All back to normal this morning for the Bolers! Bob stayed up last night to watch the Italy vs Spain match which he said was pretty boring for the most part. Lucy and I turned in before kickoff and slept right through.
A hot day. Cloudless skies. Same every day to be honest. No wonder fires take a hold. No chance of rain between May and the end of September, probably longer…. and temperatures in the 30s throughout that period. All it takes is a careless fire or an arsonist as seems to have been the case in the south.
Terrible damage and loss of life for 4 young men. The President of Northern Cyprus rang the President of Southern Cyprus immediately the fire broke out and offered help and equipment. Of course, it was not accepted, just like a shared water supply has never been accepted or the supply of electricity when their only power station blew up because they had moored aP ship containing illegal arms next to it. The toxic politics of Cyprus is such that the southern politicians would rather people lost their homes, their crops dry up and die in the fields and their old people and hospitals suffer the heat of the summer without cooling rather than ever work in tandem with the north. And against this background naive people like the UN and Biden actually believe that a power sharing federal state would be possible……. As if it hasn’t been plain for the last decades that the political elite of the ROC and the Greek Authodox Church having failed to genetically cleanse the island of Turkish Cypriots (they had a damn good try) have no intention of ever equally sharing power with them. It’s a conundrum and many people now believe that the ROC leaders would actually like it better for Turkey to annexe the north, or for the north to make some irrecoverable step like completely opening up Varosha (Famagusta) so that it takes the politically impossible task of finding a solution agreeable to their own hardliners and the Church away. The UK government must see the desperate unfairness of their policy to the TRNC, having totally botched the power handover back in the 60s. The EU put the final nail in the coffin when they admitted the ROC even after the ROC voted No to the Kofi Annan plan for a power sharing state. Now all international pressure on the ROC to make a political settlement is lost. The EU is bound to support them, and the ROC and their Greek supporters veto any attempt to recognise the TRNC. The UK is desperate to retain its leased military and intelligence gathering bases in the south and therefore is cringingly supportive of the ROC. The USA has a naive and romanticised view of the issue, just like it does with Northern Ireland, based on a large Greek heritage pressure group who even veto fact finding missions to the north. And so life goes on, happily enough in our little time warp up here. It’s heavenly really for holidaymakers and visitors who can come and enjoy an unspoilt way of life difficult to find elsewhere in the Mediterranean, certainly impossible to find in southern Cyprus anymore, which closely resembles Marbella in its gaudy commercialism. But you have to feel sorry for the small farmers and businessmen of the north who are prevented from exporting to the world, other than Turkey. A great injustice. Not a rant, simply my view of a political situation we have observed over the last 15 years.
Spent good pool time this afternoon, reading and also watering the plants. Tonight was pizza night. I made the dough this afternoon and also another lemon drizzle cake. The pizza was a team effort. Bob lit up the wood oven in the garden. I made and stretched the dough and Lucy did the toppings. We made 3. Pepperoni with mozzarella and tomato, Sausage with mushroom, mozzarellla and tomato, Sweet red pepper with herby goat cheese and tomato. In all honesty, they were totally delicious. They take literally 2 minutes once the wood oven is up to speed. We bought pizza trays in LIDL back in the UK and brought one set out here. You dont really need them. Traditionally, you would put the pizza straight onto the stone floor of the oven. However, we have found it is easier to assemble them on the pizza trays and then put the tray into the oven. Frankly, the bottom doesn’t end up as crisp, but on the other hand, you avoid the floppy flip off the pizza peel catastrophe….. We enjoyed them by the pool, Lucy and I drinking rose spritzers and Bob an Efes Beer. Saturn was incredibly bright tonight. The stars are always amazing around us – a real dark sky, but it was special tonight. I wish my camera was up to capturing the night sky.
So, if you decide to come here for a holiday, I do encourage you to use the wood oven. There is plenty of wood in the stack and instructions on how to use it in my villa pack. Great fun for everyone and delicious too. Not just for pizza…. roasted meats like leg of lamb are fantastic cooked in there, or a slow stew…..
Then we settled down to watch the match…. too nervous for the team to write more…. Good luck England!