General Chat

Well,he is the Badger ,sat on the verandah /patio ,in a nice sunny back garden with an orange bush blowing gently in the wind,and a large Lime tree[of the fruiting kind] blowing gently in the wind ,so ,all i need now is someone to chat to .
We took off from Newcastle nearly half an hour l late due to a loading error ,but made twenty minutes of the flight up due to a friendly tail wind.
The flight went well ,as we turned to starboard on take off .flying parallel To The coast so that i could see the rivers all the way down,the Tees,Weir,The Humber,with it's bridge ,tiny from the air,over the wash too ,before we turned port to cross the Dutch coast coast.To the Netherlands[ waves to Sylvia],eventually crossing the German border.
I never knew Germany was quite as big ,but we passed over tracts of land still covered in forest stretching for miles ,one can see even from the air that these people respect the countryside and are doing their best to conserve it.
we flew over the Alps as we went on to Italy ,going so far down the coast before swinging slightly east to enter the Turkish air space,flying over the sea and passing over loads of small ,inhabited islands before we swung back to starboard to reveal Cyprus on the Horizon .
We had on mishap after touch down in the arrivals barriers, a daft woman in front of us put her cases down and stepped a place forward to talk tro someone ,then stepped two paces back without looking behind herself,falling over her cases and cannoning into Liz,throwing her sideways over a Welcome To Cyprus sign,onto the floor.
The woman got up and tried to walk away, but was stopped by two others,until two customs bods arrived and gave her a bit of a talking to ,taking her passport number plus her personal details before letting go of her.
By this time other customs people had got liz up on her feet and took us through customs to seats in the lounge ,so by the time this daft female came through i was waiting for her.What i said to her in the next couple of minutes to do with her and her parentage i will not repeat ,but the last thingi said to her was ,Because you didn't even have the decency to enquire after my wife ,i have all the personal details of you ,plus your driving licence number and address details passed on by customs ,so be warned ,if there is anything wrong with my wife that shows up at a later date,you will be hearing from my barrister,and remember too that the whole incident will be on cctv ,that the airport will now keep just in case ,plus the names and addresses of the two witnesses who helped pick my wife up off the floor, i don't think she liked me much ,he he.
She is fine honest,just a bruise on her left elbow where she hit the floor ,plus a few tender bits on the rear padding ,but altogether fully recovered.
Notice too that the old lady isn't coughing nearly so much since she arrived ,this dry,warm air is working it's magic already,and she has some colour on her face.
Def' need a lottery win folks to get her out of britain to a dryer warmer climate that could easily see her live a lot longer.
Gonna put this up now ,because this so called broadband is a bit iffy and could go again any time.
See ya later peeps Fred & liz.xxxxx

Nice to see you've arrive for your holiday Fred, regards to your wife, hope she is over her fall (or shove). People don't seem to care do they, all it would take is a little courtesy or concern for others. No wonder you told her what you thought!!!! Good for you... Hope you enjoy yourselves.
I'm struggling with my family research at the minute, I stay in touch with the Canadian rellies I found via this site though so that is good, but I'm taking a break from it for a week or so to recharge my batteries!! Its a bit on the chilly side here today so just an indoor pottering about day.... Regards to all......

Morning all. Well, Fred now I am very jealous, how lucky you are
with the orange and lime trees!!! Sorry abouy Liz,some folk are just plain dumb. The sad part is most airports have 1 or more.
Didn't take long to put you to work cooking again did it? How lucky to take a cook every where you go!!!!
Hi to all the others, time to let us know how you are please.Hope you have been following Les's blog, they are close to home now but have had an interesting trip. This is a big country and they have covered a lot of it.
Fall is finally here, cool weather moved in yesterday and will soon change
to snow. Must get busy so will say bye for now. Edith XXXXXXXX

Hi Peeps ,had my 30 minutes in the sun ,and now i am back on the puter.
It was cloudy ,with thunder over the mountains this morning but the threatened rain never came so the wife was pleased ,as the washing dried okay.
The missus is darned sore at the minute ,so Betsy is sitting outside the bungalow sunning herself [the Corsa], but ,not to worry ,in a few days when liz caan get in and about okay ,we will be out seeing the sights ,and browsing the back street shops in Pafos and Limassol,where there are tons of things to do and see ,Badger will be looking for a cheap fishing rod for a few days fishing in the bay while he is here ,i will park the missus under a palm tree ,on a seat with a book and some cold drinks while i have a good time ,Liz? cummon peeps ,you know her by now ,anywhere in the shade with a good book and she is happy ,lol.
At the moment she has rescued ,Harry Potter And The half Blood Prince that she gave Sean to read on the way home on the plane ,her eyes lit up when she saw it ,because she hadn't even read it ,he he.
the Corsa runs fine ,£200 saved by buying a car instead of hiring was a good deal.
Sean gets to use it after he sells the Subaru ,and runs it until he comes home ,selling it on a few days before he flies,so , i even get part of the money back ,can't be bad ,eh?.
The camp has a lovely swimming pool ,so even if the weather is bad ,Liz can still get her swimming in which pleases her no end.
The only downside here is the price of Freds favourite food ,fish ,such a price that it's a once a fortnight treat i.'m afraid,but the fish shops will be getting a hammering when i get back ,to make up for it..
I did find one place that sells haggis though ,so i will be having haggis ,neeps ,and tatties while i am here ,veggies are dirt cheap so i am well pleased with that.
I have also upgraded my I E to 8,and yahoo to 9 so we will see how it goes ,touch wood i havn't been dumped off once today ,whereas i was off so many times yesterday that i gave up come the finish.
Time for a coffee ,see you all later ,Fred.

Hi everyone...Thank goodness the dust is all gone for now..Been very hot lately,,29c yesterday but only into the mid 20s today..Very nice..

Glad you are having such a nice relaxed time Fred.. Just what you both need,,and I bet Sean is not complaining at all the lovely home cooked grub you are dishing up..

Not long till Les and Normie get home I suppose.. Pity all good things have to come to an end..but they can always start another one so that is the main thing..We loved our nomadic life when John retired and we went all over OZ with our 4WD and caravan..Did thousands of miles and still didnt see everything..In OZ all the retirees who travel with their vans are called THE GREY NOMADS and it is a very popular passtime for them and thousands do it..all that stopped when John had his stroke..butter...lol..

Hope all are well and the Canucks are looking forward to their lovely winter...hee hee hee...it looks lovely in the postcards anyway..hee hee hee...

Love to all
Mary xxx

Hi all ,and hello Mary ,yep having a great time visiting the markets yesterday was amazing,the way they are set out in the little lanes ,just like an Egyptian souk ,all carpets ,rugs ,incense ,Frankincense ,habidashery,clothinf ,veggies and hardware ,all down to ,and including the kitchen sink,we spent nearly two hours in the first one alone ,before going onto the second.
So ,we are chilling out today and planning a trip to Pafos tomorrow,which is about 45 miles away,but the town has so far escaped the tourists and is more a local sort of venue,lots of little cafes and bistros where one can eat as the locals do,much more relaxed.
These people are so friendly ,returning respect for the same,and being really laid back,and Liz is having a great time looking around stalls whatever .
Have to go for now ,liz has the tea ready ,see you later all .Fred & Liz.xxxxx

Well,good afternoon all ,from a lovely sunny Cyprus he he,where old Badger is settled on the patio after a nice day out.
Early this morning was a dead loss ,couldn't get onto the internet at all and gave up at 0930 and decided to go on a little tour over to the west island.
I had the wife sat in front ,with the camera pointed out of the open car window as we went along.
This is the only way to do it in any safety ,the roads being windy and narrow ,and the natives driving are as bad ,if not worse than the French.
These drivers take no notice of red lights ,driving blatantly though them without even slowing down ,ignoring the horns ,shaken fists and shouts.
Halt signs mean nothing here ,lol you takes your choice and go for it sending up a prayer to the virgin Mary if you meet something coming the other way,speed signs likewise are treated with contempt so ,all in all you need eyes in the butt.
We started off great turning right onto the road to Pafos and passed loads of proper date palms [not the decorative ones you see in the towns] all laden with datesa ,a thing i havn't seen since my days in Aden,lol,i was tempted to try shinning up a trunk to nick a few ,but thought that these old bones and legs might have something else to say about it ,so i didn't chance it,besides ,there was the thought of being chased by a very irate greek with a big stick ,so with a last longing glance ,i drove on
We came to our days destination in a while ,a lovely little village called Pissourie. where we decided to have a walk around ,the street shops before going down onto the beach.
The hotel we werer informed was very good ,doing full ,and half board ,and there were some apartments for hire which were self catering,so everyone can do their own thing.
The beach there has everything for the holiday maker ,sports from Egyptian P T with the associated sun loungers ,lol through to Para Gliding,Jet skiing ,,Scuba Diving. aqua lung ,Jet Skis ,speed boating ,water skiing ,and even Pedalos' for the oldies he he.
all equipment is there for hire at very reasonable rates.
There is a lovely garden so far along the beach with bushes ,shrubs of all colours si i took a few pics of Liz standing in front of them and she took a couple of me ditto.
The temperature today was a nice 30c and the nice ,green/blue sea was a very nice 27c,very very nice.
We did stop off at the bakery just before the camp enterance where we brought a very nice ,fresh ,fresh load ,and three lovely raspberry,cream cakes cum cheesecakes at £1-30 each and they were biiiigslives ,just the thing to follow a very decadent tea of Beans ,Eggs ,Snags,and,oven chips.
All in all ,a very nice day ,and now we have an A to Z of Cyprus ,the world is our oyster ,lol, now where to tomorrow ,hmmmmm.
See ya later peeps ,have a nice evening ,Fred& Liz,.xxxx

Hi everyone. We have gone back to winter and into jumpers again.. Crazy weather.. but they say worming up later in the week..

Had a lovely 2 days visiting my brother who lives about 1 1/2 hours drive away and John went well and really enjoyed himself.. That was so good as he hasent been able to do that for years.. We are going to try my other brother soon and see how he goes there as they have been asking us to visit but John has not been well enough, but things are so much better at the moment we are ever hopeful..We will take it slowley and do small trips at a time and then if all seems well we will try a longer one..

The red dust is slowly getting washed away by the rain we have had lately and more rain to come to finish off the job...

Hope Les is rested after the long trip and if she is like me when we did a lot of travelling it took me ages to come back to civilization and everday life again and then I wanted to pack up and go agian..I think I really didnt want it to end as I loved the outback life..I hate the city life and would love to move to the country but John is a city lad and could not manage living in the country. Never mind ,,cant have everyhting...lol..

Hope you are ok Edith and Fred is enjoying himself on holiday and hope all are well,, Have a lovely weekend all..

Love Mary xxxx

Good morning from a chilly Taunton, your sun sounds nice Badger, I think Canberra might have had a bitter snap LM like Sydney according to the boys at home
Badger my niece was born in Cyprus and they go back every year and love it
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬to all

JA

Hiya J A yes ,i can see why your niece loves this island so much ,the people here are amazing ,nothing is too much trouble to them if you enquire about their methods of cooking and customs ,they are so laid back and relaxed,he he ,you get the impression that if their house caught fire they would finish their coffee and chat before getting round to putting it out.
We are doing the laddo a roast today ,something he dosn't get anymore now that his missus is back in Poland finishing uni.
We have a large piece of pork [all meats are produced in the northern island] which will do todays meal ,made with roast and mash potato's ,cabbage ,cauli and green beans ,home made stuffing,with a nice gravy,the rest of the meat will be halved ,one half in the freezer for a stir fry mid week ,and the other half for a curry on Sunday.
We are off duty now until Monday when we are due to visit the local castle just outside Episkopi, built by the ????? ,well ,i wont know that till i go will i ,but it looks before the turk invasion ,so it could well be moorish.
Have a good weekend all .still loving every minute ,and the tremperature so far today 24c whoopee .
fred & Liz xxxx

Hello all. The crazy weather just keeps going on and on.Sat. a.m. we woke to a white world. Just too early for us but what the hey it goes with all the nutty summer we had. Celebrating Thankgiving this week-end. Just returned from a lovely turkey dinner with all the fixings. Pumpkin pie and cream,apple with cheese slice and ice cream!!!!!!Diet down the tubes as well. Am enjoying Fred and Liz's travel tales and Les and Norms pics.The houses in the Maritimes are great aren't they??
Hello to all the other Canucks who will be celebrating, hope you are all well. Hi to Mary. J.A and Ian. Maybe the snow will chase the bears to bed Mary Hee Hee. Time to let all the food settle so will say bye for now.
Edith XXXXXX

Hiya Edith ,cor ,you could have saved me a bit of that turkey lol,you have my mouth watering at the thought of it ,with all of the trimmings.
Turkey here ,the smallest ready frozen one is well over £26 but ,seeing as all that stuff has to be imported from europe it's not bad cosidering.
The chickens grown here are pretty large ,free range and very tasty so at £8 each they do compare with home.
Liz and i went back to the castle yesterday seeing as it was too hot to do on Friday by the time we had been to the stadium,where the chariot racing and games took place whilst the romans were here.
The castle is on four floors including the basement /vaults where the sugar and wines were produced and refined.The building of this castle was very well thought out with the watercourse outside and the wells inside [3] were built.,and in those days of course ,the river would have been clean and pure [the river is no more].
all the floors had windows on all four sides ,with granite seats set into the walls for seating ,,so i suppose ,there would have been narrow trestles or tables so that these areas could have been used for meals as well. the top floor was of course reserved for the head honcho and his family with a spiral stairway built into the round tower in the rooms corner leading to the roof ,where said family could sit in the heat of the day and keep cool.
All floors had latrines built into one wall ,hope the knights didn't have to keep their armour on in the castle lol on the second floor ,it's a long way down if one was to slip ,ooooops] he eh.
I forgot my stick of course ,and by the time i had got up onto the roof and back down again i was knackered ,and my leg is so sore this morning that i can't drive at all [that will teach me not to forget the stick in future].
Well worth the effort though and the pic i managed to get of the motif on the main wall of the castle was alone worth all the effort.
The pic ,taken on tele shows the shield of the then royal family .richard the lion heart with the royal crown over the top.and the heraldry shields of three of the senior knights below,proving that the castle was built by christians.
Through the ages though ,first the turks ,took the castle ,then the Marmalukes [arabs] then eventually ,the Greeks ,quit a few changes of ownership,the sugar and wine being so important that there was a lot of fighting over the industries ownership.
Must go now ,we have been baking this morning ,egg and spam flans for salads to make a change ,some fish pasties and jam tarts with the left over pastry ,so ,it's time to sample some of the goodies,lol.
Catch you later all ,take care.Fred & Liz.

Hello all, Sorry Fred by the time my lot is finished with a turkey the only thing left are the bones.I have to add lots of veg etc. just to make soup.
Next time i will put some aside for you, just get here fast O.K.??
Thanks for the details on your castle visit, it's really enjoyed when you know you will never get there to see it .Hope the old pins get better quickly. I know what that pain is like and it is no fun.
We still have crazy weather can't decide if it wants to rain or snow so we have been getting both. Oh, for a lovely white world with about 3 feet of the stuff.( I know I'm not normal )but I do love the winter. Not too cold just snowy. heehee
Hope Mary, J.A>, Teresa, and all the others are well. Let's hear from you.
must go. Edith XXXXXX

Hello Canucks and Co from a cool Wellington Somerset More later Cheers
JA

Morning all ,niceto be back on line again after a loooong fight with windows vista refusing to update itself and trouble reloading windows8 because ofit too ,
any way ,i have been online since 6-16 am ,and havn't been booted off once ,so hopefully ,all is now sorted.
The revisit to Kourion went well ,exept that we forgot to view the earthquake house that the Romans built which just goes to show ,that the romans did know a lot about building in those days.
The water for the town was drawn direct from the river Kouris,fed down to the town through terracotta pipes into a huge stone sink tank that must have taken months to build,.
From the sink the water went asll over the site through pipes ,channels and culverts,amazing on such a big size as this place,the baths even in a hot climate supplied with underfloor heating for the saunas and hot bath. i swear that by the time we came away my camera was overheating as well as us both ,lol.
I di a lovely home made thai green curry for tea last evening complete with cocanut milk which added the finishing touch ,lol, i put a tad too much ginger in though ,ooooo hot hot hot he he,but it was more than edible.
I had a chat to a local stall holder mid last week who was trying to persuade me to try a cypriot dish ,so ,i struck a deal ,i would taste her's if she would taste mine [this came around because she couldn't get her head around the british leek.
Both dishes have to be meat free, so i have decided to make a calgannon made of course with all local produce ,including cyprus tatties,the only thing foreign being the leek.
I think a carefully balanced calgannon with some nice fresh cypriot fresh ground black pepper will we a real winner.and i am now looking forward to the contest he he.
.
Time to go,my turn for the dinnertoday ,cheese & bread pudding version 2 today ,the one made with breadcrumbs and comes up a little like a sufflei [you know what i mean lol]
Catch you all later Fred.

Hi Y'all

Fred it is good to hear of your adventures and am eagerly awaiting some pics. I miss travelling a lot.
Daughter was here this weekend and we had a great visit. Did as much shopping as is possible in a small town like this. We all bought slippers, Nicky bought yarn for a throw and Norm a watch. I bought some really cheeky stuff for that sweet Rhian. We found a t-shirt that said :forget Princess I want to be a vampire" and some black leggings. Nicky and I figure she can wear the outfit as jammies. It will go well with the "teeth" she's had in her gob this last week. (Pic on its way!!)
This is the first post from my new laptop. I am liking it a lot. Also got a new keyboard....easier to bash on a big one. I am, at best, an erratic typist!!
Nicky and I cooked together last night while Norm yelled encouragement from his chair. We made chicken korma, lentil curry and aloo mutter palek. Very tasty as our Fred would say.
Ok I am off to the salt mine.
Keep well.
Lesxx
PS.BTW did any of you lot upgrade to the gold from standard???? just curious if there was any benefit.

Evening everyone, hope you are all well, Fred still enjoying his travels? It sounds lovely... Well its been a really damp day here today so haven't done a great deal. My sister in law called today and told me my brother has swine flu. He is really ill! He has been given Tamiflu and at the moment can't get out of bed his is so weak. I thought at first that it was getting blown out of proportion, but now it has hit one of my family, I realise it certainly wasn't. Well I'll say goodnight to all and take care.....

Hello Where is everyone?? Haven't heard from Les in eons, I think Fred must be lost on Cyprus!!!! J.A and Mary have you both run away?
Teresa how are you?
I know I too have been tardy.(slaps hand)But In our town the fall season is so busy. All the ladies groups have the annual bazaar and of course the fall suppers etc.
Things have slowed a bit, so before things get going for Christmas I will have a bit of free time.
What a small world we live in. In reading back I see J.A is in Taunton. 4 yrs.ago I sat in the huge library there filling in some spaces in my tree.
All my ancestors on Mom's side are from that area. Marston Magna was
the main village but all the spouses etc. came from the surrounding area.
Also spent some time in Yoeville. This silly site has started jumping about so wil say Bye for now. Hope all are well. Edith XXXX

Hi Our Edith Fred reporting in at last,not my fault honest ,we have only four I S Ps on the island ,and they are all hopeless cYTa being the best of a bad bunch ,and even when i get up at six ,normally i find it has dropped out.
I would suggest that anyone coming to this fair island be pre warned ,and bring carrier pigeons instead of a laptop ,lol
We went to the Neolithic settlement this morning ,tons to do ,and see ,with fourty huts built into the hillside ,made out of stone ,mud brick and a sort of limewash coating ,well waterproof and cosy.
The huts had a ceiling half the way up the wall covering half the living area inside,which was to put the beds, well off the floor for creepy crawlies [and worse ] lol,with the kitchen and living area beneath
The site was well thought out ,with a stream coming off the mountains for water all year round ,,a wall built all round the settlement in case of intruders ,and wild wheat on the hillside [still there today] for bread and gruel,wildfruits and veggies ,also ,to some extent ,still there ,as in fig ,lemon ,orange ,olive and the like ,with loads of natural herbs ,and the sea only two miles away for fish.
There is ,so far ,no trace of goats ,or sheep being kept ,so these people never brought animals with them,the goats and whatever ,must have come much later with the greeks and egyptians ,who also brought the cats with them.
Even the guards on the site this morning had their two cats ,well fed ,and content ,rolling on their backs to have their tummies rubbed [the cats ,i might add ,not the guards] he he.
As we came away the autumn here raised it's head ,thunder clouds
rolling over the site from the mountains ,thunder and lightening ,plus a few drops of rain ,but we wern't bothered by that time ,being in the coffee house over the road.
time to go and make the tea now ,stir fry i reckon ,will be back later if i get the chance.
Take care all .Fred.
.

Sorry gang, not hiding just fiercely busy what with teaching the genealogy class and sewing for the upcoming fairs...then chuck in a few days of procrastination....and thats me!!
Sure hope our missing pals are OK. Haven't heard from Dorothy in Barries for a while either.
Ah well, life gets busy for everyone now and then. Will write more later...promise.
BTW Edith I cooked a small pork loin roast using the recipe you gave me with the onions, bbq sauce etc. I let it simmer in the oven for about 3 hours...it was amazing!!
Lesxx