Woke up at a respectable time this morning after a good night's sleep – I hadn't heard the dogs at all – and Buffy was happily curled up in a little nest in the blanket at the foot of the bed and had hardly stirred at all. The first thing I did was get out the computer and catch up with Mum on MSN, and read all the birthday messages on Facebook – it is nice being able to have that sort of contact with home and friends, even when you are on the opposite side of the world. I was still on the computer when I heard a horn at the front gate. It was Cris coming out for a ride. I felt bad cos I was still in my nightie, so I poked my head out the door to say Hi, and that I was about to get changed – she arranged with the grooms to have Nayzak and Shaboura saddled up, and when I was dressed I went over the house to catch up with Maryanne, Sabine and Cris.We went out for a nice ride, through villages and around through the farmland – saw the door to door fruit seller this time, he head melons and tomatoes, and a set of scales to weigh them, and the donkey cart was complete with a sun umbrella to keep the sun off the produce. It also appeared to be washing day, and there were a lot of clothes hanging from ropes strung between trees – no proper washing lines out here around the villages, but it does make for a rather colourful ride with all the clothes hanging beside the canal.
There were also very large gatherings of people around any of the taps that give fresh water – everyone was filling up their water containers.
Then there was the young boy in the village just behind Maryanne's who keeps asking to have his photo taken – I stopped Shaboura this time and got a very nice photo of him – will have to see if I can get some of them printed out for the kids before I go home.
After getting back it was over to the house to see how Maryanne and Sabine were getting along, just in time to see Sabine wrap gladwrap around Maryanne's knees to
keep them dry while she had a shower. One of the grooms then asked if I wanted to go for another ride – why not, it's my birthday after all, so they saddled up Bunduq for me (I haven't had a chance to ride him this visit), and with Waleed on Dooby and Hassam on Gameela we headed out through the villages and farmland again. Most of the time Waleed was leading, but there were times when Dooby decided to be his Doobyis self and I pushed Bunduq into the lead – the only problem with this is that although I am getting rather familiar with the trails and how the join together, I'm never sure of which way they are wanting to go, so I have to look back over my shoulder and take directions from them. Gameela was being a naughty girl too, and sidling over to fields to eat the grass – sneaky.
Once back, I sat talking to Pal and Sabine for a bit until Pal headed home, and then Maryanne decided to get some rest – Sabine and I then headed over to the guest house to try and get one of the rooms set up with her massage table in it – we disturbed so many geckos in there – they are so cute – unfortunately in moving one of the mattresses off the bed, there were some gecko eggs underneath the mattress – some got squashed, but I managed to rescue two – hopefully they will hatch. And we have managed to keep Buffy from chasing any of the geckos as well.
Sabine also showed me a dove's nest in one of the guest room windows, between the mosquito mesh and the shutters – how sweet :)
Cris and her husband Amr, along with Pat were the first to turn up, followed closely behind by Mona and her husband Brendan, who had just flown in from Istanbul. Cris headed straight into the kitchen where she started cooking up some lovely pasta. Not far behind were Pal and his wife, bearing a lovely roast of beef and roast vegetables.
After a little red wine and white wine (after it had chilled), we tucked in to a very very nice dinner. Great food, great company, great location, and the perfect time of day – we were all outside with a nice cool breeze blowing through. Unfortunately Maryanne was having a bit of a rough afternoon, so she was not able to join us (and the doctor has her on house arrest at least until the staples are out of her knees). But she was provided with some of the food also.
It was a lovely evening spent with good friends, but unfortunately it finished rather early, as people had to head back home to have a rest (and it isn't a nice drive out from the farm in the darkness). After everyone had left, Morad and Ramy turned up, so we sat outside some more, with a beer in hand, chatting.
After Ramy and Morad headed on their way, Sabine and I stayed up for a little bit longer before heading back to the guest house and off to bed.
Countryside ride 10:
Distance - 3.22km
Time - 1:03:12
Average speed - 3.1kmph
Max speed - 8.3kmph
Countryside ride 11:
Distance - 2.84km
Time - 0:56:16
Average speed - 3.0kmph
Max speed - 7.9kmph
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