A change..

18 May

Usually when my husband goes off to work, I pout and I get over it within a few hours. Sooner I get over it than the sooner I can get things back to normal and get a daily pattern going for myself. Once in a blue moon it seemingly gets difficult for no real reason and that makes it a very difficult period for me. This time..it is between the two and with my friend living back in Canada, the in-laws away seeing to their other home for the next few weeks and my husband away…I feel pretty isolated. Once I get back to the gym and maybe go out more, this should change.

I have some goals I’d like to see to this month as well and they are important to me to obtain before the end of June. I would like to lose between five and six lbs (or 2 1/2 kg) , get some toning in my triceps and thighs. I would also like to reduce how much sugar I consume, which is proving difficult. I like green iced tea, however it is 26% of your daily dose and if I want a coke thats 36% so I need to vastly reduce the amount either is consumed. I also want to do some serious purging of useless clothing to go to charity again and I’d like to go caffeine free for a second time starting in two weeks.

On top of that I want to start going to the new supermarket down the road, roughly the same distance as Carrefour is to me. I also want to walk to the post office, which if you knew paphos….hmm not so easy feet but a good solid workout. I think these are good goals to help ease this imagined difficult month go by and make me a tiny bit better.

I will need a serious amount of good luck.

Sunnyish Cyprus

7 May

Slowly, slowly. That is exactly what the temperature has in mind to do, slowly rise upwards to our normal late spring weather. The capital city saw nearly 28′C yesterday but Paphos saw only 23′C and I can be happy with that. I’ve been suffering with an insane on again off again migraine from hell for two days so the calm weather and a good breeze has meant a lot. Thankfully Cyprus post (in their ever so slow way) finally gave us a notice that we had deliveries waiting. Unfortunately due to that pesky migraine, my poor husband had to go collect it and some paradol or paramol…whatever it is that ibuprofen sells as over here. Have to say..he did very well. Bought me the tablets, collected my nescafe dolce dusto delivery and also got me a chocolate bar, some yogurt and green iced tea. It certainly made me feel better.

Our very late electricity bill came in as well with some noticeable changes on it this time. They used to charge VAT (Value added tax) twice on the original bill, once before and once after the assorted other charges. Which was called out as double dipping and illegal in the press on more than once occasion. So finally that has been changed and the VAT is listed in a clearly separate area. Only now, it seems, they’ve forgotten to do direct debits! My bill always states it has been forwarded on to the bank for payment and I tend check the account to varify it has been removed … Since we always seem to get the bill WAY after the due date hence why it’s direct debit. No money has been removed and that little line stating it has been forwarded to my bank is definitely AWOL. I’ll give them to Friday, to see if a second bill arrives or if the money is removed from my account.

Only in Cyprus do they fix one issue, only to break another item and cause a whole new situation.

 

On the bright side my latte (vanilla), mocha and chai tea arrived from Germany at long last. Now only for my lemon iced tea! Then I will be set for the dive season to start off with cold teas for on the boat and warm coffee/tea for the morning. I’ve also ordered my bikini from Victoria’s Secret so once that arrives I think I am almost ready to start the properly warm season. Hell there is already a bit of a base tan forming just from going to the Paphos zoo last week!

Hmm

2 May

Things have been rather status quo as of lately, nothing overly thrilling or exciting going on in or around the island. Other than a random spurt of rain appearing that is! My pumpkin seeds have popped up with mighty big leaves and my lime tree has decided it likes where I’ve placed it. Things have been peaceful and oddly well settled.

Though we have finally booked our honeymoon…granted we’ve been married for 18 months now but thanks to immigration and the xmas holidays..yeah no honeymoon was doable. We’ve waited and researched our butts off to find the right time, the right hotels and the right place to enjoy ourselves fully. Personally, I can not wait to use and abuse the four star hotels of Italy! In the main hotel in Florence we’ll even have a nice BIG bottle of chilled champagne waiting for us. On our second night there we’ll be going to a lovely restaurant in our best outfits (a new dress will be bought!) to finally celebrate in style.

Good things come to those who wait…and wait…and wait…and wait (for Cypriot immigration)!

BAM

23 Apr

I am sorry for such a lengthy pause!

 Working out bright and early, battling against having a coffee and getting the apartment ready ended up taking up more time than I had originally thought. Sadly during that a friend of mine (A Canadian-Cypriot) had also made the choice to move back to the great white north that is Canada. The battle against caffeine went quite well at least, not a drop for two entire weeks. The difference between my skin then and after was pretty extensive! Might have to do this fairly regularly.

There WILL be a post soon which would probably be a long awaited recipe, chicken pot pie. Maybe even Chicken soup which is a bi-product of making goods for the pot pie. It’s truly amazing how much you get out of a roasted chicken. 

Oh coke!

8 Apr

So I have decided to give up caffeine for two weeks, as of tomorrow that countdown is half way through. Originally it was going to end tomorrow but I have decided to push it along an extra week. I have had fair skin my entire life and it seems that it was never grease or sugar or salt that set it off…just caffeine! So I am giving my skin a bit of a break by trying this out.

The more I read about others who have done this…the more strength I seem to get to say no. I even have a nice cold can of it sitting in my fridge as the ultimate test. If, after a very bad week, I can say no to such an addictive property and continue on then I will be quite happy.

Thank gods Frappes come in decafe! 

April Fools!

1 Apr

Never have I been a fan of April Fools day, it never made much sense to me as a child and now it still doesn’t quite compute. However it is still a good point on the calender as roughly two weeks of various holidays are about to kick off. Easter has a habit of stopping all business on the island and the Cypriots do enjoy their newly acquired free time. Fire works, souvla  and family!

My street gets stuffed to the brim with the celebrations and it’s quite nice to smell the cooking going on or watching the kids play outdoors all day. The only hair in the eye would be the teenagers who choose this moment to play with illegal firecrackers. Last year two or three people died from either goofing off near a firework or trying to light one.I am hoping that maybe a few of them have learnt their lesson even a tiny bit.

Here’s hoping! 

Little finds

27 Mar

My mother in-law and I enjoy finding little stores that are pretty unique and stand apart. One of which is a very nice shop in Paphos not far from my Doctors. Sadly, despite living here and just 15 minutes away…I just haven’t been to it at all and neither has my in-law. So today we decided that after stopping at Cafe Central, that we’d stop in for once and see what he has in store. What a treat it was! Smell of lovely old seasoned wood, antique furniture, old metal candle holders (and even one ammunition box), century old Punjabi dagger (complete with belt) and lovely carpets.

The shop owner was beyond conciderate and friendly as well. We spent probably an hour and a half in his little shop just discussing things as my mother in law had lived in India for a short while. He showed us around the shop, answering any questions that we might have of certain items and the prices. Hidden away was a beautiful 1960 motor bike from India that just stole my heart away. It was in very good condition, well maintained (a bit dusty but it had been put away for the winter) and not to mention looked fantastic. Being a woman who grew up around a 1971 GMC Sprint and a 1970 Chevelle…well it’s safe to say I have a heart for the old classics. The shop keep said in the summer, when the bike comes out of hiding, that he would allow me to drive it. Though I would be afraid of doing that as the old classics are ALL metal and not remotely light weight so I may settle for just having my photo taken on the beast.

I did grab some photos…I apologize for the quality as the replacement camera on my phone does not like strong light it seems.

 

 

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.