Countdown

Just to update everyone,
Chester and I are going to have the first of our two planned wedding ceremonies, the first one being a very romantic private service with only two witnesses attending , we have to have this service to oblige the immigration visa rules , but still we want it to be very special and it will be of course , saying I do to the man I have loved and adored since we met on Christian Mingle Singles site 3 years back , who would have thought 2 people could fall in love without ever meeting face to face .....We did and its felt so perfect since day one.
The second ceremony we plan to hold around end of May or beginning of June , its not easy as we really would love to give the chance everyone including my relatives and friends to attend, not an easy task being across the other end of the Ocean ,but hopefully things will work out , having kids studying in different places and doing different things is one of the things to consider , and its a big expense nowdays to fly across the sky, oh to win the lottery and pay everyones tickets !
It really is feeling very exciting to me now , I feel like a young teenager again , I am so in love and so ready to become Mrs Weikel ( :
this Valentines day is going to be Very Special and I cant wait.
As soon as we have the second date confirmed we will inform everyone so be ready and watch this spot.....

luv ya my Cowboy

Lunatic in the snow ( :

Transcending: Words on Women and Strength by Kelly Corrigan

Dedicated to all my friends

Before and After

One month living in North Carolina and my footwear and feet seem to be on the decline , well the saying goes , when in Rome do as the Romans do...... hey im a Redneck gal already ; )

Wine Time again in Limassol

Once again its the famous Limassol Wine Festival , the festival has been an anual event since 1961 , and was only not held during the period of unrest during the cicvil wars that occurred on the Island in they years 64 and 74 .
its a wonderful event and has much to offer both locals and tourists to the island alike.
It seems there is always food at any special event here in Cyprus and the wine festival is one of the best events to sample almost every traditional kind of food available and inside the grounds of the central Public Gardens many local restaurant and cafes owners set up tables and chairs or just serve smaller dishes from stands along the walkways around the grounds to cater to the fancy of all the people , which are many and can see in one night alone 15,000 visitors.
This year I went along with my cousin Sharon and her daughter Andrea , they have been before and liked it so much that they asked me to go along again with them , it was the first night of their holidays and actually the last night of the festival which had already been on a full week, so it was their last chance ,so off we went , we bought some of the wine glasses at the entrance and proceeded to the first local wine comapny to test the varieties they had , there must be 5-6 that are set up and all of them offering such a wide selection of differnt types , well I am preferring dry red wine , but found some nice Rose ones too , Andrea really liked the sweet white ones , Sharon being a diabetic was restricted to just a few sips , but siad she liked the white also , we all tried the Commandaria which is really sweet and is more like a sweet Sherry , that particular wine is used as the communion wine in the churches here and is quite often given after a meal here in Cyprus .
after testing the wine we followed the wonderful aroma of the local 'souvlaki ' kebabs being grilled on the charcoals and found ourselves a nice table to rest and eat, oh the food was so good, well we had pepsi with that as being the driver home after I had to take care ,
After finishing our meal we started to stroll around and look at various little shows and displays that were taking place, they have some short plays and also some traditional dancing and singing , one dancer realy caught our eye , he was in a huge barrel actually dancing and treading on the grapes ! and yes Andrea and myself maybe feeling a little happy form the samples of wine we had ,decided to go and get in the barrel and join him ( :



it was a fun night and really we had a great time , so did a lot of others and some of them I think had really been doing the rounds of the free samples more than once and saw some some of the tourists who could hardly walk in a straight line ! there is a water display near the entrance and over the week I think more than one person had fallen inside it , luckily its not so deep and there is always someone there to pull them out ,pity I didnt catch a few of them on camera.

There is a very nice web site to read more about the history and traditions of this event which I will post here below,

http://www.limassolmunicipal.com.cy/wine/4.html

anyone getting the chance to go there to the festival in future years shouldnt miss it, get your glass raise it and say ' stin ygia sas ' which translated is all the best to your health

Diet Prayer

Father, My soul is ripped with riot

incited by my wicked diet.

"We Are What We Eat," said a wise old man!

Oh, if that's true, I'm a garbage can.

I want to rise on Judgment Day, that's plain!

but at my present weight, I'll need a crane.

So grant me strength, that I may not fall

into the clutches of cholesterol.

May my flesh with carrot-curls be dated,

that my soul may be poly unsaturated

And show me the light, that I may bear witness

to the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

And at oleomargarine I'll never mutter,

for the road to Hell is spread with butter.

And cream is cursed; and cake is awful;

and Satan is hiding in every waffle.

Mephistopheles lurks in provolone;

the Devil is in each slice of baloney,

Beelzebub is a chocolate drop,

and Lucifer is a lollipop.

Give me this day my daily slice

but, cut it thin and toast it twice.

I beg upon my dimpled knees,

deliver me from jujubees.

And when my days of trial are done,

and my war with malted milk is won,

Let me stand with Heavenly throng,

In a shining robe--size small & long.

I can do it! If You'll show to me,

the virtues of lettuce and celery.

If You'll teach me the evil of mayonnaise,

of pasta a la Milannaise, potatoes a la Lyonnaise

and crisp-fried chicken from the South.

Father, if you love me, shut my mouth.

Thanks and credit to Peter Ustinov the author of this marvellous poem






I went to the local store today to buy a pair of blue jeans, well I went there feeling quite happy and looking forward to getting a pair at half price as the last days of the sales were on and I havent bought a pair of jeans for years , well choosing a few from the display rail in various sizes I went off to the changing rooms to try them , ( thank goodness they were not those communal ones)
first pair wouldnt go past my knees , the next ones got past my knees but got halted by the excess butt I have , oh the last pair nearly got there but then failed to get zipped up to the top even though I was lying flat on the floor and trying to pull in my tummy muscles !
defeated I resigned myself to missing the bargain priced jeans and thought about heading off to the new club that opened just down the road to my house , 'Fat Fighters ' but then decided to buy myself some comfort food ( chocolate ) and a drink and go home and read the glossy magazine I bought , full of super slim models without an inch of fat to be seen , why do these publications never show women like me from every walk of life that are a little 'cuddly' and a little less than perfect( ok a lot )
the diet can start on Monday , but which monday of which year , who knows , anyone out there who reads my blog that knows some kind of diet that has tasty food and doesnt leave me starving can you please let me have it ....I want some blue jeans !

They Live in our hearts

As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.
To live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die.

The tide recedes, but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers in the land,
The music stops, and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains...
For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains.

The month of August will always be a month that in some ways remain more significant than others for both Chester and myself , its been 4 years now since both of us lost our spouses , the loves we had shared our lives with for so many happy years ,
never dreaming at that time in 2004 we would have another happy day without them , how wrong could we have been , well it certainly wasn’t easy , and for sure we spent many miserable dark gloomy days and nights grieving ,
Throughout that time I really did pray a lot to God , he is always there listening
Nicos and Gretchen , I believe with all of my heart that they were there in heaven together , planning a way to bring the two lost and lonely people they had left behind in the world together to share one very deep and devoted love , And they did , they made sure even though we were a huge Ocean apart that we found each other and found a love that could only be described as heaven sent

Today I didn’t want to stand at a graveside and be sad, I wanted to close my eyes and whisper a prayer of thanks for the love we had and the love we have received now , as the little passage above says in the last line
‘ For every joy that passes ,something beautiful remains ‘ and that beautiful something is the wonderful love Chester and I share today and forever more .


Nicos and Gretchen - , As long as we live, they too will live for they are now a part of us as we remember them.