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{ Monthly Archives } January 2016

Replacing the hob

The lack of a fully functioning hob was really beginning to annoy me. I kept going to use my usual ring, and nothing happened! Although I could still cook using the remaining rings, it was clearly far less than ideal so I decided I really needed to do something about it. This time I decided […]

At the pottery again

I spent Sunday back at Eastnor Pottery getting another fix of throwing. Business really seems to have taken off since the Pottery Throwdown programme, and the studio was full of people having a go at throwing. Three were on day two of a weekend course – they had spent all day Saturday throwing, and were spending Sunday […]

Back to reality – and dodgy electrics

The holiday was very enjoyable. However, coming back home meant facing up to some house maintenance issues I’d been putting off. The week before Christmas, the light in the hall failed. I thought at first it was just a blown bulb, so went to replace it. That was in itself quite tricky – the hall […]

Scattering the Ashes at Salamis

Years ago, when Christopher and I spent Christmas together in North Cyprus, we visited the spectacular Roman site of Salamis on Christmas Day. There is a set of huge Roman baths, still remarkably intact with a hypocaust system, box-flue tiles in the walls, and plunge pools lined with waterproof cement. There is also a rather […]

Bellapais Abbey

There is a very atmospheric ruin of a monastic complex in the village of Bellapais, on the mountainside overlooking Kyrenia. The village itself is rather touristy – it has both the abbey ruin and the erstwhile house of Lawrence Durrell to attract the coach parties. But the abbey itself is worth a visit – there […]

Stray dogs

As with many places in the Mediterranean, there were plenty of stray dogs in North Cyprus. It was interesting to see though, that the ones in Kyrenia at least had been “adopted” by an animal welfare charity – they are tagged, neutered, innoculated, de-wormed, and then released back on to the streets where both the […]

Down the staircase

As I had stayed in the same hotel last year, I thought I knew what to expect. It’s a 2* establishment, so has fairly basic facilities, in a converted Ottoman mansion two minutes from the harbour. There are just nine rooms, one on the ground floor, and the other eight around the courtyard, accessed off […]