2016 was OK.....

.....but in 2017, my brother was diagnosed with vascular dementia, which was not so good. Then 2018 was an absolute shocker! In February of that year, my lifelong friend of fifty-three years and an incredibly talented musician, passed away in hospital with a sepsis infection. And even much more sorrow in November! My partner and soulmate was taken by cancer 😭 As for 2019, that was a bit of a non event as well, apart from the first case of coronavirus being detected in China, which no-one deserves!

OK, that's enough doom and gloom for now, so here is something nice to end the day with. This is a Violet Carpenter Bee, which was flitting about in my garden today.

Well, it has been some time (To say the least, as this post was started near the end of 2016!) since my last post for many reasons but nothing to do with hanging up my 'gloves.' A generative disease called old age has dealt me a blow in the form of a herniation on my spine, which inflamed my sciatic nerve. The agony it served upon me stopped me in my tracks but after a series of injections and specific exercises, it has reduced the pain factor considerably, making life a little more bearable. Anyway, enough of my trials and tribulations.

Progress is slow when it comes to technology but by the beginning of January 2015 my BOT was beginning to make a small profit, a very small profit. By BOT, I mean an automated betting software which places bets if and when all the values of the thresholds set (By me) are met. Those gains are purely dependant on the amount bet and the odds returned. My software is set to place five two pound bets per race, making a liability of ten pounds. Percentage wise, the returns are small, between nine and thirteen percent (Not including commission of course) Progress would have been much better but for software bugs. Software bugs are a nightmare and debugging software as complex as mine is even more of a nightmare. I had suspected for some time that the programmer I had engaged (Via the internet) was not as sharp as he made out!

By August 2015 I became totally cheesed off of emails flying backwards and forwards on a daily basis between myself and the programmer. Composing lengthy emails of a technical nature was time consuming, especially when it is lacking in technical knowledge (That's me) trying to explain in laymans terms what exactly was going wrong. Programmer's are all geek's, which is more a term of endearment than crisitism. As intelligent as they are, in almost every case, they have no clue in how to boil an egg and 'blinkered' in many aspects of real life. They're only interest is programming and everything else takes a back seat. Enough said!

After extensive exploration of the internet, in October 2015, I started corresponding with three prospective geeks. I made my choice a few weeks later, after seeing examples (Screen shots) of their work. I also found information on two of them on the internet and chose the one who worked from home. A self-employed geek working from home is a fair pointer that he has regular work coming in.

On the 17th January 2016 at Leopardstown, a 'freak' win produced a return of £3,881.99p A horse named Killultagh Vic, ridden by Ruby Walsh, was in a comfortable lead coming to the last fence. For those who are not into horse racing, Ruby Walsh is (Now retired) one of the most experienced and talented Irish jockeys in the modern era. The actual race report read:

Led, 6 lengths clear halfway, reduced advantage 2 out, travelled powerfully and 4 lengths clear when sprawled badly on landing last fence, rider lost iron and dropped to 3rd, stayed on, accelerated past two runners on run-in to lead again close home.

The horse won the race by three-quarters of a length! Below is the video showing the amazing turn of hoof and talent/determination of the rider.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pRt688PyRk

Below are the five auto bets (minus the commission) placed by my BOT.

17/01/2016 Killultagh Vic 15:34:45 11.00 x £2 £19.02

17/01/2016 Killultagh Vic 15:34:45 1000.00 x £2 £1900.10

17/01/2016 Killultagh Vic 15:34:45 1000.00 x £2 £1900.10

17/01/2016 Killultagh Vic 15:34:46 11.00 x £2 £19.02

17/01/2016 Killultagh Vic 15:34:47 24.00 x £2 £43.75

The chances of the above occurring again must be almost as rare, if not more than coming across a hen's teeth!

A summary of the autobets placed would possibly read like this:

Almost definitely, the five bets (Lay bets) placed against my backing bets, were placed manually by a punter but more likely punter's, who were actually watching the race on screen live as it took place. I use the word 'live' loosely, as Betfair impose a two second delay on all bets being placed (To prevent cheating) plus, there is always an on-screen delay. So as soon as the horse is seen sprawling after the fence, fingers are in action around the world, placing bets against the horse winning the race (Lay bets)

On studying my log, which refreshes five times a second, I estimate that my five auto bets were placed very close to two seconds before the horse jumped the fence. So my bet was ready to be matched by a lay bet as the horse started to go down after the fence. Watching races live on-screen, whether on terrestrial or 'piped' video (Even at the bookies, which have the fastest feeds) can be described as 'fools gold,' and a waste of time and money, as is studying race form, especially if one is an 'ordinary' punter, if there is such a thing as an ordinary punter.

By the end of 2016, my BOT (With the help of Killultagh Vic and Ruby Walsh) had made me a tidy profit, which came close to my yearly state pension. However, one is never satisfied and wants to do better, or is it simply inherent human greed? The latter is the closest to the truth, even though I do not like to admit it (To be continued)

PART TWO: Research, development and beyond

I scoured the internet for what seemed ages, looking for a suitable third party software which would eventually link my application to an online exchange betting site. That in itself was an arduous and laborious 'minefield' to navigate. Quite simply put, ninety-nine point nine percent of third party software available are a total waste of time and money. Most of the third party software providers allowed a free trial period, varying from seven days to a month. After trying out three software vendors, I made my choice and started to learn the parts of the program I considered to be best suited/relevant to the end product I had in mind (I will not name the software or company, for good reason, as will be revealed as the story unfolds)

The software I finally decided on was the best of the rest but only just. It had versatility and was thoughtfully set out. Personally, it had far too many whistles and bells, attempting to cater for all kinds of betting strategies, which for certain punters was another one of it's strengths. As a consequence, it is almost impossible, if not futile, to learn every aspect of the software. One of the things that sold itself to me was it's ability to adjust the refresh rate down to 0.2s. That means the odds updated five times a second (Dependant on internet speed of course) which is just one of the critical factors determining the outcome of a race. Unfortunately, the user manual was difficult to navigate, badly written, with some of the sections leaving one scratching ones head. To counter the user manuals shortcomings, the software vendor in question had a user forum which was (Past tense used as things changed over time) well monitored and many experienced users only too keen to show off their skills. I should point out that initially, while developing the strategy for my own application software, all my bets were manually placed by me. My initial game plan was to manually place a bet in-play (While the race was actually in progress) on a horse as near to the end of the race and which looked most likely to win, using the visual aspects of the software. At the end of my trial period, I paid for a further months subscription and ended up using the software for just over two years.

After about five months of collecting data which I considered to be relevant, it was time to put together a specification which I could put before a programer. Firstly though, I had to find a suitably experienced programer to code my application, which was yet another time consuming task and at times very stressful. Firstly it was stressful because code writers/programmers are a rare breed of characters who I will label from now on as geek's (In the nicest possible way you understand) Secondly, they are never ever able to achieve exactly what is written on the tin. In their defence, if anyone was able to give me a working piece of software which does not contain 'bugs,' I would snatch their hands off. As one of my programmers accurately wrote:

"Programming is like trying to estimate something you haven't done yet."

Having got that far into the project, the next stage of proceedings turned into a complete 'night and day' nightmare, which seemed as though it was never ever going to go away! Putting down on paper 'something you haven't done yet' and getting a geek to make sense of it is worse than knocking on the door of a first dates house and being confronted by her dad! I know, I have been there quite a few times! So, yet another six months down the line (We are now talking 17th June 2015) the excitement of receiving the first version of ones program disappears as soon as one opens the program and presses start! By October of the same year and twenty-eight' corrected' versions on, yet still no nearer to a fully de-bugged working software. Enough was enough and I sacked the cowboy geek. I formulated a plan of action to recruit a new geek and went looking for a replacement.

I had just learnt a big expensive lesson by being in far too much of a hurry to do something I had never done before! I went to great lengths to ask all the right questions of any prospective geek. I also paid for a report from an independent IT consulting agency, which confirmed my suspicions as to why the program kept crashing. By the beginning of December 2015, I was fairly confident I had found the right geek? Once I had all his details, qualifications, an internationally accepted legal and signed NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) I went about making sure my new geek was who he said he was. Once all the checks were complete and validated, I asked for him to evaluate the last version of the program delivered by the previous geek (To make sure his evaluation was consistent with the consultancy report and it was spot on)

A good place for another stop, me thinks. If anyone who happens to read this blog and has any questions or comments, good or bad, then please feel free to post. I do not use filtering as free speech and say-it-as it-is, is the order of the day.

How do I begin to tell the story of how I became, firstly, a 'failed' gambler, a researcher, then finally a developer of an application which would completely and utterly drive my way of life for more than three years to date? Well of course the obvious answer is.....start from the beginning. So I will.

Although I may have skimmed over my interest in horse and horse racing just over three years ago, things have moved on somewhat. An acquaintance I made here in Cyprus over six year's ago, who by chance happened to own five bookmakers, suggested I looked into horse race trading (Arbitrage trading) to make extra cash. Very basically a punter can back or lay a horse (Back against it winning) on countless online exchange bookmakers. I researched the idea for a few days and it fascinated the hell out of me. A few weeks later I opened an account with the company I decided gave the best odds return and the best liquidity (Cash flow) There are oodles of exchange bookmakers to stay well clear of, as they are robbing bastards! I only wish I was able to name them but I would be at great risk of going bankrupt!

I paper traded backing and laying horses (i.e. I didn't put real money on) for another few weeks, feeling quite confident I could handle it. Could I hell! As soon as real money was involved it became too stressful and after a few hours I threw in the towel as my blood pressure shot through the ceiling ending in outer space! The truth, if I am honest and I am for my sins; my brain was just not fast enough and could not communicate fast enough with my refresh finger! But the bug had bitten and a void appeared which needed to be filled. Besides, I love a challenge, hate losing and giving in is not part of my make-up. I then went back to basics and did much trolling of the internet. I thanked my lucky stars I stopped when I did. I found out that over the last seven years, because every Tom Dick and Harry jumped on the bandwagon. The bottom had simply fallen out of the market. Some punter's who had made millions over the year's 'trading' were losing it all and taking their own lives! I actually knew a person who made over a million pounds in less than two years and lost it all in one afternoon! Sad, very sad but even sadder for his wife and three children!

On a brighter note. Having decided self destruction was not my cup of tea, I went back to basics. For six months I studied everything one can imagine to do with horse racing. Form, leading trainers, riders, the list just goes on and on endlessly. One of the first things I learn't, countless times the hard way, was if there are ten or even 40 or even more horses in a race (As per the Derby) Any one of those brave jockeys and up-for-it horses can and more often than not do win. Even a long in the tooth fourteen year old hag, ready for the knacker's yard can and does win! The last thing I learnt, was that the 'form book' can be thrown out the window, as form stands for nothing. Really, believe me. If only horses could talk, tipsters, form books etc would not be worth a jot!

Horses have a mind of their own and if it is not in the mood on the day, or decides the fence fastly approaching does not appeal, the jockey is helpless in changing the horse's mind and just has to accept the consequences. I have to add that horses in general will take the fence in it's stride and really are up-for-it, as there is nothing a horse likes doing more than jumping fences. Unfortunately I found out to my cost many years ago, that even if YOU have no intention of jumping an obstacle, an excited horse in race mode has no brakes and will go for it! And, if in mid flight it happens to change it's mind, pray! But that is another story and one that will be told in my second (Second of three dramatised memoirs) which I have been trying to finish for over four years. Bit of a plug here: Boy to Man by Nicky Lee is available as an Ebook on Amazon.co.uk and other Amazon sites around the world.

Back to post: There are many downsides to betting on the in-play betting exchange markets. The actual in-play page which lists the runner's, odds etc etc is monotonously slow. For a start there is an imposed two second in-play delay imposed by the site to prevent 'foul-play.' So if you are watching the race on your TV, or any other media providers screen, the exchange screen goes suspended (Race over) while the race is still in progress on screen! The race can be won or lost in a millisecond if a horse wins by a nose. Figure that. So, after considerable practice of getting it wrong, ones brain begins to adjust to the in-play delay, then another drawback becomes apparent. There is just one screen refresh setting (The amount of times the odds are refreshed) which if memory serves me right is five seconds! (Correction: The fastest refresh setting is one second but considering a horse in full flight can cover approximately seventeen yards in one second; so yet again, figure that!) The site is kind enough to provide a refresh button, which can be pressed as many times as you are able to in one second. So once you acclimatise to that, you need to take a visit to your doctor to get an appointment for physiotherapy treatment because you have repetitive strain syndrome! (I know, you see a lot a exclamation marks but believe me when I tell you, there are still nowhere near enough!) I remember how painful ones wrist becomes, as  many years ago I was treated for months on end to get rid of the ailment! There was no way I was ever going there again! As lovely as most of the physiotherapist ladies were. Mind you some of the men were nice too but I'm not that way inclined, if you get my drift.

After a few days of pressing that dreaded refresh button, I thought sod this! There had be a better way of doing things and so there was. So, after more internet searches, I discovered there are countless third party software around which, for a price of course, can be customised to ones own preferences. I also came across a very interesting article about racing BOTS (A program which monitors and sits between the third party software and the betting exchange site, scraping data via the third party software)

Phew! It's not easy trying to detail the pitfalls of online in-play betting. My brain hurts! Therefore I think this is a good place to take a welcome break. Besides, if I have not lost you, or bored you brainless, you just may return and read the next installment.

I'm back, as Arnie would say. Three years on and an awful lot of moons have risen and fallen, as well as water passed under the bridge. I am still a sixteen year old but now in a sixty-five year old body. A knee replacement, various health issues and a 'new lease' of life has entered my 'domain.' 

The main reason I have not posted in nearly three years is I have a new 'hobby.' Well (Two new hobbies to be exact) 

Hobby number one: In June 2014, I qualified as a Padi advanced diver. I cannot afford to dive on a regular basis but when I can afford it, it gives me pleasure which is difficult to describe. Just type 'the wonders of diving' into your browser and take a good look at some of the incredible underwater images. To use a over-used phrase, it's like being on another planet. Next summer, if finances permit, I plan to spend at least a week on a 'diving boat' on the Red Sea. Hobby number two in the beginning was just a pastime to keep me out of the burning sun of Cyprus but has now become the main driving force in my life. It needs a post of it's own, so watch this space.

Time...

... for a visit to my friends in South Cyprus.

It's been over a year (So I found out to my cost!) since I visited my lifelong friends who live up in the hills around sixteen miles from Pahfos. I got to the border crossing early last Saturday morning. When I got to the Greek side of the border I went to the window where you have to get insurance. The kind lady asked me for my 'MOT' certificate. Well, the 'MOT' only lasts twelve months and mine had run out! She then told me that I would have to come back on Monday morning as 'MOT'S' are only done Monday to Fridays! I returned to the North's border crossing with my tail between my legs and steam coming out of my ears!

 

There I was again, very early Monday morning, keen as mustard to get to my friends in good time. Got the 'MOT' (Oh, the 'MOT'S' are a farce) paid my thirty Euro's for a months insurance (The robbing git's) and headed over to the Greek customs. Because I have a large Transit van they insist on looking in every nook and cranny, fair enough. I had two crates of Effes (Turkis Larger) which my friends husband is rather keen on and devours like it were cups of tea and the customs man didn't flick an eye-lid at them but when he saw the stack of firewood I keep in the van, his finger wagged profusely and told me I could not cross and to take it back home and try again!

 

Off I headed back to the Turkish border, again! On my way back I wondered if the nice Turkish customs man would let me unload the logs there and pick them up on my way back? 'Of course you can,' he said in a bright cheery voice. Fifteen minuets later, around half a ton of firewood was neatly stacked behind the nice customs mans shed. Mind you by the time I finished I must have lost a few pounds in that heat (Around eighty-five degrees) and of course, was sweating like a pig! Back I went again and this time, after making me open up the back of the van again, he waved me through and off I trundled.

 

An hour and a half later I was splashing around in my friends swimming pool, the annoyances of getting across the border but just a distant memory. That evening was spent in conversation, sipping the local wine on the patio overlooking the Troodos mountain range and the peak of Mount Olympus.

 

Here are a few pictures I took over the three days.

 

My friends cat. They have three others. The majority of Ex-Pats have at least one rescue animal. One of my friends back in the North has seven cats and three dogs; his wife works at the local animal rescue centre.

This is Toffee and when I first arrived she wouldn't come near me and in no time she was jumping up on my lap, trying to lick my face.

Apart from the obvious, can you tell it's a girl? What a little tart :-)

And this is Lado, who I nick-named flip-flop. He would not come near me at all during my stay. In another life he must have been abused by a man. He has Listmania, which is caused by a sand fly infection and walks around very awkwardly. Due to the Listmania he is on medication and will be for the rest of his life.

This large caterpillar crawled across the tiled patio.

This is Erdo III registered in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Allegedly the captian and second mate had forged papers and should not have been in charge of such a large vessel in the first place. It struck the rocks about six miles south of Pahfos on the night of 7th December 2010 during a heavy storm.

It is said the captain stayed on the vessel for some time and  eventually had to be dragged off the ship.

This beautiful Chameleon was crossing the road and my friend had to swerve to miss it!

'What are you looking at you ugly git?'

We placed it in this tree and off it went, happy as Larry.

Notice the colour change, which was almost instant and a minuet later it was gone.

Wednesday afternoon; ok I own up and most of the evening, was spent playing Jenga.

It took me at least six goes at getting this shot, after which I joined in. And guess what? I was the only one who never lost a game. Mind you, that may have been because I was the only one drinking soft drinks, as I was doing the driving.

 

After four days in the South, it was a good feeling, as I approached Nicosia, to see the mountain range that sits along the occupied North, stretching off into the distance towards the Pan-handle, disappearing into the heat haze. Every time, a smile comes to my face, as the massive Turkish flag, laid out painted red and white on boulders reminds the people of the South, the might of the backing TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) has and it is lit up at night :-) Although of it's size, it is much more subtle than the distasteful propaganda which is plastered on the Greek side of the border at the Ledra crossing in Nicosia.

A normal day.....

....in paradise.

My days pretty much follow a similar pattern. I normally rise between seven and eight am, depending of course if I was out the night before, in which case it can stretch to well gone ten am. On those late mornings I usually curse myself for wasting half the day 'stinking' in my hammock. Oh, if I have not already said, since I slept in a hammock in the back of my Transit van throughout my journey to Cyprus, I have it set up across the arch between the dinning room and the kitchen (Sitting next to and parallel with my beloved Honda Fireblade)

 

I brew up my first cuppa then take a walk around the garden and take in deep breaths of the wonderful Mediterranean air. After checking my emails I pour out a healthy supply of Cornflakes covered with a whole Banana sliced up. Occasionally I go over to the Black Olive and have a fry-up of my favourite breakfast, bacon and tomato, with the lovely local fresh bread. Whatever I get up to, I am usually back home to check out the odds available on the Bookmakers sites as soon as they are available (Ten am UK time which is midday Cyprus time) After that I pull on my cosy and go down to my local beach for my daily swim. By the time I get home the swim and the heat has drained me and I fall into my hammock for my siesta. I set the alarm to wake me around three pm Cyprus time (One pm UK time) and fire up the laptop and my desktop computer and start checking the form of the horses and make a list of each race where I think I will be able to make a 'killing' and wait for 'the off,' which is around two pm UK time and the last race is around nine pm. I do not always endure the seven hours, which purely depends on me hitting my target for the day, so once I have achieved it, I log off. I wish it was as simple as it sounds but believe me it is not, as more often than not I am chasing losses! As I have said before, if it was easy, everyone and his dog would be doing it. By the time I finish I am ready to chill and watch a bit of telly on the computer and usually hit my hammock around midnight. and that is my average day.

 

Well, here I am again sitting in front of the laptop instead of being outside enjoying the blasting rays of the sun. It is coming up to ten-thirty am and it is already a sweltering eighty-four degrees projected to rise to ninety-four degrees. But I have a few interesting pictures I would like to post of something I came across while snorkelling last Friday.

 

Whatever this creature was when it was alive, it must have been a fair size. The holes for it's eyes measure nearly 25mm across. The scull measures nearly 125mm across and the back-bone, excluding the spines is 25mm across.

I would not like to come face to face with this monster if it was alive. Sadly it's jaw is missing, which I am fairly certain would reveal some nasty looking teeth!

 

Here it is once I got it home. I lost about six vertebrae while dragging it to the shore. The bits you can see below the head and spine is tissue which remained after the local undersea habitation had their fill.

 

I will be making enquiries to see if the object can be identified and will of course update you all in due course. It is now nearly midday and time for my daily swim. I wonder what I will come across today. If it's this one elder brother, please pray for my safe return!

I apologise....

.....to one and all for not keeping up my blog page but (I have had countless complaints!) I do have a few good excuses to fall back on. Due to a financial change of circumstance, I have had to find a way of subsidising my meagre pension. Therefore, yet again, I have had to learn a new 'profession.'  I am now a trainee online Bookmaker!

 

One of my very good friends here in Cyprus is a Bookmaker and has a line of betting shops back in the UK. He suggested I take a look at Arbitrage trading. I rushed back home to my trusty laptop which worked hard into the early hours of the morning. I'm sure you all know the saying, 'if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.' After more than a month of research, I was still not convinced, or more accurately, I just could not get my head around the process until I came across an article which compared it to trading in commodities on the Stock Market i.e. you buy say a ton of widget's for £10 and with the next breath sell the widget's for £10.50p therefore making a small profit. So it is with any sporting event one cares to specialise in. In my case it is horse racing. So, as soon as the online horse racing Bookmakers open their books, it's a matter of looking at the odds on offer and comparing the bookmakers odds with online exchange betting sites odds, which are more generous than the online betting sites. Therefore since last September, seven days a week, my time has been entirely devoted to learning how to make a modest daily gain and I am still learning.

 

I have not bothered to go into too much detail above because although arbitrage trading in it's basic form is simple as described above, the physical aspect of betting on a horse to lose a race on a exchange betting site is far from simplistic. I paper traded (Used exchange betting sites without actually placing a real bet) for four months before going live.  It is physically and mentally exhausting sitting in front of a computer for up to five or six hours seven days a week, so it's not for everyone. "If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it," so I keep seeing it written. It takes a lot of dedication and discipline getting it right every time, which is not always possible but apart from the financial benefits at my age it keeps the grey cells working, the few I still have that is :-)

 

My second excuse, although it is a weak one, is back in February of this year, I had to return to the UK for a complete knee replacement. Ok, I know some people will be thinking I'm a cheeky so and so for returning to the UK for the operation. To those I simply say that it is my right by the fact I paid my dues to the UK Government for forty-four years. I was away for over three months before I was fit enough to travel back to my beloved Cyprus: my small piece of paradise.

 

OK, it's time for me to go for my daily swim in the warm Mediterranean Sea, then my afternoon siesta, after which my daily work begins in front of my computer.

A sad day...

...in Dip Karpaz.

Not sure where to start with this post, so I will start with the sad end. My beloved Boysie decided to bow out of this world by head-butting the front of a car! I have to make light of it, because if I didn't, I'd be bawling my eyes out again.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have made two trips to visit my friends David and Eva, to drop off various bits of furniture they purchased from expats (There seems to be a bit of a mass exodus at the moment!) On the first trip, Boysie took ill with what we thought was heat stroke. He had me worrying myself sick as he disappeared into one of the surrounding fields not to return until just after midnight! It was the first time I prayed since I was twelve years of age.

Last Saturday I returned with the second load and that evening we planned to eat out. Boysie sat with us outside in the back garden as we watched a beautiful sunset, after which we planned to walk to the Damla Restaurant, which is no more than five minutes up the road. Boysie wandered into the undergrowth by the back door. We called him but he didn’t come out and must have hopped out without us noticing. We searched and called for him but he never appeared, so we decided to walk up to the restaurant thinking he would turn up and follow our scent. When we got there, the owners daughter said they had seen Boysie outside the restaurant no more than half an hour previous. That was the last time he was seen alive by those who knew him!

The magnificent Boysie, just before he saw his last sunset.

Boysie's resting place next to a young almond tree at the back of Eva and David's garden.

Boysie chilling with us as the sun went down.

Many years ago, I had a purebred German Shepard bitch called Bonnie, whose intelligence, gentleness and temperament, I believed, could never be surpassed. Well, Boysie proved me wrong. In the all too short space of time we shared our lives together, he was that bright shining shooting star we see up in the sky on a warm summer's night, which we will never forget. Everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him fell in love with him but nobody more so than I. Rest in peace my beloved Boysie.



Just a few...

...Pics.

With the wonderful warm conditions here in North Cyprus, sorry all you back in the UK, here are a few photo's I have taken. There are a myriad of strange and beautiful creatures that abound here. There are of course a few that are not guite so beautiful and not quite so charming to be around and yes, if given the chance, they will appear here on my blog as well. I have yet to come face to face with a couple, namely the Blunt Nosed Viper and the Tarantula.

This not so wonderful hornet sounded like an Apatche helicopter buzzing  round my living room and frightened the shit out of me. I sprayed it with fly killer and twenty four hours later it was still breathing! This beast was well over an inch long.

This is a Carpenter bee gathering pollen. It is about an inch long. Yes it was a small Sunflower.

Carpenter bee going in for a smooth landing

This is a tree frog (Hyla Savigny) They are very small so I had to heavily crop, therefore the image is not a sharp as it should be. I took this photo back in 2003.

These little 'critters' are Cicada's and make the most horendous noise from sunrise to sunset.

Here is a Cyprus bee. A lot less scary than a Hornet.

A baby Preying Mantis, no more than an inch long. This little fella sat on the base of my lamp for a few hours, grabbing at anything that flew past its nose but without much success.

Here he is from a slightly different angle. His head movements were slightly unnerving as it's head moved from centre to right or visa versa in one rapid movement.

Here he is again, peeping over the top and giving me the evil eye; as in, come any closer and I'll bite your head off.

This little wonder of Nature has been guarding its territory since early this morning, in my back garden.

P.S. I passed my open divers course on the 18th July and I'm now a certified PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) diver, able to dive to a maximum depth of 18 metres (60 feet)

What a weekend...

...that was. My first Glastonvicki here in North Cyprus and it did not disappoint. I arrived too late for last years event but if I'd known about Glastonvicki before hand, I would have left the U.K. a month earlier. All the acts were superb but the highlight of the day had to be young James on drums, what a star! There is no story to tell a such, as the pictures say it all. Things kicked off with the youngsters and progressed to the adult acts as the afternoon wore on. The weather too was hot, the day being the hottest of the year so far, peaking at 104f!

This was Take 7 who started the proceedings with half an hour of classic rock songs, kicking off with Sweet Child of Mine, originally made a hit by the American rock group Guns and Roses.

A mother and son duet calling themselves Why so Serious.

These youngsters called themselves Toxic Rockers but toxic they were not.

This young eleven year old bass player playing with Toxic Rockers, certainly knew how to rock.

Another Toxic rocker making sure she hit the right chords.

This duet called themselves Karma and were excelleent.

And here is young James, down on the running order as 'Drumming James' performing a twenty minute drum solo. For someone who has only been playing the drums for less than twelve months, he is on his way being star quality.

Here is a little star of a different order. This little puppy gate-crashed Glastonvicki and everyone thought he came with one of the festival goers. He was in fact a stray and was given a new home at the end of the day by an adoring fan.

This was a local band calling themselves Fireballs and performed rock songs from the sixties.

Two of four youngsters performing a couple of songs with Charlie Berry, a local ex-pat

Here are the other two, the one on the right being Ezel, Vicki, the organisers daughter

Here they are all together

Now, this is Ed, for one day only, as Jimi Hendrix and listed as Purple Haze. This young man oozes talent and has just been accepted into Music College in Nicosia. He has a bright future ahead of him on the music scene. I also have to mention his delightful girlfriend Ingrid, who is expecting a baby in the middle of next month

And here is young James, again, drumming with Purple Haze

Jimi Hendrix fans eat your heart out if this is not a true likeness of the famous 60's star

On June 18th 1967, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix smashed then burned his guitar on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival. Here on June 16th 2012, two days short of the forty-fifth anniversary of that piece of musical history, Ed re-inacts that scene

Stamping out the flamed flamed Strat that was a Fender

This tight outfit call themselves the Foreign Nationals. The drummer is of course James. The four young lads, all being different foreign nationals, hence the name, performed a set so tight, a cigarette paper could not be sqeezed in between each note!

The bass player thought the original Glastonbury Festival was held every year in Scotland, hence the kilt. We had to forgive him as he hails from America

And yet again James with the Foriegn Nationals beating those drums to pieces

This 'old boy' has to have a deserved mention as he was the compare, as he was last year, for Glastonvicki. He is a talent in his own right and kept the proceedings flowing

This is my friend (Well, I hope he's still my friend after Saturday) Mr Barry Snakes to you and me. He is a guitarist extraordinare and he supplied the P.A. and expertly mixed the sound for all the bands who performed on the day

And to close (This is Glastonvicki herself, Vicki Karaca) caught in the act of taking a few pictures. The look on her face would indicate she has been caught in the act of doing something really naughty! This amazing woman works tirelessly to make The Black Olive and Glastonvicki the success that it is. Without her and her dedicated husband Unal, the local music scene would not be what it is today here in North Cyprus. As the Romans would say, Hail Vicki Karaca.

'Hey vick's, perhaps by next years festival you will have learnt to play the bass to at least one track and even more ambitously be on stage with Ezel and your boy Ozan, who from what I've heard so far, is coming on strong with his guitar playing.