Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

The winter season, et al.

It is not summer here anymore, that means it must be winter. There is no real spring or fall, maybe a leaf changing color in November or a tree flowering in May, but the green shows through this time of year. We have had several days of rain and the ground is pushing up new plants that have germinated and sprouted.

Our house is keeping the water out. All the leaks seem to be have been found and fixed. With an extra blanket on the bed, we stay nice and warm at night.

Out for a dive

We went for the last dive of the season. Here are some pictures.

This is our friend Kevin floating just above some sea grass.

Here is Tess on her way down.

Here is Tess enjoying the clear blue water.

And this is a big rock that has a lot of little holes for fish to hide.

Uncovering History

Today, Tess and I helped out at an archeological dig. This is something we have never done before even though there are about 100 dig sites throughout Cyprus. The location we helped at is called Idalion. Idalion was the center of a thriving copper trade operating throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. It also housed the religious cult of the Great Mother and her consort, later known to the Greeks as Aphrodite and Adonis, and includes a great Adonis sanctuary; which is being uncovered this summer.

This is the temple area where we were helping today.


You need to the right gear to work here in Cyprus otherwise you will roast.


Tess is helping one of the archeologist sift through a bucket of soil, looking for pottery and other ancient stuff.

Here, Tess is holding the standard for the survey portion of the dig.

It was really dusty.

Odds and ends

Here is a plumeria that we brought back from Hawaii. Hopefully it will take and grow into a nice tree. The flowers are used in Hawaii to make leis and are very fragrant. It will grow to be about 7-8 feet tall and next year we will transplant it into the garden.



The lettuces in our raised gardens are really full of leaves. We have been making fresh green salads for several weeks. Everything tastes a lot better when it is fresh out of the garden.



The tomato plants have taken over the planter by the garage. We except to have about a zillion come ripe all at once. We have 4-5 different varieties planted. More salad fodder.



When we are not working in the yard, we are eating well. On Friday we had a couple tsapura and
grilled them on teh gas grill. Usually we wrap the fish in foil and bake them on the grill but we decided to try something different this time. Along with a bottle of wine, we had a great meal.

Landscape complete

All the landscaping is in. This summer will mostly consist of keeping it alive durring the 100+ degree days. We have put in a drip irrigation system and that helps us make sure the plants are watered the proper amount each day.Over the past couple weekends we have been putting up a fence to add more privacy. Not too bad for a couple amateurs.
Rather than putting grass or some other plant ground cover, we opted for course gravel to cover the bare spots. Low maintenance is good.
We have a couple of palm trees in as main features. The one in the foreground is called a Blue Triangle Palm. The trunk will form a triangle as it grows.
No, this is not a banana tree. I forget what it is at the moment but I will post it later when we show how much everything has grown.
This is the fence along the front wall. It is nice to not have to see the neighbors cars parked in the street.

Planting Vegetables

We have some places specifically set aside for vegetables.

The first place is the short wall behind the garage. This is a good row to plant tomatoes and peppers. We are trying to grow some jalapenos as well as bell and Anaheim peppers.

We also have two raised beds. We only have one of them planted at this time. In here we have some celery, leafy lettuce and parsley.


And to make sure we have happiness and prosperity, we have put the tiki that we brought back from Hawaii in the garden. He is going to watch over the plants.

Putting in the Plants

The landscapers came by with a truck load of plants. It did not take them too long to make the house look like it is not under construction. That is what I have been saying our yard make sthe house look like for the past year. Now, it is a wonderful place to look at and be in.

Here is a lemon and mandarin tree planted next to the garage.


Beside the driveway we had put in an olive tree as well as some cypress trees that will grow between the our house and the neighbor's to provide some privacy.


Next to the front door we have put a magnolia tree. It will grow really well here because this is the shady side of the house. We have also put in some smaller trees that get white blooms on them and some ground cover in the front.


On the west side of the house is where we spent the most money and got the best presentation and plant placement. This is the view from the street and looking toward the back of the yard.


Here is another view looking from in front of the stone oven. We are really pleased with the outcome so far. The nursery has put in young plants so that they can create good root structures before they get very large. The plants should fill in and create a lush space in just a couple years.

I'll add more pictures once the gravel is put on.

Starting to work on the Garden

The landscapers came by and dropped a load of top soil and have spread it around to make a base for plants. They also dropped off a bunch of irregular shapped stones that match the stone used on the house. This is going to put in as decoration amongst the plants.


Here the area next to the front door is terraced to bring the level up from the lower corner to the top.


This is the load of rocks I mentioned. These will be used for decoration and separating the planting area from the gravel that will eventually make paths in the garden.


They have shaped mounds to put the plants in. Kind of gives it a more natural look.

Before pictures

We are getting ready to have our yard landscaped so I took some pictures so you will be able to see the changes that are being put in.
Next week I will post the After pictures.

Outside the patio.

Raised herb beds.

Next to the garage.

By the front steps.

Looking at the garage.

Next to the driveway.

In front of the livingroom.

By the front porch.

In front of the livingroom.

By the patio.

The Oven is Finished

Today is a good day at our house. The outdoor oven is finally finished. We even put some wood in it and tossed in a match. This is another milestone for the house and a check box on the house plan. Tomorrow, I will call the landscaper and get them started on the rest of the yard.

The door to the cooking part is steel and sets in place. I am not completely happy with the metal showing so I think we are going to put a wood clad on it to make it look more like a village oven.


We had to add a piece of stone to make a catch for the door.


Here is the oven with the doors on. The two pipes on the top are the chimneys.


Here is the crew that worked on the oven. They did a great job. On the left is Abdula, next to him is Mhedahib and the boos on the right, Abdul. They are all stone workers from Syria.

Warrenty Repair

Last weekend, while we were sitting around watching it rain, I heard a drip coming from one of the windows on the front of the house. Well, of course we started to investigate and determined that the water had to be coming from the roof drains. In the closet of one of the bedrooms, we noticed some discoloration of the ceiling.


We called the builder and he sent out his brother to have a look. After he cut a hold in the ceiling, we pulled out a trashbag full of wet insulation. He was able to slip on a pipe extension and glue that in place. Now we have a fan blowing into the opening to make sure the area is dry before we close it back up.


It was too wet to work outside today so we spent the morning cleaning out the garage. We have also been sanding down a teak table that we bought from a friend that moved back to the States. It was in pretty bad shape, but with a little elbow grease and some teak oil it will look as good as new soon. You can see some of the chairs that we have already refinished in the background.

Along with the rain, we have had some really pretty sunrises. This was a look to the east last Monday. Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning.