The weather has been just lovely. 27/28C, sunny and almost cloudless. We’ve been spending our days around the house and pool, relaxing and doing small jobs. On Tuesday night we were back at Ercan (Lefkosa) airport to meet Daisy who has flown out for 2 weeks holiday with us. Her flight was about 40 minutes late. I think lot of flights are off schedule still, doesn’t seem to matter what the airline.

Have been catching up with people out here and just enjoying the house. Last night we ate at our local favourite, Tervetuloa. The owner always greets us so warmly and the food is good and a great bargain. For a shade over £10 per head, you get about 8 cold meze dishes, 5 hot meze dishes, your chosen entree, a dessert plate, coffee and a brandy or liquer. I, of course, had lamb chops which were lovely. Daisy had mixed kebabs, Bob had lamb shish. We had some red wine and beers…… I discussed a new lamp project with Afet, the owner. She makes the most brilliant lamps of all sorts from the many gourds she grows over their garden terrace. We have some hanging on our terrace and we have also taken one home for our friends, Penny and David. She made them a special one with black labradors on it.

Today Daisy and I lazed by the pool all day in the hot sun. Bob was out and about in the morning getting some things he wanted. We have bought a cheap phone out here. You can use a foreign phone with a local chip inside it, and that’s what we’ve done for a long time but there comes a time (and I forget how many days it is) when unless you have “registered” the phone and paid import tax on it, you can’t use it anymore. A new smart phone is only about £80 – £100 and the tax would probably be nearly as much as that. It means we can pay our bills here online from the phone apps now and also keep our number.

We have had breakfast and lunch out on the terrace every day. It’s time for the October figs, so I have fresh figs with local yoghurt and honey for breakfast. Bob likes his poached eggs and Daisy normally just has coffee. Lunch is a home made meze: bread, egg and spring onion salad, marinaded sweet red peppers, tuna salad, tomatoes in balsamic reduction, sometimes little sardines in various sauces, sometimes fried haloumi, sometimes aubergine salad…. lunch on the terrace is Bob’s favourite. It does feel like such a treat. It’s still warm enough to eat dinner outside, although the Cypriots think it is now too cold and have started removing outside tables. Ditto swimming. I’ve been in the pool multiple times today – it’s just too hot not to, but I know locals would shudder to do so and are aleady reaching for their thermal jackets.

Tonight Bob bbq’d and we ate out beside the pool. It was delicious to do so right at the end of October.