Pissouri, Cyprus - coming home?

Yesterday I received an e-mail form the Canadian Consulate that included a list of 10 flights that are leaving in the next week. The flights that I had booked for May 2 on British Airways, had both been cancelled the day before. I have requested the flight to London Heathrow on April 28 and my travel agent is working on finding a hotel and a flight the following day to Toronto. This required clarification regarding whether I could stay overnight in London. The Cyrpus Canadian Consulate contacted the British High Commission for clarification and turns out I can stay over. I have yet to be contacted by Aegean Airlines so have not yet been confirmed or paid for the flight, but I am operating as if I am leaving on April 28.
I have been living here for nearly 4 months now so I have quite a bit of work to do, making sure everything is where it was when I arrived, tidying, cleaning, packing and doing a couple of things that Mick has asked me to do before Annie's House gets "mothballed" for a while.

Rain was in the forecast for today but I got out for a bit of a wander, around the neighbourhood, before it started late in the afternoon. First we got thunder and then a steady, soaking rain that will help the gardens.

Although the wild flowers have mostly died off, the garden flowers are doing very well.

The roses in #4, Nikki's, garden

are all in bud

or in flower.

Interesting flower in #5's garden.

There is a Hibiscus in the garden of #2, a beautiful Hibiscus hedge between #4 and #5 and

a huge bush at #6.

The beautiful scent of the Orange trees has gone but now the oranges are growing.

The Bougainvillea behind Kay and Jimmy's is a mass of flowers.

Jimmy pointed this shrub out to me yesterday, curious as to what it was.

I told him that it looked like the Bottle Brush Bush (say that 5 times fast!) that I had seen in California.

Turns out that's what it is. Originally from Australia and drought resistant once established.

The bottlebrush tree, despite its name, is actually a shrub. It is most often grown as a large shrub or shaped into a small tree with particular pruning. The common name of bottlebrush refers to the plant’s blooms, which are a spiked flower sitting at the very end of a stem, looking remarkably like a brush used to clean bottles or jars. They can be quite large, reaching up to 12 inches long in some species. Made up of many individual blossoms, these flowers are typically produced in various shades of red, and are a good way to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and other wildlife. from greenandvibrant.com

 Further on, the fruit's a bit of a funny shape but it looks like an apple tree.

In the courtyard at Annie's House the Bougainvillea is flowering

and the grapevine

is going great guns.

Painting proceeded this morning

and this afternoon.

Guest Photographer: Kiyo

I'm not sure if it is a butterfly or a moth

What is the difference between a moth and a butterfly? ... Butterflies usually rest with their wings closed, while moths rest with their wings open. Butterflies have long, thin antenna, while moths have shorter feathery antennas. Butterflies generally gather food during the day while moths are seen more at nighttime. from sciencebob.com

I'm guessing it is a moth but it has rather long antenna. No, I looked him up, he is a Mourning Cloak Butterfly. Usually the first butterfly seen in the spring and it likes to live in hardwood forests. That explains how Kiyo got this picture at her cottage recently.