Ice Cream

Last ice cream
before winter

 School has started for all regions. Public places are much quieter as students stay in school for more than half a day. But after school, buses and trams are packed. So to avoid crushing crowds, it's best to time oneself for traveling in public transport.

As summer slips by and cooler autumn weather is creeping in, everyone is getting a final taste office cream before the shops stop selling it during the winter season. It's rather iconic. Summer isn't summer if you haven't had ice cream.

I stopped taking my aluminium/magnesium medication as it's not helping me stop the vomiting and diarrhea. It's back to the hospital soon to check up what's wrong. 

Autumn

Supermarket

The feel of autumn is in the air. Cooler nights, shorter daylight, heavy morning dew ... and the roses are throwing out their last blooms before we start pruning them for winter. I just hope this winter brings a lot of rain. We really need it as this year was very dry except for the one day of heavy showers. 

Climate change is affecting us ... El Niño warming of the seas has caused algae blooms along our coast; resulting in blockage of the desalination plants. Six of them have closed down and we're facing a water shortage. If everyone is more careful of using water, we'd be ok. This is the time when community effort and goodwill is needed to avert a crisis. It's something we can control. Be that as it may, prices of foodstuffs are still high. Lifestyles have changed to adapt to this economic situation. But what worries me is the price of medicines. While insurance covers most of my medications, the most expensive ones are not covered. That's a struggle we'll have to work on. 

Surprise rain

175th anniversary poster

 What a surprise we had yesterday! Woke up to rain falling ... in August! We had expected this unusual weather because a huge storm had struck Cyprus, bringing hail, rain, lower temperatures and strong winds. It did hit us ... but only after 36 hours. A rather slow-moving storm. It was a pleasant surprise as the air was cleansed and the heat wave was broken. But the humidity increased so the laundry on the rack could not dry. 

The old French hospital celebrated 175 years since its foundation. Built over the remains of the Lazarium - a hospital for lepers in the 11th century manned by the Hospitaller Knights - the modern French hospital serves as the only palliative care hospital in the city. Runned by the Sosters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, the Irish and Maltese nuns are now very old and replaced by younger Indian and Burmese nuns. On the festive posters, they have a lovely saying "We may not be able to add days to their lives, but we can add life to their days." That's the spirit of palliative care.

My blog just recorded 9740 views yesterday. The algorithm must have gone haywire ... or I'm being cyber-stalked.