Cyprus - Acheleia walk

 I have been able to successfully drive past the florist shop and nursery at the bottom of the hill for nearly a month now .

Then the car stopped of it's own volition. I decided I would just buy some fresh herbs ...... failed again.

The Wednesday walk was totally flat, around the agricultural fields behind the Paphos Airport.

Not a lot happening at the airport, at this time of year, but in the summer, Jimmy tells me, it is like an anthill of people.

It is obviously a very fertile area

and we were occasionally forced to make our way around, or through, large muddy puddles due to broken irrigation pipes.

An Avocado tree in bloom.

If Pomegranates aren't picked in time they burst

and then are hollowed out by birds or insects.

A flock of turkeys were offended by our route and hurried to tell us. Luckily we turned on to a different path at this point.

Olives, such a variety of crops here.

Wheat

Every now and then I see a composition that I might like to paint.

Unusual here ..... a running stream.

Lots of oranges and lemons. Here we did a little "scrumping" and they were a little tart but otherwise delicious and refreshing.

Truly

"free range"

After the walk, it's always a taverna or restaurant for lunch. This one beside the village church.

It's a challenge to eat vegetarian here but I had a pepper stuffed with feta and a trilogy of fried mushrooms over lettuce. This photo shows what you get when you order a pork chop...huge.

Cyprus - second painting class

Everyone, the world over, talks about the weather, and Cyprus is no different. The themes this year are "Can you believe it? It feels like summer. We are going to pay for this. Winter will come eventually"

Personally I am just enjoying it. I wake to sun and low teens. After dressing I open my bedroom window for that morning sun. Late morning the sun reaches the dining room patio doors. I close the bedroom window and open those.

The weather will turn on Friday, but I will be back in Canada by then, to attend my Mum's memorial. Don't know yet whether winter will have finally arrived when I get back on Tuesday.

After the Kouklia walk this morning it was a quick shower and then off to Tala for my second painting class. A tree study this time and these 2 photos

are Judith's examples that I was working from. She is so comfortable in the medium and so relaxed when demonstrating and I struggle to emulate her examples/

These are mine. For each technique she would demonstrate how to get the effect and then leave me to it.

These are some of my favourites. I also learned some things about brushes (I need a Rigger, a long skinny brush, to achieve this technique)

and mixing paint (Vermilion and Payne's Grey make a lovely green - I need to buy some Vermilion)

With each example I noted what Judith had instructed.

Cyprus - Kouklia reccy

 Yesterday was a "rest day" as I walked on Saturday and will walk again on Monday. I also had to feed Nikki and John's cat," J.J"., while they were away. He was quite amusing as he welcomed me as I walked in the door, in the morning. However, after smelling the dish of food, he walked back to the front door, looking for his people, turned back to me...."where are they" and finally ate.

Most of the day, I sat in the sun, and finished this book, from the villa library. I usually enjoy a Sophie Kinsella book and this one did not disappoint in it's depiction of teenage anxiety in a sensitive, humorous and accurate manner.

 

I have been accepted by both the Wednesday and the Saturday, walking groups, as an "International Member". As I will be taking advantage of their memberships knowledge of the area and guidance for the next few months, I thought I should also volunteer my time. I am therefor leading one walk for each of the groups. Jimmy volunteered to show me a walk around Kouklia that I could use for both of the groups. So today we reconnoitered it.

We parked in the village of Kouklia and walked past this lovely, village house.

The shutters were slightly opened and revealed painted

icons.

I took photos to try and remember the route.

We were shortly out of the village and walking up hill.

Past a couple of farms. This one was particularly odorous.

Some attitude comes through the fence.

Three cyclist went by, at speed. Heather always wants a spandex clad cyclist on my blog but this time, as often, they went past too fast.

The next farm had unusual animals for this area, sheep.

A fenced off archaeological area, ancient tombs.

Back through the village: Prickly Pear,

Nasturtiums

and Bananas.

Cyprus - Theletra walk

 Jimmy and I have been taking turns driving to the walks. Greg, who also lives in the area, comes on the Saturday walks and so he drove today. Another couple, who rent in the row of houses that I rented in last time, have just returned from Christmas in Scotland ("mad" he said, and I told him about Chris and Jason, "mad" he reiterated). So we were a Pissouri convoy today, driving up into the hills north of Pafos.

Lovely church below the road that we all parked on before setting off

up hill on dirt tracks.

In the email that came out from the walk leader we had been promised beautiful views

and the clear day helped to fulfill that promise.

It was the largest group that I have walked with and there were so many interesting people to talk to that I kept forgetting to stop, take pictures, look somewhere other than where I was putting my feet. Because there were some rough spots and quite a few uphills. One of the people who recognized me from last time was Julie who I took pottery lessons with.  We exchanged info and I am hoping to do that again in March.

Most of the fields up here were vineyards though there were also some olive trees.

Others had just gone a bit wild for the winter.

Looking down at Coral Bay, west of Pafos.

Last years crop left on the vines. ? In Canada I would be thing Ice Wine, but not here.

Just a little scatter of Poppies, in a vineyard.

An Almond tree in bloom.

It was an absolutely lovely walk. Landscape, temperature, and people. It was a little more strenuous than the others I have done but I must be getting fitter because I could still talk while walking up the hills.

Back to our cars and we drove to a restaurant. More chatting so I didn't get around to taking a picture of my "Vegetarian Plate" - Grilled Haloumi cheese, grilled peppers, mushrooms and zucchini, salad and chips (everything comes with chips). This rather stately cat observed us from the patio outside.