Just over two months to go.......

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Friday 8th September 2017

Well it's now just over two months until we head home back to the UK, doesn't time fly? So we best make the most of it! Usual morning start, things nice and cool this morning which is perfect for our walk. Sat outside with our morning cuppa at 6am looking up at a slowly lighting sky with the moon still shining brightly. It will be a lovely day for sure. The temperature is now much more sensible at around 32C during the day, really is a good time of the year to visit. We like March - May when the island is green, full of flowers and we can also go out on extended walks. From June onwards things really do warm up and July/August are so very hot. September arrives and whilst the island has been frazzled a bit, things cool down and it becomes really pleasant again. This has convinced us that next year we will split our time out here into two chunks coming out in April and heading home end June before returning mid Sept until end Nov. After the dog walk it was home, more tea and then our usual Friday mop and bucket routine with a quick tidy around. Jobs all completed by 10am, time to chill. Sarah updated her diary with our activities over the next couple of weeks, need to make notes as we often forget what day it is and what we may or may not have planned. ? It comes to us all! Sat around for an hour or so and then time for a scrub down for the humans. Sarah then decided on some pool time whilst John kept Kilroy company with a film. Snoozy afternoon before it was time for the doggie walk - Sarah went out with the hound for 40mins. Around 6:15pm our taxi arrives in the form of Bill and Joan and off we went to the Friday quiz night.....well a disaster darling....we were not very good at all. Mind you if Mr Garibaldi had not insisted on changing the answer of the capital of Brazil we may have finished a little higher up the league. Fortunately Johns answers to the geography questions at least gave us some respectability. Quiz done we skulked out, heads down in shame at our hopeless score and by 9:30pm we were home and supper was bubbling away. Tonight its a Sarah special.....chillibol. This is leftover chilli and spag bol mixed together. Tasted great. John then wandered round the block with the boy and by 11pm we were all off to bed. Another very nice day.

Saturday 9th September 2017

Dark at 6am and very cool whilst sat on the sofa on the patio this morning. In a few weeks time it will be a sensible temperature to be able to take a road trip into the hills for a longer walk during the day. Our morning exercise done Kilroy had a quick shower before his breakfast, whilst humans sat and enjoyed more tea and planned the day. Off to the Lambousa Saturday market out Lapta way. We went last year and it's worth a wander round every so often. It's more of an art/crafts market, with book stalls, plants, home baking, some clothes and bric a brac. Also a couple of food outlets as well so we shall take breakfast there. Then back via town and a little supermarket shopping. Afternoon will be siesta, followed by football and an evening BBQ. Day sorted. Our site gardener was around this morning and as well as looking after the communal gardens, he also gets a lot of additional work looking after private gardens, plus tree trimming and also painting. Our neighbour has asked him to paint the outside of her place and we see that he has left some painting stuff outside on her patio so looks as if he will be starting soon.

So just after 9am we were on our way to the market. Had a pleasant hour or so there, wandering around and then a break with a coffee and sticky bun. Purchased some books from the KAR stall....one was all about Pointers and Setters. Having owned an Irish Setter and now a Pointer we will read with interest. Also found a book with old Cyprus pictures from the 1950s and a couple of reading books and finally one entitled 46 miles which is about those repatriated from Iraq after being killed. It's the stories of their final journey and the support that the people of Royal Wooton Basset gave as they made their way home. Looks to be a tear jerking but good read. Bought three plants for our tubs and also a pot with some thyme for the herb garden. We wouldn't come out here every week but worth the trip every month or so. Headed back home firstly calling in at the China Bazaar out near Alsanjak - better laid out than the one nearest us. Wandered around - vital purchase was a gun ?, well water pistol to be honest. This is to be used if the cats dare to approach our BBQ! Then via the Arcelik white goods shop in town and then into another shop selling similar......price comparison exercise. Onwards to Supreme supermarket for essentials.... a slab of beer, paper, salad, milk and bread. Loaded up the jeep ? and set off home. Well not exactly. Somewhere following our arrival at the supermarket John had a senior moment and managed to place the car keys down. A search of shopping bags, jeep and a re walk of the route in the shop but no keys. Asked at the checkout, no keys. Hmmm. Very hard thinking to be done but still no light bulb moment. Sarah on the phone to request Gary to go to our place, collect spare keys and affect rescue. John continues to wander the store. Eventually keys located.....Gary no longer on call out and we headed home much relieved. Unpacked and then time to sit on the balcony, cold drink to hand and enjoy a rather good pork pie purchased at the market. Lovely couple of hours in the peace and quiet. Lunch finished there were a couple of jobs to be done which included changing a lightbulb in the outside light and preparing BBQ for tonight's supper before settling down for book reading or siesta for an hour or so. Just before 5pm it was time to wrestle with technology and get set up for the match, this game will be a tough one for sure. By 5:30pm the character building was well and truly in place as football was not going well! Whilst we improved in the second half, it was a dissapointing match. Oh well we had to lose sometime. Sarah in the meantime had taken Kilroy for his stroll and by 7pm our friends Bill and Joan arrived and we plonked ourselves on the front balcony for a great evening of memory catch up and wondering where the time has gone. Ended the evening with a couple of glasses of fine malt to round off the day!

Sunday 10th September 2017

The sky was light by the time we woke at 6:30am, the alarm had gone off but we obviously just hit the off button and had an extra hours snooze. Quick cup of tea before the usual morning routine. A lovely bright, clear morning for the dog walk and by 8:30am we were home and enjoying the third cuppa of the day. A tribe of painters had turned up to paint our neighbours place next door.....all Pakistani of course. They work bloomin hard as they nearly all have a day job of sorts and then pick up other work which is either done of an evening or at the weekends. They started by removing the loose plaster and paintwork and doing a bit of filling in before all hands to the pumps with the brushes. Sarah headed to church and John was on Kilroy watch.....not a lot to watch as he was asleep! Gary and Elie popped across, not to see John but to meet Kilroy, who awoke from his slumbers to say hello to Elie. Shortly after they had left Bill rocked up to discuss arrangements for meeting another ex army colleague.....we are heading south tomorrow for a lunch meeting - will be fun for sure. Also Bill wanted to borrow a drill to get stuck into some serious diy. Sarah was home about 1:30pm and made a great bacon and egg sandwich for lunch and thought it a good idea to head to Girne harbour for a couple of hours people watching. Off we went but first via Lemar supermarket to pick up water for the church.....Sarah is in charge of hall admin and the water for teas and coffees was running low so needed to drop off a couple more. The it was a short stroll to the harbour front to our favourite little taverna "To Limani" situated about halfway along. Ordered two iced coffees, did people watching and read our books. Headed home around 5pm for a cup of tea, short siesta before taking Kilroy out for his evening stroll. Then it was adopt the position on the balcony with a chilled white to hand and some nibbles before the main event.......belly pork, jacket potato and the remains of last nights salad. Evenings now are very pleasant, the raging heat and humidity has all but gone and it's nowhere near as sweaty as a month ago, in fact just perfect. Whilst supper was cooking, time to FaceTime Ben and Claire and catch up on what was happening back home, apparently autumn has arrived back in Blighty. After supper it was the usual pre bedtime routine and by 10:15pm we were horizontal trying to stay awake to watch some catch up tv.......we failed!

Monday 11th September 2017

Same old, same old start to the day. Up at 5:30am and still dark, by 6am a glimmer of light in the east and then by 6:45am it was sunrise. Great walk in the mountains with the two dogs, think they are also enjoying the cooler mornings. Home and Kilroy had his watering can shower then time for tea and breakfast. New garden pet in the form of a grasshopper spotted in the hibiscus bush, big critter so will leave him be. Pottered around and just before 10am John took Kilroy for a second wander around Buffavento village, the reason was because we are off to the republic today to meet up with ex army colleague from way back in the early 80s. So out for a while.....mind you Gary has kindly volunteered to pop around and take him out for a quick stroll later. Bill and Joan arrived around 11am and we jumped in their car and headed to town via money exchange to get some euros and onwards to the Metehan border crossing just outside Lefkosa. From there we headed south down to Zygi and the beach area to meet up with Paul and Helen Thomas - Peter who arrived on island and were staying in Lefkara for a few days before heading up to Latchi. All six of us served at 9 Signal Regt in the early 80s and had a fantastic time. Arrived, tracked them down and found a taverna for lunch and so began another session of "swinging the lantern" as we reminisced about army days gone by. What a fine few hours it was as we recalled things that had happened, names we had long forgotten and also what we had all been up to post army service. Great catch up. Time to say goodbye wish Paul and Helen a great holiday and head back home arriving at our place at 7:30pm. Kilroy had been a well behaved boy all day so lots of praise for him. Sarah popped him on the lead and took him off for a walk .......which didn't go well. A not very nice dog who is never walked managed to sneak by it's owner whilst he was chatting at his gate and bit Kilroy. Fortunately not to badly, but did break the skin. Sarah was a bit shaken up, but after calling our vet, we sent a couple of pics to him and he reassured us that no need to bring him in, just clean it off with iodine and water and pop him down tomorrow for an antibiotic jab. Kilroy seemed ok, ate his food and settled down fine. No supper for humans as still full from our late lunch meal....we enjoyed fresh calamari, chips, salad, bread and tahini dip. Just after 9pm we took Kilroy for his usual pre bedtime walk and once back indoors he jumped into his chair as normal. He seems fine. Quick showers for humans and snooze time.

Tuesday 12th September 2017

Usual start to the day and on our return from the walk our site gardener was beginning to pack a few sun beds and brollies away as the summer season comes to and end. He will leave some beds and brollies out for another month or so before things really close down and winter approaches. Seems strange as the temperature during the day is still a lovely 28-30C! Had more tea and also did a little bit of dog training. This time we were working on asking Kilroy to remain sat whilst we walked away, increasing the distance each time before we stopped and called him to come. He did very well and certainly understands what we expect of him......rewarded with nibbles and lots of praise each time. He is very eager to please his humans! Quick breakfast before we popped Kilroy down to the vet for antibiotic injection plus some pills for next few days. Whilst we were there we asked about getting an X-ray done on his leg again because we want a copy for when we return to the UK, plus we asked about removing a teat under his belly. Apparently this is a breed trait in Pointers and we thought best to get it done as we did not want it catching on a thorn bush when he was crashing around, plus cheaper out here! Agreed to do everything tomorrow so take him down at 12 and collect around 5pm. Then we headed off over the mountain to meet Gary at Tiga trading, where he bought his car from. He is having a bit of work done on some bodywork, so we agreed to meet up and go to the Erulku supermarket so he could do a bit of shopping. As is the way here Gary got to the garage and they checked the car over and said yes they could do the work but suggested that perphaps getting the whole car done would be a better option rather than a few areas. So it's now booked in for the full works this Friday. However the trip gave us the opportunity to have another look around Erulku as we plan to do a shop here next week. Erulku supermarket done we headed back home and after a quick check on Kilroy headed off down the hill to change some money prior to calling in once again at the white goods shop we had been sussing out the prices in last week. After a bit of negotiation we managed to get a further discount off the items we were purchasing, confirmed delivery and guarantees and job was done. Should be delivered in the next couple of days........but this is North Cyprus so we will see ?. Our old items will be up for sale to see if we can recoup back some of our spend!

Travelled back to our place and saw the road sweeper out and also the local council pick up truck. The council man was driving around checking out the garden waste that needed clearing. At this time of the year everyone goes into heavy trimming and cutting back mode, giving their gardens a good tidy. Once this frantic activity looks to have ended the council workers will be around to remove everything. Home and now chill time with a good book and the tv. Kilroy had his evening stroll and then John called in at Gary's place to help move some furniture as he has the painters arriving tomorrow. Back home and after we had showered and changed we strolled over to Marj and Malcolm's for a bit of a chinwag. What a lovely evening we had, great conversation and fantastic food. Marj has a great recipe for spicy potatoes.....Sarah now has the recipe. Plus of course we all had a drink or two, John stuck with the g&t whilst Sarah enjoyed sparkling rose with a drop of brandy and yes it was good! The evening was so enjoyable that time flew by. We had planned to make supper but of course that went by the wayside, as did Johns football......he had forgotten there was a game on. By 11pm we really thought we should head all of 20mtrs back home. Sarah wobbled up to bed whilst John walked Kilroy around the block, needless to say Sarah was asleep by the time we both arrived home.

Wednesday 13th September

Surprisingly we woke up at our normal time and by 6:20am we were off into the hills for the morning dog walk. As the track was dusty it was the watering can shower treatment for Kilroy once back home, plus a drop of iodine on the bites he had from the other night. Humans enjoyed scrambled egg on toast for breakfast but for hound it was a bare plate as no food before he is taken to the vet to be sedated for leg xray plus his minor op. Had a call from someone interested in the white goods we have for sale, they have said they will call in around to view. The rest of the morning was spent doing absolutely nothing and around midday we took Kilroy down to see his favourite vet and arranged to pick him up around 4:30pm. Back home and the person interested in buying our second hand white goods rocks up, quick look and says he will take the lot. Apparently he rents out properties so these are ideal for him. Deal done! At last time for siesta as last nights partying has made us very snoozy......just about in a deep sleep when mobile rings.....jabbering in Turkish but seems like a couple of our white goods delivery is on its way. As is the norm it was easier for us to meet them at Supreme supermarket than try and explain the way to our place. So up we get and 10mins later we were guiding them back to Buffavento Village and they started carrying the items up our steps.....hard work in this heat! Everything installed, tested and signed for and they were on there way - they had a truck load of stuff so very busy. As we expected plumbing the washing machine in did disturb the under sink plastic pipe work and a slow drip emerged - noticed when we rinsed out some cups. John's record with plumbing is not that good, but fortunately this has happened in the past so after a bit of jiggling and sealant applied things look to be ok. Will watch over the next day or so. Time to relax for an hour before heading back down to the vet to pick up Kilroy. Arrived to find a woozy hound sitting in the recovery room after his X-ray and minor op. Viewed his leg X-ray for the first time and could see that it was his hip that had been broken in an accident in an earlier life and was now pinned together. Vet went thro it with us and said that he is walking fine so all is well. He; like us, thinks that the previous owner did get his hip repaired but probably after seeing the X-ray decided that the dog could never really be used for hunting so most likely dumped him. Fortunately KAR picked him up when really he probably only had a few days to live as he was so thin and weak and took him to the centre. As fate would have it we were there on our volunteer day and as they say the rest is history. The vet explained that the condition will need to be managed, especially as he gets older so we will be adding some calcium supplement to his food to try and help the bone structure. He has had a very rough start to his life poor lad. Vet gave him an injection to bring him fully round, gave us some antibiotics, plus of course the obligatory plastic plant pot collar to stop him licking himself. Stiches are dissolvable so no need to return for anything else to be done. Time to go home and Kilroy can settle down for a snooze after his interesting day.

Shower, changed and off to the quiz night with Bill, Joan and Gary - the start is now back to 6pm as it's cooled down a little. Lots of quizzers this evening so we did well to finish in 4th place. Stayed for supper and enjoyed the ham, egg and chips special before getting back home by 8:15pm. Bill and Joan stayed for a nightcap and after a quick walk with the dog it was time for bed.

Thursday 14th September 2017

Awake before the alarm, dark outside and nice and cool. Usual routine but decided to walk on the quiet roads around our area so that not to much dust and dirt could get into Kilroys stiched up area. Just over an hour later and home, Kilroy had his wound wiped with iodine and promptly laid down for a sleep. Bit of garden tidying and cups of tea for us humans and that was us for the morning. Joan and Bill kindly invited us around there place up at Arapkoy for the afternoon so we loaded up the jeep plus Kilroy and headed over for a nice lazy afternoon by the pool. Around 5pm we took Kilroy for an evening stroll whilst Bill and Joan discussed kitchen refurbishments with a man who had come to take a look and measure up. A nice wander around the village, there are some very nice houses here with great views and then back to their place. Some nibbles came out which we enjoyed on there terrace with great views towards the coast. This was followed by the main course of keema curry; two different types, hot and spicy or mild and fruity. Both were excellent, then some pud and ice cream. All washed down with Efes, cold glass of white and to end the night a glass of malt. A really enjoyable night. Back home and whilst Sarah unloaded the jeep, Kilroy took John for his pre bedtime stroll around the block. Home and off to bed.

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Photos

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It's 6am and the sky is slowly lighting up, but at the moment it's the moon shining the brightest.

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Bright moon ? as another day begins.

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The sun is up in the east and the moon is high in the sky in the west.

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Early doors at the Club Tropicana quiz.

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Deep in thought at the quiz.

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Boss Hogg aka Gary ruining our chances of winning by insisting the capital of Brazil is Brazilia, when we all knew it was BRASILIA. ? He was also on form in the geography section incorrectly identifying LAOS as CAMBODIA - it's a struggle sometimes

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Buy some plants and get a free baby Preying Mantis.

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A very fine pork pie for Saturday lunch

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Early 80s circa 9 Sig Regt mini reunion.
Lantern was swung and toasts made to all friends from those happy times!
Greetings from all of us.
John, Sarah, Bill and Joan

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Another baby preying mantis found wandering on our patio. Now safely rehoused in our bougainvillea tree.

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Small tug in Girne old harbour

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Iced coffee for two.....people watching down the old harbour

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It's 5:30am

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It's 6am

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Dawn at 6:35am

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Kilroy and Sarah......our early morning hours walk in the hills

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Walk done - do not disturb

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Ugly critter

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Boys reunion

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Girls reunion

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Zygi Marina

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Zygi marina

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This will turn into a Hawk moth.