A busy month ahead........

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Friday 1st September 2017

This is likely to be a busy month for us with friends and family coming out but today it's the normal morning routine with the dogs and then as it's a Friday it was the weekly clean up. By 9am we were all finished and time for a shower - John managed to be in and out before our friends from army days, Bill and Joan arrived. They flew into Larnaca in the early hours and called in to see us whilst out on the first day shopping and admin run.....a quick catch up with them and then we let them get back to their place as no doubt they were still feeling a bit shell shocked after their red eye flight. Plus they need to get home to enjoy their pool! ? We exchanged phone numbers and will be in contact for further meet ups over the next 3 weeks. Lunch of cheese on toast and the Sarah managed to find a tv series on the dodgy android box so that was her set for the rest of the afternoon. John in the meantime prepared tonight's supper - spaghetti bolognaise and garlic bread. TV watched we both retired upstairs for a bit of book reading and yes a nice snooze, getting up at 5:30am every day takes it out of you! ?

Late afternoon and the goats made an appearance but we soon shood them away. ? Then it was tea time on the balcony before Kilroy decided it was time for his stroll to check out his patch. He has impressed us today with his behaviour, very relaxed with our earlier visitors and he has had a chilled out day - hope he isnt saving himself for another crashing thro the flyscreen later to try and say hello to some felines. After the stroll it was a shower and then it was time for sundowners....Singapore Sling. Decided to give the Friday quiz a miss tonight as we are Buddy dog sitting for Gary and we just fancied a chilled evening with radio 2, cocktails plus watching the night sky. After a nice sunset and sundowners it was supper time for everyone with Kilroy tucking into his biscuits plus chicken necks whilst we enjoyed our Italian option.

After supper it was time for a bit of facetime with Ben and Claire - nice catch on what was happening at home. John then took hound for his evening sojourn whilst Sarah packed things away and it was then time for bed.

Saturday 2nd September 2017

The day started with the usual alarm call and Kilroy onto the front balcony to check out his patch. Mexican standoff this morning with Mrs Cat.......its amazing how long a dog and a cat can just stare at each other! ? Stares done it was time to pick up Buddy and head to the hills for the morning walk. Lovely morning, no clouds....lots of goats massing on the hillside above us, just like in the film Zulu. Just watching us as we strolled along. Over an hour later and we were home, relaxing with another cup of tea before getting cleaned up ready to pop Kilroy down to the vet for his second set of injections as part of the normal yearly cover......much cheaper to get them done out here. That will then be him all sorted ready for his return to the UK as far as injections are concerned. Next will be paying for his flight. ? Prior planning prevents........as they say, of course the minor blip is that it's Bayram so vet closed and yes we had forgotten, oh well back on Tuesday. Back up the hill to drop a confused Kilroy at home before heading to the supermarket for a bit of shopping, not a lot needed today. Then it was the fruit and veg shack and finally Mardos cafe for a bacon and helim toasty, cup of tea and milk shake and that was breakfast done. Home, cold drinks, papers and tv - Saturday morning cookery programme for Sarah. Snoozy afternoon and then time for the football. This time Doncaster v Peterborough was live on the Bein Sports Channel so no need to spend £5 purchasing a matchday pass - result. Really enjoyed the match and feeling more positive as each game comes up. This squad is so much more together than last season and yes it was a 0-0 draw but lots of chances with both sides looking to play good football. A draw away from home keeps our undefeated record going. Plus I will leave this here!
EFL League One Standings
#TeamMPWD<td style="width: 25px;" title="Losses">LGFGAGDPts 1Peterborough5410124813 2Shrewsbury541084413 3Charlton5401116512 4Scunthorpe532082611 5Wigan Athletic4
Football done, Sarah took Kilroy for a stroll whilst John got the BBQ stand set up - you have to make the most of the weather because lets face it we head home in mid November! Tonight's delights are Chinese spiced chicken, sheftalia and liver (Because John likes it). Accompanied by a mixed salad, coleslaw, dips, pitta bread and beetroot. Pud is bananas and ice cream, with the bananas warmed thro on the BBQ. Once the BBQ was set up John strolled round to Gary's gaff to meet Sarah and the two hounds enjoyed a 20 minute dogs football game. Gary is away south side for a couple of days. Then it was time for Buddy to have his supper and settle down for the evening. With clouds coming on the mountain it was a little humid at around 7:30pm so BBQ was lit followed by a refreshing shower before adopting our usual position on the front balcony. A quick bit of surfing on the net and also messages from Ben and Claire saying Chardstock Cricket Club; who Ben plays for, were league champions - well done. Also George and Kayleigh were competing in the national Tasar sailing event at Porthpean in Cornwall so we had a few messages from them and checked on their position. The first time at the event and they were not holding up the rest of the competitors, which was good.....in fact by the end of day 2 they had climbed up a few places. Kayleigh did say they capsized once so that race was a right off. We did ask was it your "bump" that stopped you getting back in? ? We were also worried in case they were disqualified for having an extra person in the crew! Overall tho it was a really good effort for them. Meanwhile back here it was 8pm and the sun had already set - winter is on its way. Funnily enough John spotted a sign outside a restaurant which was advertising there winter ❄️ opening times. John supervised fire, made the drinks, cooked the BBQ and ran around like a blue ar**ed fly whilst Sarah relaxed ?. By 9pm supper was ready and very enjoyable it was as well. Bit of tv to follow, dog stroll and off to bed.

Sunday 3rd September 2017

Brilliant blue sky this morning and a lovely walk down the hill towards the Malpas hotel and then home again. An hour or so just chilling then breakfast and Sarah headed to church in town. John read the papers and decided to watch the film "Dunkirk". It was a bit different for sure, but enjoyable. As it's Sunday when Sarah got home we just relaxed doing not very much at all. Late in the afternoon and John headed to Bellapais to pick up Ian and Jane and a friend who were out on holiday staying as they always do at the Bellapais Gardens Hotel (Very nice it is to!). Ian and Jane are like so many of our friends are ex army from back in the day and tho we don't see them from one year to the next, the bond never goes away. Back to our place for a couple of hours catch up on the balcony and a chance for them to meet Kilroy before all squeezing into the jeep for the short trip into Catalkoy village to the little Lahmucen and Pide place called Leman. Very basic, it's really someones garden with some tables and chairs under the grapevine but it's freshly prepared food which always tastes good. A quick look at the menu and we ordered a mixed pide, 8 lahmucen (4 x mixed and 4 x spicy. The spicy ones were hot ?), mixed salad and chips. Its very much a diy place with trust being the operative word. The lady who runs it speaks no English and she is busy in the kitchen. Two little ones come and put a few things on the table but really she does everything herself. So the deal is we write everything down that we want to order, pass it to her and help ourselves to the drinks from the fridge. Bowl of nibbles and yoghurt comes out first and then there is a bit of a wait for the food as everything is freshly prepared and cooked to order. At the end of the meal we take back our list of food, add on any extras and drinks then add the bill up ourselves and pay her. Its the North Cyprus we know and love. As well as the five of us, there was a table of three plus another couple who came in for a takeaway......oh and there was another takeaway order phoned in. It's the sort of place you must be prepared to wait a while, but that's it's charm, plenty of time to just relax, talk and no rush whatsoever. As normal we ordered to much food; we never seem to get the balance right, so we had a doggy bag to take away the extras. That's tomorrow's supper sorted. Total cost for the five of us was 101TL (£22) including 5 beers and a couple of soft drinks. In the UK the drinks alone would have come close to our total bill. A lovely afternoon and evening catch up.

After our meal, Sarah decided to start walking home whilst John dropped everyone back at Bellapais - more room in the jeep! By the time he was heading back Sarah had made very good progress on her walk and was nearly home. It was then indoors to find that Kilroy had enjoyed himself in OUR bedroom.....such fun! He never knew our bed was so bouncy and you know what it's huge - a dog can really stretch out and make himself comfy! ? Again our fault for not shutting the stair gate properly - having a hound is just like having kids! After Kilroy had eaten....in silence, John took him for his stroll around the block and then it was time for everyone to chill and off to bed.

Monday 4th September 2017

Usual reveille time and downstairs to meet a happy Kilroy, you cannot be mad at him for long as he so loving and eager to please. Nice clear sky this morning for our walk in the hills, back home an hour later and as the track was very dusty Kilroy was treated to a watering can shower to cool down and wash the fine dust away. Quick sweep of the patio and then time for the normal post walk cups of tea, granola, fruit and yoghurt breakfast and wondering what we should do today. Around 9:30am Bill and Joan called in on there way to town. They had a couple of jobs to do including calling in at the world famous China Bazaar to pick up all those things you didn't need - to be fair they do stock lots of useful items for the home and are normally open every day till late. After a quick chat we agreed to pop up their place for the afternoon and have a look around inside. Also agreed to meet this Wednesday for the weekly market, maybe also quiz night and planned a trip out west to the little beach and taverna near Kormakiti village. We had called around their villa earlier this year and wandered around the outside, taking a few pictures which we then sent on to them. Be nice to have the grand tour!

At around 2pm we headed up the hill to Arapkoy village and met Bill and Joan for the look around. Villa is lovely, bigger than we thought with a lovely view down towards the coast in the distance. Nice gardens and pool area. We stayed chatting for a good few hours about nothing much in particular before we thought it time to head home, we will meet again Wednesday for the market in town. Back home to find that Kilroy had redeemed himself and was a very good boy whilst we were out. Back in the good books. Nice cup of tea and a biscuit on the balcony, then Sarah peeled some spuds to make chips to go with our leftover pide and lahmucen from last night and also we have salad from our BBQ on Saturday. Not much prep required for supper tonight. Around 7pm we hooked up Kilroy and went for our evening stroll, the sun was slowly setting by the time we got home 30 mins later. Shower and then ready for a cold drink and some nibbles before supper. A nice spread for supper tonight.....using up all the leftovers from previous two nights. Then time for the hound to check out his zone with a quick stroll and back home head upstairs to bed......that is us not hound. He will remain firmly downstairs.

Tuesday 5th September 2017

Still dark as the alarm went off this morning so nice and cool sat outside with the morning cuppa. Usual morning routine and by just after 9am decided to remove the dust from ourselves and get ready for Kilroys vet trip again. Bayram holidays over so things should be returning to normal this week......well not really as the vet was operating this morning so we will take him down later today. Decided on a road trip so we jumped in the jeep and headed over the mountain down to the main Lefkosa - Gazimagusa road and then turned off for Iskele. Another couple of miles and we turned off again......the reason - we were going to make an impromptu call at The Petline Hotel (Dog kennels). We are looking to spend a few days across the south later this month so thought we would visit the kennels unannounced and see what they were like. Arrived to find two kennel blocks with most of the kennels occupied. Spoke to one of the kennel hands and he said the supervisor would be back soon as she was out purchasing food. He gave us her number so we called and she said be back in 5 mins but please feel free to look around. We had a wander along the kennels, of course the inhabitants were pretty noisy to start with but soon settled down. Kennel hands were cleaning and scrubbing out and having done similar when we volunteered at our local rescue centre last year they were doing a good job. Supervisor arrived and showed us around, explained feeding arrangements etc. She also said that all dogs must be fully vaccinated including kennel cough - they will check our vet book before allowing a dog to stay. Dogs are free to come and go out of there kennels from around 8am until 5pm each day before the place is secured. Kennel blocks even have aircon. We said we were interested in booking so details were taken and confirmed - we can drop Kilroy off at The Petline Vets in Catalkoy and he will be taken to the kennels, which is a help. We can then collect from kennels or have him bought back to Catalkoy. So overall we were happy with the place. As we were on the road we continued onwards down to Gazimagusa and parked up in the old city and went for a wander around. Had a pleasant sit down directly opposite the mosque in the shade with a lovey breeze blowing. We then bimbled onwards to a great cake, sweet and chocolate place called Petek Pastahanesi (It also served nice simple meals) for a cake, coffee and ice cream. Apple cake and Caramel cake to share, Turkish tea for Sarah and Turkish coffee for John. Cakes were lovely. Stroll back to the jeep and made our way back home. The drive along the central plain at this time of the year was very very hot, windows open and wind blowing a like hot hairdryer. No way could we live here in the summer! Decided to stop off at the Erulku supermarket for a wander around plus we needed a couple of items for supper. Erulku we would say is like a big Asda in the UK. We have been here before but since last year they have doubled the size of the place and added garden section, diy, plus also lots more eateries. As this is not a tourist or ex pat area, it was obvious the prices were cheaper so we decided that for our next big shop we would take the trip over the mountain to stock up.

Back home and we said a quick hello to Kilroy before he jumped in the jeep and down to the vet for his annual injection booster. Vet knows us well and he gave Kilroy a good check over, injection and we asked a couple of questions about the pills we were advised he should take following his leishmania experience earlier this year and also about an xray. The vet advised that he needed to keep taking the pills (As they say!) until next March.....which will be a year since he had leishmania diagnosed and initially treated. The dose is small and it's only 1 pill a day. He also said it was best to buy the pills here and take home with us as they cost very little compared to the UK. Next was xray......we had one done last year as one of his rear legs was a bit "floppy", but KAR have mislaid it! He was involved in some sort of accident in his early life and had his leg pinned but we can confidently say that it does not stop him running or moving around! As x rays here are again very cheap we thought we would get it done again so we have it to hand and we can pass onto our UK vet in case it may ever be needed in the future. Arranged to give the vet a call and book him in before we return home. Final check was for Kilroy to jump on the scales, he had lost about 1kg since we first took him home in June which was fine as he hadn't been exercised very much whilst in the rescue centre - impossible with 400+ dogs. ? So that's hound all fit and well, so we headed home for cups of tea and a couple of hours chilling.

At around 6:30pm it was the evening promenade around the Buffavento area and then home for showers, changed, sundowners and scrabble. This time the scores were level with each of us with one letter left, Sarah managed to place her letter and so swept to victory. Game done, supper was cooking slowly. Tonight it's Moroccan lamb sausages from our favourite butcher in Ozankoy, spuds and coleslaw. Ice cream and cake for pud followed by a stroll for hound and that was our day done....two days without a siesta so will sleep well again tonight.

Wednesday 6th September 2017

All jobs done by 8:30am and after a quick scrub we were ready to head off to the weekly market along with Bill and Joan who had not been before. Did our usual wander around picking up a wicker basket and some petunias for our garden tub and then stopping for tea, coffee and cake at one of the cafes. Bill and Joan joined us after their wander and we sat for over an hour chatting and doing the usual people watching. Headed home via Ozankoy and Catalkoy villages pointing out things of interest eventually back at ours at around lunchtime. Cold drinks all round and we agreed to meet up at around 6pm before heading to the quiz night. Sarah then popped out to get a picture printed off before returning home to make a light lunch.

The afternoon was spent watching a film, chilling and ironing followed by a Kilroy stroll, shower and changed before heading to the Club Tropicana for the weekly quiz. A sterling effort finishing in 3rd place again! ?Never mind we enjoyed our supper. Couple of games of stand up bingo then home. Bill and Joan dropped us off and headed to Arapkoy whilst we headed indoors to be greeted by Kilroy. John took him for his round the block stroll and then at just after 10pm we all settled down for the night.

Thursday 7th September 2017

Cooling breeze blowing this morning as we were on our walk which made the hours stroll very enjoyable. Home for tea. Kilroy had a wash down before enjoying his breakfast. Sarah went for a shower as she was off down to church this morning - on coffee duty. Apparently a number of visiting clergy are coming to St Andrews Church so she volunteered to do teas and coffees for them on arrival. Things very peaceful around the complex this so nothing to interrupt Kilroys morning snooze. Coffee morning done, Sarah returned home and we decided to pop out for a drive down the west side as we wanted to call in at a place called New4You. It used to be an auction centre but now has second hand white goods, furniture, paintings, boats etc all available for sale, so a wander around to check out what it was like. Off we went and after a drive through town arrived at the warehouse. To be honest not a lot to see that interested us, all looked a bit to well worn. Headed back towards home but on the way called in at Halos Trading...they sell white goods, had a wander and picked up a brochure. Onwards and as it was lunch we decided to stop off at The Red Stripe Cafe. Had a couple of soft drinks and a mixed toastie each which came with chips and salad. Great cafe and good food so we will return. Headed on homewards but stopped again at another white goods outlet for a wander and compare prices. Then a pit stop at Supreme for milk and juice and back home by 3pm. Kilroy was sleepy eyed as he greeted us and no sooner were we indoors he then settled himself down again and was quickly snoring the afternoon away. Sarah retired to the settee to watch some catch up tv whilst John chilled on the balcony.

Its 6:30pm and hound is fidgeting so time for his evening stroll; a lovely evening, not to hot and a chance to watch the sun setting as we wandered around our part of Catalkoy district. Home and time for a shower, before settling down for sundowners on the front balcony. Supper tonight is a tuna salad - we did have a bigger than expected lunch to be fair. A relaxing hour or so after supper then time for bed!

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Photos

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Good morning Mrs Cat.

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The standoff ?

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Morning walk in the hills

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Lovely early morning stroll

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Just like in the film "Zulu"..... the goats are gathering on the hillside watching us.

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Blue sky....again.

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The goat farm

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Do you mind, I am having my breakfast.......bloody tourists, can't even have me brekky in peace without some grokel taking pictures.

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Sunrise ?

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Another beautiful morning on its way

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The sun has got his hat on......North Cyprus September 2017

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A busy Weds market in Girne

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Weekly market, Girne

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Evening sunlight over the mountains close to our place

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Sunset

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This is the builders on site accomodation! They are building a couple of large villas just down the road from us. Must be hot and sweaty ?

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Evening stroll.

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Kilroy being a very good boy!

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Kilroy in observant mode.