Our House in Yermasoyia Cyprus and Other Life Experiences

souvla

2011-06-08T17:04:00.001+03:00

Pork souvla for dinner.

Chloe reading the menu at the Four Seasons.

2011-06-05T22:05:00.001+03:00

2011-06-05T13:13:00.001+03:00

Chloe reading the menu at the Four Seasons.

out the window

2011-05-10T16:12:00.001+03:00

out the window

Tess's paint pallet

2010-12-11T18:46:00.001+02:00

Tess's paint pallet

waiting for the checkin counter to open.

2010-11-01T08:52:00.001+02:00

Just one more hour.

Jalapeno

2010-08-08T19:04:00.001+03:00

Ready to eat

Old watermelon, new watermelon.

One ready to east, one on the way.

watermelon opening

2010-08-01T15:59:00.001+03:00

we opened our watermelon

Our first watermelon

2010-08-01T08:21:00.001+03:00

Just picked this morning from our garden

Pickled peppers

2010-07-25T14:33:00.001+03:00

2010-07-24T14:13:00.001+03:00

Ice cream lunch

2010-07-10T16:38:00.001+03:00

We went to the Four Seasons cafe with friends for some ice cream. It makes for a yummy lunch.

the sea from the rental house

2010-07-09T18:23:00.001+03:00

this is a view from the house we rented in Lachi.

March Whackieness

2010-03-17T08:01:00.003+02:00

It is March. We have been home now for about 5 days since coming back from a vacation in Seattle.
We always have a great time when we are on vacation. This time we spent the whole time in the Seattle area. The reason for going was to be with Kerry when she gave birth to our beautiful granddaughter. And then to stick around and help her and Chris while they got settled into family life.
We arrived a few days before Chloe was borne so we had some time out with Kerry and Chris. Kerry has already started her maternity leave but Chris had a couple more days to work before taking a week off. We were still grandparents to be at that point, but fell right into the roll of helping with projects around their house.
The Monday Kerry went into the doctor to have a checkup, they decided to admit her and the game was on. A few hours later, Chris was by her side at the hospital. Let me rewind here. The night before, Chris had opened a bottle of Zivinia poured shots for everyone, and would not stop until half the bottle was gone. He woke up in the early hours of the morning and popped some Ibuprofen. Then after only a couple more hours of sleep at 5:00 am he was off to work. Now, back to the hospital. It is 9:00 at night and Tess and I are just leaving after delivering their bags and the child seat. Kerry is in mild labor at this point. Chris is still awake after being hung over in the morning. Contractions and delivery sets in around 10:30 and finally at 1:25am Chloe is welcomed into the world.
Over the next couple days, Chloe and now mom are kept in the hospital as follow up tests are done. Tess and I hang shelves, replace the faucet and light in their bathroom, put up some pictures and clean the house. Then everyone comes home and there is much rejoicing.
Chris's parents came around for a couple days, it was really nice to see them again. Not much has changed since we met in Hawaii. My parents also came up to see their first Great Grandchild.
Tess and I tried not to hang around all the time so we did some shopping, got massages, more shopping, ate out and did some site seeing.
When it was time to leave, we gathered out stuff, shipped some boxes and left behind the most beautiful granddaughter in the world. It was really hard to leave. Because we could not all fit into Kerry's car we hired a limo to take us to the airport, I think that made it a bit easier.
However, even though the vacation was so wonderful, there is nothing like getting back home.

Cruising through the winter

2010-02-08T09:08:00.002+02:00

The weather hasn't been all that great lately. We have been staying inside near the little gas furnace that has been heating our house. When we do go out, it has been to mull around the garden a bit or do some grilling.
It is starting to get a bit lighter in the evenings as the days begin to lengthen. It is a real treat to see the green hillsides that surround the village, knowing that in just a couple months they will be brown and dry as the rains give way to the summer dryness.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-28T19:15:00.001+02:00

Merry Christmas

The winter season, et al.

2009-12-16T07:58:00.002+02:00

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

2009-11-10T19:49:00.002+02:00

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

2009-07-26T20:45:00.003+03:00

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

2009-07-19T08:23:00.004+03:00

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

2009-06-21T07:56:00.002+03:00

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

2009-06-03T17:32:00.004+03:00

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

2009-04-18T21:09:00.004+03:00

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

2009-04-16T17:05:00.004+03:00

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

2009-03-22T17:41:00.004+02:00

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

2009-02-08T20:00:00.004+02:00

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

2009-01-25T20:54:00.003+02:00

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.

Filling Grout on the Oven

2009-01-19T09:39:00.003+02:00

The next step in getting the oven ready to use is complete. The stone guys put in the grout that fills out the morter to make a clean, finished look. The guys let me try putting on a bit. It is like putting a topping on a pastry. The grout is put into a big vinyl funnel and then squeezed into the spaces between the stones.

After the grout has set up to where it is firm, it is brushed smooth with a wire brush and then with a soft broom. Also any grout that is on the stones can be cleaned off with a brush. Then hose the whole thing off so the dust and bits do not stick.

The Oven is Almost Finished and More

2009-01-11T18:13:00.004+02:00

At last! The top of the oven has been closed up. This is not the design that we started with for the top, but this really works well with the rest of the oven. The two pipes sticking our of the top let the smoke out when we are cooking.

The cement table on the right as well as the bare cement on the front will have natural stone finishes.

The free form stone that is the floor is the same stone that is on the house. The oven stone is more of a brown and we chose that so it would not look like just a big stone pile.

We got some plants from my friend Nick, who is moving back to the States. We wanted to get some more plants on the roof deck so this worked out really well.

We finally got the last piece for the kitchen cabinets. It only took 15 months. Check out the posting when we finally got the right cabinets. Tess re=grouted around the cabinets so everything looks finished and clean.

Now that the cabinets are complete we painted the kitchen. We picked Whole Wheat from Sherman-Williams. We were really amazed to see just how well it matched the granite counter tops and the decor.

Now it is time to paint the rest of the downstairs.

Another Year is About to Start

2008-12-31T09:46:00.006+02:00

As we say "Good Bye" to 2008, we kind-a wish we could give it a swift kick in the pants as it heads out. Having said that, it has been a good year for us.

We have made great strides in making the house our own.

We finished the first phase of the roof deck. This has been one of the best spots to relax in the evenings durring the hot months and still offers a bit of sun soaking when we have a nice weekend now.

We painted the second floor and have got the rooms pretty much set up the way we like them.

A lot of work has been done on the outside of the house including a couple of stone walls and a stone oven that is so close to being completed that I can almost taste the kleftiko that we will be making.

We have also put the wood 2x10s on the retaining walls to help keep down the noise that echoes around the house.

Tess and I still have our jobs. Both of our works have been hit by "the economic downturn" (buzz phrase alert) and it was a bit nerve wracking for a while. Chris has found his own place to live and is getting his feet under him. His job has taken off, literally. Kerry got engaged and has also settled into a new job. Mickey and Minnie are happy and healthy. Minnie is a bit over weight though, and Mickey is getting older so we have to watch that he doesn't get hair balls.

This was the first Christmas in our new house and we are looking forward to spending a lot more here.

More work on the stone oven today

2008-12-07T17:22:00.005+02:00

Our stone guys came by today to do some more work on the oven. Today they finished setting the doorway on both the cooking area and the firebox.

This is the oven opening.

This is the opening for the firebox. Next week they will put stone on the front where the cement is showing.

We are really pleased with the progress so far. In fact, we might get to use it by New Years. Hope hope hope.

Stone and Wood

2008-11-29T21:14:00.005+02:00

We put up some more wall wood today.
This is the wall behind the garage where we made a planter wall out of the stone that was left over from the side of the house.

We decided to stagger the boards to give it a more interesting look. we put these up the same way we did the first set by anchoring two boards vertically to the wall and then bolting the horizontal boards to these.

We have one more wall to do and that will take seven more boards leaving only a hand full from the bunch we brought over.

This week, the stone workers made the next part of the outdoor oven. They took some white stone and cut it to make the opening for the fire box as well as what will become the front of the oven table.

Last weekend we had to gather some more stones for them to use. We have quite a bit of stone left, but they are odd shaped and not suitable for the next stage of building which will be the sides of the oven section.

More work on the oven

2008-11-16T17:22:00.003+02:00

Hopefully, one day, we will be able to use our outdoor oven. The workers were back by today and put up some more stone. We originally collected two truck loads of stone from a local source. In the construction so far, we have managed to use up all the best pieces of stone and so construction has stopped for today and we will have to get more stone. But it really looks good so far and we can't wait to use it. Maybe for Christmas dinner.

Wood on the wall

2008-11-09T17:21:00.000+02:00

Today we started putting the 2x10s on the walls. These are the pieces that are left over from the roof deck construction.
We are putting these up to try to keep the neighborhood noise from echoing around the house. We anchered some pieces vertically on the wall and then bolted the horizontal ones on to form a pattern. Now that we have worked out the kinks, we'll get the rest of them put up in the next couple weeks.

Stone Oven Foundation

2008-11-06T20:12:00.000+02:00

We have started on the stone oven. The base section has been built and is ready for cement.

The tall peices of rebar will be used to add strength to the walls as they are built.

As soon as the cement is poured and set, the wooden base will be pulled out. By the way, the wood form is made from leftover bamboo floring that was used in the house. A great way to recycle the wood.

The Start of the Stone Oven

2008-10-23T19:14:00.005+03:00

The next project, actually this is the last project, to go in place before the landscaping is the stone oven. Our stone guy went out with us to a neighboring village to help us collect stones. The village is next to a deep river gorge. Now don't be thinking Grand Canyon or anything like that, this is just 50 or so feet deep. Along the side of this gorge is great stone for making small outdoor things like an oven.Last week, Tess and I cleared out the place we want to build the oven and then Abdul put in the stone that will be the floor. It is in the first stage where the stones are set into cement and the gaps will be filled later, just like grouting tile.

This weekend we hope to have most of the oven completed. I will be adding more pictures of the progress. Lets keep our fingers crossed.