game.  I bowled a lot better today.  When dropping Gareth back to his home which is about half a mile towards Faros lighthouse we were able to visit inside and take in his sea view!  One day we might have the same.

Back to stone collecting and two bags were quickly gathered from a deserted beach.  The garden is coming back into a 'perfect' state and will be ready to leave on Sunday.

Wednesday 14th December

Sun sets at 1630 after a day in the garden

Keep right on to the end of 'Charlie'.  White stones now moved across although not enough for the new wall length.  More trips to the beach beckon as we start to dig the other side.   Will all this work be wasted and it just re-grow?  Wait until the January instalment of 'Set for Cyprus' to find out!

However it was not all Charlie today and a trip into Larnaca and a couple of hours wandering around meant some Christmas presents were bought along with a scart lead for the DVD player in the TV room / study.  I had an interesting conversation with the greek speaking young lady who served me with the lead as you can imagine! Surprisingly Larnaca remains fairly busy and car parking still a challenge.  The beach whilst deserted of  sun loungers looked inviting and a few people wandered along.  An effort has been made to Christmasfy by the town council and lights span across the roads and three huge decorated Christmas trees with nativity scenes are in strategic places.  An interesting one on the main square, which must be at least 45 feet high, made totally from re-cycled drink containers, coke cans, plastic bottles etc.  Another first was the use of poinsettia plants in planter boxes.  Have never seen them planted outside before.  Too cold in UK and guess too hot in Dubai.  They looked lovely.

The village square of Pervolia is also decorated - it does however seem strange to see giant snowmen when the sun is shining.  Need to take some pictures to supplement these words.

Lillian went off to her Greek lesson, having only completed homework tasks the hour before - all those years of telling the children to do their homework as soon as they came in and NOT leave it to the last moment.  She says it was because I would not let her off Charlie duty and made her make Christmas Cards.

I waited in the Cottage Pub where the Wednesday night Bingo session was in full swing.  Perhaps I can get a job as the caller each week?  Eating out at Kokos ....... The biggest pork chop imaginable was just too much.  I have put on weight since we returned here last week.  Not surprising with eating and drinking and not enough exercise.

Tuesday 13th December

Another bright and sunny day, spent in the normal way.  A trip to the bank to pay our maintenance charge and supermarket for essential supplies - bread and milk and the Post Office for posting of Christmas Cards.

Rest of the day spent at home.

Lillian continued to make her Xmas Cards before coming out into the garden for trimming whilst I continued with Charlie hunt.  4 days and still more to do.  However we are getting there and on our shopping trip I stopped in the village to buy some 'black underlay' to try and prevent new growth where I have just dug.

This now means the movement of the stones from under the ficus bushes across to the hedging so it can be dug.  It will all be a race now to get it finished and ship shape before we depart on Sunday.

An evening of TV watching after sitting on the patin for a sundowner drink.

Monday 12th December

Its Bowls day ........... we were cancelled on Saturday because of the mats being too wet following the storm on Friday afternoon and we all got a text message to get there early to clear up the mess of leaves etc. I managed to find a broom that I could lean on and look busy whilst Lillian stood around chatting as she does! LOL.  Once cleared and all sparkling and fresh with sun shining draws were made by passing the bag.  There were enough members for four mats.

Panoramic view from bedroom balcony

Lillian and I were drawn on the same team and having been 0-6 down after two ends we came back to win a very tight game 10-8 on the final end.  It was all exciting stuff and although I was erratic Lillian bowled well as number 2 and our skip, another Chris delivered some great shots. A break and a re-draw saw me on mat E where we thrashed the oppostion 18-4 with me playing a lot better.  It was all good fun and enjoyable.

Back home a pizza lunch was followed by three hours in the garden in lovely sunshine, whilst Lillian made her Xmas cards ready for posting. By 1630 it was dark and we sat for a while before Lillian went to her Greek lesson, returning with book and homework.  We eat in the village with a 'new friend' Gareth, who attends Greek classes and his wife, Jackie.  Jackie works for Marcus Evans, the owner of Ipswich Town FC, and runs his Cyprus office.  Somebody to keep friendly with.

Sunday 11th December

Once again the morning after the night before meant a slow start to the day.  This pace was continued throughout!

Coastal bike path

A leisurely breakfast on the patio in lovely sunshine led into two hours of 'working' on the garden task.  Mid afternoon and a lovely bike ride on our newly serviced bikes. Lillian had taken them to the shop whilst I was away as hers was suffering from a flat tyre.  Three holes from thorns meant a new inner tube.  I expected to get 'more yards to the push' as they had been serviced but it seemed as hard a work as ever.  We followed our normal route to the beach going inland past fields that seemed to have been freshly sown with a cereal crop and then onto the track which leads to the beach.  The panoramic picture above shows nicely where our path runs.  It was good to be out in the sunshine a though we have chosen to wearing long sleeved T shirts - its lovely but not that warm.

An evening in with a meal and yet another box set of films to start to enjoy.  This time 'Prison Break' - 13 episodes which I am sure  we will finish by our return to UK.

It is colder now indoors in the evenings and shows that the house has no insulation.  The air conditioning unit provides some heat and we need to find out how to work the 'underfloor' heating

Saturday 10th December

With the morning after the night before - an enjoyable night out with the 'Bows Club' we were surprised by a relatively early ring of the door bell to find Rebecca Ward, who was responsible for our introduction to Quality Group, at the door.  Rebecca also owns a place in Cyprus although has it permanently rented out.  It was good to show her around and sit in the sunshine on the patio chatting and drinking coffee.  It is also good to hear people say how nice our garden looks - we love it but it is always nice to have pother people admire it despite the Charlie!

The rest of the day was spent 'pottering' and a drive into the village for bread and milk before it was off again for another night out.  This time at the Cottage pub.  Having listened to the first half of the Ipswich game and hearing them 0-2 down at half time I walked bemoaning the manager and how he should be sacked as we were heading for the 8th defeat in a row when much to my delight Ipswich turned on a fantastic performance to score 5 goals in the second half.  Nobody was in any doubt as to who I support as I yelled in delight at each goal.  What a win.

After that the evening was always going to be flat but we enjoyed chatting with the growing number of people that we have now met here in Pervolia.

Friday 9th December

The rampant 'Charlie'.

So here we are back in Cyprus after 25 days away for me and ten days away for Lillian.  Its good to be back.

Being away was the normal rounds of bed, work, eat, bed, work etc.  Morning were always early starts frequently leaving hotels at 0645 for taxi rides to schools and then back by 1830 - 1900 in the evenings.  So a busy schedule in Boston - Houston - Boston - New York.  Highlights were probably the walk in Hermann Park, Houston on Thanksgiving with warm sunshine and families enjoying their day with picnics and frisbees! Temperatures that day were about 78F with blue skies.  The other highlight was the opening dinner celebrations for World Class Learning Academy in New York with a delightful concert by the children in the morning, a special trip to the Big Apple Circus in the afternoon - can't remember the last time I went to a circus and the dinner pin the evening.

A frantic 4 days in London sorting with doctor, hospital appointments and a trip into the London office taking time.  So back here courtesy of British Airways to a garden completely overgrown with 'Charlie'.  Its everywhere where it has been dug from!  The day was spent starting to clear the red / brown base stones and six hours and later that is not even clear.  As for the white stones collected from the beach?  They are covered and will need to be removed so Charlie can be dug.  I will write about this again when all is once again clear as it will be boring to record daily Charlie hunting.

Garden work was interrupted with rain showers, that were quite hard with bright sunshine interspersed even though temperatures did not get much above 64F.

A delightful evening out at the Bowls Club Xmas dinner at Tony's Grill.  Traditional Xmas fayre with lots of white meat.   Makes a nice change as I live virtually on red meat in the US. Dancing for the energetic, a category that Lillian always falls into and plenty of chatting and drinking for the lazy ones like me.  Its good to be back ......... but I think the time will fly and we will soon be heading back to UK on 18th December.