Category: Sanders Blog – Hellas

10th June, 2012

I have learned over the years things about myself, as most of us do, some of which I like and some I don’t. Whatever, I have learned it is sensible to be honest with myself and with others about them. I have known, for many years, that I have an addictive personality. I remember, in my early 20s, becoming addicted to Coca Cola & Pepsi. Goodness knows how because I couldn’t drink it at all now. In a similar way, I can be hideously hidebound by routines and traditions.  I have to constantly fight against this to avoid being narrow in my thoughts and actions. Of course, it can also be a force for good. I am seriously becoming addicted to fresh fruit. Few would consider that a bad thing. I am also absolutely hooked on Blogging and quite determined to never miss a week. Occasionally, I go a few days without posting but I always ensure it is put up by the end of the week. Good or Bad? Who knows. Maybe Kevin will tell me. We started swimming on June 1st and it is now almost a badge of honour not to miss a day. Today is hot – 27/28C – and a swim is essential.

11th June, 2012

Our house looks down upon the port. One of the reasons we chose to build in Kamares rather than further in to the island was the movement. Everyone who comes to Sifnos arrives by ferry in Kamares. All commodities that are brought to Sifnos from the mainland enter by ferry through Kamares. There is no airport here nor will there likely be because of the mountainous terrain. There is a heliport which is used almost exclusively used for emergencies. There are other, smaller, fishing ports but all that happens on Sifnos starts in Kamares. Comings and goings of the port fuel the cafes, restaurants, hoteliers, taxis, buses and observers.

   

For years we’ve had to go on to the internet each day to know what boats to expect. There is a particularly good site which is the digital equivalent of the Greek travel agent’s gazette – Greek Travel Pages – but it is not terribly user-friendly. The weekly timetable is also published in the display cabinet of the most prominent travel agency – Aegean Thesaurus. We must walk past this notice most days and try to memorise the ins and outs of traffic but, by the time we get back to the house, it is gone. Now, with the iPad, I go down on a Monday morning and take a photo and it is there with me throughout the week.

Thirty years ago, when we first started coming here, there were days in mid-June when there was no ferry at all. Worse still, of course, that meant no newspaper either. The economic crisis here has seen a return to poor service but not that poor. Certainly, in the past couple of weeks, the traffic has increased but if you look at today, there is only one boat and that is to Piraeus.

We considered Paros to be a hub of the Cyclades and we used to have a small vessel which we called ‘Every day to Paros’ because that was the sign on the side of the boat but that has gone now so we feel even more isolated (or exclusive).

12th June, 2012

Because we knew in advance that we would have quite a lot of administrative things to get through this year, we decided not to take vegetable gardening too seriously. One thing we have done, however, is to persist with our herbs. We are growing three different types of Basil this year in the ground we are growing the large leaf Sweet Basil. In pots we are growing two different sorts of small leaf Basil. We also have Sage, Mint, Rosemary and, of course, Thyme.

   

 

13th June, 2012

I don’t know if you’ve been watching the football but I’ve been surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed it so far. The first match – which the Greeks really should have won – was absorbing. The Polish comeback against Russia was great and gives Greece a sniff of a chance to stay in. I enjoyed Denmark’s fight against Portugal but the performance of Holland against Germany was abject.

14th June, 2012

The temperature is rather warm today – 33/34C. We have abandoned jobs. I’ve chosen to update my Blog having got badly behind. Pauline is cleaning and making fresh pasta. We are having Lasagne for our evening meal. It doesn’t take long and we have our pasta machine with us to roll it out.

Tonight, I will open a bottle of Italian red and watch their national team beaten by Croatia, hopefully. Unless they’ve fixed the result already.

If you have ever been involved in Education Management, you will know that professional duties are accompanied by professional rights. For example, Management can’t just decide, at the drop of a hat, to change the working hours, the holiday dates, the after school requirements, etc.. In other words, all teachers – just as all pupils – are entitled to a personal life which is not compromised by the demands of their job. Usually in UK schools, the calendar of activities is published twelve months ahead so that staff can make arrangements, book holidays, etc.. Parents’ Evenings , etc,. are calendared so teachers can reasonably order their own lives in advance.

This morning we met the plumber, Giannis and his wife, Poppi and their three little children all going off to school for the last day Assembly. Greek schools were supposed to finish on Friday but, because of the second election, the smaller children finish today and the older ones go on until Wednesday. This is because, the school is used for voting on Sunday and, traditionally, it is closed on the Friday before for setting up and the Monday after for tidying up. So staff who booked their holidays for Saturday have to cancel their arrangements and turn up for work on Tuesday and Wednesday. To make matters worse, some young teachers desperate for a job have been sent to teach in Sifnos, away from their own area. In order to vote, they have to return to their own area. Then they have to come back to Sifnos for two days. The final twist is that travel for the purposes of voting used to be subsidised by the Government. Now it is not. Teachers who have had their pay cut now have to pay hundreds of Euros and lots of their spare time travelling home to vote and then the same again in three days time. May be the election turn out will be lower this time.

At 5.00 pm tonight, we ventured out for a swim. The temperature outside was 35C. The water was gorgeous.

15th June, 2012

The temperatures have been moderated a little by freshening breezes which have been forecast to strengthen over the next few days. Force 8 Beaufort, which can threaten ferry travel, has been forecast for Saturday – Tuesday. This, in itself, could affect election travel services. Already Kathimerini is warning of transport disruption because of essential workers having to go back to their home areas to vote.

It feels as if the election is on a knife edge. I believe that it could be one of the defining moments in Greek History. There again, it could all have been decided already and the election could just be the rubber stamp on Greece leaving Europe. What I don’t think many people here understand is that the effect of the loss of the Euro will be absolutely catastrophic. Just one example would suffice to illustrate this. Petrol.

We take it for granted but the moment it is threatened, we realise its essential nature. A few months ago in Surrey, Tanker drivers were threatening strike. The whole country went on panic buy and petrol stations ran out. Suddenly we were faced with not being able to get to shops for food; shops running out of food because of no deliveries; essential services like fire and ambulance not having fuel; power generating services not having fuel. Modern life as we know it was likely to grind to a halt. Petrol on our island is selling at a ridiculous €1.92 per litre. It is shipped in and tankered up to the three petrol stations on the island. As I understand it, Greece currently has one month’s supply of petrol. Leaving the Euro will have two effects: firstly, the petrol which Greece buys in will more than double in price over night. Secondly, the country will have no credit standing and no country will supply without up front payment which Greece cannot afford. The immediate knock on of no petrol will be fighting, looting, rioting, starvation, complete societal break down. Greeks vote to leave the Euro at their peril!

16th June, 2012

I joked last week about my sister, Jane, being inducted into the CBeebies. It was a version of the truth because it wasn’t for official publication until today. Jane has been awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her role as Chief Executive of  the Independent Police Complaints Commission and services to Justice & Policing. Below are two photos of Jane. The first is taken from the IPCC website and the second is taken from a video clip on the BBC website of her giving evidence to the Leveson Enquiry.

 

3rd June, 2012

It as if the button had been pushed on June 1st. Islanders finished painting and tidying and opened their doors for tourists. And tourists came. Not as many as usual but some came and the island began to feel like a tourist destination again. The ferry timetable has suddenly improved and the weather is getting increasingly warm. Last week, the beach was totally deserted. Now there are a few swimmers and a few more sun bathers. This is where the Greeks get their optimism. They know the sun will always shine and believe that the tourists will continue to arrive.

It is Orthodox Whit Weekend and many here will be Greeks returning to their homes for the celebration. Beacons are burned on the tops of the mountains and a flotilla of boats sail round the island carrying flares and torches. I have to admit, we didn’t go out to watch. It’s all a bit messianic for us. We did have a lovely swim, though. Temperature hovering around 27C.

4th June, 2012

Hotter again – 28C and swimming was delicious particularly because I spent an hour or so out in the heat with my brushcutter, cutting back the tall grass and dying weeds.

Watched a bit of the soggy flotilla down (up) the Thames. I am no monarchist but I admire anyone of that age who can stand for so long in such cold. In Huddersfield, I read, Jubilee parties were dampened by heavy rain, strong winds and ‘the coldest June day for twenty years’. Shame. They should be Republicans and then the sun would shine.

5th June, 2012

A good day that went bad today. It turned out to be incredibly hot and windless and we were brush cutting. We were just finishing when our cutter, which has been troublesome since we bought it, stopped. It had picked up some electrical cable lying in long grass since the house-build and that was wrapped tightly around the blade. Not only that, one of the blade sections was badly chewed and probably won’t last a lot longer. We bought the machine in Piraeus a couple of years ago. It is a Nakayama XH1000 – no, I’ve never heard of it either – but it was cheap at about €85.00.

I have found three retailers in Athens who sell this model and emailed them about supplying spare parts but I’m not holding my breath.

A bit fed up with the way things had gone, I put the cast iron griddle on the new, outside cooker on the patio. One of the rings on top shorted and tripped the power. I will have to take that back as well. That will not be easy. The shop owner speaks no English. We will almost certainly end up buying new of both items.

6th June, 2012

The thermometer is rising and 35C is forecast by Monday. Today is hot but pleasant, with a little breeze. Decided to ignore the brushcutter for a while. We went to the cafe for coffee and chat. Christos is really depressed about the state of the country and the effect it is having on his business and may have on his future life. We met a couple of Danes who came in for a bag of ice. They said that they lived in Piraeus because they were involved in the Zea Harbour Project which, as their website says, combines land and underwater archaeology to obtain a full picture of the ancient Zea and Mounichia Harbours in the Piraeus. The man we met seems to central to the project. His name is Bjorn Loven and he has written: The Ancient Harbours of the Piraeus, Volume I.1 – The Zea Shipsheds and Slipways: Architecture and Topography which most of you will have read, of course.

 

7th June, 2012

For quite a long time, we have wondered about the value of our Greek property. It is about six years old now. Everyone who visits says it is wonderful but are they just being polite. The last couple who visited did say this is how they imagined a Greek footballer’s house to be and someone did say to us recently that he wanted to know if we ever thought of selling. There are no formal outlets for property valuation or sale particularly not on the island. We know that one main way of house valuation is by square meterage but didn’t know what multiple to apply. Then there is the land around the house. Ours is extensive. Today I found a company selling a house of 95 sq. m. at €3000.00 per sq. m. for €285,000.00. It has little or no extra land, only two bedrooms and no garage. It also has a lot of neighbours whereas we have none. Our house was originally 153 sq. m. but we subsequently added a garage of 35 sq. m.. We have three bedrooms, a study and a laundry plus a lot of surrounding land. Our house would have to be valued around the €500,000.00 mark but I really don’t want to leave it. If Greece leaves the E.U., I may find I have to.

8th June, 2012

The saga of our legal electricity really illustrates the clash between old and modern Greece. Today, we took a another step forward. We went up to the Electricity Comany – DEDDHE – to find out about developments. The news was excellent although it took us a little while to realise. The man in the office, Mr Giamakis, gave us a piece of paper. I recognised my name but nothing else. Effectively, Mr Giamakis was confirming that we had never been granted legal electricity before and should be done so immediately for our house in Kamares. This letter will be taken by our architect to the island of Milos to get the final stamp which will lead to Mr Giamakis arranging for some workers to come and give us a new electricity meter. This is the paper on which I have pasted a translation which took me a little time to do:

After this, we went on to the Accountants because we had been told everyone had to complete their tax form. Last year, unexpectedly, we had to pay a €700.00 house tax. We expected the same again this year. We were surprised, therefore, to find we didn’t have to pay anything at all this year. In fact, the Greek Government are giving it back to us. Apparently, so many ex-pats complained about the tax that we are being given half of it back. Could be worse.

9th June, 2012

Today, the temperature is reaching 30C and we are looking forward to swimming. First, we have quite a lot of shopping. We have decided to cut our losses and buy a new oven for outside on the patio. We went up to see Flora and she had the perfect thing for €120.00 in white.

We do quite a lot of open-air griddling of meat by laying a cast iron griddle over the rings. It means the house isn’t full of fumes. The oven has a grill and large, two tier oven capacity as well.

We also went up to the DIY shop which is nearby and bought paint for re-painting the pergola, a rake for the garden, some new secateurs and some water connectors for the hosepipes. Back to the supermarkets. All the fresh supplies come in on Friday night boats from Athens so Saturday morning sees plenty of stock. Pauline bought a huge piece of Salt Cod or Stock Fish or Bakaliaros as the Greeks call it. Home for coffee by 11.30 am. The day has almost gone.

Fresh coffee, newspaper, water the vegetables, write up my Blog and then it’s time for swimming. It’s certainly hot out there. Well the water was freezing refreshing. Apart from toast for breakfast, we only eat one other meal now that it is getting so hot. That meal comes about 5.30 pm after swimming. Today, I am cooking a one pan meal of potatoes, onions, peppers and chicken pieces marinated in oil and oregano. It’s making me hungry writing about it!

Football tonight. I enjoyed the games last night – particularly the Poland v Greece game which Greece should definitely have won.

Netherlands v Denmark and then Germay v Portugal tonight. The Dutch will just win but the Germans will bully the little Portugese off the park.

Just heard the good news about my sister, Jane, who has just been accepted in to the latest club. Congratulations.

28th May, 2012

Got up ten minutes late after watching Shakespeare until late last night. The morning is delightful but getting hot as it develops. After breakfast and newspaper, we go up to the garden shop to buy another bag of potting compost, some tomato plants and a huge and glorious sage plant to add to our herb garden. It’s such a delight.

Back home for fresh coffee, phone Phyllis in West Byfleet to discuss her slow internet problem  and then we go out for a walk up our mountain. Walking really helps one appreciate the island so much more than driving. Back home for lunch salad, sweetcorn, garlic sausage, cheese biscuits and a small glass of beer. Europe is beginning to sense a swing in Greek voters’ mood towards New Democracy and away from the dangers of Tsipras. The BBC is reporting it and so is Ekathimerini.

29th May, 2012

Our island is dominated by two plants or species – the olive tree and the oleander. In our garden, we have lots of the former and none of the latter. Now we have the lovely, stone wall across the front of the land, I need a cheap and quick way to plant it up. Oleanders seem to be the answer. The most ubiquitous here is the pink and untrained type:

It grows everywhere but can be trained as a tree. We will attempt to grow ours as a hedge but, because we need to cover 100 metres of garden front, we are going to try and propogate our own. The website suggest the plant is harder to kill than to propogate so we are enthusiastic. We will try to grow a mixture of rich magenta a white oleanders because we are sophisticated!

 

I’ve just read that, in the bible, the oleander is referred to as The Desert Rose which has slightly put me off but it is said to be cheap and easy which suits me well.

30th May, 2012

Our new friend, Esmerelda, brought us a large bowl of apricots fresh from her tree. They are unbelievably delicious. This is the first time that I’ve really appreciated them.

Lovely day gardening today. The weather was good but not too hot. We are preparing ground for tomato plants to go out and to sow some salad vegetables.

31st May, 2012

Can’t believe we are already on the last day of May. Where is our life rushing to? Certainly, the weather is getting hotter.

The tomato plants went out today. This is my first time for planting them in Greece. I shall treat the whole thing as an experiment. We also put in a wonderful sage plant that Pauline picked from the garden shop. We have virtually all our herbs growing no with the exception of  Tarragon or Estragon, as they call it here. I failed to grow it from seed last year.

We have been clearing the ground at the front of the house because it looks as if we will get our electricity meter moved to the permanent roadside pillar thus becoming normal users. It will sound ridiculous to most readers but Greeks will know that it is vitally important. It will have cost us a lot in blood, sweat, tears and money by the time it happens.

1st June, 2012

Happy June everyone.

Went up to the Electricity Company for the hundredth time over the past four years (that might be an exaggeration) to arrange for our final meter to be fitted and our house to use legitimate power. The man said, we would receive a phone call in one week. What do you think? And do I care? I don’t!

Carried on up to the supermarket Mario’s and Mario’s wife gave me a lollipop for being a good customer. I wonder what I’ll get when I go back tomorrow.

Since we left Greece last October and leaving our three cats, we have wondered what happened to them. Mother has come back but we knew she had to send her children – Little Tabs and Little Ginge – away to get on with their adult life. As we go around the vicinity, we look for signs of them. Today, we were greeted by a cat who we think might be Little Tabs (allowing for a year’s development). What do you think? The photos below feature Little Tabs on the left and the cat we’ve met on the right:

 

Of course, June 1st marks the start of swimming for Locals so, today, we gingerly ventured out at 2.00 pm for the Port Beach.

   

2nd June, 2012

Getting hotter – touching 29C today. Went up to the garage and filled the car for the third time in 8 weeks. €80.00 for a tank. The most expensive fuel in Europe.

Second day’s swim was even better than the first. The water is still a little chilly but we are acclimatising. Came home for lunch and a snooze. Should have been gardening but tiredness took over.

Most of our plants and bushes are watered automatically on a ‘leaky pipe’ system but the vegetables and pots need individual attention. We did that, cooked tea and then watched the England v Belgium match before finishing the evening with coffee and chat out on the terrace under the pergola. We had no lights on. The moon did the whole job for us.

20th May, 2012

It was a warm and sunny day. We pottered around in the morning and then decided to go to a remote fishing village – Vathi – for lunch. It is about a 12 km drive which we did slowly, drinking in the landscape as we went. Arriving at the restaurant which is owned by a local fisherman and fronts on to the beach fringe and the sea, we were interested to see a family of French/Greeks holidaying there and obviously swimming. They showed no signs of distress as to the sea temperature so we resolved that we must start our swimming very sooon. This is the view we faced as we sat in the restaurant:

We ate Revithia Keftedes (fried chickpea balls) with Tsatziki (yoghurt with cucumber & garlic) followed by calamari tiganites (fried squid) which was beautifully presented in whole tubes with separate wrinkly tendrils. It was all washed down with wonderfully fragrant white wine (kilo krassi Aspro). After that, we weren’t able to do much apart from hobble to the car and drive home.

21st May, 2012

Today has broken warm – humid even – but overcast. We go up to our bank to pay the €500.00 ‘fine’ to make our garage ‘legal’ and then go on to the accountants to tell them that it will all be sorted out soon. I did some research on the internet today and found quite an exciting document. It was the record of when Sanders & Son was first founded. Until then, it had been Dolman & Sanders (Joiners). When Dad died, it was bought by David Cox and his widow dissolved it recently.

 

22nd May, 2012

Warm 26C today. Did a little bit more research today and the weirdest thing turned up. I was doing a bit of idle research on Grandad Sanders when up popped

They held two records:

   

I found it strange and wrote to the Society’s secretary who wrote straight back, promising to do some research for me. Quite intriguing though.

Actually did some gardening this afternoon. Quite enjoyable.

23rd May, 2012

Hot and sunny this morning. We went off to get my blood test. We were in the office for 10.00 am. We stayed talking until 12.00 pm.The blood tester’s wife and daughter were with him and we discussed the Greek economy for two hours after my test the result of which was perfect. The man who runs the testing clinic – a trained chemist who worked in Brussels for some years – earns €900.00 (£720.00) per month after taxes.  He has a wife and two teenage kids. His wife tries to find work teaching people to speak English. Their rent is €350.00 per month. They get no social security if they are out of work. They retire at 68 on a pension of €350.00 per month. They are desperate. We feel terrible but unable to help them.

We drive home for coffee and to read the paper. At 3.00 pm, we eat our lunch to the 1.00 pm News from the BBC. Whilst we ate our lunch out on the terrace looking over the valley, a pair of Kestrels – from looking them up I now know them to be Lesser Kestrels – hovered and swooped over the newly mowed fields, clearly looking for food to supply their newly hatched young chicks.

A siesta for about an hour and then we did an hour or so of gardening. We put in three pepper plants today and pinched out our Basils. Esmerelda, who has gone to Athens for a few days, presented us with a plastic bag containing a herb pot sown with already germinating herbs. We have Oregano, Chives, Basil, Marjoram and Parsley. She is a lovely lady.

Tonight, I spoke to Ruth who was celebrating her birthday. Of course, she was drinking again but I couldn’t blame her when I realised that she was older than I had thought. My records said she was born in 1949, making her 63. Actually, she tells me, she was born in 1947, making her 65. To compound matters, they told me that Kevan is 70 in February 2013.  It seems to be happening to all of us.

24th May, 2012

Today is an island holiday. It is Panagia Chrisopigi – The celebration of Christ being risen which, differently on this island compared with all other parts of the world, is celebrated 40 days after Greek Easter. There is a fishing village called Chrisopigi with a church built on a promontory out in the sea. Many girls take the name Chrisopigi. In Greece Birthdays are of no significancce. So Ruth would be alright. It is the Saint’s Day after who you are named – your Name Day which is celebrated. But Chrisopigi Day is more than that here because Sifnos adopted it as its own day.

Every year on this day, all work stops and the islanders process a religious icon out of the big church in Apollonia acompanied by music and dignitaries. It is taken to the port where it is taken round the island by ferry, finally arriving at the Church of Chrisopigi where it is transferred by fishing boat plus priests and dignitaries to the rocks. Everyone gets dressed up in their finery and traipses (drives) over to Chrisopigi where they stand on windy rocks for hours watching the proceedings and then go home to feast. The religious will chant Christ is Risen and stuff like that but, to be honest, it is the last chance to dress up and have a Beano before the Tourist Season – if it comes.

The two videos below are from 2010 and 2011 celebrations:

25th May, 2012

We are off to the Post Office this morning with high hopes that we will have a parcel. Phyllis has kindly been round to our flat and picked up all the ese coffee pods and posted them to us. They should get us through a few weeks. It is a beautiful day expected to be 26C with temperatures moving towards the 30Cs by the weekend.

Yesterday, I found out why Dad’s and Wina’s records were held in a Bristol Genealogy Club’s files. Grandad Sanders married Mabel Lilian Flook from Chipping Sodbury in 1914. I managed to trace her family back to 1811 with little difficulty yesterday. I’m sure it’s all in David’s research but I haven’t got it in Greece. If anyone could email me a copy of his work I would be grateful.

I am skipping. The coffee pods had arrived and I am already drinking one. Thank you Phyllis & Colin. We owe you £12.50 for p&p.

26th May, 2012

Hot and sunny morning. Up to the supermarket in Exambla for food brought in by ferries on Friday night.

• Beef, Chicken, Chicken livers,
• Milk
• Potatoes
• Onions & Garlic
• Pears & Apples
• Small beers
• Mayonnaise
• Local Eggs
• Cat food

As we came out of the shop, we saw an obviously English car. Looking at the number plate for its town of origin, the only marking was a phone number prefixed with 01483 – our phone prefix in Woking. I waited for the owner to come out – he turned out to be a half Greek half Englishman called Robert who lives half the year in Mainland Greece at Marathon, has a house in France and a house down the road from ours in Surrey – in Chobham. His Mother was from Paros. He was staying for the Summer with his Sifniot girlfriend and opening a bar in Faros, a fishing village on the island.

Back home to phone Phyllis. She managed to get my prescription. She said she needed a wheelbarrow to carry my 56 days worth. I will submit another in July and another in early September. In this way, I will build up a six months in advance supply to get me through next Summer.

It has been one of those idyllic days when I couldn’t imagine life being more perfect. Nothing dramatic happened but, then, I didn’t want it to. This is exactly how I imagined emjoying my retirement with Pauline. I am signing up for another thirty year contract.

27th May, 2012

A day at home today – newspaper reading, listening to the radio, lunching outside on the terrace, Finished the day watching a wonderful, film version of The Merchant of Venice with Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino. The only problem, as with all good films on Greek television, it didn’t finish until well after midnight.

13th May, 2012

A quiet and peaceful day in the sunshine with the newspaper only marred by the football. I wasn’t expecting City to fail so it was all the harder when the came back from defeat in the final seconds. Still it is good to have another name on the Championship. I was more sorry for Ruth in Bolton.

   

14th May, 2012

We think Mother cat must be giving birth in some bushes down the road. She only comes once a day, scoffs her food hurriedly and scarpers in that direction. Islanders say it is a common sign of a pregnant mother. We hope to see some little ones soon.

Pauline made marmalade with tinned Seville pulp that we brought with us and some whisky that we already had.

We were expecting a possible thunder storm but it never materialised and nor did a Greek Government Coalition either.

15th May, 2012

Today, Olga came to visit. It was quite a shock but very nice. A few days ago we were in the Supermarket (corner shop) and I happened to pat a little girl’s head and pull faces at a baby as I’m accustomed to do wherever I am when a lady standing in a group with these children and other adults smiled quite pointedly in my direction. I’m usually mistaken for a paedophile but this lady was obviously quite warm to my habits which is always a good start. When we left the shop, she came out and made a point of speaking to us. Her name, she said, in excellent English, was Olga and she owned the restaurant over the road. We told her where we lived on the island and she said she had lived for a long time with her husband in Knightsbridge, London. We made our customary polite invitation to come and see us if she was passing our house which nobody would be unless they were going up the mountain to the Monastery. Well, four or five days later, who should draw up outside our gate but Olga.

She came in and spent an hour over coffee telling us that her husband is a fantastic chef and he had been employed by a very rich Greek shipping family who lived in Knightsbridge as their head chef. She was employed as a Nanny for two lovely children of the family. As such, they had travelled the world living in Australia, Japan, etc, but mainly in London. There she had met the Queen when she came to Dinner with the family. After about fifteen years in service, they had enough money to build a property and restaurant on their home island and that is where they now stayed. Her daughter, she said was 16 and at a difficult age. She would like her to go to University in England where your politics and the party you voted for didn’t condition your offer of a place.

It was a lovely, surprise visit and we will go to her restaurant soon – probably on Friday evening.

16th May, 2012

As so often happens, when the suggestion is we may get rain, the sun comes out at its hottest. Greece is generally saying goodbye to any rain from mid-May to mid-September and so it is proving. After breakfast, we drove up to Apollonia to do some shopping. En route, Esmerelda phoned Pauline to thank her for the jar of marmalade. It had been their best breakfast ‘ever’. Poor old girl.

Back home for coffee. I think I’ve said, I’m running out of ese (easy serve espresso) pods and I have a batch back in Surrey which Phyllis and Mandy are kindly arranging to post out to us. I’ve had two or three coffee makers here but we haven’t liked the results. We blamed the water, the coffee and the machines. I bought an ese pod machine for home – a Cusinart I bought through Amazon for about £140.00. I thought that was cheap after replacing our £100.00 Tassimo again. I found lots of companies selling individually wrapped Italian coffee espresso pods in ese form much cheaper as well. They turned out to be a revolution. I brought them to Greece and found they worked well in my DeLonghi machine as well. Coffee does make life good.

 

I may have spoken too soon about the rain. The most reliable forecast on Greek television – ET3 – has just forecast rain for Thursday and Friday. Could be wonderful.

17th May, 2012

What a day and it’s only 3.3o pm. When we were working, we would be spending all day every day with hundreds of people all around us, demanding things constantly. Our minds and bodies were accustomed to it and prepared for over forty years of exeriences. Now, most of our time is spent quietly together or with our own thoughts. When we are in association, I tire easily and quickly.

Today we went down to check our post. We walked on to the cafe which was empty apart from being bathed in lovely sunshine. No sign of the rain that was forecast. The pictures below show the cafe empty and with Pauline in the foreground and the owner, Vangelis in the background.

 

We had coffee at around 9.30 am. Along came Esmerelda and Kristos and, soon the time was 11.30 am. We walked on to collect our ferry tickets for our trip to Athens in July which we had booked on the internet. We had to negotiate ‘window’ seats but that was sorted out. We walked on a little and, about 1.15 pm, we went to Simos restaurant for lunch. It was very cheap and we couldn’t eat it all. A huge Greek Salad like a mountain followed by chicken and potatoes / pork and potatoes. We just had a carafe of white wine with that. €21.00 / £17.00 total bill was a bit like the old days. We drove up to Apollonia and then home for coffee.

At 6.00 pm, we had to be at Luciana’s home. She had paid a visit to us and it was only courteous to return the visit. She lives with her husband, Nikos and their two children in a small, rented home on the other side of the port.It seemed a very happy home. Pauline made a plate of raspberry buns as a present. They are Albanian. Luciana works in hotels during the tourist season but has less work in the winter. Nikos, who used to be a primary school teacher, does anything here. He built our wall in the winter. He is currently whitewashing people’s houses. Later, if the tourist season develops, he may wash and maintain cars for a rental business.

As we were preparing for bed, the sound of rain drumming incessantly on the roof could be heard and the patio was getting a good cleaning. It lasted about an hour. Afterwards, everywhere smelled wonderful.

18th May, 2012

The morning felt fresher but with blue skies and sun. After breakfast, the clouds came over the mountain; there was a flash of lightening, a crash of thunder and a fifteen minute downpour. Soon the sun was out again but we are expecting some more of this today followed by gradually increasing temperatures over the next few days, reaching 28 – 30C.

Today, in contrast to yesterday is an ‘In Day’. I am writing my Blog and web pages. Pauline is sewing and making biscuits. I have just received an email from our architect to say that our illegal garage has been made legal at a cost of €900.00. His fee for the work and for creating a new document to get ‘full’ electricity which will be done in ten days is €1000.00. So, for €1900.00 or £1500.00, all problems can be solved. We may get drunk on fresh coffee to celebrate.

19th May, 2012

We have to wish Caroline Happy Birthday today. It is quite incredible but she is 50. It means that every one of Dad’s children have outlived his ridiculously short life of 49 years. It seems from her message that quite a few of us held our breath as we chested the tape. Well done, Caroline. Let’s hope that we will celebrate a few more decades yet.

It is a day of heavy rain interspersed with stong sun here. The architect is bringing round the all important paper which will legalise our garage and with an even more important stamp which will legalise our electricity supply.

6th May, 2012

Although it is Election Day here, the island seems very quiet. We were curious to find out why no children were at school last Friday. Had they called another Public Holiday without telling us? ‘Elections‘, we were told. ‘They take place in the school and they need time to get it ready.’ ‘Couldn’t they do that on Saturday?’ we asked. The smirk told it all. The schools are closed on Monday, as well, to get over Sunday. Happy Days for Teachers.

When we moved recently from a huge, 5-bedroomed house to a small, duplex apartment, we had the problem of what to do with about 40 large, framed prints from the walls. We thought one or two might go up in the apartment but immediately realised that they only emphasised its cramped dimensions. We had been collecting and displaying Pre-Raphaelite – Rossetti, Millais, Hunt, Burne-Jones and then moved on to later followers like Hughes and, particularly, Waterhouse. Latterly, we collected Alma-Tadema for his Mediterranean classical influences and we have found that these have worked particularly in our Greek House. The problem is how many 3 – 4 ft picture frames we can get in the car without compromising the wine purchase.

 

7th May, 2012

A very hot and hard day. We were up early because we had a meeting with our Accountant and the Electricity Company. Yesterday, I had to speak to the architect of our house 6 or 7 years ago. The problems are these:

1. The garage attached to our house was not on the plan and is, therefore, illegal.
2. In order to authorise the electricity supply for a new house, the building has to be checked for its faithfulness to the approved plan.

Unfortunately, the Building Certificate has been lost between various Government Offices. To get a new one, we should have our house inspected again but we have an illegal garage. Fortunately, for a small payment, we can have the garage officially recognised and then the plans can be renewed and the electricity supply officially authorised.

This was the substance of the day. We took our new friend, the ex-European Union negotiator, Esmerelda, with us to help smooth the path. We will have to oil a few palms but the problem will, ultimately, be solved. I had to email the following photographs to the architect in his Athens office:

  .  

By the time we got home, the temperature had reached 28C and we were exhausted. As the sun went down last evening, we griddled garlic chicken outside under the pergola and ate it with jacket potatoes and a bottle of red wine in sultry heat. The island was silent and magically lit by the last rays of the day and the first moonlight of the night. No one could have connected that with the political turmoil in Athens.

8th May, 2012

A little cooler 26C and hazier today. We may get a little gardening done today. First we had to go up to the garden shop for some plants and then on to the butchers, the Post Office, the supermarket and, finally, back home for coffee. I am already running out of espresso ESE pods for my coffee maker. I ordered 1000 pods from an Italian supplier for our machine in Surrey but then obviously didn’t bring anywhere near enough. We are going to ask Phyllis to get them from our apartment, box them up and post them to us.

After lunch, we are going to pot up our Geraniums – brilliant red flowers look fantastic against out white walls – and basil plants. I will sow some lettuce and rocket seeds for planting out in June. The pomegranates in our garden are already beginning to turn from flower to fruit as the fly on the top will tell you.

 

The temperature reached an oppressive 29C. The gardening was abandoned. I did some writing and read The Times. Pauline baked bread. At 6.00 pm, we fed Mother Cat who was sleeping on the roof and went down to Panos & Rania’s restaurant. All preparations had been done and Greeks don’t eat Dinner until 10.oo pm so it was a quiet time. We talked over the Election result and what the permutations were. Suddenly it was 8.00 pm and we decided to share a pizza with a half litre of red wine. The pizza was wonderful – freshly made with parma ham and parmesan cheese amd fresh rocket from their garden sprinkled over the baked pizza.

9th May, 2012

Another glorious day reaching 26C. It is a really hard one today. We are potting up plants. The geraniums and basil from yesterday. First we will drive down to the beach to look around. I ought to walk really but the car needs the exercise. Everywhere is so quiet. The island is still going through the motions of getting ready but there are so few tourists. One of the reasons put forward by locals is the poor ferry timetable this year. Already we are in are almost in mid-May and we are bathed in tourist weather but those who turn up on spec at Piraeus find there are very few boats at very strange times and they are all very expensive. As you will see below, the beach is beautiful but deserted. Even so, Pauline tested the water temperature and pronounced it………….. cool.

 

10th May, 2012

The air was cooler today with a little breeze.

We have been concerned for a while about our Greek codicil to our Will which we wrote almost ten years ago but haven’t reviewed until now. We met our new, best friend, Esmerelda,  the ex-eurocrat who knows every single person on the island and she made an immediate appointment for us to meet a Notary Public. She turned out to be a lovely lady who gave us about an hour of advice but refused to charge us.

As we left the Notary’s Office, with Esmerelda, we bumped into someone who we have referred to as The Windsurfer, a statuesque, grey haired lady we always saw down at the beach in the summer. It turned out that she is a retired lady who used to be the English voice of Greek Radio. Suddenly, our circle of acquaintances is expanding interestingly and rapidly. Unfortunately, this increase in acquaintances comes with a social cost. They insist that we go with them to the school Open Day on Saturday.

11th May, 2012

A cool 21C today and islanders are delighted to hear that there is still a possibility of a rain storm before Summer fully hits us. It will certainly save us watering plants. We have been changing our Greek Wills so that, in the event of our joint deaths (might happen – thunderbolt, car crash, rock fall, earthquake, ferry sinking, etc.), the proceeds of the sale of our Greek house will go to our next of kin in UK. We are choosing a new Notary who we met yesterday to organise this but first we had to go to the old one to tear up the codicil to our will. He charged an extravagant €100.00 to retrieve the papers from his file and cancel them. He will not be surprised when we leave him.

We had lunch out on the terrace and then frittered away the afternoon as only retired old codgers can afford to do.

12th May, 2012

Today was supposed to be cool, windy with a chance of rain. It turned out to be hot and settled, reaching 24-25C in the afternoon. We were supposed to be going in to a school for the first time since we retired. It is the island’s Junior Gymnasium which was having an Open Day and putting on a musical performance. We have sat through so many of these dire occasions in our professional lives that we really were not looking forward to it. While we were working, of course, we had little choice. Now, we can do what the hell we like, we’ve decided to go out for a pizza instead.

Before we left last October, we put all our potted pelargoniums in to the garden and dug them in. Six months later, they were flowering profusely. We’ve dug them up again, trimmed them back and repotted them. I grew a lot of them from cuttings. We also tidied up our Rocket plants and planted out some Sweet Basil plants which will flavour our meals over the next few months.

 

29th April, 2012

Pleasant but lazy day. Warm and windless, the temperature reached 23C. We read the papers. Pauline cooked the most wonderful piece of Sifnos lamb garnished with mint sauce made fresh and onion sauce that Mum would have been pleased with.

30th April, 2012

Probably the hottest day this year. The sun is intense and the temperature has reached 27 – 28C. We went in to Kamares for a walk and then returned for fresh coffee and the The Times.

We listened to the Today programme and then One o’Clock News on BBC Radio 4 with interest and surprise as they described the night of horrendous weather with trees down, floods and roads closed. We heard confirmation that April 2012 was the wettest one for 100 years. Amazing.

The constant sun here is starting to turn the Spring flowers over but flowering bushes like this Calistemon (Remember that I taught you last year this is a Greek name for Beautiful stamon or flower part. In English we called it bottle brush bush.) at the back of our house are in full bloom early. We are going to start testing the temperature of the sea soon.

1st May, 2012

Happy May!

Mine didn’t start particularly well. It was after midnight here when the Manchester Derby finished in a 1-0 win for City. Still, I suppose life could be worse. This is a fact that Pauline reminded me of when I said that I didn’t feel like doing what we had planned which was clean the car. She said, Well, we won’t bother. We can do what we like. We’re retired. And she’s right, of course. We drank fresh coffee on the patio where the temperature will be 25C today, read the paper on our iPad and discussed what we would have for lunch. After lunch, Pauline will cut my hair outside and then we may do a little gardening.

This weird plant appeared in our field today. Nobody seems to know what it is:

Tonight we are going out to Dinner at Panos & Rania’s. We had a nice evening eating a beautiful chicken souvlaki.

2nd May, 2012

Another beautiful day which could reach 26-27C although it is a little breezy. We are going up to Apollonia to have my blood tested, to see the Accountant, to go to the phone shop, maybe drop in at the cafe and then go on to the Post Office. A busy morning!

Bought delicious, fresh vegetables from Nikos’ farm. The broadbeans are wonderful. I made broadbean and King Prawn risotto. It was lovely.

Watched two wonderful goals by Newcastle’s Cisè as they beat Chelsea 2-0

3rd May, 2012

Another wonderful day in what has become a long run of good weather with slowly rising temperatures as we come towards the end of our first month on Sifnos. Yesterday we reached 26C and today we are predicted to get 1C higher. Big job on today. We are going to clean the car.

Actually, we’ve had a very lazy day. The temperature has reached 28C and we left it too late for car cleaning. We have spent the day reading and catching up with correspondence. Quite nice really. My blood test yesterday was perfect and I phoned it through to Woking hospital this afternoon. As usual, they were incredibly busy and only just had time to speak to me. It is so unlike Huddersfield hospital which was so much more relaxed and friendly.

4th May, 2012

A day that is forecast to reach 28-29C. We are up early to listen to the Today programme on Radio 4 for the local election results. I was pleased to see the Coalition getting a pasting and the Liberal Democrats particularly. We were also keen to check our bank account to see our pension. We were pleased to see a sizeable increase of just over 5%. No teacher in work will be seeing that. It will all go into an investment account in readiness for our next car.

Today we are going to our local phone shop, Germanos, which is an off-shoot of the Greek BT called OTE. We have to pay our first month’s internet bill which will be about £40.00 for 10Gb per month. Then we have to go to the Accountant to collect the final paperwork on our house. We’ll probably drop in to the cafe as well and then on to the supermarket for weekend shopping. They will be very busy tomorrow as voters return to the island for Sunday’s election.

Had a bit of a shock this afternoon. You may think this is an exaggeration but it hit me like a thunderbolt. I have spent the last forty years dropping my past behind me like sweet wrappers by an irresponsible child. I pay for street cleaning and my past has largely been swept up and been moved for me. Of course, I am haunted by highly significant people and events that have shaped my life and, today, one came back to pinch me. Pauline has always cautioned me about laying our life out in public, as I do, but it is the way I have lived my life. I trust people and expect it to be returned. I don’t dissemble and I don’t expect others to either. Most of the time this pays off.

Today I received an email from Kevin Dagg. We were close friends for quite a time at College and afterwards. He and his wife, Christine, helped me through lonely times in the 1970s. Kevin was my Best Man when Pauline & I married in 1978.

Something Kevin did hurt me badly and I stopped my contact with him. It hasn’t stopped him inhabiting my thoughts on many occasions. Particularly, as we get older. The effect of his email was in proportion to his significance – large. I was not prepared for it. I will open a bottle of wine.

5th May, 2012

I wrote last week of going to visit two lovely new friends who live at the far end of the port. We stayed four hours in their house and, tomorrow, they are coming to visit us. Action stations cleaning and tidying! After breakfast I got the pressure washer out and cleaned down the drive. Pauline and I cleaned the car together. After coffee, I began to spray clean the whole patio surrounding the house. We did choose grey/white tiles outside and the wind does blow down red, volcanic mountain dust. Pauline is cleaning and tidying inside although my Study will be left for me to straighten up. Why did I tile so much patio and in white?

 

22nd April, 2012

The most wonderful day – a typical high summer day in England. The sky cloudless; the air still; the temperature in the mid to upper 70Fs, the birds everywhere singing and cavorting. It is a day when one has to be glad to be alive.

We spent our time cleaning outside. Pauline cleaning the windows and I was pressure washing the patio tiles, urging the red, mountain dust of the past six months out of the grey-white tile tops. It is a delightful job in the sun and I only suspended it for Lunch and the United match. Pauline had made a pear, lettuce and blue cheese salad with mortadella and olives. Delicious – not how you could describe United. What were they thinking of?

I went back to my cleaning for another hour or so before a welcome shower and a glass of wine. Pauline baked cod and roasted potato slices outside in our new patio oven and we ate outside as the sun went down and the stars came out. A most wonderful day.

23rd April, 2012

The day has started exactly like yesterday – glorious weather. Our cleaning regime outside will continue.

Well so we thought. What actually happened was that, after downloading and browsing The Times for a while, Pauline decided we needed shopping. We drove up to the supermarkets in Exambla and bought fresh vegetables including celery for Waldorf Salad which we are hooked on at the moment. We returned home to find a load of steel netting dumped outside our gate. We had asked the Albanian, Nikos, who built our wall to top it with goat-proof, steel netting. It is standard fair on Sifnos. I texted Nikos (in English) that it had arrived and, by 2.30 pm he arrived to fit it. Because of that, Pauline and I suspended our cleaning for bush pruning so Nikos could have a clear path to work. After a couple of hours working in incredibly hot sun, I was ready for collapse and we decided to have lunch on the terrace. Ham & salad with a glass of beer was enough and then Nikos turned up. It took him just over an hour to build the fence and he was off till tomorrow when he will come and build steps up to our new electricty box. We are not using it yet but ‘soon’ (and we’ve only been waiting six years) we will have a new electricity meter installed in it and we will have to pay the full price for electricity. Below is a picture of where our new electricity box-mount stands and the fence on the top of the wall.

You can just make Pauline out in blue in the gateway at the far right of the picture. Just having coffee after lunch when our slumbers are broken by a noise clattering down the log burning stove’s chimney pipe. I immediately send Pauline up on to the roof where she discovers two, energetic birds are trying to build a nest on top of the mesh cover we had put there to discourage them. Two years ago we had young birds sliding down the pipe like it was a fairground attraction. We kept having to open the glass and release soot covered chicks to an open window.

Luciana, Nikos’ wife walked all the way up to our house with a presentation box of biscuits. She had a glass of wine and we chatted for an hour before driving her back to her house.

24th April, 2012

A delightfully warm 23 F today. We really didn’t do a lot. It is so easy, in retirement, to just indulge one’s whims. Today, we spent an hour or so on a bit of gardening and another hour at the shops. The rest of the time was enjoying the weather, reading, chatting and just enjoying ourselves. In the evening, the Albanian, Nikos, came up to trip the tops of the steel fence finishing off our new wall. He stayed for a drink but, by the time he left, it was time for THE MATCH.

Who would have believed the drama that was to unfold: two down, two one,  missed penalty, wonderful goal scored by ………..Torres!

I need to wake up and go to work – John! John!

25th April, 2012

Even warmer today – 24F. Some of our day was spent at the hardware shop buying flexible water pipe – 100 mtrs – to attach to our drill pump to water the olive and fruit trees.

There are not many ferries on service yet which is a little worrying but there are not many tourists to support them. The photo below is the Adamas Korais from Zante Ferries coming in on Wednesday. It is nice to see the supermarkets replenished.

The rest of the day was spent trying to fit our new water pipe. I spent quite a bit of time watching Murdoch at the Leveson Inquiry and watching Prime minister’s Question Time.

26th April, 2012

Quite a day today. We went out for lunch at the Fish Restaurant in Kamares. It has been a hot one with the temperature reaching 28C at one point. Even so, we sat outside by the sea’s edge and ate the most wonderful Greek Salad with soft Mizithra cheese and followed that with grilled sea bream and potatoes. A carafe of white wine finished us off.

Home for coffee and a snooze.

27th April, 2012

Unbelievably, Mum died four years ago today. I can picture the days surrounding this event with such clarity and yet four years have intervened. I hope she found what she expected. On Ruth’s instruction, Pauline & I have raised a glass of Montepulciano D’Abruzzo to her. I doubt she would have appreciated it.

The temperature continues to rise here. People were splashing about in the sea yesterday and today, by noon, we have already reached 25C.

Mother cat started making loud, whaling noises this evening and, when we investigated, we saw her with another cat.

28th April, 2012

Mother cat was not here for Breakfast at 7.15 as usual this morning. We had our showers and breakfasts and were just about to start our day when who should turn up but Mother cat. I was given the job of telling her off. I decided to give her extra dried food – not to reward her but to slow her down. I’m working on the belief that you can’t behave badly on a full stomach.

15th April, 2012

Big Sunday – Greek Easter – dawned with blustery blue skies. Today, the temperature is forecast to reach 22C and tomorrow 23-24C. It is a lovely day. Our house looks pristine white in the sunshine. The garden is a beautiful, contrasting green with lots of yellow, mauve and red wild flowers amassed across it. Goats and sheep that escaped the Easter cull are munching on wild thyme and oregano on the hillsides and all is well with the world. I read the paper on my iPad while Pauline prepared the lamb for slow cooking and to be eaten tonight.

Later, we went out for a drive up and over the mountain behind our house, past the Monastery – Aghios Simeon – through the isolated village of Troulaki, on to Artemonas and the capital, Apollonia, before descending to the sea and Kamares Port and on to our house. Below is picture of the side of our house as it nestles into the mountainside. After that is a view of the valley from up above our house.

 

16th April, 2012

I think we can drop the adjective ‘Big’ now. It’s Easter Monday and some shops and offices are open. There are three ferries to Piraeus today which signals that festivities are over.

Having been here for a week, our new work and food regime kick in. We went down to Moshca to buy porridge. It was a bit of a long shot but, when Pauline asked if she had it, her face lit up in recognition and she said, ‘Ah, quacker.’ Pauline was delighted to find she meant Quaker Oats but Moshca insisted she was right.

I’ve had my oats and the day has trundled on. Just received a message on Facebook to say that our island – Sifnos in the Cyclades – has been named as one of the Top Ten List of ‘Islands Under the Sun’ in National Geographic Magazine and in Forbes Magazine. Sifnos is characterized as one of the quietest and least discovered islands but simultaneously one of the most chic ones for 2012. Let’s hope they boost the property prices.

The most wonderful thing has happened tonight. I went outside on to the terrace to see a ferry docking and I couldn’t believe my eyes. A cat walked in front of me.  Not strange, you might think, but we recognised each other instantly. It was ‘Mother’ cat who adopted us last summer and who we abandoned to her fate last October. She looked alright. Maybe not as sleek as when we left her but she was obviously a survivor. She had come back. I called Pauline who had saved a tin of tuna just in case. She got out the cats’ bowls, opened the tuna and poured some water. By the time it was ready, Mother cat was in the place we used to feed her. After she gobbled a full tin of tuna in minutes and drank almost all of the water, she sat on the wall and eyed us up as if accusing us of desertion. She had every right of course although we had no choice.

I finished the day by watching Wigan win at Arsenal. It was great and the fitting end of a wonderful day.

17th April, 2012

A delightfully warm day which just got better as it went on.

We went to the sub-Post Office that has recently been established in the port where we live. Because the island can’t afford a Postman, permanent residents are being given their own post box at the back of a sub-Post Office in the village. We are not permanent residents and don’t get a lot of post so don’t merit our own box. We are going to have to share a box with a permanent resident. Our mail address must have the post box number as a prefix or it will be returned to Athens.  A nice lady called Esmereldaa has offered to let us share her box qT 725. So that’s sorted out.

We went to the Clinic to have my blood test. Next we went to our Accountant to enquire where our house status/electricity supply formalisation was up to. The news was fantastic. After six years in the house, after six years of asking, it was now down to one piece of missing paper which we had to go to the Notary’s office to have prepared. We went there immediately and the Notary took ten minutes typing up the form which he photocopied, stamped in fifteen places after we had signed it three times each and then charged us €60.00 for. Nice work if you can get it. We took the paper straight to the accountant’s office. An assistant will take the paper to Milos on Monday next week. We could be fully legal soon. We went to the cafe to celebrate with coffee.

Next we went to the supermarket to buy cat food – dry and meat/fish. We drove home feeling very happy. The sun was shining, the temperature was a lovely 22C and all was well with the world. We broke our diet immediately with a celebratory lunch outside – country pate from France, fish pate made by Pauline, rocket salad, thin toast and a bottle of Italian red. All around us was warm and beautiful countryside. It was good to be alive.

18th April, 2012

Woke up to wild winds and warm (21C) rain.  There are supposed to be three boats in and out to day. There will be none. They are all tied up. We decided to settle for a tucked-up day but, after reading the paper for a while, found the views of the crashing sea too enticing. A tourist sailing yacht has been tied up in Kamares for two or three days. It was clearly going nowhere today. Below is one of my first scenic shots from my iPad followed by shots from my Canon EOS.

   

Pauline is cooking chicken breasts in cream of tarragon sauce with fresh asparagus and then I’m going to enjoy watching Chelsea being taken apart tonight.

19th April, 2012

None stop sun from start to finish today. We got up with plans to do so many things and ended up completing none of them. We read The Times together, tried to complete the crossword which is even more enjoyable to do digitally on the iPad than it ever was on the newspaper, sat out in the sun with peanuts and red wine and talked about the jobs we would have done if we could be bothered. Pauline phoned her sister who has been round to our flat and picked up lots of mail already. We’ve been away for 16 days so I can imagine that there’s quite a bit.

We are heading for lovely warm, sunny days but rather chilly nights according to our latest forecast. The next five days are sunny and 22C/70F. The UK papers seem to be touting visions of a very wet April followed by an unusually cold May – maybe the coldest ever recorded with plenty of snow in the UK. Oh, what a pity to miss it. This evening, it is so clear that I tried to go outside and photograph the stars which were so filling the night sky. I failed miserably but, while I had my tripod outside, I took this shot of the harbour. You can just see the lights and smoke of ferryboat Adamas Korais coming into dock on the extreme right.

20th April, 2012

The reasons that made us decide to return to Sifnos after our first visit in 2004 – beautiful scenery, wonderful food and restaurants, lovely people – have all been recognised in a recent report. The ‘National Geographic’ listed Sifnos in its ‘Top Ten of ‘Islands Under the Sun’. According to the magazine, Sifnos is one of the ten most charming and exotic islands and is included in the list with destinations such as Bahamas, Seychelles, French Polynesia, the Netherlands Antilles, etc..They say, Sifnos has a balance of beautiful beaches, nightlife, white Cycladic villages, low-impact tourism and maybe the best food in the Cyclades. They go on to say, ..it’s just a spot on the ocean that someone could hardly notice on a map. Yet if you find yourselves there, you’ll know there’s no other place of equal beauty in the whole world. In addition, Forbes magazine recently published an article titled “The best of Greece – But should you go?” in which Sifnos is characterized as one of the quietest and least discovered islands but simultaneously one of the most chic ones for 2012. The Forbes journalist can’t help remarking that Sifnos is one of his favourite islands in Greece, while he points out that riots often occurring in big Greek cities are extremely unlikely to take place in Sifnos and other similar peaceful Greek islands.

21st April, 2012

Glorious day with a stiff breeze that has brought the temperature down to 19C. Breakfast of porridge or ‘Quackers’ (Quaker) as it’s known here. Downloaded The Times to my iPad and then got on with the day. I have three matches today:

• Arsenal v Chelsea – 14.45
• Newcastle v Stoke – 17.00
• QPR v Spurs – 19.30

I’m going to be so fit after all that. Also, this weekend, I have to get the presssure washer out of hibernation and clean all the patio tiles of six months of winter dust blown down from the mountains or just dropped by birds. I have to help Pauline clean the windows for the same reason. After that, we will alternate between painting and gardening. It’s going to be fun.

8th April, 2012

Got up at 6.00 am (No Breakfast!) to leave Patras Palace Hotel and drive down to Piraeus. The motorway is still in redevelopment chaos with cones, temporary concrete walls, narrowed or switched lanes for kilometres. Fortunately, on Sunday morning, it was quiet and we managed to do the three hour trip in two hours twenty. Our ferry was in and the wind was only moderate so we were confident of it sailing. We went to a local kafenion for a coffee before boarding SpeedRunner IV.

The boat wasn’t full but it is quite expensive now. £150.00 for two of us plus car might not sound a lot but when you consider some people have to do this at least once a week for their work or for hospital visits, it feels expensive to them. The time to get from Piraeus to Sifnos on the old, ex-British cross Channel ferries which still ply their trade here is five and a half hours. The new, catamarans do it in half that time. The only downside is that, as soon as the wind blows, they stop sailing. Today, the wind reached Bf 6 as we rounded Serifos. This is nearly the limit of comfortable. Bf 7 – 8 makes one want to jump ship and swim for it.

Returning to our house after six months absence, we approach it with some trepidation. We know that the winds have been exceptionally strong this winter – has the new pergola been blown down? We know Greece has been unusually cold this winter – have our newly installed patio tiles cracked in the snow? We know that there has been a great deal of rain in Greece this winter – has the torrent down the mountain sluiced debris through our garden and left damage? We paid an Albanian to build 50 metres of walling at the front of our property this winter. Will he have done it and to our liking? We turned the water off to avoid leaks and floods inside but will the pumps start up when we use them?

As we drove up to the house,  we could see the satellite dish was still on the roof and the new pergola was still standing. The wall – the wall looks magnificent and edges the land just as we wanted.

  

The patio tiles were perfect because the rain had washed them cleaner than usual and, as we opened the front door, it was as if we had never been away. Everything was perfect. We got in about 2.30 pm Greek Time. As I was opening all the shutters and letting in the sunlight, I knew Man. Utd. would be kicking off any minute. I hadn’t unpacked the car but it had to be done. I phoned Nova, the satellite company, and had my TV service switched back on. (Have credit card, get anything instantly.) Within ten minutes, I was watching the game as we all but certainly clinched the title again. What a wonderful start.

Of course, I had managed to unpack a bottle of red wine and a large packet of salt & peppered peanuts to comfort me in case United lost. By the time they had won and little Scholesy had gone off, I noticed I had consumed it all anyway. I must remember not to do that again. A little the worse for wear, I unloaded the car and things were put away by my trusty servant who had already aired the bed with an electric blanket and put the sheets and pillow cases in the tumble drier to air them fully.

We had showers and then went out to eat at Posideon (Pronounced Possi-Don) Restaurant near the quayside. The wind had really whipped up and the waves were crashing over the road outside as we ate the perfect Sunday warmer – Revithia. It is thick, chickpea soup served with a wedge of lemon. Wonderful. We followed that with fried baby squid (Kalamarakia) and chips. You can’t beat fish & chips on a Sunday. (Have I spent too much time in the North?)

Home to a beautifully warm bed and darkness and silence only broken by the jingle of a few goat bells as day is breaking.

9th April, 2012

After tea but no toast because we haven’t been shopping yet, we drove straight to the Post Office to find our four, huge boxes sitting waiting for us. What a fantastic service. Parcelforce is brilliant and cheap. Off to the supermarket (greetings all round) and a huge buy-in. Back with our bounty to unpack the boxes and putting everything in its place – after it has been recorded on Pauline’s inventory. I have a fire in the garden to burn all the boxes and wrapping. We were so busy that we had no lunch. – There has to be a moral somewhere.

We went out to dinner for the second night not because we had no food but because we wanted to see our friends, Panos & Rania, who run a small but very popular restaurant. We talk for hours and then have Caesar Salad as a shared starter followed by Moussaka which is pronounced Moos-aka.

10th April, 2012

In the night, it began to rain heavily. We could hear it landing on the flat roof and gurgling down in to our huge water chamber that runs virtually the full length of the house. When we got up, the sun was out but rain has never been far away today. Our main mission was to go up to the telephone shop to organise our internet connection for the next six months. It is a 3G dongle which turns out to be remarkably robust and reliable. 10GB of usage will cost about €40.00 per month and it will allow me to do everything I want to do. I am delighted.

Back home and grateful because it is pouring down, I am able to download my emails, to update my Blog and to download our Bank Account and Mastercard Account details so Pauline can bring her own records up to date. It is full of petrol sales and Toll charges telling the story of our journey.

I cooked tonight – bacon, mushroom and pea risotto – and wonderful it was. I am finishing the night watching a bizarre match between Blackburn and Liverpool. Liverpool lost their first goalkeeper to suspension last game. Tonight they have lost their second goalkeeper to the same fate and the third choice has also given away a penalty goal. It looks a bit farcical.

11th April, 2012

Got up to cold and rain but the day has developed warm and sunny. We went out after breakfast to see friends in the port village – Kamares. Moshka, who runs the local store which we affectionately call ‘Tescos’ and her two lovely sons George and Nikos. We still think of them as boys because we remember them pre-school and George is still known as Little George (Georgaikis) even though he is 25 years old and six feet two with a huge beard and a loud laugh. They bemoan the fact that there are no (few) eligible girls on the island. I told George I would ship some over from England for him. When I asked him what age he fancied, he said 18 – 56. We ordered half a lamb for Greek Easter. We  delivered our Easter presents – Little bags which contain the jars of pickle and of jam that we bought in the Surrey Farm Shop along with some small, chocolate eggs.

We came home for lunch. Pauline made Waldorf Salad and a Tuna Pate which we ate with thin toast. It was wonderful. I only mention this to demonstrate to my big sister that I am eating healthily. We won’t mention the bottle of white with it. After lunch, I took some photos of the valley in front of our house which is as green as I’ve seen it after all the rain they’ve had.

 

12th April, 2012

Today is what is known on the island as ‘Big Thursday’. The Thursday before Easter. Hot and sunny today. Got up at 7.30 am and, after breakfast, went out to see if there was any post for us. The new, subsidiary post office in our village was supposed to be open at 9.00 am today but wasn’t. Fortunately, we met a delightful couple who spoke perfect English and live further down the village.  She was collecting and delivering post for friends. She immediately offered to do the same for us.

We drove up to Apollonia to buy a new pressure washer from the hardware shop. I asked last year and he still hasn’t got one. We went on to the electrical shop to replace our defunct microwave and to buy a new, outdoor oven with hob. We were eagerly welcomed at the shop and came away with a white, basic microwave to replace the same in which the turntable had failed. (€70.00 / £58.00) and a white, outdoor fan oven with a three ring hot plate to replace the one that rusted after being left out in the rain. (€110.00 / £91.00) We thought £150.000 for the two with a free roasting dish thrown in was a reasonable deal in these austere times.

We drove back down to see Moshka at the supermarket in the hope of taking delivery of half a sheep which we had ordered for Easter. Nikos would be back in an hour. Could we wait in the cafe. We sat and had coffee and read the paper on our iPad. After an hour, a frantic phone call to her son in the farm up the mountain established that the pressure of Easter orders were proving too great and the lamb wouldn’t be ready until this afternoon. No problem. We drove home and made lunch – just ham sandwiches – which we ate outside in the sunshine. No wine today – well at lunchtime – because we have stuff to do this afternoon.

After lunch, I put the old microwave in the car and drive down to the dustbin collection point where I leave it. Going down for lamb later in the afternoon and taking the old oven with us, I notice immediately that only the microwave has gone. Somebody will be busily repairing it in their kitchen somewhere on the island. The old oven still works perfectly, it just looks a bit worse for wear and the bakelite handle is cracked and repaired with superglue. I’m sure they’ll get over that. We will collect our lamb at 10.30 am on ‘Big Friday’.

13th April, 2012

Big Friday has arrived. We went down to collect our half a lamb.  The side of lamb is roughly cut into a shoulder, a leg, and rib joints and then wrapped up in that thick, butcher’s paper we used to see in Britain. It costs €7.40 per kilo which is marginally under British prices. As an Easter present, George gives us a huge, circular, soft white cheese made on his farm. He puts it in my hands with the word – ‘Souvenir’. As we walk back to our car, we see Margarita who has been up to the church to clean and decorate it.

The rest of the day is quiet – reading the downloaded ‘Times’ with Pauline reading her Kindle.

14th April, 2012

Big Saturday is a little disappointing, weather-wise. Strong winds with huge white horses out to sea. Brilliant sunshine tempered by cool winds gives way to heavy rain and then goes back to sun and clouds. The Easter Fever mounts on the island and in the Country with everything on television encouraging excitement about the big day – Big Sunday. The price of lamb is reviewed with a trip to the central Athens Meat Market. It is traditional for Greek families to congregate like we do at Christmas and, instead of a turkey, they spit roast a whole lamb having done without meat for lent. This year it is €7.50 per kilo which makes the average lamb about €120.00 per carcase. This is proving too expensive for some who are turning to chicken instead. Pauline and I have ordered half a lamb to show willing but we can’t eat more lamb than that in a couple of months.

All the films on TV are Biblical Blockbusters and all the cookery programmes are centred around Easter food. Two TV channels are almost exclusively given over to televising the continual religious ceremonies that start on Big Thursday and finish at midnight on Big Sunday.

At midnight, those who were in church spill out on to the harbour street next to the beach and mingle with those who have not gone to church but want to be part of the traditional festival. Greek Easter Bread – a sweet bread is broken and shared and red dyed hard boiled eggs are smashed between friends.

 

They say to each other:  Χριστός Ανέστη! or Christos Anesti – Christ is Risen – whether they mean it or not. Fire crackers are thrown, rockets launched, dynamite is detonated on the beach until the mountains ring round and round with the booms and the windows of shops shake precariously. Finally, they all go off to their family homes for a huge meat meal to make up for the past 40 days of abstinence (or not).

As I think I have written before, Pauline and I always feel more like outsiders now than at any other time in Greece. We are both Agnostic/Atheist and would be uncomfortable in this ceremony anyway as we do at Christmas in our own country but being in a foreign tradition brings outsidedom even more sharply into focus. We watched the most ridiculous biopic on TV about Kate & Wills courtship and engagement, watched the fireworks at midnight and went to bed.