Tuesday, February 3/2026

Alexander Skeaping 1/5/1944-5/9/2025

Alexander Skeaping was probably the most alive person I’ve ever known, so when a message arrived this morning telling us there was going to be a super gathering in his honour it took a minute or two to register. A retirement maybe - but Alexander would never truly retire. Then it hit. There were happy emojis - but Celebration of Life.

Alexander listed himself on X (Twitter) - where I didn’t follow him - as “freelance piano-tuner, harpsichordist, pianist, helicopter-pilot, glider-pilot, who loves travel, good food, intelligent people (esp. women!) & LIFE in general!). Could say that summed him up, but it falls far short. 

We used to meet, spring and autumn, until COVID interrupted the pattern, for lunch in or near London.

Two occasions come to mind. One fourteen years ago when Flora was still alive and we met at the Bel Canto at Lancaster Gate. Alexander tuned the piano at the restaurant and the pianist was a pleasure to listen to but the real drawing card was the wait staff, all of whom were opera students. Between serving tables they acted and sang arias from popular operas like Carmen. Did feel when the bill came that we’d underwritten their careers, but definitely a meal to remember.

Then there was a meal at Roses in Kilburn. Our pick that time. Told A that it was a working man’s café (pronounced caff) but had on a Thursday the best lamb kleftiko we’d had anywhere, including the Mediterranean. In those days they only made it on a Thursday - fifteen portions so nothing frozen and no leftovers. I phoned at nine to ask them to save us three for 1:15 and they did us proud. 

Got into a political discussion with a man from the next table who introduced himself as a Marxist and wanted to say that none of the UK parties had managed to prevent homelessness. We assured him that we all agreed that the new minimum wage was inadequate to survive on and then followed an exchange which could only have taken place in Britain. The man told A, probably accurately, that if he had A’s posh accent people would take his views more seriously. Then asked A what his occupation was. A answered, not untruthfully, that he was a piano tuner, though that was modestly short of the whole truth, as he tuned and supplied instruments for concerts and symphonies. And the man responded as only an Englishman could - “You don’t sound like it”. They did part as friends though, with good wishes and Facebook information.

And the helicopter pilot? Never quite got together on that one but he did suggest quite seriously that we could fly to France for coffee.

Alexander Skeaping, RIP.

Monday, February 2/2026

Courtesy Cyprus Mail

Happier photo of the Cyprus mouflon than the one on Saturday. The Cyprus Mail reports that the mouflon is on the increase in Cyprus but are in some areas being pushed out of their habitat and too close to agricultural land where they sometimes pick up diseases and can a,so be at risk from stray dogs. Their preferred habitat is forest but not too dense woods, but it’s in increasingly short supply.

February 1/2026

 

Charles Schulz, November 4, 1964

Nearing the end of William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns, one of our read aloud books. It was far too good not to share but not the easiest book to read out loud because of the preponderance of double, triple, and quadruple Muslim and Indian names - like Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluk. A silent reader would be more than tempted to do as Linus, of Peanuts fame, claimed to do while reading The Brothers Karamazov - bleep over them. 

But there’s some fascinating reading. The son of Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluk, facing rebellions in 1335, pursued the rebel governors “beheading one, flaying another alive, ordering a third to be cut to pieces by his war elephants”. Yes, times have changed, but hard not to imagine how excited the execrable Trump would be to be able to cry havoc and let loose the war elephants on his enemies.

Do have a washing machine although usually wash small things in a basin and, like most people here, hang them outside to dry, which they do pretty quickly. Pair of sweat pants are on the dividing line. They do fit in the larger plastic basin but it’s hard to wring them well enough by hand to guarantee that they will dry outside before one of the recent sporadic showers interferes. Hence the spin cycle on the washer called into play. Have never used it on its own, but have been wanting to because of its name. Like all the cycles on the washer it is labelled in Turkish. Sıkma - translates as squeeze. Which is much more to the point than spin would have been. And, admirably, does as advertised.

Saturday, January 31/2026

Courtesy Kemal Basat

The mouflon is the national animal of Cyprus. It’s a small mountain sheep that has been on the island since Neolithic times. Protected in this country now, though undoubtedly not historically, it is said to have meat more like wild deer than domestic lamb.

Have never actually seen one but an elderly ram was discovered in extremely poor condition a few days ago in a national forest area about sixty-five kilometres west of us.

It was unable to stand but was taken into care in the hope that it could be treated. Sadly, today the rescuers in the Cyprus Wildlife Research Institute admitted defeat. Kemal Basat said:

You work tirelessly day and night for him, but it’s never enough. You fix one problem, and another arises…Kidney failure, infection, old age, low blood counts, diarrhea, loss of appetite, liver failure, hypothermia…

There comes a point in the whole process where you realize you must proceed with science, not your emotions, and that the only thing you can do for him is to prevent him from suffering any more.

Friday, January 30/2026

 

Saharan dust at its finest in the late morning. (See earlier photo from same corner of the terrace for comparison). Bit reminiscent of Canadian forest fire smoke making its way across several provinces. Does have fine particulate matter but fortunately not the acrid smoky smell. Can no longer see the sea in the morning from our flat. Not cold, but windy.

Happily, the dust clears. Warm enough - about 17 - as we walk down to the Blue Song but we wear our windbreakers because it’s still crazy windy.

Power goes off shortly after we get home. Seems unkind to be pleased to note that the other flats in the building are in darkness as well and the streetlight outside has gone out, but it means that we have no electrical problem to deal with. It’s weather related and the municipality will see to it. As it does in an hour or so. All well.

Thursday, January 29/2026

Bougainvillea virtually without blossoms and honeysuckle not naked, but blooms are sparse. However this morning we are greeted by a single flower on the hibiscus hedge.  Sign of spring approaching?

Larnaca municipality in the Republic of Cyprus (South) is currently taking emergency measures to avert water cuts, though they have had as much rain recently as other parts of the island. Admittedly a few rainy days don’t add up to significant water reserves but there seems always to have been some inconsistencies with regard to water use. Consumers are now going to be offered water efficient nozzles for installation on taps. Unclear whether “offered” implies that these will be provided gratis, but they will certainly be impressive if they live up to the claim - that they can reduce household consumption by up to forty percent. But it’s not simply the weasel words “ up to” that prompts my cynicism. Every hotel loo in the south has a sign on the wall asking guests to conserve water, telling them that every drop counts, but when I (more than once) conscientiously reported a dripping tap, this seemed to be of no interest at all to management. Still, maybe times are changing.

Wednesday, January 28/2026

Courtesy Mairead Sweeney Malone

Mairead says it looks like rain but is actually dust from the Sahara. Her photograph shows the difficulty. We’ve wondered ourselves, a bit more obvious for Mairead who lives at the bottom (southwest end) of the Karpaz peninsula and gets somewhat different weather from ours. Actually, often a little cooler, windier and wetter. She has also been receiving an unwelcome covering of dust, which we haven’t noticed here although others a little to the east of us claim to have. And there are certainly dust warnings across the island, suggesting that one refrain from the kind of exercise I’m disinclined to indulge in anyway and warning those with breathing difficulties to take precautions.

Tuesday, January 27/2026

Courtesy Cyprus Mail (file)

 The Cyprus Mail reports on the discovery of Bronze Age tombs and associated artefacts at the Hala Sultan Tekke site on the outskirts of Larnaca.

It’s an Islamic holy place, sometimes referred to as the third or fourth holiest site in the Muslim tradition. Accounts of the origin of the name a bit vague. Hala Sultan appears to have been the foster sister of Mohammed’s mother. Stories vary, but agree that she was buried there.

It’s a lovely spot on the salt lake, sometime home to migrating flamingos, and we have walked out there when staying in Larnaca. There’s a mosque, mausoleum, and cemetery. 

The Muslim connection would be about fourteen hundred years ago, though the mosque is much more recent, as in early nineteenth century.

However, as a settlement, Hala Sultan Tekke is much older. It was an urban community in the late Bronze Age, approximately 16th to 11th century BCE.

Courtesy Cyprus Mail

At that time it was connected to the Mediterranean and was one of the best protected harbours on the island. The city appears to have traded with all parts of the eastern Mediterranean and had an economy that included textiles, purple dyeing, agricultural, and metallurgy. Copper slag and furnaces have been uncovered.

Excavation has been ongoing for several years, though not so obtrusively that we were aware of it - or maybe we were just oblivious. A nice walk and we’ll see the flamingos if we’re lucky.

Monday, January 26/2026

Courtesy Tala Community News

Time of plagues? Someone local has just posted a first sighting of the season of processionary pine caterpillars. They normally appear in spring - as in February or March - but seem to be in evidence earlier each year. Do proceed in long trains which are intriguing but their hairs are toxic. They produce severe allergic reactions in humans and animals who touch them. Humans unlikely to try to eat them but dogs have had their tongues totally destroyed by contact. Anaphylactic shock also possible.

And at the same time the met office is pleased to report that increased rainfall is expected to continue until the end of February - without, it seems, significantly easing the chronic water shortage on the island.

But happily tonight is dry and fairly warm, if very windy.

Sunday, January 25/2026

 Robbie Burns Day. No haggis to be had, but did make lemon curd. Irrelevant but delicious. And plenty of lemons on the trees.

Not unhappy re the haggis. Lamb available here - though even in the South the price has risen substantially. Can’t imagine trying to request sheep’s lung from a Turkish butcher. And not that keen anyway. Quite happy to settle for a wee dram at bedtime.

Saturday, January 24/2026

Can’t remember a January this rainy. Apparently a number of roads flooded. Though the benefits of living on a mountainside are clear. The places we stayed in the South were never more than three blocks from the sea and did frequently flood when there was heavy rain. Abetted in that case by poor drains. 

Meanwhile there is surprise bordering on indignation in the South at the new monthly minimum wage in the North, which has been set at 52,738 Turkish lira net ($1671 CAD, £894). They point out that this amounts to €1036. Not only higher than the minimum wage in the Republic of Cyprus, it is higher than that in all but five EU countries - Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and France. 

Similarly ill concealed exasperation on the part of some expats in the North, who see this as another rung in the escalating inflation of prices and wages. And indeed prices are rising, particularly in restaurants - which have to pay staff wages. A rise not matched by the value of the lira which is, as usual, falling. Also, many expats are living on fixed incomes, though usually incomes from countries blessed with more stable currency. 

What may not be taken into account in comparisons is that not all countries seem to think of minimum wage in quite the same way. For example the hourly minimum wage in the US is $7.25, translating to approximately $1250 US a month. But nobody supposes it is possible to live on that amount. Many countries do subsidise low income earners one way or another and comparisons are difficult to make.

Friday, January 23/2026

 

Walking home from gathering at Blue Song and spot this plant beside a stone fence. Hard to believe we haven’t noticed it before as it’s on a route we take frequently and can scarcely have sprung up yesterday. Not exactly tiny or unobtrusive and really rather odd looking.

My iPad identifier says foxtail agave, formally agave attenuata. Family asparagaceae. Not one of the more attractive family members - and there are plenty of lovely delicate flowers in the family - and not a food source either. Don’t wish to call it spineless within its hearing - though it is - and not very pretty either. Sometimes known as the swan’s neck agave, but a bit of an ugly duckling. 

Drought resistant though, which would be useful here most of the year, though not particularly over the last week. Guess we all have our virtues.

Thursday, January 22/2026

True enough. The days are visibly getting longer.

Making cheese biscuits when there’s a light tap on the door. Delighted to see it’s Alexander. Our sometimes next door neighbour. He lives primarily in Kaliningrad, the little Russian exclave on the Baltic squeezed in between Poland and Lithuania, but has been staying recently in Sochi on the Black Sea, home of the 2014 winter Olympics.

He comes bearing a half bottle of Talisker along with catch up news and philosophical reflection. Unexpected pleasure on a rainy night.

Wednesday, January 21/2026

Sometimes refer to our little purveyor of groceries as a supermarket. Probably refers to itself that way as, like the bigger players in North Cyprus, its name ends with ‘mart’. Though if memory serves, as it often refuses to, one of the countries we stayed in - we both think Spain - referred to anything larger than a corner shop as a supermarket. For genuine supermarket size had to look for hypermarts. 

 

The term grocery store is almost obsolete. But what our local reminds me of really is the old general stores of my childhood. No fly paper hanging from the ceiling and beer and soft drinks are refrigerated. No reaching into the dark waters of the big metal cooler to find a favourite. But a bit of everything. Fruit and veg. Yoghurt and cheese. Lentils. Coffee. Chicken. Sausage. Sourdough bread baked in their oven. But also buckets and mops. Light bulbs and batteries. Wine, whiskey and gin. Cigars - though apparently not especially impressive ones. 

And, like the general stores of time past, the people who work there recognise us. Not by name, but they know we’re regulars. It’s a neighbourhood store.

Second two photos are of one of the general stores of my childhood. It was built in the 1840’s in the Eastern Townships of Québec and has remained a general store cum living quarters ever since. The Jewett family has owned and operated it since 1944, and I believe credit is due to them for the photographs.

Tuesday, January 20/2026

Cyprus does have winters but happily they are short. There are a few lovely honeysuckle blossoms left but the bougainvillea are looking distinctly bed-raggled —a pronunciation which stuck in our family after my brother misread it as a young child. 

The neighbour’s grapevine, though, J points out, is sporting a few new bright green leaves, discernible at the very top.

And the orange tree has begun a first attempt at blossoms, so maybe the rain has done some good. Days getting slightly longer, though the theoretical sunset time for Lapta - 17:02 - definitely doesn’t apply in the shadow of a mountain peak. More like 15:20.

Nothing like reading to put present day empires and despots in historical perspective, however horrifically. J, better educated than I, no doubt surprised at my dismay at accounts of Roman Emperor Augustus, known for initiating a period of imperial peace,  reached his royal height by having put to death two thousand knights and three hundred senators from opposing factions. By no means an enormous death toll by ancient standards. Pax Romana indeed. 

And William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns has more horrific (true) narratives than that. Apart from the thousands killed in conquests, there are some truly appalling stories of revenge. Such as the fourteenth century sultan who had a captured rebel general flayed alive and then ordered his flesh to be cooked with rice and sent to his sons and family.

Makes a change from daily news analysis. 

Notice that it’s sixteen years ago today that I first bought a book online and downloaded it to Kobo - though I did practise first with freebies from Project Gutenberg. What a life changer.

Monday, January 19/2026

 

OK. Doesn’t have to be over my age, even in Fahrenheit. But this is the longest chilly spell we can remember in Cyprus. Though nothing like Canadian cold. Or even most of Europe or Türkiye for that matter. So no genuine complaints. 

See that the mayor of Larnaca is leading a clamour for action against organised crime. Obviously no one other than the Mafia would object. 

However it seems that the real problem in the South has usually been disorganised crime. As in many other countries - although to a greater extent than some - murder and other violent crime seem to take place primarily within family groups or among close acquaintances. Hard to assess from the stats, even assuming they are accurate. (And why do some refer to ‘intentional homicide’? Surely if it’s not intentional it isn’t homicide). Cyprus pretty far down the list of European countries in murders per hundred thousand - a list surprisingly led by Latvia (followed pretty closely by Türkiye). Maybe the stats in Cyprus include the more peaceful North. 

Sunday, January 17/2025

Courtesy larnacaregion.com

Had assumed there would be more info today re the gunfight in central Larnaca. And there is, though not necessarily more clarity. The location has been disclosed though - outside the police station. Not that any of the gunshots were down to police fire. 

It’s a spot we know well, having spent more than one winter at an apartment hotel, since demolished, kitty corner to the police station. Did at the time accuse the police of cowardice (well no, not to their faces) as they chose to ignore illegal Hollywood style mufflers as the drivers roared past the station, regularly overwhelming the sound track on films we were watching on the top floor of our building with the windows closed. Or maybe the cops were not cowardly, only deaf.

In any case it’s not clear they intervened in the “gun fight”. Nor is it crystal clear that the “violent brawl” featured more than one gun, though there was at least one knife involved. And it seems blood. Four arrest warrants were apparently issued, one for a Cypriot, referred to as the 48 year old. And not difficult to find as he was taken to the hospital (by police?) with injuries. The other three were for foreign nationals who presumably are of unknown ages and therefore can’t be thus identified in the story. They also would seem not to have been found.

But there is a backstory, involving a rather nasty if amateur sounding protection racket, phone calls in broken Greek (hence the assumption of foreign nationals?) and a mysterious car rental operation owner referred to only - though repeatedly - as “the complainant”. Unclear at what point he began his complaining but demands for six or seven thousand euros date back a couple of weeks.

Rather miss the North Cypriot habit of providing the initials of the dramatis personae in crime stories - along with the inevitable ages - as in “23 year old M.K.” Easier to keep track of the narrative. 

But then the North is pretty tame crime wise compared to the Republic. Today’s Cyprus Mail also has a story about a man arrested for attempted murder after breaking into an apartment and attacking one of the occupants with a cleaver he picked up in the kitchen. And also in today’s news from the Republic there is the account of a man facing a charge of premeditated murder in the death of his uncle who was “taken to Paphos general hospital with a knife embedded in his abdomen”. The nephew admits the stabbing but denies the premeditated part. 

Don’t really regret our quiet backwater, although did always say in the South that while there were plenty of violent crimes the only tourists at risk were those making drunken passes at the girlfriends of local men.

Saturday, January 17/2026

Courtesy Wikipedia 

 Reports today of a waterspout off the coast near Esentepe. That’s about forty-five kilometres east of us on the other side of Girne. Hadn’t been familiar with waterspouts, but essentially they’re a rotating column of water and spray formed by a whirlwind over the sea. Can move inland as tornadoes.

Meanwhile in the not so peaceful South there are news of a gunfight in the centre of Larnaca, a city in which we spent many winters. Reports of a lockdown in the city centre (a bit vague as a location description from the point of view of someone who has lived in various Larnaca “city centre” spots). Apparently people treated for injuries and blood observed but no one as yet apprehended. Undoubtedly more info yet to come.

Gunfights unusual in the Republic of Cyprus. Murder not so much. Just remembering a contract killing in 2010. A woman was charged with hiring hitmen to kill her former boss, who had sacked her from her job as a television presenter at Sigma TV. As we thought at the time, hard to know which was more astonishing - that she should have wished to hire contract killers over being fired or that she had the money and contacts to do so.

Occurs to me that we were not in Cyprus at the time of the trial so check the records. And yes, justice appears to have taken its time but in June of 2023 Eleni Skordelli as well as her brother and two others (presumably the hitmen) were sentenced to life imprisonment for the conspiracy to kill and the murder of Andis Hadjicostis, creator and CEO of Sigma Television. 

Friday, January 16/2026

Happy to see it sunny again. Very small cat - one of several who trek across our terrace - finds a little pool of sunlight to curl up in next to the door. The floor to ceiling doors bring the sun in to us as well and warm the room in chilly weather. Probably less an asset in summer, but we’re in Canada then.

Small gathering at the Blue Song in the afternoon. Pleased to see Criegan there. Vivienne was looking for blood donors earlier in the week as C required transfusions. He’s looking quite good today but has an appointment with a surgeon on Monday, when he hopes to know more. Hopes, because he says the medical people here aren’t very forthcoming. Hard to know whether this is policy, a matter of his not knowing the specific questions to ask, or translation difficulties. Fingers crossed for him.

Thursday, January 15/2026

Courtesy Working Class History, Facebook

Had always thought that Cyprus got its name from copper, as it was a primary source of the metal from ancient times. Turns out it’s the other way round. Copper was named for the island (Greek kupros) which supplied so much of the metal - and a precious metal it was. Just think of the Bronze Age and remember that bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.  

Not entirely ancient history either. This week marks the seventy-eighth anniversary of the miners strike when 4300 workers walked out in protest against dangerous and inhuman conditions at the American owned Cyprus Mining Company. The British colonial government and the Greek Orthodox Church both opposed the strike and the union federation attempted to recruit scabs. On March 3 police opened fire on the striking miners. The Democrat newspaper reported:

“Here in this place which our underground wealth comes from and flows into foreign and ungrateful pockets, the blood of hungry striking miners has been shed here…by the hands of the police. This blood will be an indelible stain on the history of the foreign company and colonial government.”

Eventually the workers were successful and ended up with collective agreements providing better pay, overtime, safer conditions and health benefits.

The mine, no longer active, is about fifty kilometres southwest of Lapta. 

Information from Working Class History, Facebook.

Wednesday, January 14/2026

 

Finally storm forecasts over. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc. Lovely day today. Like all the friends on the North Cyprus weather site, pleased to be hanging washing out to dry.

Not only reading during the rainy days but also podcasts. Actually, regardless of weather I listen to podcasts while falling asleep. So would J, except for him falling asleep is almost instant. One of my favourites is The Ancients. Partly as a counterbalance to the daily news, which we do follow. As I see it, the Athenians and Spartans did very bad things to each other, but it was a long time ago and nothing can be done about it now, so no point in worrying. 

Also, living half our life in the Middle East cum Western Asia - well, Eurasia is one continent so draw the lines where you will - has led to a fascination with the history of the region. A history which is continuously being rewritten by archaeology as events which we thought we knew for certain are disproved and knowledge is expanded exponentially. It would be possible for an elderly professor to teach a course in Victorian poetry using lectures notes from fifty years earlier. The same is definitely not true of ancient history.

Following The Ancients, I’ve acquired some favouriteq periods and historians. Which leads to possible book purchases. Hence have just bought Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, whose book, Persians, surveys the Persian Empire, roughly 550 to 330 BCE and from this distance considerably less distressing than its successor state, modern Iran.

And I’d happily read anything written by Llewellyn-Jones. Which leads me to his forthcoming book, Babylon. It’s not out yet. Publication date in UK May of this year. (Canada apparently July). No problem, until we come to the availability date. 

Normally use the Kobo site based in the Republic of Cyprus. First ordered from Cyprus in pre VPN days and it proved very easy to have them change any deposits to euros and virtually impossible to change my home address to Canada, so….

Kobo is quoting me €13.99. Order now and keep the quoted price. BUT, they give the ebook available date as December 30, *2045*. OK, will not yet have hit my hundredth birthday, but perilously close. Must be a mistake. Check Chapters - but then they’re linked to Kobo. Kobo Canada shows ebook availability as July of this year. Price $31.99 CAD (€19.78).* Same date and price for Amazon in Canada. Probably worth an extra five euros and change not to have to wait twenty years, but am assuming glitch that will be corrected long before I’ve finished reading those currently in the digital pile.  In the meantime does keep basic math skills sharpened.

*Actually, converting the currency isn’t quite the whole story as euro and sterling prices include tax while tax will be added to quoted Canadian prices. On expensive items the difference can be noticeable.

Tuesday, January 13/2026

Think this month wins the prize for the rainiest and windiest month we’ve experienced in Cyprus, though happily not always both at the same time. Having said which, not really unpleasant and presume mother earth is soaking in the moisture, though one would think that days of rain would be more useful in the summer months (which average 0 days) than in December and January (averaging 7 days each). Haven’t kept records but suspect we’ve already had January’s quota.

Very long siren sounds this morning about quarter past ten. Not accompanied by words, though if it were they’d be Turkish so we’d probably be none the wiser. A couple of local dogs happy to join in, as they sometimes do with the muezzin’s call to prayer. Never quite sure what we’re being alerted to, while presuming that World War III would be accompanied by signs of panic, though maybe not in our backwater. Would at least trigger pop up notices on the internet. Which is where we note that today is the fourteenth anniversary of the death of Rauf Denktaș, founding president of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. So that explains the siren - probably about two minutes long.

Monday, January 2/2025

Photo came up from January 12/2014, twelve years ago today. Stayed in a place where there was no shelf in the loo, so….

Have to say that there has been a certain amount of satisfaction in the minimalism inherent in a life travelling. Yes, wouldn’t want to trade in house WiFi for the little Grundig short wave radio of twenty-five years ago where we seldom listened to much other than static. And we’re never without books now.

But there’s something to be said for simplifying. We honeymooned in Vietnam. It will have changed, but in those days there was no waste. If you stood on a street corner thinking to dispose of anything other than a used tissue, a child would come and take it from you, knowing it had a use. By the side of the road people were stripping the metal from old tyres.

Sunday, January 11/2025

Courtesy Sina Zahourkari

Lapta is a village that grew. Origins shrouded in myth and ancient history. Legend—or wishful thinking—says it was founded by Spartans 3000 BCE. However, that is long before there was a written Greek language and there is archaeological evidence of settlement in Lapta in Neolithic times.

We’d been thinking about this church because you can see the tower from our flat. J points out that my renewed awareness of the tower is down to the fact that someone has cut down the palm tree that was beginning to obscure our view of the church. So we took a walk the other day to get a closer look. It would only be about a hundred metres south of us but that through an impossible tangle of shrubbery, walls and private property. About three hundred metres by road. 

Church on a bit of a plateau. Well kept exterior. Freshly painted doors. But no plaques or signs in any language. There’s a bit of a parking area and a home backs onto the lot with a fair amount of household detritus including an elderly shopping cart spilling out into the precincts. Take a couple of photos but are none the wiser.

Then today come across a list of the churches and mosques in the Lapta area. Fourteen churches listed. Well, it’s a sprawling area and none of the churches will be functioning as churches now. Some may be ruins. But first in the list is Agios [Saint] Theodoros.  Accompanied by the photo at top, so clearly our church. Apparently built in 1834, although none of the scanty information looks particularly authoritative. 

It was the late Bruce Hutchison who said that Canada was a land with too little history and too much geography. Well, Cyprus is the opposite. And we have much more discovering to do.

Saturday, January 10/2025

 So this is winter. Well, definitely not cold. Which makes us much luckier than much of Europe, with parts of Scotland experiencing thirty centimetre snowfalls while the Isles of Scilly recorded ninety-nine mph wind gusts and many places have no electricity or water. 

So temperature here this afternoon 18 degrees and our sunset features a golden glow that should bode well for tomorrow but the forecasters suggest that alternate sun and rain is likely to continue to mid-week. Could be worse. And the sun bits are lovely.

Friday, January 9/2026

Courtesy Paphos Life

 Rains heavily during the night and not quite finished in the daytime, although the real weather violence is down to wind and not rain, with gale force winds intermittent throughout the day. Happily for us, though, what we get in the way of precipitation disappears pretty rapidly, while Storm Goretti has been battering Europe with wind and snow as homes lose power, schools are closed and rail and air travel are disrupted in Britain, Germany and France.

So presumably it is not the possibility of deadly storms that leads the Cyprus Mail to feature the slow but apparently sure progress of the development of crematoriums in the South. Both the Orthodox South and the Muslim North have majority religions with objections to cremation,  leaving those who would prefer to opt for it with unhappy alternatives like sending the relevant corpse to Bulgaria - a procedure not only expensive but apparently fraught with major red tape. Actually suspect that attempts to ship dead bodies, accompanied or otherwise, across the line from North to South will prove even more frustrating than moving live people across. 

Have heard rumours that there are facilities for cremating pets but this seems like material for black comedy at best.

Simplest and happiest solution would seem to be not to die.

Thursday, January 8/2025

Reading season. Not that we don’t read the rest of the year but more time in the winter. So “real books” in the daylight hours (of which there aren’t very many this time of year) and ebooks the rest of the time. Or whenever - they work well anywhere but bright sun and, happily, you can adjust the font. 

There are, in both categories, books we read separately and ones we read aloud because they’re too good not to share. So currently in the aloud pile is William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns. Began in my silent reading pile, though really everything of Dalrymple’s is worth sharing. So this book, his second, written in the nineties, describes the year he moved to India and alternates between his daily life and historical information. Hence the description of the Emperor Shah Alam:

 ‘He was a brave, cultured and intelligent old man, still tall and commanding, his dark complexion offset by a short white beard. He spoke four languages and maintained a harem of five hundred women; but for all this, he was sightless—years before, his eyes had been gouged out by Ghulam Qadir, an Afghan marauder whom he had once kept as his catamite.’

Impossible not to share, and reminiscent of the opening line of a novel we read twenty-five years ago, also it happens in North Cyprus:

‘It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.’

But that was fiction (Anthony Burgess). And in those days we thought that eighty-one was old.

Wednesday, January 7/2026

 New apartments going up across from our little supermarket. Last winter this was a field where young girls used to bring their donkey to graze and their father picked herbs. So some loss with the progress. But it seems that wherever you look there is new construction, mostly multiple dwellings. Locals all say it’s too much but a lot of people seem willing to invest. Time will tell with rising inflation whether they’ll get their money back. Meanwhile we’re grateful to be overlooking an orchard and not looking into buildings. Though if the old man who owns the orchard and the goat were to die would his children value picking olives and lemons and figs over selling to a real estate developer?

Tuesday, January 6/2025

 Epiphany. Christmas decorations should come down but we’ll give the little wooden people one more day of freedom.

Take the dolmuș down to China Bazaar - a store I’ve previously described as like a downscale Walmart. Actually seems this time to be rather tackier than I remember it, unless my standards are rising. Don’t remember previously being struck by the overwhelming garishness of so many of the goods. Still the most obvious place to go for things like plastic basins or dish towels. Seems like it’s getting more expensive as well but that could be just the general world wide supply chain lament. Or worse - having lived long enough to remember practically everything selling for less.

Stop on the way back at Lapta post office. Lady previously said our tracked letter might be here in a week, but didn’t sound particularly optimistic. So, given New Year’s have allowed two weeks. This time (different?) lady looks at the tracking number and says “NO CHECK INTERNET”. Says it fairly loudly the first time and then repeats it, sounding more adamant each time. Well, suppose it is the worldwide method for dealing with foreigners who don’t speak the language - talk louder. Our difficulty, of course, is that we don’t have a clue what she means. At best it sounds like instructions on what not to do. Eventually she gives up on this and points to a notice giving internet sites for Turkish and Turkish Cypriot tracking. I’m dutifully copying the info when a slim young woman comes in and steps behind the counter. Show her the tracking number, she asks our name and promptly retrieves the letter from a pigeonhole on the wall. I provide ID and sign for it. Done. But had we left three minutes earlier….

Dolmuș home - and to our surprise Criegan is on it, having just come from a charity shop where he volunteers.

Monday, January 5/2026

 Some products more expensive here, especially imports or highly processed foods. Others, happily, less expensive - like wine and olives.

Olive trees are valued and protected. You need permission to cut one down or even to uproot and move it. And there is an ancient tradition still practised here of smudging - burning leaves to ward off the evil eye or negative energy and encircling people three times with the smoke. Reminiscent of Native North American smudging ceremonies and probably as old.

Had never considered olive trees from the point of view of their creation of waste products. Not quite in the same league as plastic packaging but a nuisance all the same. Pomace, leftover skins, stems and - especially - seeds must be disposed of. Seeds in parts aren’t useful as fertiliser, or anything much else.

Courtesy pit-to-table.com

However a bicommunal program has begun in the buffer zone between North and South Cyprus using crushed olive pits combined with bio-resin derived from cashew shells to make Pit-board, a bio-composite formed into solid panels suitable for construction and furniture making.

Sunday, January 4/2026

 Once upon a time long ago and far away. Well actually seventeen years ago and in Egypt, which is not all that far away (Larnaca to Cairo about 350 miles by air). Anyway, we had foules mesdames (spellings vary throughout the Middle East) for breakfast. Recipes vary as well but basically fava beans are stewed until soft and then mixed with garlic, lemon juice, cumin, maybe tahini, various seasonings. Served with olive oil. Delicious. Much better than Middle East attempts to serve Western breakfasts. Have made it in Canada but not recently and suspect I cheated and used tinned beans.

Suspect this because the dried fava beans sitting on our cupboard shelf looked like they could be used for shingling. But three days ago their time had come. Foules mesdames or the garbage can. Soaked them for two days. Knew that in the absence of my friendly Instant Pot they would cook for a looong time. Have cooked beans pre Instant Pot, though not Fava beans. These simmered for seven hours and were not really soft. Left them to stew in their own juice over night. 

So today we contemplate the pot of beans. Some disintegrated but others definitely hard. And a lot whole but soft. Remove the shingle types and J attacks the rest with a masher. Add tahini, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, a little hot pepper. Pretty good dip. But would never consider repeat performance without a pressure cooker.

Saturday, January 3/2025

 First market of the year. Didn’t go last week and it looks like some of the vendors gave it a miss today and possibly last Saturday as well. Family and holiday activities and maybe customers all spent out.

Notice as we walk in that Tina, from whom we buy our free range eggs isn’t there. Beverley and Karen are there at the animal rescue book stall, though. Nice that book buying supports a worthy cause so no need to hesitate over buying books despite having unread ones at home. And I had actually been looking for an ebook edition of Robert Graves’ I Claudius - and here it is.

Knew this was the night of the first full moon of the year. Known in some indigenous traditions as the wolf moon - though doubt the name is widespread in Cyprus. Happily fhe clouds part long enough for us to get a glimpse.

Friday, January 2/2026

Chilly day but sunny and the crazy winds have finally stopped. Meet with friends at Blue Song. We arrive first and take our draft outside into the sun. The next people to order find that the power is off. A few minutes later John goes to check and returns with coke - and information. The stormy weather is still exacting a toll. Apparently water had got inside the box where the generator was kept and, more or less immediately after our draft was pumped there was an explosion. Fortunately Blue Song, like most of the rest of us, cooks with gas, so Pat and Diana persuade the kitchen staff to boil a pot of water for instant coffee.

Walk home is, as always, uphill. But for that cool weather is an asset. And J’s soup is waiting for us.

Thursday, January 1/2026

Rain has stopped by morning but the wild winds haven’t. Listed as near gale force. Translates as Beaufort 7, 50 to 61 km/h. Or 28 to 33 knots for the nautically inclined. A chart puts it into everyday terms - whole trees in motion, some difficulty experienced walking into the wind.  Moving up the chart the next stage would be gale force, typified by twigs and small branches breaking from trees and cars veering on the road.  Not especially eager to observe first hand.

We had intended to go for a walk to our little supermarket when there was no rain, but the outside world not particularly enticing regardless of the lack of rain. And the uphill bit would be against the wind. Notice that no one else seems to be abroad either, despite its being a holiday.

J has a New Year’s resolution. He doesn’t intend to shovel snow. Ever. Sounds fair.