Ready for Cyprus

We drove up from home on Saturday: it had once been our plan to come up late Friday and then set off for our first trip of the season, making our way up the Thames to the Kennet and Avon. However, the heavy rains which caused the extensively reported flooding all along the Thames Valley, also meant that our second choice, the Lee and Stort Navigations, were also likely to be impassable.

So, about two weeks ago with no let up in the 'Red Boards' (indicators that navigation on a river is not recommended) Christine found us a ten day break in Cyprus in a self catering apartment in Pissouris, between Larnaca and Paphos. The package begins on Tuesday which meant that we could do some other things first. We did not need to rush away from home so stayed over until Saturday. We were away in reasonable time, around 9:30, and had a straightforward journey up the motorways to Packet Boat Marina.

One disappointment on Friday afternoon was to discover that the member of the marina staff on duty that day had refused to hand over the boat keys to the RCR engineer who had been booked for an annual engine maintenance check. We never did discover his reason - Christine had told him when leaving the keys after the New year and telephoned again a couple of days ago. So one of the first things to do after arrival was to sort out a new date and to make sure that all the details are clearly recorded in the marina diary!

Mike also fitted the USB and 12 volt wall unit he had been preparing whilst at home. He had tried before and tested it out over the New Year but it was not quite successful, although it did demonstrate its value.

The second attempt seems to be much better and at least holds in place for now (this was the problem with Mark 1)

On Sunday morning we went first to the All Age service at the nearby church we have visited before. It is a busy and lively church with not only a clear ethnic mix but also a good range of ages. this is no dying church made up of very elderly people as some commentators seem to think has become the norm.

They were also having a presentation update on their current building development project. Although it would have been interesting to listen and to compare with what is happening back home, we had to sneak out as we had a lunch date in Windsor at 1 o'clock.

Adrian had prepared a delicious roast meal - he had bought a large loin joint from their favourite butcher in town and there were plenty of accompanying vegetables and some melt-in-the-mouth crackling which disappeared all too quickly!

We discovered that Alice is becoming very interested - and skilled - at needlework. She has already completed a ladybird cross stitch.

In the afternoon we had a walk along part of the Long Walk through Windsor Great Park. However, it turned quite chilly with a strong breeze so we were very pleased that in our absence Ellie had cooked a large plate of fantastic cookies. they too lasted but a short time!

Three Generations of Ladies

Today we have been down to Ninfield in Sussex to visit Mike's Mum who is on a residential care home near where his sister lives. Mum is 95 and is gradually becoming more frail although still in remarkable health. She is obviously frustrated by her limitations and today was not at her best. However, we were able to show her some new photos, taken yesterday, of the great grandchildren.

One of the reasons for the visit was to see her new room - she has recently been moved into the high dependency room where the staff can keep a closer eye on her: she has a tendency to fall out of bed at night and her previous room was some distance from the office.

As lunch was being served we came away and met up with Mike's sister and brother-in-law for lunch at the Carvery in the village.

The run back up the A21 and M25 was rather easier than we had expected as traffic was much lighter than it had been this morning.

We have booked a taxi to take us to Heathrow just before lunchtime tomorrow so we are not sure when the next blog entry will be! In theory, the apartments have free wi-fi but we shall just have to wait and see how well it works out.