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.

Monday 14th November

Off to Boston.

Up very early working - can never sleep when in work mode.  Andrew drove very well although the traffic was very bad and I got to the airport safely (terminal 5).  No upgrade but an OK flight with British Airways even though it was full.  Time passes watching 3 films, one with Cameron Diaz who reminds me so of Emily.Soon through immigration which makes a change even though I still seem to get in the slowest line.  Questioning is like the 'Spanish Inquisition - what are you doing, where you going, how long are you staying?  Cases are already on conveyor belt and take a taxi to the hotel which is about a twenty minute ride.  'Welcome back Mr Wright' - always a nice touch.  Beautiful sunshine and lovely autumn leaves although I am too tired and soon fall asleep even though only 7pm local time.  Consequently now awake at 0100 writing this!

Sunday 13th November

After the heavy rain of last night we awoke to a grey and windy day.  Temperatures no more than 62F Urgh.

Without sunshine for the first time we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with our visitors although they were not complainng. So it was off to George's for our full English breakfast and a download of the newspapers as per Sunday morning norms.

Soon it was time for me to set out for the airport and flight back to London.  I will miss Lillian and our home but work is to be done.  Laranaca airport is good for such a small place and the shopping is good and worth a wander.  Not that I buy anything and hurry quickly to the Lounge for a beer and sandwich.  Flight was on time and Steve picked me up at LHR Treminal 3 without problem.  It was good to be home with the three children for the evening.

Saturday 12th November

Lillian wakes feeling stiff and sore after her tumble from the bike with a shiny black eye!  Poor Lillian.

A trip to the 'Dark Side' - our first.  With visitors Chris & Nick we set off up the now familiar A1 to Lefkosia (Nicosia) and after a quick stop to ask the way we managed to find the border crossing where we were in a line of about 5 cars.  First stop was to the insurance box where we needed to buy car insurance as ours does not cover in the northern part of Cyprus.  This cost 25 Euro and is valid for one month.  Perhaps time for a second trip in December?  Passports were shown and were stamped on a piece of paper rather than in our actual passport.  Don't know why that is so as  I can't think of reason why you should not have a Northern Cyprus stamp.

First impressions were like I had when passing to what was East Germany when in Berlin.  Its all OK but somehow plain, grey and unkempt.  We followed the main road to what is now called Girne, although if you look on maps in the south it is called Kireniya its original cypriot name.  Once in the town we headed to the coast and down narrow single lane streets we eventually found somewhere to park, which surprisingly had no charges.  First stop was to change some Euro into Turkish Lira at a rate of 1 Euro to 2.45 TL.  We stopped and looked into the shops where prices seemed somewhat cheaper than in the south until we spotted the sea at the end of a side street.

Once on the promenade we watched huge waves crashing and spraying over the sea wall, much to a black dog's delight!  Not knowing where we were going we came into a lovely harbour and sat there for a beer and lunch.  Seemed a good idea to be outside but just as we sat clouds covered the sun and it became chilly. It was a pretty place and the whitebait I had selected from the menu was excellent.

After a bit more strolling we decided to take the long ride back by going along the northern coastal road to Farmagusta, called Gazimagusa in turkish and consequently all road signs.  It was a good drive with the sea on the left and a high mountain range on the right.  We passed many new housing developments which were obviously targeted for Brits as prices displayed were in GB sterling! They all looked very nice and great value compared with what we have paid in the south, however they also seemed in the middle of nowhere!  We will explore more when we come back to visit Geoff and Hazel Turner, who we knew in Dubai who have actually bought one and are living there now.

Arriving back home at about 1830 it was a quick sit before the Saturday ritual of the pub and a meal.  First time in four weeks we had gone to the pub and Ipswich hadn't lost! They didn't play today.

Friday 11th November 11.11.11

Up early to the normal blue skies and sunshine although it disappeared by 1000 to be once again cloudy and overcast.  Whilst I was doing my normal pottering about in the garden Lillian announced she was going to walk to the local mini-market store to get milk.  I suggested they took the bikes and so they set off for what should be a quick trip.  After about 15 minutes when they had not returned I wondered where they were thinking perhaps they had gone for a longer ride.


Suddenly Nick returned to say bring tissues and the car as Lillian had fallen off her bike and had a nose bleed. We raced to the scene to find poor Lillian sitting / lying by the kerbside covered in blood from her nose with cut hands, knees and thighs.  Once in the car she was soon home and cleaned up.  Fortunately it was all 'superficial' damage and she cleaned up 'quite well' although not complaining the grazes on her legs look real sore and she now has a cracker of a black eye.  As ever she is very brave so uncomplaining I think just trying to get out of the fitness campaign once again.  First her toe and now this!


How did she fall?  Lillian says it happened all too quickly was going at a tight angle sideways up a ramped kerb and the bike just slipped away from her.  

Once we had breakfasted and Lillian felt 'repaired' we took the drive along the coastal road to Zygi to visit the garden centre as Lillian has 'Improvement Plans' for some new planting.  Just window shopping I took the coastal track where we ride our bikes on the way back so we could drive close to the water.  We stopped to collect some more stones and walk on the small sandy stretch of the beach.  We walked Lillian limped.  The water was calm and there were lovely views.  Playing with my new camera for the picture seen here.  Back home it was stone arrangement and I am now only one more trip away from completing the 'White Stone project'.


Chris and Nick are ardent football fans (season ticket holders at West Ham) so we spent the evening going to our first international football match.  Cyprus v Scotland played in a stadium in Larnaca.  Scot supporters were there in force and sitting with them was quick a funny but friendly experience.  Many had clearly had a few beverages before the game and one wonders what the Cypriots thought of them in their kilts, football shirts and St Andrews flags wrapped around them.  It was an OK game and the Cyprus team played well, although Scotland deserved to win.  A new experience.

Thursday 10th November

First day for our visitors and oh dear it is grey and overcast for most of the day and the warmest temperature to be seen on any thermometer is 73F.  Not what was ordered.  However undeterred they wanted to 'Chill' but not literally!  I did not go to bowls so we sat about in the garden chatting most of the day being very positive about the moments of sunshine that appeared through the clouds.

Throughout the day I was in and out working on the computer ready for a big conference call for 1700 hours.  When this call came I was on-line for 90 minutes - good job I am not paying my mobile phone bill.

In the afternoon our brave visitors dipped themselves in the pool.  We couldn't believe it and Lillian dived for the thermometer to check the temperature.  62F yet still they swam up and down!!  Nuts.  I could just about put my hand in the water without my fingers cracking and dropping off like you see in cartoons.  Still they were able to climb into the hot tub to thaw out and seemed to enjoy that very much.

Once my call had finished it was 1830 and I discovered that it had been decided to go once again into the village to eat.  This time we went to Pyrgos, which I like very much as the food is good.  I had a new selection from the menu - Chicken Diane which was enjoyable and all left clean plates.  Back home we sat for coffee, once again outside where Lillian had let candles that were still burning but soon it was time for bed at 2230.

With the weather so grotty I would have been disappointed in the day but everyone else seemed happy enough.