Saving Cyprus Energy

We should all be concerving energy in order to help save this planet for future generations, and yes every little bit does help, and yes you can make a difference.

Solar lights up the staircase.

The disater on July 11th in which the Vassiliko power station was destroyed, is a prime example of just how easy it is for us to be thrown back to basics with out electricity and without water. However, it should not take something like this for people to realise that we MUST conserve energy. The world is rapidly running out of these resources and we simple cannot sustain this way of life.

Unfortunately Cyprus is very much behind the times in this instance, with energy saving only just on the frindges of conversation, talked about more recently beacause of this disaster. But in a country where there is very little water, but where solar power is in abundance to heat water, one would have thought that, it would be more aware of energy conservation.

Instead I freaquently see patios being hosed down with good drinking water, cars being washed and hosepipes gushing water down the streets, airconditioning units running day and night. TV'S balring out whilst people are asleep in front of them.

The fact is Electricity in Cyprus is the most expensive in Europe and with us now having to buy at an even higher price from outside sources, we will definately feel the difference in those energy bills. Perhaps those who manage to lower their energy bills should be rewarded, to encourage people to start taking notice, and stop waisting electricity and water.

When we lived in Mazatos our first electricity bill was 125 EURO per month. By the time we left I had got it down to 60 EURO per month. So being mindful about what you are using, saves energy for the planet and puts money into your savings account.

So here are few tips on concerving electricity and water if you have any other suggestions perhaps you would share them with us in the comments box.

1.Turn off the TV. Don't have it. Talk with your loved ones, play board games, paint, be creative. We have not had TV for nearly 2 years.

2.Use solar powered lighting wherever possible, all our outside lighting is solar powered.

3.Put in energy saving light bulbs, all our inside bulbs are energy saving light bulbs.

4.Turn lights off when you are not in the room.

5.Turn electrical equipment like TV's, DVD players, off at the wall, you would be supprised at the amount of electricity that still flows when they are on sleep mode.

6.Use fans instead of A/C units.

7. If you must use A/C keep it at 26 degrees this is the most econmical.

8.Sleep outside under a mosquito net the you don't need AC.

9.Use your gas BBQ to bake cakes, bread, cook roast's, quiches ect.

10.Put your washing on at night just before you go to bed, electricity consumption is much less then and the cost is less.

11. Stop using the dishwasher and wash up by hand.

12.Sweep and mop instead of using a hoover. Use the dirty water to water your plants.

13. Invest in a Slow cooker, they are far more economical than an oven.

14.Collect the water that runs before it gets hot and use it to water your plants, or collect it over a few days in several buckets to clean your car or fluch your toilet.

15.Fill kettles and pots and pans for cooking with the cold water that runs before it gets hot.

16. Collect the water form your A/C units to water your garden or wash your patio.

17.Think twice about having a pool. It is very expensive to run a pump on a pool and keeping the water topped up in the summer months uses a lot of much needed drinking water.

Solar Powered Lights.

What ever you do, just do your bit.

A Nation In Grief

It is a very sad and difficult time for people here on this beautiful island of Cyprus.


Yesterday 8 funerals took place there will be more...........


Today, now as I write a mother is preparing to bury her son's 19 year old twin brothers born together, they died side by side,tragically, on Monday.

We woke in Lefkara 17 Kilometeres away, to the massive BOOM of the horrific blast that ripped through the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base, destroying the islands main power plant, knocking out windows in neigbouring villages, and dropping debry all over the motorway.

The whole thing could have been avoided and these souls still with us, but the warnings that the 98 containers full of confiscated explosives, sitting for 2 years in the stifling heat, were on the brink of explosion, fell on deaf ears???????????????????????

No one listened to the warnings, no one cared what might happen, as they had their own agenda for the ammunition.

Now not 12 but 13 people have died as another 19 year old who clung to the edges of life has been annonced brain dead after his fatal injuries.

Why why why..............................

To all who are injured I wish you a speedy and full recovery.

To all of those who have lost their loved ones, I do not know you, but believe me my heart goes out to you, I cannot take away your pain but please know that I am thinking of you in these dark and difficult days and I along with most of Cyprus feel your grief.

May your loved ones rest in peace.

A New Dawn at Maridadi Kabisa

Sun rise from the Terrace at Maridadi Kabisa

Three house moves in less than 18 months is definatey not recomended, and that is the reason why I havent posted here for quite some time ....... we moved AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

The archway is the entrance to Maridadi Kabisa

As the saying goes be careful what you wish for you never know where the roads of life will take you.

The lane leading upto Maridadi Kabisa from the church

We were lucky enough to be renting for a very reasonable price a very large modern 3 bedroomed villa with a private pool, and yes to many it would have been a dream home but it really wasn't us. Nothing about it felt cosy, and though the pool was lovely in the summer, the sight of all the dead insects and animals (field mice and lizzards get stuck coming to drink water), and the cost of running it with the electricity for the pump and the chemicals, along with the consumption of water needed to top it up during the summer months just didn't bode well with us on our quest to live a more simple life. So we had started to think about looking for an alternative, however we had already signed the contract on the previous place for another year and were not about to break that contract as we are true to our word. Added to this my parents had also rented a property in the village for 3 months so we settled down for another year.

The Church of the Holly Cross lit up at night.

However, the bells started ringing when I signed the contract with the then landlord,as he was not worried about making sure he had a witness.......this seemed rather strange to me, I had briefly worked with him in his real estate company in Dubai and he was usually a stickler for crossing eyes and dotting t's when it came to contratcs.

A beautiful hand made plate that we Dad gave us from Bellapaix.

A few weeks later he and his fiancee ( now wife) flew in from Cairo to make arrangements for their wedding blessing. I had offered to take Natasha to the florists and the bakers and during the day I noticed that she was asking funny questions like ' how easy had I found it to fit in to Cypriot society'. I had asked them both as I did again on this ocassion would it not be worth them coming to Cyprus to live and work, ' no!' was the response, there isn't the money to be made here' He is a financial advisor of the opinion that the money here was not big enough for him. So I thought we were safe and sound.......

We had lived with mould and damp in the hallway of the Mazatos villa for over a year, and the outside storm drain ran straight onto the patio and into the pool, bringing with it pigeon poo from the roof (another reason not to use the pool) so when suddenly Al emailed to say that he would like someone to come in and fix it I knew for sure that some thing was brewing. As we all know there's never smoke without fire.....

Maridadi Kabisa's 2 Kleftiko ovens in our courtyard.

I felt VERY uneasy and instinctive fear of being unsettled raged within me, so I suggested to TBH that we start looking for an alternative just in case and so the search began...........we retraced our steps through surrounding villages,looked at the usual villas and appartments on new developements, we searched websites for something inspiring, but nothing was hitting any buttons for us. We both knew that since leaving Dubai we had wanted something alternative, something different, something not so main stream. Something that would lead us closer to living the simple life that we have craved for so long.

Maridadi Kabisa ..the stairs leading from our courtyard to the terrace.

Then things blew up in Cairo where Al and Natasha lived and though, as I had instinctivly known they were planning to move to Cyprus for some time........this was now their excuse to regain their property and we were given 3 months notice 2 months into our years contract. ( Apparently the land lord has to honour his contract to it's end but I did not find this out until after the event) So it was now imperative that we found somewhere.I put an add on Anglo Info Cyprus asking if anyone had a Traditional Village House in certain villages. A TVH wasn't something we had ever thought about before, but it is amazing what you find behind those walls and padlocked doors. Luckily it did not take long for us to get a reply. Would you like to come and see a place that I have in Lefkara.

Maridadi Kabisa upstairs terrace and bedrooms.

With much excitment we went to view the property and fell in love as soon as the doors were opened. A courtyard downstairs is home to 2 mespilla ( Loquot ) trees which give much welcomed shade in the stifling summer heat. Archways and beemed ceilings give typical Cypriot character, and the four poster beds with traditional mosquito nets are incredibly romantic. The view is to die for and as we stood out on the terrace overlooking the mountains a rainbow crossed the skies. I knew I had found my croc of gold.

The view from Maridadi Kabisa looking out over the village and mountains.

So.... once again we packed up boxes, scrubbed up floors, bleached out cupboards and polished up windows. In the process I insisted that we get rid of even more' STUFF' letting go of more of our previous life, donating clothes to charity shops, giving multiple unread books to second hand book stores and passing on that huge frying pan that I only used once on a camping trip.

For some reason this was an incredibly stressful move, perhaps due to the previous landlord turning rather nasty over the return of our deposit. It put a hudge strain on TBH and I tested our patients, pushing our limits. Thankfully with my parents unconditional love and support we raised above it and we are now settling into our beautiful new home.

View of the village from the church.

Lefkara is wonderful, central to all major cities, it boasts it's own police fire and ambulace department, a small hospital, a post office, a supermarket, 3 banks and it's infamous lace and silver shops. It is everything one would wish for in a medetarranian mountain village with red roofed houses, cobbled alleyways, trailing grape vines and traditional taverna's. Adamos is our favorite, not just for his delicious Cypriot food with a twist, like his Drunken Chicken( grilled chicken with a creamy ouzo flavoured sauce) and home grown olives, but he has such a fantastic character. Some of our best afternoons are sitting with him hearing stories of the olden days.

We walk down to the nearby fruitaria for locally grown fruit and veg and there we can also buy fresh village eggs, which have glourious golden yolks.

Fresh village eggs.

We continue to try to grow some of our own veg on our balcony, cucumbers,tomaotes, peppers, melons and pumkin are in troughs as we speak.

Cucumber trailing the balcony.

There is an array of herbs potted in the courtyard, thyme, sage, mint, and basil and the local lavender gives off a beautiful aroma.

It is fabulous to be submerged in Cypriot culture and we have the most wonderful neighbours, friendly and so incredibly helpful. The other day we were gifted a jar of home made apricot jam, with apricots grown in her daughters garden,not only did it taste fabulous,but the gesture itself meant the world to me. What better way of being welcomed than with a gift of food made from the heart.

Apricot jam from our adorable neighbour.

There is still much work to be done to achieve a more simple sustainable lifestyle, but finally after 2 long years we feel as though we are now really living our Cypriot dream. We have finally found home and we call it Maridadi Kabisa, it means absolutely beautiful in swahili, and that is what we think our home is.

Lefkara Lunar Eclipse

I have been fortunate enough to have seen 2 total solar eclipces but last night from our balcony in our new home ( yes we moved again will blog about it soon) we were on ' The Dark Side Of The Moon' so to speak. When the sun set there was a very eery light across the mountains and we watched as the moon came out across the sea.

Then it began.............................

You can see the shadow of black slowly crossing over the moon


And as the shadow, which I believe is the shadow of planet Earth being in front of the sun,

Crept across the face of the moon you can see the fading crest of the sun's light.

The moon began to take on an orange glow.

And it was almost as if it had become a night sun glowing brightly in the dark night sky.

It was a beautiful experience to see this, very humbling, nature's clear reminder that we are so small in the whole magnitude of the universe.

Cyprus Snow

We listen to BFBS which is the British Forces Broadcasting Service, mainly because it has some really good music on it, and during their weather forcast at this time of year they always comment on how cold it is at Troodos Camp and let one know how much snow is on the ski slopes. This all sounds really bizare when one is looking out to sea under clear blue skies, basking in the sunshine. Admitedly it has dropped down in temperature by the coast, but the idea that we could go into the mountains and find a winter wonderland was just unimaginable. So a couple of weekends back curiosity got the better of us and we set off for Mount Olympus.

We kept climbing and climbing and no sign of any snow, even when we got to Platres, nothing, and I said to TBH, 'this is a myth, they are having a laugh, there is no snow..................... '

When suddenly a car went past with what looked like the remains of a snow man on the left hand side of it's bonnet. 'snow!' I screamed, ' where' said TBH and by that time of course the car had gone past, added to which he was looking for it on the land not the front of cars,further we climed and then there it was scattered sporadically under the trees little piles of snow! Then there were the cars with skis on top and folk with wooly hats and scarves, with wet hair and chattering teeth, and eventually, we too were throwing snow balls and walking in a winter wonderland. It was so amaizing, it was deap enough for people to ski, snowboard,tobogan and it seemed as though the whole of Cyprus was up there and it was a real carnival type atmosphere.

Crepes were being freshly cooked by the side of the road and sold to passers by along with roasted chestnuts and toffee apples. Kids were squeeling with laughter and adults were behaving like kids. A truly magical day a truly magical place, Cyprus in the Snow.

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.

.

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.