Visiting Queenie

Another early morning start for us, I will be glad to get home and have a long lie, every morning since we arrived has been way to early for decent folk, so this morning we headed off to Elgin having lost an hour of sleep, this spring forward curfuffle is very tiring without already feeling like we have jet lag on a hangover, and to be fair I don't really deserve a hangover as I haven't been drinking.

We arrived in Elgin and JimJam opened the door and my beautiful granddaughter followed close behind him, Queenie and Greengrass were not far behind either,  we caught up over coffee and then headed out for lunch at the Loft just outside Forres, we had a nice time and finished off with the Amelia playing on the outside equipment and go carts, then it was time to head home again.

Garry's toothbrush was this big!!!!

NO I'M NOT EATING CHOCOLATE!!!!!

Back to Turriff a quick chat with Bubaliscious who has taken quite a liking to my beloved'S electric toothbrush, I'm sure he said he had been rimming with it, I know it wasn't swimming and the toilet did look clean! Then it was time to collect the Little Princes and yes they are Prince not Princess I am not illiterate they have just always been referred to as Prince and or Little Princes just saying! Once collected it was Indian time and we headed down to the local Indian house in Turriff for an evening of spice, spice and just a little more spice.

Once our goodbyes had been said to the Little Princes our remaining moments were spent with the Fullwoods watching some god awful man eating his way around the world, now we are not talking wonderful cuisine, this was a survival programme, we saw him chew through goats testicles, raw catfish, the blood of some beast or other and a caterpillar of some kind that once he bit it spewed its belly contents all over his face, I have now decided should I ever find myself in the wilderness I will in fact just sit down and wait to die, because there is no danger I am gonna eat that S@@t, I would rather starve to death.....

Hoofing up to Heathrow

FRIDAY

Wow, being at Heathrow airport for an 11.30 flight means getting up at 6am to travel from Falconwood to Victoria, Victoria to South Kensington and then onto Heathrow.  This involved my beloved carrying two suitcase up and down flights of stairs and round and over the tube stations, myself I was carrying a camera bag, a handbag and pulling a carry on case, this made it a touch difficult when having purchased coffees to go my beloved spotted the Cornish Pasty shop and I then had to juggle two sausage and bacon baps on top of the coffees until we arrived at the tube station, the baps were eaten and wow were they tasty, and definitely hit the right spot.  Our tickets allowed us to travel from one side of England to another without the bother of money, and thankfully thanks to a very nice gentleman at Falconwood we had tickets that didn't need us to take a second mortgage out, had we taken the route we had originally decided on it would have cost nearly £60.00 to get to Heathrow, luckily using the underground overground instead allowed us to wander free and it cost us just under £20.00.

We eventually arrived at Heathrow and checked in our luggage and breathed a sigh of relief that we had arrived with enough time to spare and this allowed us a we sit down before boarding our flight.  The flight was uneventful, well until the Captain decided not to land so much as drop straight down on the the tarmac, I swear I have compression injuries to my spine.  We collected the hire car and off we went, homeward bound straight through to Turriff Town, and Celebrations for a coffee before the madness of the weekend commenced.

Deep breath in and Little Princes were collected the passport papers were signed and also collected from our Solicitous friend and it was straight into Aberdeen again, quick drive by to pick up Dipsy and then it was supper time, we eventually found a restaurant that could take us without having to wait an hour and we ordered our supper, and relaxxxxxx.

After a lovely meal my beloved dropped Dipsy and I back to her place for an evening of chit chat and catch up, my beloved and the Little Princes headed back towards Turriff.

SATURDAY

Dipsy and I woke and coffee was required, two cups later and normality resumed, my beloved arrived to collect me with the Little Princes and Mateus in tow, now it was time for a jaunt around Aberdeen for the day, Starbucks first and then the Little Princes left to hit the shops with money burning a hole in their hands. We all met up again for lunch and this time we eventually found a table in Prezzo, more food was eaten and then more shopping was done, before we all piled back in the car for the journey home, Mateus and I were the only ones that were awake for a part of the journey, good job really as I was doing the driving, the Little Princes were dropped at Tesco for a Mother's Day supermarket dash, my beloved dropped me at Buba Mumma's and then headed back to the Little Princes to take them home again, I sat and chatted outside the bathroom door with Buba Mumma as it would have been rude to burst in whilst she was showering.  We said a quick hello before I was collected again and back out the door to Longmanhill and Issy's for coffee kiss, kiss and good-bye, thats the trouble with flying visits there just is not enough time to see everyone.

Our evening was spent in the company of good friends at the Crowne, the Clarks were there but only half of them, the boys being elsewhere and Blondie Lou must have been at work, but I was bear hugged by Dadda Clark, and abused by Mumma Clark, and it felt just like we had never left.  The McIntosh's were out in force too and we had a great night catching up with stories of children and family events that we have all missed over the last couple of years. Lainey and Hobson, a Buba mumma with focus issues and a Marvelous Mancunian all helped us to have a wonderful Saturday night out in our old home Town.

The Turra Coo in Turra 

Aunty Great

Thursday Harley Street and Birthdays                       

Little Bro still being under the weather after being under the tree had time on his hands as his battered body was not able to carry him to work, his cauliflower ear was still rather messy looking and one side of his body is still developing the bruises of his bash so what more could he do than accompany us to London, rather slowly as his foot is still swollen under the arch which has his toes off the floor, the scratches on his face make him look like he has been in a bit of a cat fight,  and he has just noticed his wedding ring is becoming tighter as the finger is rather swollen at the knuckle, I think it’s time Peter Pan hung up his bicycle clips.

Breakfast was taken in All Bar One, Eggy Bread and Bacon with maple syrup for myself and Little Bro and my beloved had the full English, and lip smacking they all were too, been a long time since I have had Eggy bread but the maple syrup was the icing on the cake so to speak.

We headed for Harley street where the boys left me to my devices and they headed for Marylebone and a pub, when I eventually found them after two phone calls and a number of directions they were parked up in The Gunmakers, which was an odd little find and when I ordered my drink and turned around I was met by a sign saying the Winchester club, I half expected to see Arthur Daley come through the door, but was disappointed when it was just London Toffs in for their lunch.

After our drinks it was time for John Lewis a quick dash around the make-up department looking for a blood red lipstick and mascara for a present and then off to the trains again and heading this time to Belvedere to a birthday surprise for an Aunty

I haven’t seen for more years than I can remember, 70 years old and still as amazingly funny as I remember her, this great lady always reminds me of a cross between Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor with a  fondness for Black Tower and Benson and Hedges, one of the last times I remember being at her table was when Queenie was a baby, or possibly before, having bought new shoes and put them on her table said Aunty preceded to stand on the table and spin around to get rid of the bad luck! My dear cousin Blondie was with us and still nursing her rather tender tummy after her evening with Huey, Little Bro’s better half was working as was my cousin Blondie’s other half so the three of us were entertained by my Aunty Great as she likes to be known, this name came about after Queenie was born as being a Great Aunt didn’t sit well for her at the tender age of 42.

Little Bro hiding his cauliflower ear

The boys and the rude waiter

Wine on a train

Wino on a train

We drank and laughed our way through the late afternoon into the evening and eventually it was time to depart, we were driven by my the lovely cousin Blondie who dropped us back to Little Bro’s house and we fed our faces before heading to bed.

Eye, Spy and Harrods - Wednesday

Wednesday we woke early as you do when your on holiday, my beloved had a little problem with the shower and eventually we called reception to ask them to sort it as neither of us fancied an ice-cold shower on a very cold day in London town.

We headed out to Westminster once the shower was sorted and we were clean, the Abbey looked beautiful and Big Ben was looking rather stupendously elegant against the grey London sky, we asked about getting into the Houses of parliament but because the Prime minister would be in situ we were advised we probably wouldn't be able to get into today, most disappointing, but never mind we headed over to the London Eye and after an extortionately expensive coffee we embarked on our tour of the city from our bubble over the Thames, it was really quite impressive and I hadn't realised just what a great view you get from over the top of one of my favourite cities, we could see Downing Street, HM Customs, Buckingham Palace, Nelson was in the distance but being half blind I only knew it was him because he was on his column, St Pauls was on the right, Canary Wharf even further to the right, it was great to be able to see all the sights in one go, this meant we didn't have to wander the streets to actually view them in person, it was just a shame it was a whistle stop ride, although I have to say it was a little windy at the top which lead to feelings of dizziness so maybe it was a good job it was just whistle stop.

After we left the eye we headed to the underground and Harrods, which is where we took our lunch, eventually that is as Harrods appears to have been through a refurb since we were last in and trying to find the food courts we wanted proved difficult and disorientating, although we did get to see some amazing things, some of which were sparkly some of which were jaw dropping, for lunch we stopped at the salad bar, and my beloved ordered fried cauliflower fritters and myself I chose Baba Ghanoush a Levantine dish of mashed eggplant and Sumac, served with Lavash which is a kind of crisp bread with seeds and of Armenian origin, then we followed that with a beetroot, purple broccoli and aged balsamic vinaigrette salad topped with goats cheese for myself and king prawns for my beloved, delicious was the consensus and the tasty dishes filled our empty bellies, my beloved who hates eggplants decided he quite liked my Baba Ghanoush and helped me to finish it before our main course arrived, I was quite thankful because it was very filling.

After Harrods we headed out for wifi as we couldn't find a connection within the great Harrods (very strange), fortunately we found wifi and sat around trying to get connected, the trouble with travelling is you become reliant on hotspots, now my credit on the phone was quite plentiful but who would know how long it would last, and having an appointment at the passport office next Tuesday I needed my phone to work in case they needed to contact me and no credit means no contact.  Unfortunately whilst we were surfing the rain descended making for a wet soggy day in London, so best thing to do in such circumstances is head for shelter, so we ran from the wifi zone to the tube and back to our hotel to wait for our taxi ride to Falconwood.

Our journey was slow and when we eventually arrived were met at the door by a very sleepy Bro who had just woken up, not that he is lazy you understand but having taken up stunt cycling recently quite by accident and having a fall out with an upright tree he was feeling a little under the weather and definitely under the tree, oh we did laugh but with him you understand not at him......

Our evening was spent at Shampon 53 (I think that was the name) with Little Bro and his better half, my cousin and her other half, the food as always was a spice hit to the tonsils, sensory heaven, with a little kick, the only downside was the rather brash manner of the waiters who were not so much melting into the background as getting up close and way to personal in our space, the worst behaviour being when we all had to lift our drinks for the tablecloth to be whisked off, and my poor cousin who spent that night with Huey blames the heavy hand of the waiter who upended a bottle of wine into her glass unceremoniously as if by doing so it would make us leave quicker, he was wrong and his behaviour has now earned his restaurant a rather cutting review on the advisor of trips.

Flying High

I couldn't figure out what was wrong this morning and it wasn't until I had my coffee sitting in the garden I realised what it was, my little buddy was missing, no longer do I have to do the business run, or the dog watch, my little man is away and I miss him, even if it took me a moment to remember what it was that was missing.

The ironing was finished and we packed our cases and then it was time to head to Larnaca for the first of our flights, we decided as it was a nice day and a bank holiday that we would take our lunch in Larnaca after a false start and finding the little taverna in the back of beyond closed we decided it might be better to head to the seafront surely that place wouldn't be closed, well it wasn't but the road was so diversion again until we found a parking space, we have decided the Cypriots are like the Israelis and don't like paying for parking, they too prefer to park on the road blocking everyone in or out.

We headed for Hobos and sat outside in the sunshine eating our lunch watching the world stride by, the world today even with the lovely sunshine appears to be wearing heavy overcoats are they mad!  Once lunch was finished it was time to head to the airport and check-in, but not before my beloved had a run in with a woman, a Mercedes and a bad case of reversing, I just heard 'Are you f@@@@@G crazy' and as I turned around my beloved had a shocked look on his face as not only had he nearly been run over, but he had completely forgotten his manners and sworn at a female, me all I could do was laugh, and laugh, especially as the woman and her male friend were checking in to our flight.

Our flight was fine until we landed and were asked to stay in our seats until the ground crew have arrived, and it is the first time I have ever seen a plane actually take any notice of cabin crew, not really thinking of it I just thought they were talking about the crew that bring the steps, oh no it was the police they frogmarched a passenger dressed in a white suit off the plane, all very amusing, then checked his seating area thoroughly, personally I think it was the fashion police because that suit was just wrong.

Our taxi collected us and dropped us to our Hotel in Westminster where we snuggled down into our single beds as there were no doubles left and passed into dream land almost immediately.

Cat in a hat, Dog in a Sat

Yesterday we woke and headed for the beach front with Stitch we took him for a lovely walk along the front and he did a bit of socialising with firstly a Yorkie which I have to say was quite nice and not yakkie, secondly with a pointer who although rather large again was quite nice, then we all stopped for something to drink and the humans for something to eat, Stitch sat under the table quite the thing until some snotty looking bitch arrived and ruined his zen moment, she was quite the hoity toity bitch and preceded to bark at Stitch who really didn't want anything to do with her, neither would I having seen her drink and slaver down her beard, yes she had a beard and now it was dripping.

We left the restaurant and heading home to the sun loungers and had a while sunning ourselves not that I'm complaining, it has been a while since we lay in the sun and everyone loves to feel the rays warming their bodies no matter who they are. That done we took Stitch for another walk around the village up and down the hills, on the route home Stitch started to limp, my beloved decided it was because he was tired I knew better and on further investigation I found a rather nasty looking thorn sticking out of his front paw, mummy removed the nasty thorn and there was no more limping.

Our friends arrived early evening for a quick cuppa before heading home to Kolossi as they had been in Pyrgos the next village visiting family, just before they arrived we discovered that the granny flat downstairs had somehow locked itself from the inside, unfortunately the cushions for the outside furniture were in there so looks like a locksmith will be required.

Our evening was spent watching the computer through the TV as still not having Cyta TV connected we are having to watch our own programmes we have stored, luckily we have many.  

Stitch had a bath in the kitchen sink which he only just fits into and now he smells lush again, not that he was too bad before, but he definitely had that dog smell going on.

Today we woke and let Stitch out before taking him for a quick walk up the hill. The Bees are not happy with my beloved, having found a nest and blocking their entrance only to find the second hole they could get into, they are buzzing around the garden wall as expanding foam can be quite useful in the right hands they are now trying to find their way in, so far they have found their way into the pump house, personally I think we need a flame thrower but my beloved thinks that is cruel.....

We had another while on the sun beds before heading into Limassol one to take the keys for the old house to the office and two to take Stitch to the Happy Valley kennels, oh I feel quite sad to be taking him there, especially as he will be getting loads of injections, micro chips and all sorts in preparation for him becoming an international jet setter.  Marianna assured me he would be fine and we said goodbye but not before asking that on the paperwork they must write that Stitch is a guard dog, this did cause some amusement especially when I lifted him onto the counter, but if he isn't down as a guard dog he won't get where we are going...

Stitch in the Satellite dish

Licking the glass, it's thirsty work lounging around

My beloved and I celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary today and decided to eat alfresco at the beach, I chose Atherina (aparrently)followed by Mongolian pork with country potatoes and my beloved was garlic bread with Carbonara, both dishes were delicious but I do believe mine was better, the pork melted on your tongue and whatever that Mongolian was made for a really great taste.

 

Oh and no locksmith required I picked the lock, it took me ages but I wouldn't be beaten and now at least we can get back 

into the granny flat and get the nice cushions for outside.

Blogger help

It has come to my notice that some of you make have some problems with blogger, so a couple of helpful hints some of which I didn't even know about for subscribers -

1/ when your mail comes through if you click on the blue title it will take you to the blog page.

2/ sometimes if your android/iphone/computer has reader you don't always get the full  blog, clicking on the blue title front the email will sort this.

3/ you can always leave friendly comments on the full site, unfriendly comments will be deleted, remember this is a choice, you don't have to read it and that's your choice.

Ok this morning we were rudely awoken by the dog barking because the doorbell was ringing, 8.30am on a Saturday, maybe the plumber had wet the bed because I see no other reason to be on the go that early on a weekend! As the plumber was plumbing the pool guy arrived, it was all go in our house, the dog was being chastised for barking, a warning bark is one thing but he can think again if he thinks he is going to turn into one of those yakkie mutts that terrorises the neighbourhoods when left to the their own devices. After the workmen left I sunned myself on the verandah, it was toasty, after an hour or so I thought I had best shower as now it was the turn of the engineer to fix us up with internet, we now have a cable running from the neighbours house, over the wall, across the upper verandah, down the side of the house and into the living room window, all in all around 200m. No sooner had he said goodbye and stepped out of the house than the net went off, so we shouted him back and it turns out the plug was at fault, once he switched plugs we were live, hooray internet speed superb, and I'm able to blog without having to resort to the local cafe.

We headed over to Kolossi to collect a car, not ours but a friends, checked the old house was in order and then took a trip to the supermarket, before dropping the car in Limassol at the Crowne Plaza car park, we would have left it elsewhere but our usual parking spot was now blocked as they appear to be building on the ground, most inconvenient. We then headed back home, well we would have had I not taken the exit to Pafos and Kolossi instead of Larnaca and Pareklisia doh! Once home we took Stitch for a walk around the village and very pleasant it was too, the sun was still shining and the village looked very pretty, no rubbish on the sides of the road, and only the occasional dog, and there was only one that had me thinking I was glad it was tied up....

Bend and SNAP....
'Legally Blonde'

We still haven't worked out the water heating yet, apparently it's diesel but the timer settings don't seem to listen when you give them the times you would like your water to heat, so it could be a cold shower in the morning...

House of Mather Pareklisia

We woke early as today is moving day, Stitch was fed and watered, walked and entertained then it was time to finish off the last of the sweeping and sorting ready for the movers to arrive at 9.30am.

Mike and Mike from Orbit arrived and were given a tour through so as not to pack anything that they shouldn’t, and then the packing began, I quite like this moving malarkey when someone else does it all for you.  Stitch was quite funny as he is a very sociable chappy until someone new arrives then he goes into scared rabbit routine, he kept his distance for the two Mikes and when they used there tape to seal the boxes the noise sent him scurrying into his crate.  Angelos arrived for a cuppa before we left Kolossi bringing with him sausage rolls from the UK, Greggs best were packed into the freezer bags and then it was time to head to Pareklisia, I left first as I needed to be there for the Cyta technician that was arriving to fix the internet and TV system.

The two Mikes arrived with our belongings and started placing them in the desired locations, and my beloved and I started to unpack, we could have got the Mikes to help but I really like to deal with placement of belongings myself, so that’s what we did.  Stitch was as much use as a chocolate fire guard, he melted into the house and only came out if he thought he should be getting some attention.

Cyta turned up and two Cypriots started to verbally attack me about having no cables to the house, my beloved jumped right down their throats and they backed off out the house and were dealt with accordingly, thank god my beloved was around because they were definitely not the kind of people I like to deal with, rude, loud and very aggressive.  My beloved called Marios who is the home owners accountant and right hand man, and after he spoke with the Cyta guys things were put in place peacefully, I wasn’t quite  sure what place they were put but it transpired that Marios would organise for his engineer to come and link us up to his internet, wow it’s handy having someone that important as a neighbour.  So Marios came down at 4.30 with the engineer and they organised for us to be linked up tomorrow morning.  Marios and his wife Stella arrived later in the afternoon and organised the pool cleaner to turn up immediately as the pool needed cleaning,  so when they left the pool guy arrived, Michael was his name and he began cleaning the pool, and said he would be back in the morning to continue and do a back wash and we should be swimming by Sunday, yeah right unless it's bath temperature I am not going in.

Once we had the House of Mather pretty much organised as we wanted it we decided we had better eat as my beloved was fading away in front of my eyes, so we headed to the Park Bistro just up the hill where we took one mixed grill and one chicken kebab, and very nice they were too, my beloved’s mixed grill had Sheftalia included, now I have never eaten this dish before but I would definitely eat it again, it was stupendous, in fact I think next time I go I will just ask for Sheftalia in a pitta because it was cooked just how  I like it, slightly blackened on the outside but beautifully tender on the inside, not fatty and no gristle both of which turn my stomach.

So our first night in our new house and our new bed which we discovered has an inbuilt light hidden in the headboard, we fell to sleep in the comfort of our new surroundings, and the best part of it???? The hounds of the Baskerville are miles away and a peaceful night ensued.