Zoe

Here she is; our new dog Zoe....a name which in Greek means "life". 

No doubt, if you saw this picture and thought of her becoming another nameless canine in the local Dog Shelter, you would have replied to the e-mail too.  But before you took her into your home and claimed her as your own, you surely would have had a good think about things.  Things like: 

• how having a young dog is like adopting a new child into the family;
• dog training - how much time have I got?
• dirt in the house, horrid smells, "little" accidents - can I handle this?
• walking the dog - every day?
• dogs barking at night - no, surely that's not my dog?

So really, what on earth was I thinking?  I've just sent my youngest child to school and was really enjoying a bit of time for myself. Clearly, about the dog...I wasn't thinking at all.  Faced with an impending house move, 4 pleading and excited children, an empty kennel in the backyard, and that idyllic family picture imprinted in my mind of 4 young kids and a dog; my brain went to jelly.

Now (4 days in) my brain is a little firmer and this is my reality:  New house, husband away, dog not trained, dog needs time and attention, dog pees on carpet, dog sits on me every time I try to play on the mat with my kids, dog carries food into house and spits it out, dog eats toys, dog is not yet de-sexed, currently 'on heat' and somewhat jumpy at the mere sight of anything on 4 legs.......Aaargghhhh!!!!! How can I become an animal lover - FAST?

All you pet people out there: please help!

But sometimes you've just got to laugh....

We all arrived home from school on Monday and Monica (our maid) was with us.  She looks at the tiled floor and the little drops of blood on it.  Having not been with us the past 2 days, Monica looked a little dismayed, perhaps even confused.  Jessie picks up on this straight away and says to her "oh, don't worry Monica, Zoe is just having her period, that blood should stop next week".

Now that's life giving.  

From an arms dealer to the KGB

Last week we had an arms dealer as one of our neighbours, now we are living beside the KGB. Yes we have moved house in the last few days.  We were happy in our original apartment, but increasingly found that the kids' need for space and an ability to make unrestrained noise necessitated consideration of a move.  We found a good house which met the brief in terms of space, and were even more delighted to find that it had a separate self-contained flat below for Monica to live. An added bonus is only having neighbours on one side.....well not actually the KGB, but the Ukrainian embassy.  The new house is only 5 mins from our old place, so not too much transition in terms of location.

So over the last few weeks we packed up the apartment and then moved on Friday, ably assisted by a somewhat colourful Dutch/Cypriot character named Gert and his team of Russian footsoldiers.  Sarah will write more shortly, including some pictures of the new abode.

Oh, and by the way, we have a new dog. Jessie will write more about this soon! 

Gert, complete with Michael Bolton style mullet

The move underway

The pool will be missed......

Two wet picnics

Note to self: if you are planning an autumn picnic in Cyprus, never assume the blue skies will last forever!  Last weekend we had two picnics planned, the first on Saturday with the school in the Troodos Mountains, and then a 'souvla picnic' with Ross' work colleagues on the Sunday in a forest near a monastery in the foothills above Nicosia.  Both events ended up being completely rained out, although each day started out with perfect blue skies and balmy temperature.  

Photographic evidence of Anna actually
wearing a jumper - it must have been cold!

It's a novelty to see clouds after the best part of 5 months of clear blue skies.  Even more so when those clouds actually produce some precipitation.  And what precipitation it was.  By the time arrived at the top of Troodos to the picnic ground on Saturday, the thermometer had dropped below 10 degrees, the clouds and fog descended and then the rain and hail came.  Hard to believe that less than 50 minutes earlier, we were leaving Nicosia in blue skies and 33 degrees.  So pronounced was the cool change that even Anna succumbed to wearing a jumper (no small feat given her stubbornness of late!).  And so the families at the picnic huddled together in a small hut wishing that someone had some dry firewood to burn.  A quick lunch was consumed, and then most families beat a hasty retreat back to their cars and down the mountain (or to a nearby village cafe to get warm).

Sunday started out with the same blue skies, and so with a measure of what in hindsight may have been misplaced optimism, we set off the second picnic in as many days.  This one was larger, approx 50 people coming from Ross' work, with some Cypriot colleagues transporting large charcoal bbq pits to the picnic site to cook 'souvla' for us all.  The forest site is a beautiful place in the mountains.  Lots of room for the kids to run around, and very popular with large extended families from Nicosia for a long Sunday picnic.  Alas last Sunday, the weather conspired against us again, and by the time we had arrived at the site (after leaving Nicosia in blue skies) it was already raining.  From then on, the rain just got harder and in the end became a deluge, the likes of which we have not seen before in Cyprus.  Small rivers flowing through the picnic site, 25kg of souvla cooking on a spit, drinks, kids, mud, small landslides.....I'm sure you get the picture.  After much animated discussion about the likelihood of the rain stopping (this is Cyprus afterall, the island of sunshine), we ended up abandoning the site when the real lightning started(!) and headed to a colleague's house who kindly agreed to host our drenched party.  

Kristos, our souvla 'masterchef'

It's not often that you would get rained out in Cyprus, much less likely that it would happen twice in as many days.  Since we've lived in Cyprus, you could count on one hand the times we have needed an umbrella.  In fact I don't think we even have one here. We certainly could have used one last weekend!


  

Time for a strong drink??

The blessing of the pets

Last Sunday we experienced a ritual in our church known as the 'Blessing of the Pets'.  The custom is conducted annually in remembrance of St Francis of Assisi's love for all creatures.  St Francis, whose feast day is October 4th, was known to preach to the birds and animals.  It is written that he and his early brothers, staying in a small hovel, once allowed themselves to be displaced by a donkey.

And so we arrived at church last Sunday with great anticipation of the animals that may be present.  People are encouraged to bring their pets to church (or a picture of their pet if the animal can't be present).  As part of the service the pets receive a special blessing and are sprinkled with holy water in a ceremony either inside or outside the church.  A somewhat strange custom to us, but one that is significant in some denominational traditions. 

On the same occasion last year, there was a decent representation of cats, dogs and birds in the church but alas this year the representation was somewhat thinner.  Our kids pondered on their various pet options beforehand, and there was some fairly robust discussion about the merits of taking a pet bug, worm or lizard to receive a special blessing.  Likewise whether they could take a photo of their now deceased mice or guinea pigs from a few years ago.  In the end a modicum of sanity prevailed and the kids agreed to just take a photo of their nanna's dog Toby.  

And so it was, that Toby received a long distance blessing and a drop of holy water from Cyprus.  Here's hoping he had a good day back in Australia! 

Greater love hath no parent

Picture the scene....... three days away with friends at a lovely house near Paphos on the western side of the island, long days in the sun, late nights playing cards, fresh fish by the beach and all 7 kids generally happy.  Anna and her best friend Katie were particularly content playing their never-ending game of 'mums and babies' interspersed with breaks of "I'm hungry" and teary complaints of not sharing.  We like to call them Thelma and Louise for their fierce independence however sometimes they are more deserving of titles like Ethel and Edna (no offence to late relatives intended!).  Anyway, my friend Ellie and I remarked today on how special it was for 3yr olds to have such a special friend in each other.

Anna and her best friend Katie sharing a drink

Now whilst the opening for this blog sounded quite idyllic, please don't be fooled.  In true early bird form, Anna came into our bed this morning at 5am, thereby waking Sam like she normally does.  The fairly complicated sleeping arrangements in our room (5 beds) meant that Sam woke up to the realization that he had been moved during the night and thus wanted to immediately move back to his original bed which was now being occupied by Jessie.  Oh dear; a house full of sleeping people and a very unhappy 5yr old who can't seem to cry quietly and refuses to be soothed by choices, bribes, hugs or threats of draconian punishment.  As we didn't want to wake the house, we felt the only solution was to put Sam & Anna in the car and take a drive.  A little early (!) and very dark at 5.15am but exciting nonetheless at the prospect of an early swim together down in the old harbour of Paphos.

No Sam, the waterpark doesn't open for
another four hours.........

Of course, whilst we were waiting for the dawn to actually arrive, Sam was somewhat unjustifiably rewarded by a stop-over at the town's 'Aphrodite' Waterslide Park.  The fact that it was pitch black didn't seem to dull his enthusiasm, as he talked us through every feature in the park (he'd already done some heavy research prior), including the 'graffiti slide', which he was confident Angus would be particularly interested in.

Our turn finally came with the dawning of a new day: the water still in it's post-summer warmth and blissfully clear.  We were joined by about 60 or 70 locals who were also swimming at the same spot for the sunrise.  Ross was particularly impressed by the fact that none of them seemed too interested in swimming for exercise, but rather just lolling about in the clear Mediterranean and generally chatting with friends.  They don't call Cyprus the island of 'siga siga' (slowly slowly) for nothing!

A dawn swim in the harbour

After a busy opening to the school year, the long weekend was delightfully restful for us all and a great chance to spend time with good friends and enjoy the milder tail end of summer.  Ross got a couple of extra naps in and Sarah managed a spectacular but hilly ride to Pissouri beach about 20km away.

Ross also enjoyed the fact that the house we stayed in was under the final approach flight path for Paphos airport, so plenty of good plane watching to be had.

A casual fish dinner at sunset in a spectacular location

Transaero 747 from Moscow on final
approach to Paphos