The weather has remained hot and sunny since we’ve been here. September thru November is a really nice time to visit Cyprus in our view. Hot enough to be sunbathing and swimming every day, eating all meals outside, but not so hot that you don’t want to do anything but get in the water. Of course, our friends who live here year round think the summer ends much earlier than we do and they wouldn’t dream of swimming till November like us. They are used to the real summer temperatures of high 30s and 40s so 30/32C seems a bit chilly!!!! No matter. For us unlucky souls who are wrapping up against 12-15C by late September and scuttling through the driving wind and rain, autumn in Cyprus is positively delightful.
We’ve continued with our pattern of small jobs in the morning and then taking to the pool and the floats in the afternoons. I have perfected the float based nap now….. We are spending a lot of time out there and also on the shaded terrace, just relaxing with our kindles.
Yesterday our morning job was to go down to the tax office in Kyrenia to pay our monthly rental tax ie the tax we pay on the rent we have earned from holiday lets. We go early because the place is always a madhouse – you pay all taxes there ie car, income, rent, licenses….. it’s busy. Got there at 830 and it was actually super quick and easy. Phew.
We also went to the council offices and paid our water tax and I spoke to the new dog warden lady who has been appointed to co ordinate efforts with stray dogs and cats and dog licensing in our area. We have had 3 persistent strays around our particular area who took up residence and are being fed by a probably well meaning but very misguided couple who have resisted all requests to desist from doing so near our houses. They are docile dogs but have completely destroyed my pool pergola curtains and our water lines and it just can’t go on. Anyway, she asked me to speak to the people feeding them again and explain that the council police would come for the dogs otherwise. So, I did do that but received such abuse and vitriol from this middle aged English couple – as did the dog warden – that I wished I hadn’t.
Last night we went to a quiz at the Rose Garden Hotel in Lapta. What a lovely hotel! I’d never seen it before or even really known it was there. The quiz was very well attended and a lot of fun. We were in a team with Pamela and Jacqui and we came third. Will definitely go again. There are a lot of quizzes out here – every night of the week somewhere. If you fancy going to one when you are holiday, just buy a copy of Cyprus Today in any supermarket and the middle section lists a lot of them. Or keep an eye out for signs outside bars on the main road. We also ate there at the mid quiz break and the food was really good. Bob and I had fish and chips with peas and the fish portion was lovely, well cooked and big. Chips are always fabulous out here. The potatoes are amazing.
Today (Thursday) was very hot – 33C and no clouds at all. We did a few jobs in the morning – pressure washed the loungers and hosed the garden but we were ready to spend the rest of the day floating in the pool or sitting around it.
Tonight we had a good zoom call with Stuart and Fi who arrive for a nice long stay next week. Then we had a lovely bbq cooked by Bob outside on the terrace. He got so hot grilling, that he stripped off and jumped in for a night swim. No photo obviously.
