Friday, April 4, 2025

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 14

Yay! We have just this minute booked our flight back to UK for Tuesday May 6th! That's something to smile about, but now back to the beginning of the week.

It has been warm and mostly sunny this week and after all that rain the garden is thriving and all the trees around us are bursting out in orange blossom. There seems to be a lot of it this year.

It is really a very pretty flower, but its perfume can be a bit over-powering. I can smell it as soon as I open the windows each morning, and it is one of my hayfever triggers so I have been coughing and sneezing all week. Many of my friends are in the same state, but it is still lovely to see, and smell really.

We have now had a few very windy days and the petals have been carpeting the ground in white confetti. As we are trying to keep the garden tidy for the new owners, Chris has been out each day sweeping it all up.

It has a slightly later season than the oranges, but our little grapefruit tree has loads of buds too, and there are few coming now on the lemon tree.

We have been busy signing contracts, making lists of things to do, and choosing flights, but I have still managed to pack a couple of boxes each day.

I also did a bit of baking, making our family favourite 'cup of cold tea' cake, (bara brith, fruitloaf, bam brak or whatever you like to call it) . For us it has always been Irish tea loaf, and my dad loved it. This time it was a good way to finish up all the dried fruit in the cupboard as well as most of the flour.

I then made enough of my special muesli, (very nutty but not very fruity this time) to last until we go. I have it for breakfast most days, with milk, and a handful of blueberries, banana or yoghurt on it.

And finally another family favourite 'peanut and lemon slices'. These are a bit of a sugar hit for me so I will have to pace myself eating them. They are basically crushed digestives, mixed with syrup, butter and a lot of crunchy peanut butter, and when it is set hard it is iced with lemon butter icing. Very yummy, but best kept for a treat.

My first husband was in the RAF and we lived in Cyprus for three years. On the day we arrived we were all warned to keep at least three days supply of food in the house; advice which proved its worth when the war broke out and we were confined to our homes until NATO  organised a cease-fire so all the families could be bussed up to the camp. (Scary times but that's another story). But the habit of keeping a well stocked store cupboard has never left me, and I usually have more like three months of food in store, and I can usually find ingredients for anything I want to make. So it is really strange now to find all my cupboards are empty. There are just a few meals worth of meat etc in the freezer, a few tins of beans, and whatever I buy on a weekly basis from the shop or market. I expect I will gradually build up a small store again at home, but now there are only two of us, and our needs are simple, it will certainly be a scaled down version.

On Wednesday Chris suggested we have a break and walk along the sea front for some fresh air, so we drove down to Garrucha. On the way down I said to Chris I liked Garrucha because the cry of the gulls gives it a real 'sea-side' feel. They are there of course because it is a fishing port, and I am sure they are well fed when the boats come in each day. That day they were flying high up, and although there were loads of them wheeling around above the palm trees, they don't stay still while you photograph them, so this was the best I could do. (Click on each photo for a closer look).


Instead of our usual walk around the marina, we strolled along the harbour this time. The men were washing out the auction depot where the fishermen bring their catch each day to be auctioned to local shops and restaurants. The fishing boats were moored along the water front and the men were checking their nets, and mending them where needed, or standing around chatting.The boats are real 'work-horses', but I wouldn't choose to be out on the sea in one in all weathers. 


There was a stiff breeze and the see was navy blue and quite choppy. Beyond it you can see some of the yachts moored in the marina and the huge barges loading and unloading at the port.

There was a chill in the wind so we didn't stay out for long, but it made a nice break.

I had a nice surprise this morning when I opened the front windows and saw that one of the roses that Chris cut back hard just a short while ago, now has our first rose of summer in bloom. And what a beauty. It even smells good too.

And now it is time to link up with Annie's Friday Smiles, and enjoy reading about your weeks.


Friday, March 28, 2025

Friday Smiles 2025 # Week 13

Well another week has rushed by with very little to write about. However I am grateful that everything is moving along as we hoped,  and I have managed to finish the main packing. There is still tools etc in the garage, but they have been sorted so it shouldn't be hard to pack them up. I just need small boxes as they are very heavy.

I had an unexpected call from my dermatologist clinic Tuesday lunch time, to say they had a free appointment that afternoon, so we drove to Vera for one last time. Dr Ana was lovely and she has given me medication to last through 'til June, and some useful information for a dermatologist in UK when I find one.

It was nice when Chris brought me in a card which the  mail man had left today. I wasn't expecting anything so I opened it. It was a Mothering Sunday card from my son. I have been so busy that I hadn't even registered that it was this Sunday, so that was a a really great surprise. It is a pretty card and I will enjoy having it on display now.

This week we said "Goodbye" to our last furry friend, little Luna. I took her as a rescue kitten from the vet when a litter was dumped on her door step over sixteen years ago. She has been mostly an outdoor cat, only coming in for food, and shelter when the weather is bad. But she is not unfriendly and since rehoming Tolly and Leo, she has stayed in the house for longer, even curling up on Chris' lap occasionally, though not for long. (I can't have her on mine). A man came to collect her on Tuesday and I also gave him all the food, dishes etc that I had left. I was sad to see her go but I know she was disturbed by all the boxes, wandering around and in between them and meowing, so hopefully she is more settled now. 

It is more than forty years since I had no cats at all, and it is really strange not to be greeted when I get up each day.

I had a long catch-up chat with my sister on Monday, which was nice.

It has been sunnier with intermittant grey clouds this week, and I have sat out on the porch to sew a thread or two of my cross-stitch whenever I need a break from packing. My back soon complains if I try to do too many boxes in one go.

And that is the week that was. Only a few more to go!!

So I am off to share this on Annie's Friday Smiles. see you there.