Hairdryer breeze, chirruping cicadas and aircon on!

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Saturday 1st July 2017

Today's early alarm call at 5:30am was the delightful noise of the cicadas. After driving home last night with a hot hairdryer breeze blowing and the temp at 8pm still 33C you just know that a heatwave has arrived. This morning at 6am the temperature had cooled to a mere 28C so hounds to hand, rucksack, dog bowls and water on board we set off for the hours walk. As we passed the goat farm, the farmer had today bought his pickup truck along.......we think Saturdays is "selection" day for those who are going to be providing the weekends bbq or Sunday joint. A nice stroll with a quick water stop for our four legged friends at the turnaround point and back home by 7am for more tea. Then it was a spot of gardening, watering and tidying around and checking that the fence proofing to stop Kilroy escaping was still in place. Just after 8am we were heading to the supermarket and veg stall for some supplies, better to get this done now as in an hour or so it will be roasting with forecast today expected to be 44C. Back home and with a brief welcome from Kilroy - to hot to do anything more, we unpacked the shopping and Sarah made some pizza dough which hopefully will be ready for when we make home made pizzas for tonight's suppper. This morning for John will mainly be taken up by the Lions rugby game and at 10am he met Gary they headed off to the Club Tropicana to join about 20 others to see if the lions could even the series. It was a tad warm sat under the covered patio area but the fans were on warp factor 10 and the oranges and lemonades were flowing. Also full breakfasts or bacon/egg rolls were on the go. Lions won, but only just! So looks like next Saturday morning is sorted now as we cannot miss the decider. Just as we were leaving the local equivalent of environmental health arrived to check the premises......it was a snap inspection checking fridge temperatures, food prep areas etc. Apparently they get double time on Saturdays.

Sarah arrived to pick up John at around 12:30 and it was back home for a relaxing afternoon. Sarah spent time reading whilst John selected a film. Aircon on so indoors it was a pleasant 26C whereas outside it had hit 42C and that was in the shade, that is above normal for July for sure. Early evening and dog walk but this time we ventured not far - just about 200 mtrs to Gary's place to do a bit of doggie socialising and also feed and water Buddy. Socialising went well after the initial explore of the garden, with the two of them enjoying a game of doggie football, although Kilroy was obviously still learning the game. We also continued with the training and worked on Kilroy coming back when called. He is keen and picking things up for sure. Meet up completed and dogs knackered we strolled back home. Retired to the front balcony to sit for 30mins then a shower, sundowners and then scrabble game number 2 of the series. Yet another very close game with the lead changing hands a few times, however in the end John managed to hang on to win by a mere 9 points.......so it's 1-1 in the series.

Eventually we felt it was a sensible temperature to make our pizzas. Salad prepared, Sarah concocted the pizzas. Tomatoe base with mozzarella cheese, salami, anchovies, olives, goats cheese, cheddar cheese and home grown basil. They were really good, to big really so have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. A late late stroll round the block with Kilroy and then it was time for bed.

Sunday 2nd July 2017

Last night as it was so hot we decided to use our front bedroom, complete with aircon and blackout curtains. We had been fine in our other room with just a fan but the heat of the last two days made us decide that we needed the aircon to keep cool. Well it definitely worked as neither of us woke up till 6am after a great nights sleep. No cups of tea, just dressed and out the door for our stroll, picking up Buddy on the way. Next week the temperature is supposed to drop by a couple of degrees.....great. Buddy definitely happy coming with us now as he was waiting at his front gate anxious to join Kilroy and explore the hills. Home by 7:20am and tea by the gallon. This morning Sarah is off to church, John into town for a wander then a book read and a cafe latte in the The George. Church finished we drove thro the back streets and found ourselves outside Shooters, a very nice coffee bar so decided to call in. Sarah had been there last week for a meeting but first time John had visited. Very nice indeed, great choice of coffees, cakes, ice creams and snacks plus the advantage of air conditioning to keep us cool. Sarah opted for a fruit smoothie and John the iced coffee. Will return for sure. Set off again homewards calling in at China Bazaar on the way. We were looking for a selfie stick, but it appears that the boat has not delivered as yet. Home by 1:30pm for a snack followed a lazy afternoon, watching a film. Kilroy walked and then we headed into Ozankoy village to try out a new restaurant we had heard about - Happy Garden. Parked in the village square and the restaurant was 10mtrs away. Went in and we were greeted by Huseyin who thanked us for coming and we settled down at the bar enjoying a drink whilst perusing the menu. A good choice of traditional Turkish main courses so Sarah went for the lamb casserole whilst John selected the lamb shIsh. Chatted to Huseyin who had said they had been open two months and was pleased how things were going. He did say that on a Saturday night they have a specials evening with an all in price to include mezes, main course, pudding, coffee and brandy to finish. He was looking for different ideas for a main course.....we suggested a stuffed chicken to share for two.....chicken stuffed with rice, onion, pine nuts etc plus roasted spuds. The setting was lovely, in a garden with lights in the trees and a nice sofa in the corner to relax on as well. Everyone was eager to please and the food was well cooked and presented. We asked for a few mezes to start and they were bought out before the main course; yoghurt dip, olives, chilli dip....hot, hot, hot and also a tomato and aubergine dip accompanied by warm toasted bread. When it came to the bill the total cost including drinks, water and coffee was 70TL....approx £16. The mezes were thrown in for free. We will be returning, Before we headed home we had a short stroll around the village checking out the other bars and restaurants, deciding which ones to visit in the future. Home by 10:15pm and straight out again to take Kilroy for a walk round the block. Time for a glass of wine and a spot of tv before bed.

Monday 3rd July 2017

Awake at 5:30am so time for a cup of tea before the hours walk which was all done and dusted by 7:15am. What to do today. Decided that we really ought to start the temporary visa process, we had gathered some paperwork together a couple of weeks ago - basically 2 x photocopies of everything. However since then the pool and beach took priority. A temporary visa is needed for anyone wishing to stay over 90 days here in North Cyprus. There is a "gentlemens" agreement in place that those over 60 do not need this visa, however there are possibly good reasons as to why you may still wish to apply......it's all a bit Cypriot! As we have not hit the magic number (Yet), we have to apply. The process is relatively straightforward and mainly consists of lots of form filling, stamping of forms, producing copies of paperwork and payment of money. First part is to get the village Muhtar (Head Man) to vouch that you live in his "patch"and you are very nice people. Off to his office in the village centre, form filling, stamping of forms, plus payment. What's the payment for.....well admin charges of course or maybe it's just the Muhtars annual party fund, who knows. Whilst we were there Sarah was asking him about a picture hung on the wall, turns out that it is a picture of the Turkish village on the south side and the locals that used to live there were re-located to Ayios Epiktitos, formerly a Greek village now renamed Catalkoy (Fork Village) here in the north in 1974. The original Greek residents moved the opposite way in 1974 following the Turkish intervention. The Muhtar showed us on a map where in the south the Turkish village was and seems it was Avdimou village right on the edge of the Episkopi Sovereign Base Area. It is close to Melanda Beach, one of our favourite beaches and tavernas. There was also an old certificate hung up presented on behalf of King George to the Greek Cypriot Village Muhtar for excellent service in the mid 1930s, all very interesting. Forms signed but they have to be countersigned, by another upstanding pillar of the local community........this person can normally be found in one of the coffee shops or working in one of the small businesses. A wander around to track someone down, eventually got the carpenter to sign and that is stage one done. Next it was on to our bank for a couple of statements, again these are produced and stamped by bank as official. These are required to prove you can support yourself whilst you are living out here and is sort of proof that you are not needing to work......sort of. You can work out here but again that is another myriad of forms, more detailed medical checks and its best not to go there. Stage two done. Next part is a visit to the police station to check the mass of paperwork and then get a "chit" to go off and have a blood test. We however thought that was enough for today and left the next bit till later in the week - in actual fact all of the running around, form filling and blood tests can be done in a morning - we have done it before, but why rush when it's so hot. On our way home we called into "The Little Furniture Shop" for a look around. Wow, what great place. Tables, chairs, bookcases, stands, lighting, clocks etc etc all made out of solid wood, there were some beautiful pieces on display - just wondering how we can get some items back to the UK. We were back home by 10am and cold glass of juice to hand sat on the garden patio until the sun crept around.

As the temperature crept up again we sat reading and eventually retiring indoors to the air conditioning. Managed to hit 40C by mid afternoon. At about 7pm John wandered across the bondu with Kilroy whilst Sarah prepared tonight's supper of mushroom stroganoff followed by pineapple sponge pudding and ice cream. This was preceded by some sundowners, this time joining Gary poolside for an hour. Whilst there Gary dipped his toe in the pool to declare it was like a very warm bath. Back home for supper and then off to bed.

Tuesday 4th July 2017

Awoke to the sound of silence! It was 5:30am and no cicadas chirruping, add to this a gentle breeze blowing through our bougainvillea and it felt very pleasant. With luck it will be a little cooler today. Nice cup of tea and then the early morning constitutional with the dogs. Very busy on our walk with two guys and their dogs power walking and running along the track, plus the goat farmer heading back home. Just as we got back home at 7am the cicadas started as things began to warm up a little. Plants watered, more tea and a sit down and enjoy this time of the day.

Sarah headed into town to drop off a couple of items at the church hall and also change some money in readiness for our next stage in obtaining our temporary residency visas tomorrow. By 11am all jobs were done so we retired up to the pool where there was a slight breeze and we could cool off when we wanted. A light lunch of pitta bread, salad and feta cheese. Mid afternoon we headed home for a couple of hours leaving our towels and stuff by the pool as we returned for an evening session after dog walking just as the sun was setting for the day.

Supper tonight is a nasi-goreng affair created by John but first there was another round of scrabble to be done, which had John winning and taking a 2-1 series lead. After supper Sarah took Kilroy for a short stroll and then it was time for bed.

Wednesday 5th July 2017

After a good nights sleep we were up and setting off on our normal morning routine. Once back home and hound fed we showered and gathered together all the necessary paperwork (Hopefully) and headed into town for the next stage of our temporary visa application. We were on the road by 8:30am hopefully to get in before any queue builds up. All going well until about 2 miles from town - road closed and diversion! Lots of police and other local community police around at the initial diversion pointing the way to go. Followed the diversion sign and off up a side road, came to a junction where there were another couple of policemen, however directing traffic was clearly not high on there priority. Being on the mobile was more important! Do we go straight on, turn right, who knows......so we decide to carry straight on. Of course the further we drove the more early morning commuter traffic was heading the opposite way. They normally use this cut thro to get to work and had no idea about the diversions and were trying to head down to the major road via the narrow village lanes. They will be annoyed once they arrive as they will not be allowed on the road to town as traffic is being diverted And will need to turn around, ho, ho, ho, such fun! More traffic and soon it was gridlock and horn honking time! Oh how we love the chaos that is North Cyprus. We have lived here long enough to know some short cuts of our own and with a few cunning turns we were back heading thro town. First stop stop is the police station next to the Wednesday market for paperwork check, but we must get some stamps....a la postage stamps to stick on forms. They do love there stamps here. The cafe next to the police station and market does a roaring trade in photocopying and supply of stamps. Cost of stamps was 36TL.....plus of course the cafe service charge of 4TL! Into police station, not many waiting which was good, plus they have gone a bit high tech as you press a button to receive a number so you know your place in the queue. Always a tense moment whilst the myriad of paperwork is checked - if it ain't right then you are sent away. Some confusion caused as our old residency expired in March this year and initially the police lady thought we had exceeded our stay. If we had it is a fine which increases at a daily rate and soon mounts up. However; a quick check on the "system" showed we left North Cyprus last Oct and returned this June so we did exit the country and we still have the normal 90days from our arrival to get things sorted. Once satisfied unsmiley police lady gives us the "chit" to take to the state hospital in town where you pay your money for blood tests. Back to town to the state hospital to pay and be told where the blood test would be done. Yes we are at the main hospital in town but blood is not taken for testing here. Once you have made payment you are told which one of the private clinics to go to who will take the blood! Back to car, short drive to private clinic, one we have used in previous years. The reason for the blood test is to check you are not carrying any disease that could contagious thus causing strain on the local medical services. Blood taken and results can be collected from state hospital in about 10 days time. Back to the cop shop to prove blood test done, ahhh but it's now 10:30am so coffee break time, there will be a short wait. Do not even attempt to interrupt!! Break finished we are called in and slightly more happier police lady (Coffee break must have helped) then fills in more forms....all hand o matic with lots of stamping and signing. Police retain all paperwork to send to the immigration office in Lefkosa. In approximately 2-3 weeks time you can take your blood test paperwork and visit the immigration offices for the final stage, but that's another experience for another day. Are you following it all or are you confused?!

Admin was completed by 10:45am so just under 2.5hrs after leaving home. Good going we think! To celebrate we then decided to have a drink and lahmucen at the market cafe plus a spot of people and traffic watching. Always a good spot to sit and observe all forms of human life. Our break over we did a little wandering around and picked up some veg and salad. Off course a major advantage of having the police station next to the market is so that the police can wander out and do a bit of shopping when they feel like a break from work! There are always lots of them pottering around the stalls. Market done we then headed out of town via the back lanes avoiding any confusing diversions to Ozankoy and the butchers and onwards to the supermarket, before heading home in time for lunch. After our busy morning it was chill time and a lazy afternoon. Kilroy had his usual short walk before we showered, changed and out to the Wednesday quiz night. A pretty good performance finishing in 2nd place and just one question away from top spot. Back home by 8:15pm, John wandered round the block with Kilroy whilst Sarah prepared our chilli supper. Today was Gary's birthday and he called around at about 9:30pm for a nightcap and regaled us with stories of his misspent youth! He was a rebel.....without a cause we think. At 11:30pm it was time to retire to bed after another good day.

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Photos

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Garden looking good.

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42C outside - that's hot.

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Kilroy and Buddy enjoy an evening socialising.

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Johns pizza creation

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Sarah in pizza prep mode

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Pizza, salad, a G&T and dining under the stars.

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Home made pizza

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Cafe Latte at The George in Girne.

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Shooters Cafe.
Great selection of coffees, smoothies, cold drinks, ice cream and snacks. Air con a real bonus as well.
Nice place and will return.

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Sunrise and its going to be a hot one!

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4th July pool view.

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Early evening pool session. Perfect time of the day!