Well it had to happen. Ann’s plaster cast was removed a week ago and she is now undergoing a course of physiotherapy in Polis. The walking frame is still used but less frequently and she has gained a degree of independence for which we are both grateful. It will be slow progress (naturally) to regain full movement and for the muscles in her calf to strengthen. She will be impatient but we are both aware of how close she was to having an operation which would have increased the time for rehabilitation.
My 69th birthday is at the end of the month and we are hoping to celebrate that with a joint delayed “Christmas Day”, which was somewhat handicapped by Ann’s accident. No doubt it will be an opportunity to spend lots of money, as our somewhat isolated status has meant that our spending has been almost non-existent.
This has been the coldest winter in our ten years in Cyprus and we have felt fully justified in our purchase of a log burner three years ago. If you are following in our footsteps then do consider your heating options very carefully. Gas and oil central heating is ruinously expensive, and most people avoid electrical heating when they have a choice. With a log burner you have paid for your logs - they are there stacked in front of you - and so there are no hidden costs to arrive in the post. We almost bought a log burner with a 10 Kw output but a little voice at the back of my head made me opt for a 14 Kw model. We have never regretted it for a second as it throws out this lovely dry heat which is so embracing.
Towards the end of last summer we had to replace one of the air conditioning units (in our bedroom) and the elderly model was replace with an inverter model. What a difference it made! It runs almost silently and is so much more economical that the elderly model it replaced. It was a hot summer and we used air conditioning at night regularly. Our bill was but a fraction of what it was previously and we were delighted. If we could afford to replace the other three units in the house, we would do so without a qualm.
This is the last months of winter officially and we look forward to a balmy Spring in the near future. The dams have filled up dramatically this winter, which should make life easier in the summer. Now if only Covid would go away …
