Thursday 27th September

What a lovely day .......... wake to beautiful blue skies with the air as still as can be so its off to Faros for an early morning beach walk.  As we walk Lillian and I talk about the properties with the sea views right on the beach.  We still aspire to such (well I do) but reflect on how lucky we are to have such a lovely house in a great location within walking distance of the beach and the village.

The sea is like a mill pond and it gives opportunity to wade at least to knees in search of green and red stones for the garden.  The water is still incredibly warm yet we hardly see a sole.  Two ladies, we would have thought well into their 80's come to swim.  Lillian gains smiles with her Greek greeting, which is much appreciated.

Back home a swim, cooked breakfast and shower and then its off to Nicosia Races!  What a great time. The trip had been organised by the Bowls Club which included a meal in a private marquee.  There were about 50 members present (a coach load) which made good fun and banter. The race course was small and not unlike the one we used to go to at Jebel Ali in Dubai.  The betting counter was in the marquee.

So being as the race card was in greek it was all a bit of hit and miss for me.  In the first race I backed a horse that's form showed II which I thought meant it had won its last two races only to be told later that it had come in 11th in its last race!  But Lillian , as ever was the star when it come to picking winners.  A winner in the first race gives her €64 for her €2 bet and before the meeting is out she is over €100 to the good.  I chip in with  €15 table bet win on the last.  This was drawn from a hat ...... so I had no skill in picking the winner.  We buy everyone drinks on our table and we still end up with profit form the day.

I had great fun trying various lens settings on my camera and got quiet carried away trying to get the perfect photo.  So much so I got into trouble with a steward as a tried to climb to the top of a fence to get a better view.  Oh well it was all good fun which we must do again.

Wednesday 26th September

Very much a stay at home day today with work on the computer, telephone calls, swimming and an afternoon trip to the garden centre.  A few € of a variety of plants and shrubs prompted a two hour tidy up with trimming, cutting and planning.

Lovely still evening, although starting to cool with temperatures dropping to around 72F, prompted a stroll into the village for a meal at Bar Coast.

Tuesday 25th September

Birthday Boy

Golf at Karenium Golf Club

The days of daily blog writing seemed to have gone at the moment due to the increasing pressure of work.  However there has been some time for relaxation along the way.

A long bike ride along our favourite coastal path.  A total of 9.4 miles calculated via a 10 Euro pedometer from Lidl.  It works fine calculating not only distances but time spent fastest speed etc etc.  All adds to the interest.

A game of golf with the Cottage Golf Society at Elea Golf Club near Paphos.  As ever when you dont play very often the game is erratic to say the least, however the company was good and its always fun.  Drinks in the pub on return.

Kyrenia Harbour for lunch

Up early to drive to the North of Cyprus to meet with friends Geoff and Hazel who have a very nice house there with their own pool.  It is in the montains so has fantastic views of the sea.  Another game of golf but only 9 holes on the lovely hilly course of which they are members.  Jealousy on this point as the proposed course nearby to us has never been constructed.  We stayed over and for the night and the next day (My Birthday) visited Kyrenia.  Lunch there is always good.  it made for a loevly day.  I was grateful to family and friends who 'remembered' my birthday with electronic cards, emails, SMS and calls.

Thursday 20th September

New school building at Rayyan

Yet another return to sunny Cyprus after an unexpected three nights away in even sunnier Doha, Qatar staying at the Kempinski Hotel, West Bay.  I love this hotel in terms of its accommodation and how I always seem to get upgraded to a two bedroomed suite.  Ridiculous really to have two huge bedrooms, and even bigger lounge, kitchen and three bathrooms for just me!  36th floor this time gave good views of Doha.

The purpose of the visit was to 'hurry' contractors to prepare paperwork for Civil Defence approval for a new fire system which has been installed in the three schools.

Fire Pump - who would have
thought I would deal with such things?

Visit to CDD (Civil Defence Department) was typical of a visit to any Middle East Ministry Department. It had moved to a very plush new building next to Al Ahli hospital since my last vsit.  Lots of marble and high ceilings.  As usual lots of men in uniforms sitting behind desks more interested in their mobile phone than the person standing in front of them.  Customer Service – nil point.  However with the help of Ahmed (from the schools sponsor's office) and lots of hand shaking, business card passing and my few limited words of Arabic at the right time meant we gradually moved to the higher ranks until at last we met ….. the man.  Not quite sure who he was but he took our plans and promised ‘inshalla’ that they would be processed that day.  Ahmed and Fouad (Contractor)  were very pleased to have seen ‘this man’. This was a big step as the acceptance of our fire safety plan will mean we will be well on the way to resolving my task.  They just love paperwork, signatures and stamps in Qatar!  How the country will ever escalate its plan to match the likes of Dubai I will never know.  

Flights were via Bahrain using Gulf Air.  Not an airline I have flown with regularly but have to say have been impressed this time with new planes and nice lounges in Bahrain.

Back in Larnaca at 1430 after a two hour stop in Bharain.  We have now become quite good at synchronizing arrivals and pick up.  I phone as soon as the plane lands and by the time I have 'de-planed'(as they say on Gulf Air) gone through the cursory glance at passport control and exited, going upstairs to departures where there is more space for a pick up, Lillian is there!

Home for a some garden inspection, a few work phone calls and swim of 20 lengths.

Saturday 15th September

Bowls day .............. and this time we made it!  A very small turn out as most it would seem had been at the club all day yesterday due to the 'Champions' finals.  All winners from the different club championship for the grand finale.  Despite good support no overall winners for Kiti Bowls Club.

Lillian and I displayed our 'rust' on more than one occasion, having not played for over two months but by the second game, when we were on the same team we were much improved resulting in two victories in two games!  One was against the illustrious 'Super Bob' who I quietly joked to Lillian was 'Mediocre Bob'.  It was a good game to win.  they are a good set of people at the Bowls and we have signed to join on two social events that are being organised.  One a trip to Nicosia Races at the end of September.

After a trip into Larnaca for essential shopping at Lidl it was back home for to the garden for sun, swimming in the pool and general lazing until football time at the village.  Lillian stayed behind to meet with a few of the Pervolia residents to discuss the poor service being provided by the management company.  Another defeat for Ipswich who now fall into the bottom three!

Friday 14th September

The bougainvillaea grows and grows

Morning bike ride today ........ back into trying at least two different exercises a day from the three, walk, swim ride.  It has been nearly six weeks since we have been riding together so we took our favourite route, initially inland and then back along the coastal path.  Not good for your bum when you are not used to riding.  A short stop at the new this year wind surfing school.  We wondered what sort of season the two young greek guys that we met recently whose first commercial adventure this was, season they had enjoyed.  Dont suppose they had made much money, although wind surfing is popular late afternoon when sea breezes blow hard.

Back home the day was a mix of garden and time on the computer working.  Swim late afternoon and then a walk into the village to meet friends Jackie and Gareth for a meal at Soutsos.  The restaurant was busy and a coach load of tourists arrived.  Friday night is 'Cypriot' night with traditional dancing.  One of the male dancers does a 'party piece' where he gets customers to place glasses full of water on his head.  Beermats form a platform and he makes the most of getting lady helpers, walking / dancing from one to another.  Lillian stood on a chair to place one glass ...... which I counted as number 12.  The act finished with 15 glasses placed.  Impressive and enjoyable and as ever Lillian is able to deal with the 'spotlight'.  Glad it was her not me.

Thursday 13th September

So it was bowls day and in the car and off we set.  We didn't get even off the compound, realising the pool guy was refitting the pump Lillian stopped to chat, only to find he had been there since 0600.  Time for coffee.  So with coffee made it was too late for bowls and so Lillian worked and helped Michaelas on pool cleaning duty!

Once the pool area was spick and span with the water filtering properly it was time for us to go for our first long beach walk since our return. The sea was still lovely and warm, although large waves made it hard to actually swim it was good to jump and splash.  We walked along the waters edge as far as Faros.  The beach vendors season is coming to an end with lots of sun loungers pointing to the sparkling sea but very few people sitting on them.  We hardly passed anyone walking the shoreline in our two hours we were out.

The rest of the day was a mix of work, garden and swim in the pool.  20 lengths is now the norm whereas Lillian completes 30 without effort.

An evening at home.

Wednesday 12th. September

What could you expect from the first day back but a lazy day.  Plenty of lovely warm, but not too hot sunshine and clear blue cloudless skies.

Not much to do in the garden as Lillian has it looking so good, except some trimming of the Ficus bushes where they are too high for Lillian to reach.  So it was swim in the pool, laze in the hot-tub and get sore shoulders from the sun caused by no oil!

Slight panic with the swimming pool as I noticed that the filters were not working.  Sure enough the pump has packed up.  The pool guy was quick to arrive and we had to rush off to the bank to provide 1000 Euros for the work to be done.  This will be reimbursed in time from the maintenance company and was just a 'loan' to get the work completed quickly.

As the sun started to set the wind sure did blow and it was great to just sit on the patio with the warm air in your face.  A walk to the village and a visit to the pub.  We are back! A meal at Pyrgos and late night home. A good day.

Tuesday 11th September

So after too long away its back to sunny Cyprus although with over an hour sitting on the plane before take off due to a 'leaky pipe as disclosed by the Captain, British Airways safely deposited us back at Larnaca.

A quick ten minute taxi ride in silence as you could tell from the driver's body language and lack of effort to speak any English he was not best pleased sitting at the airport for ages to get 12 euro fare.  It was good to be home.  Lillian had been busy whilst I was away with the garden looking immaculate and four new light / fans installed.  Two downstairs and two more in the main bedrooms.  They look good.

So swim, hot tub, glass of wine or two and some tele.  What more can we want.