It’s been pretty hot the last few days – consistently in the 30s now and the sun is much stronger than in the UK so we are seeking shade and using the pool a lot.

It’s nice to get up in the morning, come downstairs and open up our glass sliding doors to the big dining patio. I take a cup of coffee out there and lie on one of the couches and enjoy the relative peace and quiet. Then the cicadas start up their morning greeting to the sun. No idea where they are really as we never see them. Best guess is that they are up the pepper trees which are in the garden in front of the terrace. They make quite a chorus!

Bob does a few light jobs in between swims. He’s been filling some cracks in our stone wall with cement and also replacing light bulbs. Habibi, our gardener, came up on Sunday and we had a walk around the garden and planned autumn/winter jobs for him. Gardening here is the reverse of the UK. You have to plant/prune do all those jobs in the cooler months so that the plants have recovery time before the heat sets in. He is going to cut back our trees A LOT both in the back garden and along our front hedge. They are growing too tall and we like to keep our view so we do it every couple of years. The sugar cane he planted in front of our lower fence are growing well and spreading and hes put some cannas in the line too.

We moved our two existing adirondack chairs to a new position in the garden. We have 2 more coming in our shipment and we thought it would be nice to buy a firepit and position the chairs around it. Nice to sit by a fire in the evenings sometimes.

Last night we went out for dinner with our neighbours, Alan and Lesley, and our ex neighbours, Mick and Christine, who are over here on holiday staying in a hotel. We went to Tervetuloa, a traditional Cypriot restaurant about 5 minutes drive along the main road in Alsancak. We’ve been going there for 20 years. The main course comes with a small meze, salad and chips. I had lamb chops which were delicious. Lesley had lasagne and that looked really good too. A very nice evening of good food and chat.

Today we drove over to Mermaid fabrics to pick up my curtain tie backs and for them to mend one of the large roman blinds from the twin room which someone had applied brute force to. I am going to have to reiterate to guests that they need to be wound up and down slowly and that any resistance must never be forced through.   Sigh.

Bob also called in at the Kamiloglu Hospital in Girne for a PSA test. You can just walk in, go to the laboratory testing reception and ask for what tests you want. They did it then and there for £8 and the results were ready in one hour. Luckily, his count was low, well within the normal range which was a relief.

Tonight we went to an ABBA tribute night at the Wild Duck in Karsyaka. We drove Deborah and David there and back. Their daughter Emma and her husband, Az, own the Wild Duck and it was very much a family affair with their two lovely girls manning the door.

We ate there before the show and food was really good again. We had a good big table. Bob and I, Deborah, David, Ann and Roger, Lesley and Joe, Linda and Mike, Pamela and her son, Lee and his wife, Sian. The two young British girls who gave the show were really good and it was all very jolly. The show cost £9.50 each and that included one drink.