Lovely sunny warm day today. Bob laid out a new watering line this morning, up through the orchard, visiting all the fruit and nut trees and circling the olive. We will keep that line on through the winter to ensure they are getting a good dollup every couple of days. He had to retrieve some of the line from the Somme but some is buried too deep at the moment. He also found there was some rot in the arm of the other adirondack chair, so he is making a new one.

I took the car and went off after breakfast to the nursery garden in Alsancak, “Nature Garden”. I wanted to get a mandarin or tangerine orange tree and some shrubs to fill gaps and also to fill in the planting places Habibi is making on the slope to the orchard, behind the pool. He had suggested to me we plant Torch Bourgainvillea in those 5 places. Torch bourgainvillea is a type that grows in green sharp spikes with the flowers only on the end. It is particularly suited to be shaped into all sorts of sculptural styles. I got 3 red, 1 dark purple, 1 pink.

Then I went searching for a large mandarin orange tree. Our current orange tree is a regular type. We want one that is small oranges.

Anyway, a very nice Punjabi man walked me round all the orange trees, in all their varieties and sizes. Finally, we picked one, rich with fruit and also tall enough that I think it will grow quickly.

Having agreed that, I was just on my way back to the office and then I saw a bay full of colocosia. I was assured they were hardy here and that they need summer water only….. so…. how could I resist…… And then…. so finally safe and clear, I met the owner outside the office with the most gorgeous pink bell flowered climber in his arms. He took me to pick another…. sigh…… Luckily plants here are much cheaper so I paid up painlessly and then went on my way.

Did a food shop at the new Ileli supermarket. We really like the butcher there. He’s seperate from the supermarket in that it’s clearly a rented space within the store. Anyway, he’s amazing. Lots of lamb – the best sheftali in my opinion – as well as proper lamb chops as well as the more normal Cypriot style. The beef and steaks are outstanding. He has a dry salt cabinet where he is aging some of the beef and also he has steaks and beef of a more regular aging style. It all looks superb. I bought loads of sheftali, some kid for making a goat curry, and some of his humoungous burgers.

Got home about lunchtime and within 20 minutes the owner of Nature Garden was on the phone to deliver the plants. He reckons he laid out the original garden here – before our time – but have to say the trees are very lovely that date back till then.

Had a quietish afternoon and tonight Bob bbq’d some of those sheftali. They are so delicious. Melt in the mouth….. I can’t believe I am sitting outside in my t shirt at 7pm eating dinner at the end of November.