Just one little piece of coastline....................

..................left to visit on this little island, so off we trot to Polis and Latchi.

Polis, ah a teeny little gem with stunning stone buildings and a little cluster of bars and restaurants.  We came here for a lovely little fish meze, to be honest it wasn't the best fish we have had in Cyprus, the calamari was perfect but in general the fish was overcooked, however the wine was lovely and the ambience was perfect and we did have a lovely evening.

I seem to be drawn to anything green or flowering, think I am just desperate to get growing again.  We have been successful with tomatoes, peppers and chillies here this year, the harvest wasn't bountiful but it was enough for us.

Well ofcourse this little beauty caught my eye, I wouldn't say no to a little drive in this 💓

Latchi Harbour was typically beautiful of fishing harbours in Cyprus, lined with restaurants and sellers offering boat trips.  It was a hot weekend temperatures touched 40 celsius and we clambered aboard a boat to enjoy the sea breeze as well as the views.

Can you see the village on the hillside above, this is were we stayed.  The view from our balcony was out of this world.

The coastline was very rural, the Akamis Peninsula is stunning and the waters are so cool and clear.  We had a lovely swimming stop where we tried out our new full face snorkel masks which worked brilliantly and are much easier to use than traditional snorkels.

A spectacular peaceful fishing spot, can you just make out the lone fisherman?

Just look how clear the water is, and those colours - I love them💓

Polis again, the views behind me stretch for uninterrupted miles and miles.  Although this is a very touristy resort there are no high rise hotels the accomodation available consists of traditional stone villas, just stunning.

Finally we ventured as far as we could along a track into the forest, the canopy gave us welcome shade from the sun and we stopped to have our little picnic.  As we wandered through the trees a bunch/flock/flutter of butterflys flew up around us - it was magical.  After some inspection we saw the little disguised butterflies resting on the tree bark.  What do you call a bunch/flock/flutter of butterflies?

On our trip back to our village we passed by this.  It is the entrance to a property and the driveway was framed with this pergola covered in vines and dripping with bunches of grapes.  I had such vine envy - I have a yearning for vines rambling across a pergola.

This was our final jaunt around Cyprus, we have now done the entire coastline and most of what is in the middle too!  We intended to 'do' the island when we arrived nearly three years ago and we have certainly 'done it'.

Now time to get packing, selling and sorting!

Visiting sproglets.

June has been pretty much booked up with Abbie and Jess. Abbie and Matt spent a week with us and we certainly managed to cram in  some serious sightseeing.  Abbie is a beach kinda gal who is keen to get a tan whereas her boyfriend Matt is the kinda guy who burns when he simply steps over the threshold - factor 30 and parasols on the beach are essential!

We travelled north for a couple of nights, while Abbie and Matt were happy to hang around the pool  and relax we hopped in the car and decided to climb a mountain! Oh yup we couldn't just sit and relax now could we, so we visited Buffavento Castle, the views were absolutely out of this world and well worth the hour climb to get to the top.

Bellapais is a little gem high in the mountains looking down over Kyrenia, there are the remains of an Abbey and a little ole fella selling coffee (Andy thinks he is atleast 105 years old! but if you know Andy you will know he has a tendancy for exageration - he is probably only 100! Whatever his age he is certainly respected by the village, it is usual to see villagers kissing his hands whilst he sits shaded by  an enormous fig tree, which is probably atleast 105 years old !

I adore these guords hanging outside the gift shops entwinded in the bourgonvilia..

Here we sat under The Tree of Idleness, which is reputed to be where Lawrence Durrell wrote his novel Bitter Lemons of Cyprus, I am beginning to plough my way through the book although to be honest it is a tad hard going so I may opt for the cd version and listen while I sew.

There is always a white and blue checked table cloth restaurant.

Beach days to keep the  little splodge happy, although Jess did take a shine to a spot of snorkeling.

A day trip to Nicosia while Mr Reed toiled away in his office.  Neither Jess or Matt had been to Nicosia, the difference in atmosphere as you walk through the passport checks still amazes me, I find it incredible how relatively peacefully a capital city remains divided.

We stayed in beautiful apartments in Kyrenia, next to the pool where Abbie could swim and sunbath while Matt could stay under a sunshade.

The World Cup began this month  and while Abbie isn't  a football kinda gal she didn't mind having to go to a bar and watch a game or two if pizza, malibu and the odd friendly cat were involved.

A strange occurance happened during Jess' second week with us - quite unexpectedly she asked "Muuuummmm! can you teach me to crochet!!!!!!!!!"  I was kinda speechless for a few seconds - quickly out came some yarn and a hook and utube video to help her and off she went.  It was a struggle and I thought for a moment she was gonna throw a strop and not persevere, but she was persistant and gradually little by little a few chains were made and then a rather wonky granny square.  A few days later we took another trip to Nicosia to buy her own choice yarn and a hook. "It's addictive" she declared - yup, tis true.  Then a few days later blig splodge could be found operating the overlocker!!!!!! I needed photographic evidence, this was not something I ever expected to see.

I have donkey photos to share next time but yet again I have had photo problems, the card reader simply stopped working and I am awaiting delivery of a new one!!!!

Cheers Big Ears xx