We started the New Year by having lunch time drinks and nibbles at Sandy and John's. The sun shone as we mingled in their garden with a lot of new people as well as the Layabouts. It was a really lovely occasion and as it was also Pat's birthday our gang decided to have dinner together at Hachi Ali's restaurant to help Pat celebrate.
The following day there was a gunfight, not at the OK Coral, but in one of the Casinos in Lapta which has resulted in closure of two of the Casinos and a lot of deportations back to Turkey. Seemingly it was all to do with known mainland mafia members getting greedy but you have to wonder how come they had been awarded casino operating licences here! Say no more!
It was back to normal after the long Bayram holiday. It had become quite cold during these early days of January so it was evenings spent snuggled in front of the gas heater. There was an 18 hour power cut one day which was not a lot of fun, particularly as it had poured with rain. Unusually they had pre-warned us of this one! Jeff is beginning to think seriously of having the central heating radiators and boiler installed.
At the weekend we went up the mountain with my SSAFA colleague Sue, to the little community of Karmi where they were holding a concert of Baroque Music in the old village church. There was a virtuoso oboist from the Paris Conservatoire, a Bulgarian cellist and a very talented Polish young lady playing the cymbalum. Being the post Christmas season, the atmosphere in the church, lit by candles which made the icons glow, was quite magical. It was a most enjoyable and so different an evening for us.
There was a big article in Cyprus Today about the Xmas power cuts and the fact that the cause seemed to be the failure of the overhead power lines which are in urgent need of replacement. The new power lines should have been in place by June 2006 but due to disagreements, to be settled in court, about the location of the new pylons, this has delayed the improvements. One day the infrastructure might catch up.
There was high praise in the paper for Ankara Travel, an Agency in Kyrenia. They had worked long and hard to keep their passengers informed about the delays and cancellations the fog in UK was causing and they managed to get many customers off to UK in time for Xmas. We have previously used them and have been very impressed by the service they offer.
After church we decided to visit Sirin Yali restaurant down by the sea. It was pleasant watching the waves.
Jan 9
Jeff and I went out for a drive through Kyrenia towards Lefkosa (Nicosia). On the way we witnessed the first of the new power generating units being transferred to the Teknecik plant from Famagusta Docks to Alagadi (via Kyrenia) on a 128 wheel low loader. There was some chaos on the roads as this thing travelled very slowly and had to be proceeded by a team of Teknecik workers who went ahead lifting the electricity cables that ran across the roads in order that this huge unit could pass underneath. There are three more of these units to come from Sweden and hopefully the power problems on this part of the island will be a thing of the past.
Jan 11
I went to my usual Ladies Group to discover that we had been tasked with making 2,000 palm crosses for the Exeter Diocese which St Andrew's has an association with. We all fumbled and struggled with the first couple we made but then we soon got the hang of it and soon put quite a number together. Prior to this I hadn't given a lot of thought as to where the palm crosses came from when I had received one on Palm Sunday in the past - now I know. People like me, living in countries where there is an abundance of palm trees, make them!
Jan 12
Jeff and I had a ride across the border today and did a little shopping. Later, as some more of the Layabouts (George and Susan) had returned from their UK trip, there was a good gathering of The Layabouts at The Stumble Inn. However, Pat & Bryan were missing with bad colds.
The weather had turned extremely cold again and the temperatures indoors can be lower than outside. This is because the houses are designed to keep out the summer heat, so a little bit of winter sun doesn't really penetrate. The forecast for the coming week promised midday temperatures of up to 17 degrees, but down to 1 degree at night! Jeff went to visit a local plumber to discuss installing a central heating system! We had the pipes laid when the bungalow was being built so half the job was already done.
Jan 13
There has been a major set back to the request for the direct flights. It appears that in a House of Lords debate, Lord Triesman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the FCO, told the house that there were legal obstacles to the CTA bid for direct flights, which could only be resolved if the Greek Cypriot government recognised Ercan as an international airport. Now we can all see that happening, can't we.
Jan 14 was a superb day, the temperature went up to 21 degrees during the early afternoon and it was a chance to do some work in the garden.
It was George's birthday and Susan prepared a super dinner for us all. We had a very enjoyable evening together but when it came to leaving we had a problem with the car in that it didn't want to start. We had to abandon it at George's and get him to run us home! Sod's law - wouldn't you know it started at the first turn of the key the next morning!!
At least it meant we could get little Kedi to the vet for her worming tablet!
Jan 16
Interesting news in the paper this weekend in that reports say that Germany has started working on the lifting some of the trade isolation on North Cyprus in its capacity of leaders of the European Union.
Jan 17
Well its Sunday so what better time could there be for Mr Gargari to bring his heavy machinery down onto the field opposite us and start some digging!
He dug a great hole in the area where a road is to be located and started burying the concrete foundations he had dug up before Christmas.
Now we look out on a landscape of soil mini mountains - will it ever look less like a tip again?
Jan 18
We had another session at the Ladies Group making the palm crosses and managed to achieve our quota of 2,000. Afterwards I visited a couple of fabric shops to look for some lining material for some curtains. One shop provided me with a sample which was what I was looking for and promised to get the right quantity the following day.
Jan 20
Jeff came with me to collect the material and ended up getting measured up for a new blazer!
We went to Sevener's restaurant for dinner. This a typical taverna type place located in Alsancak. It was nice and warm and served a good meal.
Jan 21
Yesterday it absolutely poured down all day long but today dawned bright and clear and we could clearly see the coastline and snow lying on the top of the Taurus mountains of Turkey, just 40 miles away.
Continuing our quest for a nice Sunday Roast, a crowd of us went to a small restaurant in Kyrenia "old town" known as Sele. They produced a really good dinner, pate to start with then a roast beef with all the trimmings. There was a nice atmosphere and everyone agreed it was very good.
There are great fears of a summer water crisis in North Cyprus unless we get lots of rain between now and the end of March. We currently have only one third of the capacity of the reservoirs. Usually the heaviest rainfall is between January and March but so far we have had very little. But this is a familiar story to those of you living in the south of England.
Jan 23
We had several nice days now and awoke to another lovely day and on going onto the front terrace saw this unusual sight in the sky. A gyroscope!
I watched it flying over the village for a while and then it turned and came right over the house.
He flew around for a while and then headed off back up the coast towards Kyrenia. We haven't seen him since!
We went to Lefkosa later to go through the procedure of getting our North Cyprus driving licences. Once we found the office it was a case of completing forms that were all in Turkish. Fortunately, a very kind Cypriot lady came to our rescue and helped us to sort it out. We've to go back in 3 weeks to collect our licences.
Jan 24
Jeff's new blazer was ready for collection today and I must say they had made a very nice jacket, lovely material and made-to-measure. Cost - about £100.
Jan 26
All the radiators have now been installed and we are just waiting for the large gas tank to be delivered and fitted. Meanwhile we are managing by using the small bbq cylinders. They last for a day, so we are frequently getting them replaced but it is just for the short term.
Jan 27
Jeff and I are members of the British Residents Society and they have an annual lunch for new members every year. We went with the usual crowd to The Pia Bella hotel in Kyrenia for a very good buffet lunch. One of the items they announced was a new deal for a form of medical insurance for ex-pats. This was obviously of interest to us.
During the last 12 months a brand new private hospital facility has opened in Nicosia, Cyprus Life Hospital. Apart from a round-the-clock Accident and Emergency department they are equipped with 2 operating theatres, radiology departments, laboratories, 20 well equipped patient bedrooms and specialist doctors running extensive outpatients unit. They have set up a financial agreement with BRS members offering discounts on their usual charges. As it will probably be 2008 at best before we ex-pats are included in the proposed National Health type scheme here, this gives us food for thought.
After George's birthday party Susan discovered she had an excess of cheeses so they decided to have The Layabouts round for a cheese and wine party. Any old excuse suits us! We enjoyed another great evening at their house.
Jan 28
We have had some very warm weather for the time of the year
- not bad for the end of January is it.
We had noticed some patches of damp on one of our bedroom ceilings and decided that our roof terrace was not water-tight. While the weather was so good Jeff decided to get some sealant and see whether we could improve the situation. We could cover most areas using a squeezey mop but there were parts where we had to get down on our knees and didn't we know we'd done it later that day. We were hobbling around like a couple of old crocks!
It became very cold at the end of the month so despite the sun shining I was glad we had decided to go ahead with the central heating. The house is snug, we have constant hot water without resorting to the immersion heater and we don't have to think about it - it comes on and off just as we were used to in the UK. Jeff says we've worked hard all our lives, now is the time for some comfort. It's great!
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