Tuesday, March 31/2026

Courtesy Stephen Lewis Foundation 

 Stephen Lewis’s death announced today. A family synonymous with Canada’s NDP and a man equally valued for his work with the UN and in Africa, particularly with regard to HIV/AIDS.

Monday, March 30/2026

Courtesy kibrispostasi.com

Had been wondering if the general strike had gone ahead. Not that it seems likely that it would affect us, unless the dolmuşes were to stop running. Assuming the drivers, who all seem to be independent agents in competition with each other, are not members of a union. 

Seems the answer as to whether it is taking place is a definite yes. And popular feeling is clearly against the bill, if a demonstration involving thousands in an organised march on the legislature is any indication. Demonstrators were met by a line of riot police and apparently overcame them and reached the front door of the building. The government agreed to negotiate with union leaders, who entered the legislature. 

The fire brigade was called to disperse the remaining protestors. This seems to have led to conflict when the firefighters began spraying demonstrators, who then grabbed the hose. A tug of war followed and the firefighters began spraying the crowd, who fought back, breaking the fire engine’s windows. Police then used water cannons and tear gas. Journalists were seriously injured, reportedly, and a large number of demonstrators and union leaders were taken into custody.

Unclear who the organisers of the demo were but it can hardly have been spontaneous. Marchers started from three separate points and converged on the legislature. Police seem to have been unprepared for both the numbers and the militancy. 

Undoubtedly a story to be continued.

Sunday, March 29/2026

 Sunny but also crazy windy. Sixty kilometres an hour, otherwise known as gale force. J finds yesterday’s coffee cup, left on the terrace wall, has blown off - fortunately to a soft garden landing.

Daylight savings time began today for much of Europe and Asia. So recalculate time difference and turn on live coverage just in time to see the announcement of the results for the NDP leadership convention in Winnipeg. Miss the drama of the old party conventions where the conflict and brokering was all live and on the floor, but modern conventions for all parties are both more democratically representative and more efficient. Results unsurprising as Avi Lewis takes over fifty percent on the first ballot. (Remote voting began earlier in the month and ended early yesterday evening).

General strike planned for tomorrow in protest over suspension of cost of living increases. Seems to have begun with municipal workers and spread to other unions. Statement (though obviously in Turkish) that it would continue “until the problem is addressed”, which suggests that serious discussion somewhat short of capitulation might put it on hold. Have no idea how much public sympathy there might be, as in what percentage of citizens are or are related to unionised workers. But when elementary schools are closed sympathy tends to evaporate fairly quickly.

Saturday, March 28/2026

 First market visit in three weeks. Last two Saturdays were wet enough that many of the vendors didn’t go either. But today happily sunny and shirtsleeve weather. Even a cactus in the grounds is sporting its spring decorations. 

Criegan is out enjoying the weather and the full breakfast that the market offers so we stop for a chat. And the bookstall has a deal. Donate four books and get one free. So we bring back four and get to choose a new one. And remember the early days of our travels when English books were almost unobtainable in non-English countries. Occasionally now we come across the title of some obscure book and think we read that, but why? The answer is that one year, early in this century, we found it and it was in English.

Sunny enough also to wash sheets - or, more to the point, to dry them. Was yesterday as well, although then Zoe pointed out that it would be wise to double peg them lest they end up in someone else’s garden.

And in the spirit of sun colour, I make lemon curd. Four ingredients - lemons, sugar, butter and eggs. But the deep yellow comes not from the lemon or butter but from the free range egg yolks. Would make it more often if it weren’t so sinfully rich.

Friday, March 27/2026

Love the fields of wildflowers flourishing after the rains. And how did that poppy get there?

One positive result of the current hostilities is an increased interest in and knowledge of geography. Or maybe not.

All the gold dots on the map purport to represent responses of Americans asked to pinpoint Iran on a world map. May not, of course, be a fair sampling, though not sure you’d get better results by taking your map and pins down Main Street in other countries. The borders of the countries are outlined, which would be significant help for anyone who had a clue. As some people clearly didn’t. Australia?

And, of minor interest, every war seems to acquire its own catch phrases. So all references to efforts to end the war seem to involve looking for an “off-ramp” rather than an exit. And plans to escalate are referred to as “going up the escalation ladder”. Though the experts fear that will lead to “going off the cliff”. 

Up the escalation ladder

Find an off-ramp

Going off the cliff

Thursday, March 26/2026

Terrace is fragrant with the scent of orange blossoms. The unusual amount of rain must have been appreciated by the shrubs and trees if not by the humans. And, yes, we do reluctantly acknowledge that rain is valuable, especially on an island at risk of desertification. 

Electricity disappears this morning while we’re reading the news. Happily after J has made the coffee, though he could have heated the water on the gas hob and the rest is done in the French press. An end to the news, though. Remember reading online that there was to be a planned outage today but had thought the area didn’t include us. 

So a good time for errands. First (uphill) to the municipality where we need to pick up a paper and then (downhill) to Bestmar where there’s a sale. Notice, belatedly, that backpacks are meant to be left at the till. Maybe we look too old to be thieves? Handy for carrying heavy things home, though. And first time in a while we’ve been looking for the shady side of the road.

Electricity back on by the time we’re home. And yes, the notice of a planned outage was for communities well  to the west of us.

Five miles all told and quince gin on ice well earned. Until I check the map again and see that it’s actually five kilometres, not miles. And pour the quince gin anyway.

Wednesday, March 25/2026

 

The season of conflicting dates. This coming Sunday marks the beginning of summer time aka daylight saving time. Affects most of Europe and lasts from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. North Cyprus changes at the same time as the South, despite Türkiye, which is not part of the EU, not changing to summer time.

Much of the Americas change time - Saskatchewan is far from the only location that doesn’t (and not all of Saskatchewan - just ask the 1500 inhabitants of Creighton). But not on the same dates as the Europeans. North Americans start daylight saving on the second Sunday in March and end it on the first Sunday in November.

Forgetting for the moment those territories that do not wish to change, one would have supposed that it would be advantageous and not too difficult to agree worldwide on the dates of implementation. But apparently not. Presumably there must have been conversations along the lines of “why us - why don’t you change” that led nowhere.

In Israel summer time begins the Friday before the last Sunday in March while in Palestine it’s the Saturday before the last Sunday in March. Though that can’t be high on the list of issues requiring negotiation there.

But it does make one despair of international agreements on more critical matters. We’re clearly not much good at co-operation.

Tuesday, March 24/2026

Not a dry stane dyke but love the flowers that make their way through the cracks and crevices in stone walls along the roads.

Morning sunny. Showers in the afternoon. Have to admit that a rainy afternoon provides more info than it did in the days before WiFi. 

Have just learned that in 2022 Canada extended copyright from fifty years after the death of the author/artist to seventy years, basically in order to harmonise with the US. So novels that might have been freely copied as of January first this year will have to wait until 2043. Will not have reached my hundredth birthday by then but 75th will be a pretty distant memory. Not that we’re short of books but it was always a pleasure seeing a new lot hit copyright freedom day.

And, in happier vein, a group member online has advice for those wishing to watch YouTube without being interrupted by advertisements. You can choose Albania as your VPN location as YouTube advertising is illegal there and will not be shown. Works for YouTube. No idea re other sources. 

Test the theory by watching an old episode of the Scottish sitcom Still Game. No intrusive advertisements. Show as funny as ever. With added humour from the subtitles. It’s meant, one supposes, to allow non Scots to understand the Glaswegian accent but the AI subtitle generator hasn’t been well primed and its guesses are often as funny as the dialogue is.

Monday, March 23/2026

 Very unusual for a crow to come close enough to have its photo taken. Unfortunately through the glass as I knew that opening the sliding door would scare it away. Also a perch on the bougainvillea insecure enough to guarantee it wouldn’t stay long.

Local online query asking if anyone knows whether the mustard office is open in the village of Karşıkaka tomorrow. Interested enough to pursue the responses, though we don’t live in Karşıyaka, a village to the west of us, and aren’t looking to buy mustard. Mildly surprised to think that there would be anything much in the way of mustard production or distribution here. Doesn’t seem to be particularly popular and the jars we’ve seen have all been imported and not underpriced. 

The explanation is that predictive text has been up to its usual tricks. It has an especially difficult time dealing with foreign words, although quite good at messing up English terms as well. A bit like being assisted in composition by a bright and enthusiastic six year old proofreader. Eventually it dawns that the poster is looking for information on the mukhtar’s office and predictive text has done its best. (The particular PT I am using at the moment invariably inserts an apostrophe in “its” whether it’s wanted or not). 

The mukhtar is a neighbourhood elected official, a sort of lesser mayor whose signature is frequently required on documents, so not unusual to see inquiries re office hours. And interestingly the Greek Cypriots have the same name for the same position, presumably dating back to the time when the whole island was part of the Ottoman Empire.

Sunday, March 22/2026

Clouds tease us most of the day suggesting that they could dispense rain but may not just yet. A couple of pretty decent showers and then the kind of sunset, seen through the neighbour’s grape vine trellis, that should be a promise - but may not be.

But we may have missed the real drama in the skies. Zoe, from our weather group, posts photos from the Cyprus Meteorological page. We did hear the  thunder in the night but didn’t feel compelled to get up and take photographs.

Not sure how long most locals feel the holiday weekend is in effect. The arrangement with Mehmet is that we send him a WhatsApp message the day before we want him to deliver a 19 litre bottle of water. Considering that we know virtually no Turkish and Mehmet almost no English the system works not too badly. We both rely on translation apps when necessary. Asking for a bottle the next day no problem. Complicated questions like how much time is he likely to take off for Bayram best avoided. Accordingly I messaged yesterday wishing him (in Turkish) a happy holiday and asking (in English) if he could bring water on Monday. So far he hasn’t checked his messages, so we’ll see if we’re boiling water on his week off.

Saturday, March 21/2026

 Officially spring as of yesterday. Admittedly not cold and no heavy rain today but taps on and off and alternating with sunny spells. Correspondent in North Cyprus posted a photo of roads with a lot of snow but turned out that was in the Troodos Mountains. South of the border and high enough that snow is not unusual. When we stayed in Larnaca there were often warnings that Troodos roads were closed to vehicles except those with four wheel drive or chains. Interesting that there still are cars using chains but presume that snow tires don’t exist here. 

As gas prices soar around the world there is an interesting announcement from the TRNC government. Apparently petrol prices will not be rising at the pumps. This by virtue of reducing VAT (value added tax) to zero. There are a number of basics here - petrol, gas cylinders, basic bread - that are controlled by government. They do go up but aren’t subject to profiteering and don’t fluctuate wildly.

Friday, March 20/2026

 Eid in much of the Muslim world, known as Bayram in Turkish. Both words mean festival and the difference is etymological. Eid is Arabic and Bayram Persian in origin. The end of Ramadan is marked by a feast day. Actually according to Islam it is wrong to fast on Bayram and we’re happy to conform.

Despite tradition, it’s not a sunny day. Storms continue to cross the Mediterranean so we stay home and make chili and cheese biscuits (undoubtedly not traditional but good rainy day fare).  Cheese biscuits a bit of a challenge as the last of the baking powder went into yesterday’s rock cakes. So baking soda should work as long as there is enough acid in the mixture. Internet highly dubious but my guess is that if the liquid is sour milk that should do it, and we do have vinegar. Might not publish the recipe, but not bad. 

Have, over the past years, stayed in a number of places less well designed as retreats from the rain. Think, for example of the one room cabin inside the old city walls in Rhodes. The kitchen, such as it was, was a bit of a lean-to. Beside, but not quite attached to, the room in which we slept. Not bad in dry weather but did mean ducking through rain to enter it on wet days. But that was twenty-five years ago - we were young!

Thursday, March 19/2026

Watching the stormy weather trickle its way across the Mediterranean. Fairly heavy rain in the night but only bits of drizzle today.

Good day to be in the kitchen, so lentil soup. Then bake rock cakes with what is the very last bit of baking powder. Tell J it’s a choice between cheese biscuits and rock cakes. He, unsurprisingly, opts for the sweeter of the two.

Long weekend begins tonight at sundown. Government offices and banks closed at noon today. Feel a bit sorry for Turkish Cypriots here who had reasonable hopes for a sunny holiday. It’s the most important holiday of the year and a traditional time for visiting friends and relatives with the saying being that the sun always shines for Bayram. Well, may be lucky yet. ☀️ And truly the lack of a sunny weekend is not as sad as the situation of millions across the Middle East where the end of Ramadan is bringing not festivities but destruction and terror.

Wednesday, March 18/2026

 Last night’s radar looked like we were about to become the victims in a giant real life Pac-Man game. West wind and no escape possible. But come morning and no rain. Briefest of trickles in the afternoon. What was the gobbler doing? Treading water?

So tonight check the radar again.

And there we are. A little pearl of a country totally surrounded by storms. The forecast is for stormy weather for the rest of the week but perhaps that just applies to countries without the magical cloak protecting them. Who knows?

Meanwhile I spot a notice of power cuts down to scheduled maintenance and repairs. West of Girne with a long list of areas of concern. Customers to expect outage between approximately 9:30 and 14:00. Looks like it may include us.

Me: There’s a power cut expected on Wednesday and it looks like it will affect us.

J: That’s Wednesday of next week?

Me: Yes. Wednesday, March 18.

J: But today is March 18.

Me: [at 20:00] Oh well, forget it then. Didn’t happen.

Our magic cloak of protection in operation.

Tuesday, March 17/2026

Saint Patrick’s Day so message Maggi for her birthday. ☘️ A date I would be unlikely to remember if it weren’t always celebrated online, with even Google substituting a shamrock for the double o’s. Only about forty miles from us to her, but between an uncooperative political border and deliberately uncoordinated transport not as simple as it looks.

Where we do go is down to the Bestmar to the west of us (there are two). A little more than a mile and a pleasant walk. Poppies occasionally making their way through cracks n the pavement. Pass quite a few loquat trees with as yet unripe fruit and several golden chalice flowers reminding us of the luxuriant vine by Fehmi’s office. 

There are several new housing developments, finished or in progress, in what used to be fields, as well as older single houses that have been here for years. Takes us a while to remark on what is not there - people walking along the road. We actually pass only two - a couple about our age and obviously local. Twenty-five years ago there were many fewer cars but more people about, as well as men with the kind of motor bikes that win no races and can probably not get licensed any more.

Bestmar is bigger than our local grocery store. Prices occasionally much better though often pretty similar but selection different, particularly in the sinful bits - chocolate, drink and cigars. Note that they have (frozen) back bacon. Actually quite nice looking. It’s imported from the Netherlands. Not unusual to see pork products in the larger supermarkets but clearly not a big seller locally. 

Supermarket seems busier than usual for early afternoon, probably because Bayram is coming up on Friday, the most important feast day of the year in Muslim countries. So about equivalent to getting in provisions on December 22 in a Christian country.

Monday, March 16/2026

 Wake to find that the mountains and the sea have reappeared. And it’s sunny. Temperature 19 in the shade, higher in the sun of course. Still very windy.

And enjoying it while we can. We’re heading into the most important holiday weekend of the year and the prediction is that it will be a wet one, with showers and thunder showers beginning Wednesday afternoon and continuing through the weekend. Not cold, though.

Sunday, March 15

Beware the Ides of March. Rain and gale force winds again. Although could be worse. In the Troodos mountains the winds just short of hurricane strength. It will be colder there as well. The rain here at times heavy enough that it looks like sleet but isn’t. Temperature actually in the teens.

Our own mountains have disappeared in the mist. Seems particularly strange as we live part way up the mountain side. And on the north the sea has also disappeared. As if the landscape had been an illusion.

The war continues as hopelessly as ever. Including bizarre speculation on the whereabouts of Netanyahu. Our usually reliable sources - none of which are mainstream - admit that most announcements have been highly speculative at best. And not necessary to be a computer expert to spot the sixth finger on one of Bibi’s hands in the photo purporting to prove his continuing health or to note the odd behaviour of the coffee in the cup he is holding. Once more reminded of the title of the biography of rebel journalist the late Claud Cockburn, Believe Nothing Until it has been Officially Denied.

And not all bizarre occurrences are world scale. A small puzzle involving coloured circles that I enjoy on the iPad has just begun giving its - fortunately minimalist - instructions in Vietnamese. I am occasionally given information in Greek or - less often - in Turkish. Explained by varied VPN use. Years ago there was a spate of Czech instructions and, more awkwardly, Japanese. And now Vietnamese. Not one of my keyboards, but there’s always Google translate.

Vietnamese instructions 

Saturday, March 14/2026

Wake up to the sound of rain on the tiles of the terrace. Go to check the radar on the iPad and draw a blank page. No internet. Does that mean no power? Seems so. Reflect that a day squeezed in between Friday the thirteenth and the Ides of March is likely to have some negativity attached. But in all fairness can think of few places with a happier winter climate, which is a large part of why we’re here - although the culture is at least as significant. And the electricity is back before it’s time to make coffee - though we could always have boiled water on a gas burner.

Today is the twelfth anniversary of the death of Tony Benn, patriarch of the Labour left, orator, anti-war campaigner. He spent over fifty years as an MP and eventually retired in order to “have more time for politics “. There are a number of memorial tributes online today including one from journalist Owen Jones, who included this photograph of himself with the eighty-eight year old Benn at an event in London in November 2013, Benn’s second last public appearance. A photograph of particular interest to us because we were there, actually in the front row as a result of my having mistaken the starting time so that we arrived very early.

We were in Malta at the time of Benn’s death and I reflected on the London event and posted :

“We knew then that we were lucky and it might well be our last chance. A beacon of the left, yes, but beyond that a man of overwhelming personal integrity. No quiet retirement, though he would have been 89 next month. Certainly no ossifying of ideas or principles. As Harold Wilson quipped, he immatured with age.”

Friday, March 13/2026

Friday the thirteenth again. Unlucky for world peace but pretty serene here. Oranges and lemons still in season, and across the road while the figs are only a hint of bud at the end of a branch the loquats are coming along nicely.

North Cyprus news is depressingly full of reports of bad driving, frequently citing loss of control of the steering wheel as the cause. There are other crimes and misdemeanours that seem surprisingly rare though. Theft, for instance, is uncommon. Have had it explained that it is regarded as a sin in Islam. No doubt, but somewhat short of a complete explanation as it is considered sinful in all major religions. It is true, though, that restaurants can leave small tables and chairs outside unsecured and not have them disappear in the night.

So it is surprising to see that a retired civil servant has been convicted of theft, both because he was indeed guilty and because the amount was quite modest. In North Cyprus small official charges are often paid with stamps. You affix the correct amount in stamps to a document that requires a small processing fee. The government receives the revenue and no need for petty cash boxes or making change. Seems that the man in question repeatedly removed stamps from official documents, took cash, and used the stamps on new documents. It was hardly grand theft. Over a period of ten years he collected 17,400 Turkish lira, an amount currently worth $561 CAD or £295, though admittedly the thefts date back to years in which the lira was worth somewhat more. However, despite his having admitted the crime and made restitution the theft was considered serious in that it was repeated many times, and he has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Thursday, March 12/2026

The UK based Financial Times, despite its name, is a pretty good general newspaper, though good for financial news as well. So when it offered a one month mini subscription for free, I took it. You get eight articles a day - and they choose which ones. The real draw, though, is that they don’t want a credit card number. This is not free for a month and then multi dollars a month until you remember to cancel. Obviously they are hoping to attract subscribers, but they’ll have to plead for them at the end of the month. And I won’t be one. Already have access to an array of excellent papers. But don’t mind a brief sampling of FT’s offerings.

And so in the Financial Times discover in an interview that Alan Bennet has a new volume of his diaries coming out this month. Was about to say a final volume, and it may in fact be that - he’ll be 92 in May - but it’s not billed that way, and who knows? I have reason to be grateful to Bennett. He’s primarily a playwright, and it’s from him that I learned to choose plays by the writer and not the actors. A brilliant script can come through with fairly average actors but first rate actors cannot salvage a poor script.

We have, between us, seen at least five of his plays in London, notably The Lady in the Van, with Maggie Smith, and The History Boys. And on my first trip to London I saw A Question of Attribution, with Bennet playing Sir Anthony Blunt opposite Prunella Scales (then best known as Mrs Fawlty) as Her Majesty the Queen.

The diaries are as much pleasure as the plays, though in a totally different way. We have the earlier volumes at home and will be looking forward to reading Enough Said, the latest addition.

And in a very minor way my writing a blog is somewhat like Bennet’s writing his diaries. It is primarily a journal, our record of our winter travels written for ourselves. For the first few years I had no ability to put it online and even after that had irregular access to pretty inferior computers and unreliable connections. On the other hand there are now a few people who read it, so it does fulfil a dual function. More explanations and, with luck, fewer typos.

Wednesday, March 11/2026

 Disruption of oil shipments has a much higher profile and is affecting the whole world as the barrel price teeters around the hundred dollar mark, but North Cyprus has its own shipping difficulty. Halloumi is TRNC’s main export and shipping has come to a stop as transportation is halted. On average, 850 tonnes of halloumi would be exported monthly. Now it’s not moving and recent shipments have not reached their destination so payment has not been received for them. Monthly income would usually be between four and four and a half million US dollars, and storage facilities are finite. Suspect that this will not translate to lower prices in local shops but who knows.

Meanwhile, and without any connection to world events, our electricity goes out at half past six. No problem. The stove burners are gas and we have a pot of borscht ready to be reheated and cheese biscuits baked this afternoon. No sooner heated than the power comes back on, so the evening’s reading is not disrupted either.

Tuesday, March 10/2026

The fig tree on the other side of the road is still in its naked winter state of undress. A so they went deeper into the forest look, reminiscent of the Grimmer sort of German fairy tales. But J has spotted tiny buds forming at the ends of the upper branches, so there is a promise of future figs.

Sunny and hot enough that I give up on reading Imperium outside after a chapter, despite the bliss of sitting with glasses of quince gin on ice looking down at the sea. Imperium itself is a distinct pleasure. Harris succeeds in escaping the distancing effect of so many historical novels where the characters may be interesting but somehow lack the quality of real people that might be interacting in any modern setting. Think one of his tricks is to avoid anything dated in the way of dialogue. Nothing stilted, no archaisms. Nothing like a thee or thy to make a character establish himself as less than real. 

Though the politics of violence do have their distinct period characteristics. Thus Crassus, the Roman general who put down Spartacus’s uprising of the slaves saw to it that 6000 of the rebels were crucified, their crosses lining the Appian Way for miles. 

Monday, March 9/2026

 Daylight reading now Robert Harris’s Imperium. It’s a novel based on Cicero’s career as politician and orator in Republican Rome. Fascinating and well researched - as are all Harris’s books.

Podcast last night on the Fall of Civilizations series described the methods of Assyrian Asher-Nazirpal who became king in 883 BCE. Expanding and maintaining empire less high tech in those days but no less brutal. After putting down a rebellion the king commissioned an inscription as boast cum warning:

“I burnt many captives from them. I captured many troops alive. From some I cut off their arms and hands. From others I cut off their noses, ears, and extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made one pile of the living and one of heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city. I burnt their adolescent boys and girls. I razed, destroyed, burnt, and consumed the city.”

Makes the normal Roman punishments of death by execution or by being thrown off a cliff seem pretty restrained.

And then there’s the nightly news. And it’s hard not to think that brutality may simply be inherent in the human species.

Sunday, March 8/2026

Buds on the orange tree are beginning to turn to blossoms. You still have to get close to pick up the scent but it’s beautiful. And am reminded that oranges are actually a hybrid fruit - hybrid of pomelo and mandarin. One of those bits of knowledge that I have stashed away but tend not to remember because it doesn’t match up with grocery list cum recipe knowledge. Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit - none of them belong to the original three citrus fruits - which are mandarins, citrons and pomelos (spelling varies).

One of the simplified charts. Possible to get enough info to begin writing a thesis - but I won’t.

Saturday, March 7/2026

Windy but not cold on our walk down to the Saturday market. Geraniums out at the Lambousa Hotel, site of the market. Flowers seem a bit slower than last year but they never truly disappear in the winter.

And good news this week from the Meritta Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. An injured sea turtle was rescued from the rocks on the coast of Lapta. It had become entangled in a plastic bag and was stuck on the rocks.

Its fins had been severely damaged and it was first believed to have died but surgery was performed by doctors from the Vet Expert clinic and it is recovering. More than 3000 turtles nest on the beaches of North Cyprus, with eggs hatching in August and September or early October.

The beaches are protected during hatching and people often go in the hopes of seeing the tiny turtles heading for the sea.

Friday, March 6/2026

 Half way between our place and our little supermarket is the mukhtar’s office. The mukhtar is an elected official for neighbourhoods or villages, serving as a kind of lesser mayor. So many documents or applications require a mukhtar’s letter confirming status or address. It’s not a full time job but the idea is that he’ll know his neighbourhood.

The one near us works at - and for all we know possibly owns - a garage that seems to be always busy. In it he used to have a bit of an office where he could approve documents and such. However about a year ago the municipality built a nice new office building for him, landscaped it, and put in a little park and children’s playground. 

Then this week we noticed people sitting at tables at the far end of the building and discovered there seems to be a bit of a café, though that may be overstating it. Seems you can order toasted sandwiches and jacket potatoes, and presumably tea. (Interestingly, Türkiye leads the world in tea consumption per capita, citizens averaging 1500 cups annually - followed by Ireland and then the UK). The menu is written on a whiteboard, oddly enough only in English.

Blue Song afternoon. Daphne back from visiting her daughter who is doing an exchange year at a university in Texas. Seems to have seen a great deal of the state and been impressed. Pat’s son is a pilot who normally flies out of Dubai but no flights there now of course so he’s been sent to Muscat in Oman. His family are back in Scotland.

Thursday, March 5/2026

 These are the classic Cyprus days. Cobalt blue Mediterranean. Cloudless blue sky. Marble and limestone mountain peak above. Fragrant scent of the buddleia bush filling the air. 

No blood orange gin at our shop so we live dangerously and try a quince gin instead. Made in Belgium and called Strange Love. Fresh quince with classic juniper and citrus notes. On ice cubes. 

Warm terrace tiles underfoot. Palm fronds feathering in the breeze. In two weeks it will be spring. 

Wednesday,March 4/2026

 

Courtesy Private Eye

Well, it’s an ill war brings no humour, and Cyprus, in a peripheral role, some distance from the genuine tragedy, seems prepared to play its part.

So the government of the Republic (South) has risen to the occasion to send out a “test emergency SMS” to residents at 7pm today. Have no idea what the contents would be because a) We have TRNC (North Cyprus) and UK mobile numbers, and b) the Republic goes to what must be extraordinary lengths to make sure free mobile calls stop at the border. However, seems that there was major confusion, with people reporting receiving the text early, late, or not at all. And our UK/TRNC numbers might have made no difference as one person reported receiving the text on his Dubai but not his Cyprus number. In theory the text went out in both English and Greek, but one man who received it in Greek only said he habitually ignores Greek messages as they are usually scams or irrelevant.

In the event of a genuine and not a test alert, the theory is that those who can are to go to shelters. In fact there are shelters for less than half the population of the Republic, though the Interior Minister said, fairly if testily, that only two countries have shelters that could accommodate the entire population - Israel and Switzerland. Those unable to access shelters are to follow the usual guidelines of staying away from windows, heading to basements and such. Those outdoors are to “enter the nearest building immediately”. Can foresee some level of confusion, not to say conflict, involving home invasions by passing groups of youths.

Though the nearest building bit might be one of the happier alternatives. A separate piece of advice was that “those who find themselves outdoors with no time to seek shelter are urged to lie on the ground, preferably in a pit or a ditch”. (My predictive text has given up - simply unable to imagine what would be suggested). The ditch bit could be for some time as well. The previous paragraph had mentioned heading for the shelter with water, food, radio and torch. Wonder if “pit” was an awkward translation. Don’t frequently pass them on our walks.

There is an app, though, to assist you in finding a bomb shelter. Not perfect, as it seems on examination to include at least one building under construction and some places that were small or filthy - though possibly better than a ditch.

And the North? Apparently there are shelter spots for 200,000. Who knew? 

Tuesday, March 3/2026

 

We’re living in what was once the Persian Empire. And you could say that this empire was late in the history of the region. The Persian Empire lasted from 550 to 330 BCE but there are signs of human habitation in what is now the mountainous area of Iran going back for a hundred thousand years with settlements occurring ten thousand years ago. The fertile basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, located in present day Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Türkiye, was the cradle of the ancient Mesopotamian civilisation where grain was harvested and preserved 12,500 years ago. Mesopotamia meaning literally middle of rivers, just as Mediterranean means literally middle of the land. Somehow the translations lose all the romance.

Just beginning to read Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones’s book Persians, “a definitive history of the Persian Empire, the world’s first superpower”.  (Only the Welsh can fit three double L’s into one name). 

And terrace warming up nicely in response to spring. Tiles warm on my bare feet this morning. 

Monday, March 2/2026

 Buddleia on the terrace coming into flower. It’s a pretty colour and does attract butterflies. But have to confess to no great love for it. Related to the lilac but with a scent less powerful and less beautiful. But mainly annoying because the flowers at one end of each spike are visibly dying as those at the other end struggle out. Never anything you’d want to bring inside to enjoy.

But it is a sign of spring. March came in like a lamb yesterday in terms of weather - a warm sunny day for enjoying a read on the terrace with a drink. 

More like a lion in political terms as a projectile, apparently not armed, hit a hanger on the UK Akrotiri base on the southern tip of Cyprus at midnight Sunday and two others headed that direction were intercepted. The UK maintained two sovereign base areas in the country when Cyprus was granted independence by Britain in 1960. As recently as Friday the British government had confirmed that it had withheld permission for the US to use RAF Akrotiri to launch strikes against Iran. But a weekend is a long time in politics. By Sunday Prime Minister Starmer had announced that he had approved a US request to use British bases for the defensive purpose of destroying Iranian missiles “at source in their storage depots or the launches which are used to fire the missiles”. He has, of course, pleased no one. There was already some popular unhappiness among Cypriots about Britain’s allowing US presence on the sovereign bases at all, let alone making them a target, while Trump, never one to waste emotions on gratitude, said British permission had come “too late”.

But today warm and sunny. Vodka tonics overlooking the Mediterranean.

Sunday, March 1/2026

 Hadn’t thought of this poem by Canadian poet AJM Smith in years. Decades more probably. It’s called News of the Phoenix and was published in 1943 - and no, that’s not when I last saw it. But what brought it to mind, of course, was the nature of the reporting of the Iran war. The attacks and deaths that are reported and revised and denied as we evaluate the sources. And no doubt as the sources re-evaluate their own positions. Clearly Prime Minister Starmer would desperately like to be on the same side as Israel and the US, but also on the same side as history. As Lord Peter Ricketts, former head of the UK Foreign Office, warned: “If you’re going to attack a country you have to show it is in self-defence and that there is some kind of imminent threat. You can’t make that case here”.

So the British bases in the Republic of Cyprus have seen increased activity but it is referred to by both the UK and Cyprus as precautionary. On the other hand the UK Defence Secretary’s claim that two missiles fired “in the direction” of Cyprus were intercepted has been flatly denied by President Christodoulides, a politician not normally known for understating threats. 

Meanwhile reasonably consistent rumours have it that Netanyahu’s plane was not given permission to land in Cyprus and settled for Germany instead (presumably en route to New York). Noting that he was required to avoid French and Spanish airspace.

And the title of Patrick Cockburn’s biography of his father, guérilla journalist Claud Cockburn, which we read a year ago, comes to mind. “Believe Nothing Until it is Officially Denied.”