I know what you’re thinking…. “they’re always on holiday…. they chase the sun around the globe…” There is an element of truth in this….. but…. in all honesty… our trips to Cyprus are less about holiday, and more about updating and maintaining our lovely house here. Do we have a great time with our friends, go to the beach, sightseeing…. enjoy the pool….???? Yes we do, but it is the minority of our time. A holiday home is like any house, it needs maintenance and it needs updating to keep it at the top of its game. We like to come twice a year -spring and autumn – and do any maintenance jobs that need doing, and also do any updating that we want to do. Any fun things are kind of a bonus!!!

This time, our main task was to re-upholster two of our sofas and paint the ceilings and walls of our lounge and dining room, as part of a colour scheme change from blue to green and gold. We’ve had the sofas done and yesterday we had the walls and ceilings painted. Looks great. In the autumn, we will have the remaining blue 3 seater couch and the two arm chairs – re-upholstered in a pale green to complete the look.

So, as it happens, we haven’t had a day off in the two weeks we’ve been here so far. Its been busy with all sorts of jobs.

Today Bob had a major dental appointment. When we were in Florida, he lost a filling – a big one. Luckily it didn’t result in any pain so he waited till we got here to sort it out. The lost filling is too big to be replaced. The only option is to temporary fill it, file it down, and then make a cap for it. So along he went today. Unfortunately, during the appointment the filling in the adjacent tooth turned out to have a major crack in it, so that had to be given the same treatment. Two caps underway. He was gone for hours, poor man. It’s much much cheaper than the UK though. £350 total for two rear molars to be capped. Bob goes to Smile Dental in Kyrenia. The main dentist is a woman, a Turkish Cypriot who trained in London. She also has an associate dentist, a Scottish gentleman, who works part time and was her professor at university in London.

I stayed back and took delivery of the new outdoor dining terrace sofa. The men had quite a job getting it out onto the terrace, through the sliding door. It just made it. Just. Very pleased though. We will get it re-upholstered to match the rest of the terrace furniture over next winter. I love the way both arms are completely adjustable, from totally flatl to half way up, to all the way up; I’ve got them both set at half-way but there are many variations.

Then I vacuumed through the ground floor and mopped all the floors, washed all the pictures and re-hung them, put everything back.

Bob got back about 130 and we had a bit of lunch and then we set abut re-hanging all the roman blinds and the curtains which had been taking down for wall painting. They went back up pretty easy and I have to say, we are so pleased with the way it all blends together. I attach a few photos.

I ran the hose down to the orchard late afternoon and watered in the new plants and the melons…. The major tasks of this visit are now achieved. We can now concentrate on a few “bonus” jobs.