There are many stray cats in Cyprus, many of whom are always living wild, and you just accept them as part of the village, and they seem to do quite well - in fact the queen of Kouklia cats - affectionately named Cow Cat is immortalised in my vine tree Trompe L'oeil. We have had a cat we call 'Squeeky' living on our back wall since Christmas - feeding him twice a day and providing fuss and affection, but the arrival of little Dali in the courtyard just took us by storm. This is the tiniest kitten, who must have become separated from Mum - far too soon - , but who is so engaging, cute and clever, that we have all melted, and are at Dali's command !!!! 
Leanne has rushed out to buy kitten milk and food, and provided a basket - Serena was ' first mum' and gave her ( we think???) (her - his - it's)  name - little Sophia has played with her endlessly, and John took her for a couple of days holiday in Secret Valley when Blah Blah was going to be closed. -which apparently resulted in his driving home with - (at one point)- Dali the kitten on his head !!!  John's lovely daughters, wife and Mum all enjoyed Dali's antics and provided safe and lovely guest  accommodation - We are indeed ALL smitten with the Kitten!!! At the time of writing I can say that Dali has had great adventures in her sort life - but - more to come - watch this space for more Dali stories!

I'm very pleased to welcome Serena to the studio in the Courtyard - Serena is an accomplished artist, mainly in abstract but also I have seen some excellent ' other works' Serena has produced. - It's great to have another like minded arty sort of person to share this wonderful space with, and to keep it alive when I'm on UK trips etc. Serena lives in Aphrodite Hills - just up the road from the village, and together with husband Martin have recently become full time Cyprus residents after many years in Bahrain. Serena's website is at  http://www.serenastevens.com/html/biocontact.html - most impressive.

We all had a great day yesterday with the first Arts and Craft Fair in the square - a courtyard full of stalls and people drinking coffees, beers and wines, and some interesting stalls in the square. Lesson learned maybe though - the temperature has notched up again this weekend, and we are getting into some blistering temperatures, so maybe an evening event would be more comfortable - at least we can be sure it won't rain!
This week the Cyprus nights begin in Kouklia square - I so love these evenings, - athletic men in black tights and leather boots !!! creates a lovely atmosphere - of course there are also weekly Cyprus nights at Tonasis restaurant, on Friday evenings, so we have ample traditional music and dancing to go at here in Kouklia - and some great traditional food, bers wines and Zuvaneer. - Just a note on Zubaneer, the locally made spirit - apparently it's excellent for cleaning windows, insect bites and many other treatments - Personally, I just like to drink it!

Great activity again regarding ways in which to put Kouklia firmly on the tourist / visitor trail. 
Preparations are underway for the first of what is hoped to be a fortnightly arts and craft fair in Kouklia Square, Sunday 10th June. - If your'e in Cyprus, be seen in Kouklia square !!!
Note - the dreamy life here was encompassed the other day - for whatever reason I was feeling a little low, so put on some traditional ( Zorba type) Greek music in the courtyard, to paint by. As I walked across the courtyard one of the village men was sitting having his morning coffee and water. On seeing me, and with the music playing in the background, up he got, and began to dance - Of course it would have been rude not to respond - so there it was - he and me, fingers clicking, arms raised Obas'ing to the music - you certainly can't be down for long here - what a wonderful place!