Aqua Gym

‘Butt’ out of our beaches - Paula Manoli-Gray

Cyprus has once again topped the list for the cleanest bathing waters in Europe, and also has a large number of beaches that are holders of the prestigious Blue Flag award.

This is both welcome and wonderful news, and it makes me proud that our coasts are considered so highly outside of the island. But it also makes me wonder just how filthy the rest of the beaches around the world are if ours are so much cleaner in comparison!

For one, the cigarette butts alone would be enough to make me strip the coasts of their high awards and titles if I was the one judging them. My blood boils every time I see my kids make a sandcastle out of cigarette butts stuck together with a bit of sand.

Smokers reading this are going to get on their high horse and get all defensive about how cigarette butts are biodegradable and that they are not a hazard to the environment. Yes, smokers have the right to smoke – even on the beach if they want – although it stinks and spoils the natural ambience, but they don't have the right to leave our children playing in piles of their cigarette remnants.

First of all, it is darn right ugly, and seeing as we all – including the smokers – use these beaches for a large part of the year, don't we care what we are lying or swimming in at all? Furthermore, a lot of young children do pick things up off the sand and put them in their mouth, or as I just mentioned, end up sitting in them and making cigarette sandcastles.

They are also most certainly not environmentally friendly. It is a myth that cigarettes are easily biodegradable. Yes, some have been found to degrade within 1-12 years, but others never decompose at all. If a smoker wants to use the 'biodegradable' argument then I would ask them this: would you like to see paper bags and tissues littered on the beach just because they too are 'biodegradable'? Just because cigarettes are sand coloured it is not okay to camouflage them in the sand.

And what about marine life ingesting cigarette ends? The safety of our sea creatures is already fragile, but if that doesn't sway people, consider this: whatever a fish eats, we eat. That lovely sushi you tuck into most likely has cigarette butts in it, ingested by the fish then by you through the food chain, and that really is 'food for thought'.

Of course, it is not just cigarettes that are spoiling our coasts and smokers are by no means the only perpetrators. I have seen a large and unusual number of items floating in the sea, and whilst that is in no way excusable, I can at least pick them up and throw them away – a task that would be near impossible with all the cigarette butts.

We all have a responsibility to keep our coasts clean, not only for the sake of receiving awards and accolades, but because our health and future as an island is as much entwined with the sea as it is with anything else.

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly, 21/06/14

Lavender Festival: Celebrating the healing powers of the Queen of Herbs

Lavender is an aromatic flowering plant which belongs to the Lamiaceae family. There are many varieties of lavender, some are flowering throughout the year, but have no aroma, others flower for a shorter period of time and are highly aromatic. You can't have it both ways! The lavender variety that has the most powerful medicinal properties is Lavandula Angustifolia (English Lavender). It is highly aromatic and flowers in June and July. Lavender is often called the Queen of Herbs, for its fantastic aroma, colour and because it has so many healing properties, you could fill a book with them.

Lavender has been used for centuries as a herbal remedy. It was used to relieve a variety of ailments, such as muscular aches and pains, insomnia, the ache of rheumatism and nervous headaches, colds and flu and digestive upsets. It also has antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsive, and anti-depressant properties.

To benefit from its healing power, lavender can be used internally as tea and externally as essential oil. The tea effectively deals with issues of the nervous system such as stress, anxiety, irritability, nervousness, depression, exhaustion and insomnia. It is also used to combat headaches, migraines, colds and flu, upset stomach and digestive disorders.

To make a relaxing lavender tea, simply pour boiling water over half a teaspoon of dried lavender flowers for one cup of tea. Leave it to steep for 10 minutes, then strain and drink. To use as ice tea, leave the tea to cool after straining and put in the fridge to chill.

At Cyherbia we also make a liqueur with lavender, which is an ideal nightcap. It takes you into Morpheus' arms in no time!

On the skin, lavender essential oil is an effective remedy for acne. Simply dab a drop of lavender oil directly on blemishes. The oil disinfects and dries out the spot without drying out the skin. Face cream and tonic made with lavender are ideal for all skin types but especially for skin with blemishes. The oil can also be used on wounds, burns and scaldings. Lavender oil soothes insect bites and acts also as a mosquito repellent. It is one of the few essential oils which can be used neat on the skin.

Lavender is also a well known moth repellent. Put a few organza lavender bags in your wardrobes to keep your clothes free from moths. A lavender bag will keep its scent for several years. Once in a while you may agitate the contents a little to release more aroma.

All these wonderful healing powers certainly deserve our attention. CyHerbia Herb Gardens in Avgorou will host their third annual Lavender Festival from Saturday June 14th until Sunday June 29th. During the Festival visitors can take a stroll in the lavender lined herb gardens, witness the extraction of lavender essential oil, taste unique homemade biscuits, ice cream, ice tea and liqueur made with lavender, as well as take part in various craft workshops, also with lavender. The gardens will be open daily from 9 am till 6 pm. This is truly the most fragrant festival of the year and not to be missed!

On Saturday the 21st of June at 12.30 the Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment will officially open Cyherbia's new distillation unit.

For more information please visit www.cyherbia.com, www.facebook.com/cyherbia, or Tel 99915443

Just So Crafty

Bare it all… but only on the beach! - Paula Manoli-Gray

After a patchy period, I think we can safely say the hot weather is here to stay and it is officially summer 2014!

I love the sea. Not the beach, as I don't care for sunbathing and have become more paranoid about skin damage as I have got older, but the sea I adore and can happily spend hours and hours of bliss in the briny waters.

Unfortunately, there comes a price for the pleasure of enjoying our coasts, and that is the requirement to strip off into something much smaller and more revealing than I would wear at any other time. Personally, I don't wear leggings, short skirts, hot pants, tight tops, or skinny jeans, all on account of my wobbly bits and imperfections. I hate communal changing rooms in clothes shops and the gym. If a gust of wind threatens to blow my (long) skirt up I will be filled with terror. Yet, you will find me on the beach in my swimwear like none of these issues matter. It's not that I suddenly become more confident, but simply because 'it's the beach'!

And what about hair? So many women run like the wind if it threatens to rain for fear their hair will get wet and frizzy… but not at the beach!

How does the beach manage to strip away our normal inhibitions and have us parading around in smalls? It always amuses and confounds me as to why we have one rule – or set of emotions – for our everyday wear and another for the beach. It is as though there is an invisible line where we feel okay on one side, but not on the other. If someone tried to take a peek at our underwear at any other time or in another place, many (like myself) would probably not be happy, and would be embarrassed, mortified or humiliated. But not at the beach, we simply call underwear 'bikini' and it is magically okay!

Of course, there are also many who live for the chance to strip off and show their honed, toned bodies. You will find them mainly at the trendy spots of McKenzie, dancing in itsy bitsy swimwear and turning the colour of chocolate – most likely without adequate sun protection.

As for me, I like to spend my summers on the un-trendy beaches, anonymous and modestly presented, face covered by a huge hat, hoping I don't run into all the people I work with on the 'outside world'. I would never want them to see me in my underwear, but I guess none of that matters here… because it is THE BEACH!

First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly, 14/-6/14