The weather continues to be glorious out here. Barely a cloud in the sky, around 29C, slight breeze and not a hint of rain for months…. We are in and out of the pool all the time and enjoying reading around the terraces, keeping to the shade. The fruit trees are coming along well. I can see we are going to have our best ever crop of grapefruit and lemons later this year. Both trees are covered with small fruit currently.

Yesterday we had a quick run to Mermaid fabrics in Catalkoy to pick up our pergola curtains which they have lengthened and also 6 new seat cushions for the dining chairs on the main dining terrace. The previous ones have been steadily fading and so they will now be relegated to the rustic table and benches down in the garden under the trees. We are lucky enough to have 3 outdoor dining areas and 2 indoors. We can move our meals around as the mood takes us. Anyway, really pleased with the new cushions and the curtains. They’d forgotten to make the tie backs for the curtains so we have to go back on Monday to get them! The longterm matriarch of the business has retired and her son has taken over plus other new staff. There are a few teething issues but you can’t fault the work.

Last night we went to the Summer Solstice Party hosted by The Foreign Residents (TFR) for short. It’s one of the main expat organisations in these parts and the most European. There are a lot of German and Scandinavian people who are members and the Summer Solstice is a big deal in Scandinavia so they hold an annual party to mark it. It was at the Blue Song in Lapta and there were about 90 people on three big terraces overlooking the sea. We had a two course meal with plenty of choice. Bob and I both started with prawn cocktail (lots of prawns but overwhelmed with rose marie sauce) and then I had grilled sea bass with chips and salad and Bob had spaghetti carbonara. Of course there were a selection of meze too.

We sat on a table with Linda, Mike, Deborah, David, Pamela, Roger, Ann and Caroline and it was a very convivial evening, albeit a bit breezy over the sea. We were entertained by James Smile and a lady singer, lots of dancing… It cost £24 each and other than a toasting shot of some sort of Scandinavian fire water, you paid for your own drinks. We had a good time. Alan and Lesley, our neighbours, were also there on another table and we gave them a lift there and back.

The expat organisations are very useful in terms of research, genuine information, social activities, advice and offering a way to meet people. We belong to the TFR and also the British Residents Society. The latter is the oldest expat group on the island and despite its name is open to any nationality. The other society is the Anglo Turkish which offers cultural activities designed to bring Europeans and Turkish people together. They have some very good tours and trips. Membership fees to all of them are extremely reasonable and it is well worth joining.