Well, again we’ve spent the last couple of days mainly around the villa.  It’s really hot. Brilliant weather.  Hard to move away from the pool really.  Bob has been progressing with his pool maintenance jobs.  He’s nearly finished now.

The overflow gully is waterproofed and he’s fitted a new ballcock to the ballast tank.  This involved nearly emptying that tank into the garden tank so that he could descend down into it to work.  As its a 5 tonne concrete hole in the ground, not such a fun thing… Still all done now.

We’ve also enjoyed being in the pool – getting warmer every day.  Just so lovely to lie around in the afternoon, after work is finished.

We have bbq’d most nights.  In fact we were going to bbq some lovely lamb chops tonight but we were thwarted.  I’d bought a box of lamb chops from our butcher down the hill and I’d got them out of the freezer this morning to defrost on the kitchen worktop.  Really looking forward to them I was!  Anyway, some time between 330 when Bob went in from the pool, and 430 when I went in, some wretched cat must have come in and made off with half the chops!  I found the rest on the kitchen floor!!!!!  I was utterly incensed.  And those that know me and my love of lamb chops, can just imagine the utter outrage on my face when I made this discovery.  There was no sign of the offender or of any telltale chewed bones however……if I ever find the mangy moggy….well…….  still, lesson learned…. defrosting to be done overnight in the fridge from now on.

So we went out for dinner tonight instead… more of that later.

Habibi had found out that a garden centre in Lapta had some wood for sale that would be good for our traditional oven.  Our pile was getting low.  So we headed out to find it following his directions.  A nice little place run by a most interesting man and his family.  A Turkish Cypriot, he spoke excellent English, probably because he came from Camden Town and had only returned to the island 9 years ago.  Anyway, he reckoned he had worked in various hush hush jobs for the MOD and had many stories to tell.  Most entertaining.  And, he claimed,  the best olive wood logs on the island!!! How could we resist.  We bought a van load off him for £90 and he is delivering to the house tomorrow… or the next day…  I also bought an Angels Trumpet shrub/tree (brugmansia) for less than a fiver.  Its about 3 feet high so a very good plant.  He’s delivering that too.  The wood should last us at least 2 years.  We love using the oven as do our guests.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called The Cabin, on the water’s edge in Lapta.  It’s another of our go-to informal restaurants.  A lovely setting with tables over the water on decks and also an inside room and gardens.  We ate over the water but in a shelter as it was a bit breezy in the sunset.  Such a lovely view though.  The food was very good.  Bob started with a lentil soup and ciabiatta bread.  Then we shared a small meze of dips and olives.  Then, both of us had calamari, chips and salad.  Massive helpings and so tender and well cooked.  The chips as usual were historic.  Finally coffees and brandies – more like triples.  Oh, I forgot, Bob started with a beer and I had a g&t.  The whole lot came to £16.50 – that’s for both of us, not each!!!! Amazing.  I pointed out to the owner that he hadn’t put the meze or the coffee and brandies on the bill.  “Oh, no, they’re free” he said.  You’ve got to love Cyprus.  Where else would you get that sort of hospitality???  Not London, that’s for sure….

Home and a wonderful star show over our hillside.  Thousands of them up there twinkling down.