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Snoozing cicada No cicadas chirruping this morning as it has cooled down a little and the sun has not hit there backs to rouse them and set them off. There are some ugly creatures in the world of which cockroaches and cicadas are high up there. This morning we found one cicada having a snooze on a flip flop so being very brave we took a couple of pictures before the thing awoke. Damn ugly! To balance things up we gave a quick check of our garden and there are now plenty of beautiful flowers around with geraniums in the pots beginning to really come alive, jasmine smelling lovely, camellia blossoming and our bougainvillea; which we had to nurse along for a couple of years has finally taken hold. Even our rose planted late last year has survived and now looking healthy. Providing we keep watering over the hot summer months, by the time we return to the UK we expect the rains to start to arrive and they should then be fine over the winter.
After our usual start to the day and having breakfasted we decided a beach morning was needed so gathered together a
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Ugly critter. few items and headed downhill to Shayna beach, a quick 5 minute drive away. Nice setting in a small cove with clean beach area and raised decking with sun beds, umbrellas etc plus also a small taverna selling drinks and snacks. A good 5 hrs spent chilling, reading and swimming - its great to have somewhere that is close by and on a day like today it was perfect. A light breeze was blowing keeping us cool and just half a dozen steps down to the sea, plus this year they have a small pontoon in the centre of the cove to chill on. On our way home we called in at our furniture maker to check on progress of our settee. We were originally told approx 3 weeks to make, that was 4 weeks ago, however we knew the excuse for delay before we asked.....it was of course because of bayram and holidays a week or so ago. It was no problem for us and Sarah got a tour of the workshop and was able to ask if they could recover our IKEA Poang chairs sometime in the future. When they deliver our settee they will take some pictures
and then give us a quote. Home to be greeted by a sleepy headed Kilroy who had obviously been chilling himself all morning, he had been a good boy! Late lunch before a shower and relaxing afternoon.
After the evening walk - weather has cooled a little from last weeks heatwave, it was time to think about supper. Takeaway night - so we decided to try a new place just outside of town that did Asian Street Food. It was aptly named Pulp Action, which according to Sarah is a chain restaurant serving similar food all over the world. Of course this was just a copy on words such is the way here in the TRNC. John had called in to check the place out a couple of weeks back and we had heard a couple of good reports. Around 8pm, John despatched to town to order and pick up something.....what we dont know! We are sure we could have phoned in an order as they do have a Facebook page with contact details but thought best to go and check out the place properly and take a look at the notice boards to see what was on offer.
Decided to go for a selection, Thai green curry,spring rolls, prawn patties and calamari with a nice chilli dip. They had a good choice on there menu ranging from noodle dishes, rice, beef and also asian dumplinhas plus a selection of soups. Good prices and once back home and sampled, the food was very good as well. Will return for sure.
Supper finished, Sarah took Kilroy for a quick spin round the block before we settled down to watch a classic film,"To Sir with Love" all whilst sat outside under the stars with a glass of wine. Film done we retired to bed on what is definitely a cooler more pleasant night.
Friday 7th July 2017 Usual first hour of the day and after returning from the hill walk it was time for a quick cup,of tea before starting our normal Friday clean up. A good couple of hours, dusting, hoovering, mopping, watering the garden, cutting back plants, filling oil lanterns, checking lights and bulbs and other little jobs and by 10:30am we were done.....bit hot and sweaty but finished for another week. Cup of tea and refreshing cool shower before bacon sandwich for breakfast and an
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Bougainvillea hours chill on the garden patio.
Well the Talks on Cyprus have ended in Switzerland after a period of 10 days, with no solution to the problem. The two sides could not come to agreement on the big issues of security guarantees for the Turkish Cypriot community, the return of Guzelyurt (Morphu) to the greek side, rotating presidency between a Greek and Turkish Cypriot leader and also equal rights for Turkish Cypriots. This really does seem the end of the line as was often stated by both sides before coming to Switzerland. As always each side will blame the other for the failure. Who knows what will happen in the future but it looks like the TRNC will be on its own apart from the support of Turkey for a long time now. It is time to end its isolation but that will never happen as the Greek side just will not allow it - they have a much more pro-active press and have over the years proven to be extremely adept and ensuring its the greek word and version of events that is paramount. They do a very good marketing campaign! Anyway the main thing is that since
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Shayna Beach Turkish intervention in 1974 it cannot be denied that this island has been at peace, which can only be a good thing. It will soon be the anniversary of the Turkish intervention and no doubt we will see the usual parades, spectacular air show and crowds gathering for the all night vigil.
As its Friday it was a short walk for the dog before heading off for the quiz night. Well it was a team of 3 for tonights quiz so let's just say we finished around mid table which wasn't bad as we were up against teams of 6 - 8 or more. On the way home from the quiz we saw a man out walking his dog.......well what actually was happening was a man was in his car and he was driving slowly around the roads about a mile from our place and his dog was jogging alongside his car. We jest not, it was actually happening. Yes the road to Buffavento village is quiet but we have seen it all now. The driver smiles as we passed by, even managing to wave at us as he shouts to his dog to stay. Madness! Back home and
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Shayna Beach John took the dog for a stroll then supper of pork and leek sausages, chips and egg, lovely! Another quick stroll for Kilroy and then we all headed off to bed.
Saturday 8th July 2017 Same old, same old start to the day and by 7:30am we were back home after our stroll with the dogs, sat on the garden patio enjoying a few cups of tea. This morning John met with Gary for a lift down to the Club Tropicana for the final Lions game. First stop on the way was Pooltech who look after and maintain our pool. We have ordered replacement pool lights and it seems the delivery has arrived and they are available for collection. This should mean that at night the pool will be lit up a very nice shade of blue colour. A fair crowd gathered for the rugby and what a great, edge of the seat game it was. A draw was a fair result and ends a magnificent series. Sarah arrived to pick John up after having done a bit of shopping and it was back home for lunch and siesta.
Had 30 mins training with Kilroy teaching him
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Kilroy chilling on the front balcony...... to come when called and then played a bit of football with him. He is a quick learner, but as with all pointers can get distracted and then has the urge to investigate something! Training and playtime done it was time to shower and change ready for a night on the town. Tonight we are joking Gary and his girlfriend Ellie; who lives in the south (Greek) side of the island, at the Liman Restaurant right next to the old harbour in Girne. Table booked for 8:30pm so we set off at 8:00 as we were unsure what the traffic would be like. Just as we were heading down the hill from our place the sun was beginning to set. Parked up in the main car park at the top of town and strolled downhill to the harbour and into the restaurant. Nice setting and pleasant surroundings. Gary and Ellie arrived a little later and we settled down for the evening. There was a very talented singer and band playing,we had seen her last year when we came down one night with Gary just for a drink.......she has a regular booking at the restaurant. After perusing the menu our waiter
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Sunset 8th July 2017 Ali then took our order.......nice guy, eager to please but struggled a bit with the language. A reminder of Manuel from Fawlty Towers! Gary and John ordered the mixed grill, Sarah the baby roasted chicken and Ellie a Russian salad. The food was fine, nothing spectacular but enjoyable. The girls then ordered puddings with honey cake and ice cream for Sarah and chocolate sponge for Ellie. All washed down with a few beers and wine. Overall it was a nice experience, even if the service was slightly chaotic probabaly due to a number of different nationalities waiting or serving. Our waiter was obviously from Turkey, but there was also a fair sprinkling of "Natasha's" from most likely Russia and on numerous occasions they or other waiters would bring food or drinks to our table which were not for us?! Meal done and with the time getting close to midnight we all decided to stroll round the corner to the White Pearl Hotel and have a nightcap on the roof terrace which overlooks the old harbour. It really is a great spot to watch the sunset or just enjoy a drink whilst people watching. At 12:30am (!) us stop outs left
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Prosecco time! the love birds to it and said our farewells and headed back home. Ellie is a lovely lady, intelligent, funny, witty and very chatty and has the measure of Gary! How he managed to woo her we can only guess......look forward to meeting her again. Back home and Kilroy had again been a very good boy - a quick stroll and it was time for bed. This was the latest we had stayed out for a long time.
Sunday 9th July 2017 After just a few hours sleep we were up and at them at our usual time of 5:30am,cup of tea to get us going then off into the hills for an hour with the dogs. Met a cyclist on his mountain bike heading down the same track as us and even managed to give him directions on which way to go to get higher up the mountain. Another bit of excitement was watching the fitting of the electric cables to a new set of pylons. From our house we had noticed a second set of pylons had sprouted up on the hillside, all done whilst we were in the UK and yesterday we saw large drums of heavy duty cables near a pylon that we walk under every day on the dog walk. This morning at 6am a team had gathered and were just having a spot of breakfast under a tree before commencing work. It was fascinating to see them reel in and connect up the cables across a very deep ravine......one guy scrambling like a monkey up the electricity pylon as each cable needed securing. He did at least have a hard hat and also had safety climbing gear, however we did see him unclip a few times and crawl along a metal arm to the outer limit and then re clip himself back onto the main pylon. Of course in the U.K. this would never be allowed! Across the ravine we could hear the grinding of a machine which was dragging the cable up to the correct height - all looked a bit "Heath Robinson" to us and very typical of how things operate out here. Back home by 7:10am, more tea followed by breakfast of granola, yoghurt, honey and fresh raspberries. After our late night there is not a lot planned for the day apart from a siesta this afternoon. Sarah went off to church whilst John watched the hound and prepared tonight's supper - another boring BBQ. This time it's Chinese style chicken, burger and helim on the menu, with a salad and pitta bread. All will be washed down with a bottle of Prosecco, courtesy of a special offer at Supreme supermarket. Reading the local press the recriminations and blame game has started as to why the Cyprus Talks failed earlier this week. It does seem that this really was the last great opportunity for a settlement and it looks like reunification in whatever form is now never going to happen. Both sides will have to find there own way to co-exist and run there areas as they see fit. As Ellie said last night, normal Cypriot people of both communities could no doubt get on, however the politicians, influence of Greece and Turkey and a very few hard line fanatics has prevented a just and fair solution being found.
Afternoon was spent snoozing, us oldies cannot party like we used to! Then Kilroy off for a stroll round the block, before coming back home for another 10 mins training. BBQ set up and lit and whilst this was burning down it was Prosecco time, accompanied by some lovely olives. We are the only ones home along our little row, our immediate young neighbours must have gone away for a few days and Ahmet and Tahiri have not been around this weekend. Really enjoyed our supper this evening the Chinese style chicken was really good - bought from our favourite butcher in Ozankoy and his burgers weren't bad either. So ends another day and a new week begins.
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