Spaying, Praying and Soup

I have spent the week nursing Chi Chi back to health after her having been spayed. Just a routine operation one might guess, and yes it was, however, she was given back to us still heavily sedated, and when she began to come round she was totally distraught and not having been given any long term pain killers, the poor wee thing was in agony and spent the first few days screaching in pain, trying to attack the wound as she knew that was what was hurting her. She wouldn't eat or drink that latter being the most important and was becoming increasingly dehydrated. At one point I truly thought we had lost her. I spent many a moment on the floor lifting her listless little head and force feeding water into her through a syringe and finally managed to get Tuna water down her and that seemed to be enough to kick the appetite into gear and she is now thankfully well on the way to recovery.

I have also cherished every moment I can with TBH all the cats and freinds. It is so easy to take everything that we have around us for graunted, until suddenly, it's gone. We have friends in Aussie,living in both Towoomba and Brisbane,and we also have friends from Sri Lanka and I have seen and been in the shanties of Rio, where life is on the edge at the best of times. So many have lost their homes, crops, livestock gone,pets drowned and worst of all friends and families washed away in a split second in a torrent of water. None of us know what any moment can bring and my heart goes out to everyone who has lost, and is now battling to survive a dunting an uncertain future.I only hope that through disaster people will come together and help each other, building stronger relationships, to help get through the worst.

I hope that our litttle village never has to endure such natural disater.This is where many in our community meet and exchange stories, the local fruit and veg market that is here rain or shine, swealtering or freezing. Every Thursday it is a buzz in the village and as you can see there is an abundance of fruit and veg on offer. Unlike my veggie box which has not really been a success.I stocked up with goddies and made my way back up the hill, pleased as punch with my purchase and pinched a couple of Lemons off a friends tree on the way past.

I snipped a couple of sprigs of basil off a plant that was growing in the street too and I hope to get it to root. Then I will plant it out the front with the lavender and rosemary that we ( thanks Mum) planted at the end of last year. But for the moment it's fragrance is filling the air in the kitchen it is just devine.

The weather has really turned today and it has become very very cold. All of us here in the house are heading to the warmest corner we can find, which isn't always easy in a building with no central heating, insulation, curtains or draft excluder. Extra layers are a must and I am now even more thankful to those who sent me winter wollies, socks and scarves for Christmas. They will be very useful now as we brace ourselves for an 8 degrees inside temperature. I gave in however this afternoon and let Kissora gain some heat energy from the halogen lamp. Shame the poosr cats don't have extra layers to put on.

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I also used some of what I got at the market yesterday, this afternoon. There is nothing for it in this sort of weather but to snuggle up with a good movie and a nice hot bowl of home made cauliflower and bacon soup.

If only all the worlds problems could be solved with a bowl of soup hey. Take care and have a warm and safe weekend folks.

Shhsh... it's midnight.

There was a time when New Years Eve was one of the biggest nights in the year for me. In the weeks running up to the big event there would be numerous visits to Ishwar the tailors for fittings to try on the latest gown that was being made, and tooing and frowing from shops for the accesories to match. Then in more recent years there were parties at home, with wild mushroom pate and pink champagne, watching the fireworks from our balcony across the ever changing Dubai Sky line. They were fantastic times and I have very found memories of them and the people that I shared them with, however every year hidden behind the party facade was a deap yearing to find a simpler quiter pace of life, a need to be away from the madding crowd,where being me without the party frock and full face of makeup was acceptable.

This year my wish came true, both TBH and I had been a bit off colour so to speak, and though the pub in the village was doing their usual NYE bash, neither of us really felt it was our scene, so we chose to stay home alone. We sipped the most exquisite Roast Chestnut and Parsnip soup made by TBH'S own fair hands and I thrashed him at scrabble. By 11.15pm we were tucked up in bed, drinking Bellini's overlooking the twinkling lights of the village in the valley bellow, antisipating a few fireworks at midnight.......................... we heard 2 gun shots and that was it. Happy New Year.

At the time I was somewhat dissapointed and I suppose felt cheated in a way of my big night bash, but in hindsight I realise I have been on a long journey to reach this stage in my life and when I awoke on New Years Day, to bright sunshine across the emerald green fields,with a clear head and no clearing up to do, there was nothing else to do but get out there and enjoy every breath of fresh air and see some more of this beautiful island we live on.

We headed towards the village of Pyla, the only village on the Greek Cypriot side of the border where the villagers Turkish and Greek refused to be divided during the 1974 war. We crossed the border at Pygros and drove North across the empty plains of the pan handle towards the dominant mountain range, through small villages dotted along the slopes, where churches are now homes to the local pigeons. We climed through the pineforest, the views are glourious looking back across Famagusta bay to the South and then once you go over the crest the sheer drop of the montains and view down to the sea simply takes ones breath away. We found our way to Kantara Castle perched on the cliff edge overlooking the Karpaz Peninsula, it is where Isaac Komnenos is supposed to have surrendered to Richard the Lionheart in 1119.

We didn't go in as we figured this would be a good thing to share with the next visitors that we have, but check out the vista from the car park!

We continued our journey meandering down the hillside towards the rugged coastline through the village of Kaplica where we found a nice spot in a restraunt on the beach to have lunch overlooking the sea.

We pootled along the old coast road and found a wonderful place where they have wooden chalets on the beach that one can stay in.We intend to return in the not too distant future before the tourists arrive and engulf ourselves in the peace and tranquility of this beautiful costal cove.

We were back over the border by sundown and later that evening I spoke with a very very dear old friend who's NYE like many others around the world had been laced with alchohol mixed, with a dash of desire,spice of life and waking to a headfull of oh 'goodness what did I do last night', which in turn has made for a turbulant and emotional start to 2011.

Whilst chatting about his eventful evening, I realised that though mine was uneventful, I am absoloutely where I want to be to begin another year. Clear headed, quiet, and calm, looking forward to more of the simple pleasures that life has to offer.