3rd November, 2013
Glorious day! Sunny, bright blue skies and warm. Unfortunately, the papers are full of doom about freezing temperatures to come soon in November. This Global Warming. It’s so complicated isn’t it.
We don’t hear from the island for a month and then, suddenly, three different friends phone us all in a weekend. Yesterday it was our special friend asking how we were and then, this morning two more good friends were moved to contact us. It must be something in the water – or the sky. One this morning was telling us a funny story about an islander who has his boat moored in Kamares harbour – like so many others – and all the birds of Sifnos seem to be targeting this one boat to dump on. So much so that he has installed bird scaring equipment on the boat but all it is doing is amusing residents and further attracting the birds. Spooky! Bird Dumping Comes from Within. Could be a title for a book.
4th November, 2013
As everyone else trudged to the Station to go up to the City to WORK on this wonderfully sunny morning, Pauline and I undertook our one commitment of the day – 8.50 am Routine mammogram at Woking Walk-in Hospital. By 9.00 am, we have the rest of the day FREE.
Today, I am struggling to get to grips with Windows 8 after twenty years of growing up and through Windows 1 – 7 plus Vista. It’s rather fun to be really challenged.
I then have to research new-build property on the South Coast in case we do decide to market our apartment. I am looking at four bedroomed, detached houses. Back to the future!
5th November, 2013
A bit chilly and damp today. Hasn’t risen above 13C/55F today but tomorrow should be warmer. The only trouble with colder weather is that it increases the appetite. Not good when one is on a diet although my weight is still going down. I’ve lost a stone and a half since leaving Greece.
Pauline is in ‘Decorating Mode’! If we are going to sell our Apartment and that is not decided yet, she will want it to look perrrffect, Not that it needs it but, if we ever market a property, she has STANDARDS! Off to Homebase for some paint, rollers and brushes.
We had to be back for a burglar alarm adviser. We were unhappy with our current company, Custom Security Alarms, who just didn’t provide a good service for £250.00 per year. We are swapping to ADT , a much bigger company with a better reputation.
6th November, 2013
A spectacularly uneventful and grey day. I spent it researching new build properties on the Sussex coast. They are still less than an hour from central London but prices are so much cheaper. We are retreating to a four bedroomed detached. We have established that we are just not ready for apartment living.
7th November, 2013
An early start on a mild, bright and dry day. By 6.45 am, I was at Woking Community Hospital to have my INR tested for the first time for three months. Last time, it was on Sifnos. It takes minutes and then we return for tea and (for Pauline) toast. At 9.00 am, we are picking up Phyllis & Colin and setting off for Gatwick Airport. They are spending ten days in Tenerife. We were supposed to be flying to Bologna for a long weekend but we have changed our minds and are now going to look at property areas on the South Coast.
Stories from Greece this morning are all about the Government’s ejection of occupying workers at the ERT building in Athens.
8th November, 2013
Pauline used to make all our bread every week. We never bought any. In fact, it was hard to buy edible, shop-bought bread. Since January 1st, however, I haven’t been eating carbohydrates so my wife’s lovely bread has been redundant. Skiathan Man is proudly showcasing his homemade Tomato and Herb bread while I am in the gym trying to dispose of all traces of its pernicious effects.
We have decided that the time is right to switch away from swimming and to do some hard work in the gym. The last couple of sessions have been half an hour of intensive gym work. We are trying to get it up to an hour by Christmas.
9th November, 2013
Nice, bright but cold morning. We are off to the south coast – East Sussex – to look at new-build properties. We have a number to look at but this one has particularly attracted Pauline.
It will take us about an hour to drive which is fine on a lovely day. A walk by the seaside and a look at a few houses – what could be nicer?
It poured with rain the whole way. We got stuck in a traffic jam for three quarters of an hour but we did see some interesting places. We found a house we liked in Hailsham which is about ten miles outside Eastbourne.
It’s a bit ridiculous after having downsized to two bedrooms to return to five but it felt so much more relaxing. It is also ridiculous that a new property with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a study, two sitting rooms and a large dining room in Sussex should cost less than a two bedroomed apartment in Surrey. It is all to do with accessibility to central London.
We ended up in Bexhill on Sea where the beach was packed with holiday makers.
We travelled back through Hastings (which looked very seedy and down-at-heel.) and Battle, Tunbridge Wells (where we saw a few ‘disgusted’.), Sevenoaks, Leatherhead (where the Great Train Robbers met fifty years ago.) and then back to Byfleet. The temperature didn’t rise above 8C/46F all day.
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