This has been a bit of a weird month, and hopefully, the Winter will keep us both busy!
As always, we have dropped back to short hours for the winter, opening usually just at the weekends, however it all went a bit pear-shaped!
The wooden steps leading down onto the balcony from the road were in need of replacement, and we had decided to do them over the winter and then...poor Jon Walton broke one! It gave us a ll a real scare I can tell you! Luckily he wasn't hurt, but my John decided the replacement had to go ahead NOW - and they all had to be done. so, he taped off the top and bottom, so they couldn't be used, and we got the assistance of Ziggy to order and collect the wood for us.
It's taken 2 weeks of painting, and John and Ziggy spending all day to install them, but they are done now and look brilliant!
As you can see, we now have risers on the steps to give them a much better look, and some extra strength, but poor John has been painting like a fool for days! Each piece has had 2 coats of primer, and the main steps had 3 coats of colour! a mammoth task!
They are still closed off to allow some of the sealant used in fixing them in place to dry, but they will be unveiled this week.
Also this month, we were kindly invited by newest members of the community, Geoff and Vera, to visit their home for dinner. what a fabulous night - and stonking good food (including a goulash!).
We then all met up again the other night at Kaaren's closing party. Tim and Karen are off to their winter work shortly, and they threw a bash for a few of us. As always with these two, the food was amazing, and nothing was spared. We had a splendid time, and JR found the chilli - he loves it - just like last year!
The lovely smiler is Vera!
We are now in the Wedding/Engagement times, and it's wonderful to hear all the car horns sounding as the newly weds travel to their wedding do's, and we know a few o the couples who have/will be tying the knot!
Although today is 1st December (Kalo Mina - good month - to all) it's a wonderful balmy day with temps around 20* and Les and I will be heading back around the harbour later for a stroll. He's here in the shop, much to his dismay, patiently waiting for me to finish the jobs I have to do. He's in fine form and we are now planning a few outings for us all - both locally and further afield. We've been lucky enough to be offered the use of a car, so maybe Zakros is on the agenda?? we shall see, but we are hoping to take Geoff and Vera up onto Lassithi plateau, following our adventures with Bjorn and Aase - we hope we can do what they did for us!
We have some Xmas cards arrived in the shop, and I've sent a few back to UK. For the most part, we don't do them much, as we end up sending all the stock!I still have one to send to Fran, but I want to get some pics of Les first...long story, but I want my Earl Grey, and Les wants his snacks hehehe...
As the winter unfolds, I hope to keep adding bits and pieces, and will have some pics and comments from Christmas Day I'm sure, but for now, I'll sign off with a link to the nicest walnut cake recipe (and it's easy because I can make it)!
http://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/karidopita-greek-walnut-cake-with-syrup
As always, we have dropped back to short hours for the winter, opening usually just at the weekends, however it all went a bit pear-shaped!
The wooden steps leading down onto the balcony from the road were in need of replacement, and we had decided to do them over the winter and then...poor Jon Walton broke one! It gave us a ll a real scare I can tell you! Luckily he wasn't hurt, but my John decided the replacement had to go ahead NOW - and they all had to be done. so, he taped off the top and bottom, so they couldn't be used, and we got the assistance of Ziggy to order and collect the wood for us.
It's taken 2 weeks of painting, and John and Ziggy spending all day to install them, but they are done now and look brilliant!
They are still closed off to allow some of the sealant used in fixing them in place to dry, but they will be unveiled this week.
Also this month, we were kindly invited by newest members of the community, Geoff and Vera, to visit their home for dinner. what a fabulous night - and stonking good food (including a goulash!).
We then all met up again the other night at Kaaren's closing party. Tim and Karen are off to their winter work shortly, and they threw a bash for a few of us. As always with these two, the food was amazing, and nothing was spared. We had a splendid time, and JR found the chilli - he loves it - just like last year!
We are now in the Wedding/Engagement times, and it's wonderful to hear all the car horns sounding as the newly weds travel to their wedding do's, and we know a few o the couples who have/will be tying the knot!
Although today is 1st December (Kalo Mina - good month - to all) it's a wonderful balmy day with temps around 20* and Les and I will be heading back around the harbour later for a stroll. He's here in the shop, much to his dismay, patiently waiting for me to finish the jobs I have to do. He's in fine form and we are now planning a few outings for us all - both locally and further afield. We've been lucky enough to be offered the use of a car, so maybe Zakros is on the agenda?? we shall see, but we are hoping to take Geoff and Vera up onto Lassithi plateau, following our adventures with Bjorn and Aase - we hope we can do what they did for us!
We have some Xmas cards arrived in the shop, and I've sent a few back to UK. For the most part, we don't do them much, as we end up sending all the stock!I still have one to send to Fran, but I want to get some pics of Les first...long story, but I want my Earl Grey, and Les wants his snacks hehehe...
As the winter unfolds, I hope to keep adding bits and pieces, and will have some pics and comments from Christmas Day I'm sure, but for now, I'll sign off with a link to the nicest walnut cake recipe (and it's easy because I can make it)!
http://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/karidopita-greek-walnut-cake-with-syrup
