THE DUSTY CAVE … Aladdin’s/Maria’s

Someone told me the other day that when she looked at the contents of the removals van that transported her ‘stuff’, the thought that occurred was, ‘How obscene for one person to own so much!’. Well, that is exactly how I feel right now about the ‘stuff’ in my home – it is obscene for one person to own this much!

Funny thing is, the packers included bags of rubbish that were intended to be binned! Lesson: be careful with instructions – saying that ‘everything in this room must be packed’ was taken literally!

I was truly shocked to discover the cache of videos (tapes!) that we collected over many years. In fact, I thought I had sorted all the ones I didn’t want to keep years ago! I think I did, but never got rid of them… and they came along for the ride. And I don’t even have a VCR player anymore… what does one do with these things now that DVDs and other media players are available? There are quite a few I wish to convert and have been told that I can buy a machine that would do that, but what about the ones I do not want to keep or convert? Suggestions?

   Insane, right?

The other side of abundance may well become a problem… My landlady is kindness personified and this is expressed, mainly, through the need to feed me! She was devastated when she found out that I was a pechatarian – could not understand why! (I’m a seafood-eating vegetarian). The problem that I foresee is that, over the last year due to all kinds of influences, my weight has gone up a bit, especially around the tum and bum areas. How does one say no to kindness? When does kindness become intrusive? I certainly need to eat less rather than more! Wasted food is a sin and if I gave it away – and she found out – how awful would that be!

Not only my landlady, but also my neighbour on the other side threatens over-abundance too! The third evening here, at 9.30 pm she knocked on my kitchen window to bring me oranges and lemons from her garden… and that was her way to have a chat about family matters! And that tells you that closed doors do not make a difference.

It is interesting to see a completely different side of Cyprus. And it occurred to me that, since we moved here in 2001, we have lived in Cyprus but we have not live IN Cyprus. Now that I have moved out of the expat enclave where we were seduced to buy our custom-built villa – which I loved! – I am seeing a whole new side of this Island of Love. This has also reinforced the fact that I need to speak Greek in order to truly integrate; it is one of the richest languages on the planet… and also one of the most difficult to learn! One thing I do know: if I have lived in this kind of environment from the beginning, I would have been fluent in Greek by now.

The other thing that I have a ‘newness’ about is the closeness of neighbours, in distance and in presence. This is a very Cypriot residential area where I live in a cul-de-sac and children play ball in the street. Afternoons can be noisy, but it’s ‘good noise’! About 150 yards from me is a lovely little park where I have noticed children play fearlessly. I walked through it when they were all at school… And right next-door is the sweetest little church where candles burn almost all the time.

 

   

Backing onto the end of my cul-de-sac is the General Hospital and at the other end, the main post office. Next to the post office is one of the best bakeries in Paphos! Oh, what have I done!

When I was younger, there was a time when my first husband and I bought, restored and sold properties and whilst we were doing the work – part-time – we lived in the houses. That meant a lot of moving which, somehow, I took in my stride.

This time, however, it feels like I’ve only started on the foothills of Mount Everest… age has a lot to do with it and I’m not talking about the age of that mountain!

In the course of this last year’s activities of putting my home on the market, being ‘inspected’ by potential buyers, eventually making the decision to sell and then the Big Move PLUS organising the Cyprus Open Studios event which takes place each October, things got a bit out of hand… I’m not even mentioning the financial side of things!

However, a friend asked me the other day how my meditation practice was going. Ha! That shook the foundations of my Being! I have SO lost the plot. But, it is strange how The Force speaks to you when you need it… Amongst many, many, many magazines which I was going to turf out but then decided against, I came across a few issues of “Namasté” from around 2003/2004. Well, say no more… As from today, I am back on track as my journey continues. I have forgotten how to breathe but my memory has been jogged and things will change from now on.

New beginnings, new everything… with a few antiques thrown in, courtesy of my Donald!

I was fortunate to spend time with my brother and his wife, Vollie and Rita, who came visiting and we spent one morning dancing on the waves… Dankie vir julle kuier!!!

This was just a little catch-up as I haven’t been active on my blog for yonks. From now on, I’m going to attempt a weekly – says she – contribution to tell you a little more about ‘real’ life in Cyprus!

Incidentally, weekends for Cypriots mean one thing: Family! We will seriously have to rethink our open studios policy…

Until next time, Namasté!

This old artist is not moving for a while…

THE GAME’S AFOOT!

… as Sherlock told Watson.

You will notice that a bit of refurbishing has taken place since your last visit and still further developments will follow. I started this blog way back when Donald and I were considering relocating to the UK and then things went awry and I’m still here in my beloved Cyprus … Since the dust had settled, I have been contemplating my art and writing career – yes, career as I have been receiving royalty cheques, you know! Not that I would ever be able to get rich on that, but it is rewarding to say the least.

And that brings me to my art business. I accepted WordPress’ invitation to create a website and … got this blog … which I already had! However, in the process I changed the name and it is now a dot com – and that’s where the further development will take place: customising the homepage but I am still learning!

I have also started getting my studio up and running as it would befit a proper artist and soon I shall be showing you what happens in there. During the clearing and tidying phase, I came across quite a few half-finished pieces which, upon further consideration, could become something if developed further. That is what I am doing right now and so far, three pieces have been completed. I don’t use the word ‘finished’ as my instructor in Italy said that no piece of art is ever really finished but it reaches a stage when you may feel that it is complete. In fact, he said, a piece should be judged as ‘complete’ at various stages of its creation! But that’s another story. Here are two of them:

  I’m gonna get you   What’s in the bucket?

 

They were originally done in watercolour with which I was not at all happy and now they have been brought to life by adding pastels and thus have become ‘mixed media’! They are only small pieces but fun pieces.

So, in order not to break continuity I shall retain what has gone before and take it from there. I shall, however, use this website/blog now in a more creative way and will probably start another blog specifically for communication with friends and family. I just wanted to update you on where we stand right now.

I feel enthusiastic about the stage I have reached and look forward to getting stuck in and create loads of art in preparation for an Open Studio weekend or three during the summer/autumn months. Yes, I am using the phrase Open Studio even though the name has been officially registered as an NGO which only served to hamstring us as far as opening our studios to the public is concerned. However, I have decided that it will be used as it describes exactly what I do when I invite the public into my sanctum sanctorum.

Watch this space … lots and lots will happen soon as the game is truly afoot!