Red hot

Over the last few days temperatures in Cyprus have been 5c higher than average for this time of year. Good news if you are a sun-starved Brit on holiday, but less fun if you have to live and work without air-conditioning in temperatures of 38c.

We've seen some pretty interesting weather in our travels over the last few years, from the wet windy South Atlantic, to the endless snow in Alberta, but I think the Cypriot summer is the most challenging so far. 

But don't worry, I'll try my best not to moan about the heat for the next 3 months! By the way, the local watermelons are enormous and very cheap. I'll have to do a whole other post on our local roadside fruit stall... lots and lots of fabulous fruit and just metres from the beach.

Loukoumades

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you's be forgiven for thinking I'm a little food obsessed, and I confess I am! I love trying new dishes...

Today we had a special lunch at work, and George our Cypriot engineer cooked up some Loukoumades - sweet deep-fried balls of dough. I was tasked to be his helper, dipping the freshly cooked balls in a mixture of syrup and spices and testing them to make sure they were just right (this part was particularly difficult) I could only manage about five in a sitting, but they were pretty awesome.

We ate them in the shade at the back of the office as part of a traditional souvla lunch, then went to the beach for a photo shoot for work (results of which you may see in a few days) It is the kind of life everyone back in the UK believes we lead all the time, and it's nice when very occasionally we do!

Sunshine and food

Fresh octopus carpacio for lunch in Limassol. I think nothing beats fresh seafood, but the husband is not a fan, he preferred his burger. (You can take the man out of Alberta...)

An afternoon in our small patio pool escaping the heat and reading my new book, it's a good one too.

Bella cooling off. We put the dog's toys in their paddling pool to coax them into the water. Bella takes it on as her special mission to remove them all, a bit like apple bobbing.

Work in progress

Another of our friends is due to have a baby in a few weeks, so it's time to get cracking on another quilt.

Although I'm personally not much of a fan of this much pink together, the expectant mum cannot get enough of the colour, so I've been raiding my stash for all things pink.

I have to say I am loving making baby sized quilts at the moment, it provides an excellent excuse to try out new patterns on a small scale, and mini quilts require a few less evenings patiently hand-stitching the binding, which is definitely a winner.

This one should be completed by the end of the weekend and then I'll have to stop dragging my heels and finish my McCalls tunic top, which is currently lying in pieces on the dining room table (that of course being the dining room table that never gets used for dining!)

Me Made May Monday - Barcelona Skirt

I think its a bit spooky that I own a skirt that's almost exactly the same colour as my kitchen cabinets, but I take some comfort from knowing the skirt came first.

This is not the garment I should be showing off for my fourth Me-Made-May-Monday, it SHOULD have been a McCalls tunic top, but I've reached a small bump in the road of its production, so it's going to be a little while before it's finished... Alarmingly the fabric of the tunic also matches the kitchen cabinets. What does this mean?

So, today's MMMM item of clothing is an old make - in fact the first ever skirt I made back in Canada, with help from my lovely friend Fiona.... She and this skirt have a lot to answer for, they started me on a bit of a journey, a journey that lead to a wardrobe that matches my kitchen....

Wow!

Last month I blogged about the Red Arrows being on exercise in Cyprus. It was the start of their visit to the island, and they were spending a lot of time buzzing around the skies above my office at RAF Akrotiri. It was initially quite exciting, but after six weeks of displays three times a day, I became a little blasé to it.

What I hadn't realised, was that I was almost always seeing the tail end of an aerobatic manoeuvre as the aircraft repositioned themselves over our building, and then flew off to do the impressive stuff elsewhere, so I'm a little embarrassed to admit I hadn't realised the half of what they do.... until today.

I was contacted by fellow blogger Blueberry Heart earlier in the week, she was visiting the island and wanted to see the Reds practicing, which got me thinking... I really should take the camera out and capture some pictures before they leave.

So at 8am this morning, having phoned the Reds PR to find out where the display was "centered",  I found a spot on a virtually empty beach and watched the display.

What I didn't realise was this was actually their very last day flying here, and the only other people watching were their assessors a little further along the beach from me.

What can I say? An (almost) private display of mind-blowing aerobatics over the beautiful blue Mediterranean sea... Not something you see every day.

More photos on Flickr

Growing...

 Small parts of our garden are looking very lush at the moment - most unlike Cyprus in May.

We are battling the heat and the lack of rain to cultivate a few things. A herb garden rampantly growing next to our new patio fence, some chilis in pots for Jim's spicy curries, flowers just because, and lettuces. The latter seem particularly hard to come by in the shops here, and to date the best salad leaves we've had have been from a friend's garden.

So despite the fact we have a long barren summer ahead of us and that logic dictates nothing can survive the heat of August here, we are having a go anyway.

Going through this process here I have learned a lesson. Wherever in the world the army post us, whatever logic (and the neighbours) may tell you, it's important to create a small part of the garden that is beautiful... just to keep on the right side of sanity.