Wednesday 25 January 2017

A couple of days of sunshine ...

It's amazing what a couple of days of sunshine does to the system. We moved outside immediately and bask in those precious rays, and the temperature outside is much warmer than inside. It is a peculiarity of the way many houses are built on Cyprus that there is little or no insulation. So, in winter, the heat dissipates quickly and, in summer, the houses get very hot. Surely the opposite should be the case but it is not.

It also doesn't take much for us to start thinking about the garden. Local farmers are ploughing and planting at the moment and that again stirs memories of previous years and the planting we have done. Our friend Savvas says that you take sunshine, add water and anything will grow. Not quite true as I think we overwatered our Aloe Vera plant, and it seemed not very well at all. But Ann decided to move it to "sick bay" over the winter and it has made a miraculous recovery. The other moot point is how far to cut back plants. Conflicting advice abounds and we are slowly learning to make our own decisions.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks as the Six Nations' Rugby Championship is due to start on February 4th, and that always cheers up the bleak midwinter. Apparently this weekend is due to be very chilly (in Cypriot terms) and so we shall batten down the hatches and keep warm and dry. If necessary I shall follow my grandmother's advice and "throw another servant on the fire".

And then, in the blink of an eye, it will be Spring (one of our favourite times of the year) and pottering around in shorts and t-shirts (whilst keeping trousers and a sweater to hand for when the sun goes in). 

News from the UK becomes more depressing by the minute. I have never seen such a collection of intellectually-challenged dimwits in government, led by the "I'm not really a wannabe dictator" PM. The rule of law may well have won the day in the Supreme Court yesterday, but the Tory threat to flood the House of Lords with hundreds of new peers to ensure the Brexit debacle is kept on track is undemocratic in the extreme. The House of Lords may not be perfect but it is a damn sight better than  a dictator in Downing Street.

Roll on October when we are entitled to apply for permanent residence here. I, for one, am ashamed at the direction my country is heading and cannot see me ever returning.

Friday 20 January 2017

Here and there ...

What a strange month January is turning out to be ... submerged by rain, with local dams now overflowing and then the promise of sunshine. Out we go into the garden to tidy up, clean the pool and generally think about Spring and then "All change".

It is hard not to feel despondent about 2017 and what is happening to the world. The insanity that is Brexit and the utter madness that led to the Americans electing such an obviously unstable man as Trump leaves me breathless. Of immediate concern is that complete lack of intelligence and forethought, and a situation exacerbated by that buffoon Boris Johnson, that the UK establishment is showing in its dealing with the EU.

No one wishes to see the UK kowtowing to Brussels, but there is a sense of unreality in the way that the intellectually-challenged Theresa May thinks she can dictate to the EU. It may have passed her by that the UK is a small island off the coast of mainland Europe and it is the other twenty-seven countries that will dictate what happens. Listening to the bluster and bluff coming out of Westminster you could almost sense that this was in the heyday of the British Empire. "Wake up and smell the coffee."

On a brighter note we are both well and enjoying life, although I yearn for the time when sweaters, socks and long trousers can be banished to the wardrobe. There is something profoundly depressing when you have to reach for a coat (and gloves) when you decide to go out. The cats still have their winter coats and Honey looks as if she has been inflated with a bicycle pump.

Argaka looks deserted with most of the bars and restuarants closed for a Winter break. But the weather will change and people will slowly creep out of hibernation, and smile at the sunshine. My 64th birthday is approaching with almost indecent haste and we must decide how to celebrate it. I suspect good food may well be on the cards. It's just a shame I wasn't born in May or September as the weather is perfect for dining outdoors. I suppose if the Queen can have two birthdays ...

Monday 2 January 2017

2017 ... fit to drop ... or fit

Ann and I enjoyed a lovely lunch at the Turtle Tavern in Argaka yesterday, completely by chance. For the first time in days it was not pouring with rain, and so we decided to go fo a walk. We parked our car on the seafront and set off along the new pavement. I suppose we walked just over a mile and a half, and then decided that we still had to get back to the car ... another mile and a half. We have both been pretty sedentary since the weather changed and by the time we got to the car, I certainly felt as if we had walked far enough.

The original intention had been to walk to the Turtle Tavern, have a drink and walk back. So, as a compromise, we drove to the Turtle Tavern and were pleased to find it open. It was lovely and warm inside, thanks to the log burner, and it was only when Ann, the landlady, was explaining the options for Sunday lunch that we realised it was Sunday, and that we were peckish. So roast beef ordered and a couple of pints of Old Speckled Hen to hand, we enjoyed a lovely lunch and decided on our priorities for the year.

Moving gas cylinders around, as you do at this time of year, I have found them quite heavy - certainly heavier than four years ago. So I have been looking for a gym to join, as I really did enjoy my almost daily visits to the gym in Bexhill. But gyms over here, as I have discovered, have an alarming tendency to close down at short notice (having insisted on money upfront) or are very overpriced. However in conversation with Stuart, who works at Santa Barbara in Argaka, he told me he has joined the gym in Ayia Marina (a few miles up the road) and that it is €90 for three months. That's more like the £60 for three months I was paying in Bexhill.

So, I must get up there and check it out. Those gas cylinders will seem lighter and it will be good to get back in shape again. Otherwise there will be no option to sample Old Speckled Hen again.