Flip Flop February!

This week has brought a noticeable change in the weather here in Cyprus. For those in the UK, it's pretty similar to what you'd expect weather-wise in April. There are plenty of short rain showers, but mixed in with them are days full of promise; with buzzing insects, warm sunshine and spring flowers. It's this time of year that Cyprus can so easily seduce you, but every time I feel a pang about leaving, I force myself to remember what it's like when the grass dies and the heat is unrelenting...

On the tipping point between the seasons we have been forced to sell our much-loved wood burning stove. We'd hang on to it till our final day on island if we could, but all too quickly the heat will return and cold winter nights will be far from people's minds!

Without a doubt our wood burner has been the best thing we bought in the last two years. It transformed our fireplace from a useless log-guzzling heat-sapping hole in the wall, into the centre of our home. The funny thing is we'd never have considered buying it were it not for my parents, who escorted me around a long stream of Cypriot DIY stores measuring every stove we could find until we finally struck gold. Once we had ours installed, several of our neighbours also tried to buy one, but only one other person succeeded before the stock ran out.

So this weekend we advertised it for sale, wondering if all the sunshine would mean a lack of interest, but how wrong we were! It found a purchaser within a couple of hours and then I had to fight off phone calls from other people. It will actually be going into the home of a good friend of mine, a former pro-photographer who has spent a great deal of time over the last few months patiently teaching me photographic skills, and although it's ridiculous to feel sentimental about a piece of cast iron, it is rather wonderful when something you love goes to a good home....