I did a daily Craft Fair on Saturday, at Faros.  I don't like doing them and I can't think why I did - probably 'cos it's just 'down the hill' from us.  It was very crowded and as usual, I got annoyed by table-holders standing in the aisles and chatting.  Boy, there are some big bums out there!  But once I'd got over the grumps I enjoyed myself.  Judy came down to keep me company and we had a nice day.  I took some OK pictures so will post them with a little 'who's who'.

This is Trish and her lovely little local paintings.  No room for her larger ones sadly.

This is Barrys table. 

Pam, of Pink Lady Bags sadly with her eyes closed.  Sorry Pam.

Trish Wilson with her jewelry.

Sadly none of me 'cos I had the camera and I hate photos of me anyway!

The Wednesday Craft Group was very well attended, I guess because all the holidays are over and all the visitors have gone back.  And of course, in the summer we who live here stay indoors as much as we can.  Unlike UK where we satay in as much as we can in the winter - and spring - and autumn. And whenever the weather is unfriendly.  There was lots of (harmless) gossip and lots of laughs but quite a lot of craft work was done so no time was wasted on idle chatter (not much anyway)  And not forgetting our resident chef who presented us with another knockout meal.

It's a pity I didn't get more of the kitchen to show the array of pots and pans

Rushing in after our ten-minute warning

Here's Jill with her first attempt at carving Ytong Block.  It's a snail - if she knocks the head off it look like a turd.  Watch this space!  The closeup should now but I'm not very good at moving the piccies around.
 This is a bit of a 'pose' from Pauline and Jane - rather nice I think.




 A rather nice 'Greco' style dolphin from Judy.  Also on her table is an old roof tile which she has just finished.  Obviously she is going through a bit of a 'blue' period or else bought a lot of blue and white tiles.




 Paulines rather stunning water lily, mostly glass with tile trim. It's her first attempt at glass work and, as expected, it's very lovely.
 Pat is starting another of her stunning dragon flies, pity the finished on is not in shot.

The excitement for Tuesday was meeting Eleni at her house and garden in Droushia.  She holds supper clubs which are private, by appointment only,  at her amazing village house.  She also holds cookery demonstrations with lots of tips, hints and recipes.  And then we eat it under the trees in her garden!  Smashing.  Her recipes are Lebanese, lots of oil, garlic and herbs.  For details go to www.orexicyprus.com  It's lots of fun and she made a wicked fig icecream to go with the baked figs with rosewater and honey for dessert.  I shall certainly go again.

I've been a bit lax for the last week, can't think why, not much has changed.  Maybe I've been a little lazy but more of that later.

I had big excitement Monday because the electric food grinder I had ordered from the wonderful shop Lakeland finally arrived.  For those of you who don't know, I am allergic to the gluten in wheat which means that I have to avoid certain foods.  In this instance sausages are the culprit.  So I dithered and dithered and finally decided that I'd have a go at making my own.  I found a company who has sent me some natural skins, I'm researching recipes on the internet and I'm going to have a go as soon as I have a clear day.  I suspect it will not be as easy as I think so I'll have to leave plenty of time.

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This is Winston playing at Biggles out of the car window, on our way to the Taverna in Steni.  Himself is looking pretty smart, yes?

Considering how many photos I took there is a pretty poor selection good enough to publish!  This is just of the tables.

Here are Geoff and Ken, and I'm afraid I don't know this guys name but he was accompanying them on the bongo drums.





Well it was a very nice evening.  Geoff and Ken were really good,  and I met lots of people I haven't seen for ages - I really must get out more.  The staff at the Taverna were excellent as was the food.  Nothing pretentious - just good, well cooked, simple meals with amazing home made desserts.  How nice.  It's how I remember the food at the Harbour, in the old days when the Mums and Aunties cooked.  Well before FoodPax.    The muktah (?) and his wife were there giving wholehearted support and the guys did really well - even Kens singing.  The music stopped at 10pm after a gentle hint from the muktah and we all slowly drifted away - except of course for the hardier members of the audience.

We'd had a good night and I was very happy that on Sunday the pool was clear enough for me to have a float-about in.  As my excema is very bad at the moment it was a great relief.  So a very good weekend.

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 I bit the bullett, so to speak, and did the trip to Paphos.  As usual I'd stored up chores to do while I was there, the most enjoyable was stocking up with tiles from Turtle Moon Studio.  Alladins cave for me and I spent far more than I intended, as usual.  But I now have lots of lovely sparkley tiles to play with.
Here are Alan and Gary working hard at thier art and craft.  Always such a pleasure to see how much talent there is and for me to admire what they do.

 And these are some of the ladies doing very clever art work.  No prizes for guessing who the designer bag belongs to .....

This morning Carol and Donna came to pick up Carols Lazy Susan (the dolphin) and seemed very pleased with it.  So much so they are talking about an address plaque - jolly good.  I do like happy customers.  Although customers is not the right word, of course.  My work is much too personal for that.

The pool is still a little murky but our fingers are crossed 'cos Himself is not sure what else to do.  He's busy painting at the moment anyway,, and everything is put on hold while the muse is with him.  But luckily he's still ace in the kitchen..  OK weekend coming up, lets see if I can talk about anything except mosaics.  Till then ......

Trouble in Paradise!!  Big problem with the pool, looks like pea soup and Himself is very upset!!  We had to 'get a man in', lovely South African Steve and they changed the sand.  Nice big mucky job and after a few beers Steve left, confident that will it be fine in a day or so.  Not true and Himself doesn't know what to do next, so waiting for lovely Steve to come back.  Oh dear.  That's Himself looking worried and Steve down the hole.  As this is a 'blue' job (ie blue for boys, pink for girls) I made sympathetic 'ums' and 'oh dears' and left them.

This is the 'Dolphin'  Lazy Susan commissioned by Cal after she saw my work at En Plo.  She chose the colours to compliment her existing place mats and I hope she likes it when she sees it.

So that was pretty much the weekend, added to the dreaded housework of course.  As our pool is rather sick and needs more sand, I've been going next door for my swim and leg excersises .  Nice pool, shallower than ours therefore warmer.  I hope ours is fixed before the Aswells come back.  We have borrowed a Jamie Oliver cookbook so our dinners are getting quite adventurous.  Jolly good.  I must try to blog more often, I keep forgetting what to do and am beginning to be a bit of a bunny-boiler to Jill!  As this is all new to me, a comment or two would be nice please.  OK lets hope I press the right button and don't lose the whole thing - again!

My new sparkly coasters, great fun to make even though I spent most of the weekend doing them.  Grouting on Monday.

Well the bus trip was great - sorry no pictures.  We left dead on the dot of 8, picked up the next bus in Paphos and ended up at Nicosia Hospital - opposite Ikea, mecca of all things for the house.  It was heaving with people and children - I'm sure they just go there for lunch and the play area.  I bought everything I went for and had a quick wizz round the Mall for a look at all the things I don't want or need.  I got a bit nervous about the weight of my bags and the leaving time of the bus and exactly where it left from so got there much too early.  I was in the sun and very hot but I couldn't be bothered to drag it all back to Ikea for a cold drink.  Finally got back to Polis by 5.45 and was met by Himself and the dogs.  Jolly good, only cost 11 euros return and I'll certainly do it again.  And of course, I can only buy what I can carry!

Another successful craft day and we met a new member, Sam who will start next week.  Himself cooked lunch, carrot and butternut squash soup with rice and a squeeze of orange.  Served with lovely warm gooloori (?) bread and followed by our first melon this year - the first of many we hope.  I didn't get much done but am trying hard to make a swallow for our wall - as fast as I make them, I sell them. Mustn't complain they're a bit of a favourite at the moment.  Tomorrow I will attempt another trip to Ikea - by bus.  Watch this space ........

A Week at En Plo...

This may look uninspiring but there are a lot of beautiful things waiting inside

This is a not very good photograph of my space - I will get better (with the photographs!)

The missing chair belongs to artist Cheryl, from South Africa, who makes quirky fabric mobiles as well as humorous art.

This artist is Trish who's speciality is nostalgic scenes of Cyprus.  Then she will surprise you with a stunning exotic bird!

This is Sylvana, one half of the amazing pair of sisters of: www.gabrielasylvanapotterycyprus.com 

A very good week at the Paphos Art and Craft Galley, En Plo, next to the Old Fort.  The hours were too long for me - 10am to 10pm - but fortunately my friend Annies lovely little apartment close to the Harbour was vacant so I was able to pop down for a quick swim and nap (for more details contact annie.ramsden@yahoo.co.uk).  It really saved the day for me, I'm not a late bunny at all.  All the art-and-crafty girls were good fun and there was some really lovely things.  Thank goodness I have no wall or shelf space or I would have spent the pension (as they say).   I really enjoy it there, it's good that people like my things enough to spend their hard-earned cash.  And I love meeting people and enjoy talking about my mosaics.  All in all, a very nice seven days.

My Very First Post...

I design mosaics, I make mosaics, I exhibit mosaics and fortunately manage to sell mosaics but I never had a method of bringing my work to the public other than when I exhibited in Paphos so I am embracing technology - my own blog and this is my first post...

I have just had an exhausting but successful week at the En Plo Gallery at the harbour in Paphos where I exhibited my mosaics alongside the works of other 'crafty' friends.  

I love meeting people and talking about my hobby and I find that many people are interested in the craft.  I always have a large project which I work on whilst I am there so people can see what is involved.  This time the work is a bit of a challenge as I am copying rather than making my own design.  I am sure you recognise the Goddess of Love - Aphrodite - synonymous with Cyprus!

I am working on mesh rather than a board because it gives me flexibility to place it when it is finished and if I like it!  It measures approximately 1 meter by 50 centimeters which is somewhat larger than my standard holidaymaker's purchase which needs to fit in a suitcase!

My biggest sellers are my butterflies, owls, dragonflies and swallows all of which you can see on other pages to this blog.

I am always delighted to take on commissions and this time I was asked to create a large Lazy Susan and the design and colour scheme was chosen with the client.  My largest commission to date has been a triptych of mirrors.  My most challenging was a landscape of Cyprus - given that I can't draw and I just started with a blank sheet - 1 meter by 50 centimeters!