A Tour of The Back of Beyond

Finding Back of Beyond

Look for the Art Studio sign

- on the Latchi to Neo Chorio Road, just after the hillside Z bend, turn Left

Back of Beyond

Situated in a tranquil valley

on the approaches to the Village of Neo Chorio and the Akamas Peninsula, this a perfect place for Harry and Sheila to gain inspiration for their painting and writing.

The Studio

pop in through the back gate

- give the bell some 'wellie' and Sheila or Harry will greet you

A Garden to Enjoy

throughout the seasons

offering peace and tranquility

Lazy Lizard

- content in the Back of Beyond sunshine

A Cool Corner

- poolside retreat

one of many interesting corners in which to sit peacefully.

Springtime

the Judas tree in full blossom

Time for a tune

Always ready for a musical interlude

- Harry, ever ready to join with friends in an impromptu session.

Sheila's Blog - 89

NEWS FLASH!

At last the first of my e-books in the Back of Beyond Trilogy, ‘The Back of Beyond,’ is available on Amazon Kindle now at an extremely economical price. The second, ‘Beyond our Dreams,’ is scheduled to follow in June.

Following the years of drought and constant water shortage here in Cyprus, this year we have an abundance of water, with several of the island’s dams overflowing into the dry river beds and flood plains below. Pray we don’t waste it during the hot, dry months just because it’s there for the taking.

The torrential rains of winter soaked into the parched earth, refreshing dry scrubland and turning the ochre and burnt umber vegetation to diverse shades of vibrant green. The anemones, which carpet this area in spring, were a magnificent sight and early species of wild orchids were sturdy and plentiful. Later specimens, blooming towards the end of March, were larger than life.

Wild orchids in the forest

We have rescued many wild orchids over the years before bulldozers, clearing ground for construction, have wiped out their habitat. These we have transplanted in the wild part of our garden or in the little forest behind the studio. It is definitely worth the effort - the photograph you see here shows a flourishing group of Orchis Italica, which contains a more unusual white, or albino, flower that otherwise would have been destroyed and concreted over.

The mimosa near the car port is heavily laden with richly golden blooms and the Judas tree by the front gate is a mass of violet purple blossom. Wild cyclamen are still in bloom all over the garden where, year on year, they spread further and further afield.

A nightingale was singing from the thicket in the lower orchard this morning – the glorious sound echoing through the valley. In the next few weeks many more will stop here, as they make landfall on their spring migration, and we will have the privilege of listening to their heart-stopping song before they carry on up to the mountains to breed.

Across the bay the mountains are still silvered with the vestiges of an early morning sea mist, the calm sea is shimmering brilliantly blue in the first warm rays of the sun and, once again, I am vividly reminded of how lucky we are to live in this still idyllic environment.

NOTE: My apologies once more for the problem I am experiencing in putting pictures with the blog, as well as the follow-on hiccup with ‘previous blogs.’ This should all be updated and remedied shortly.

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