Category: Sanders Blog – Hellas

13th November, 2011

The weather since we returned from Greece has been incredibly mild and amazingly sunny. Throughout October, we have enjoyed the glorious countryside around our new home. It is incredibly wooded. Living in Yorkshire, we have usually considered the latter half of October to be the height of Autumn with strong winds encouraging brightly coloured but dying leaves to leave their tenure on the trees. Not this year and, particularly, not in Surrey. Two minutes from our home is Pyrford Common Road pictured below. We drive along it every day. It has taken a long time to recognise the onslaught of Autumn.

At last the trees have accepted their fate but the sunshine and relatively warm weather persists even in mid November. Today the temperature reached 17C.

Everywhere we drive, the trees are dominant and beautiful. They must also be very expensive because, as the Autumn deepens, the Local Authority are busy everywhere sweeping, blowing, sucking up and shredding leaves. Arborealists are assessing trees, lopping branches, felling huge and diseased old trees. Log sellers are advertising.

14th November, 2011

Today we had the car washed and valeted for the first time since we returned from Greece. Death on the road was everywhere with Greek flies spattered on the bumpers and wing mirrors. They earned their £30.00. The car cleaning service is in the huge Tesco car park. On the other side of the road is the famous but old and delapitated Brooklands race track.

When we were no longer ashamed of the state of our car, we went off to Honda in Weybridge to book its first year’s service which is due in a couple of weeks.

15th November, 2011

Pauline is a perfectionist. The carpets are being laid next week. Pauline has looked at the skirting boards and decided that she could finish them better. She is repainting the lot today. I can’t paint to save my life so I’m reading the newspaper and making hot drinks. Life’s hard!

16th November, 2011

Today, I took Pauline to the doctors. We then went on to the apartment to meet television engineers. I need remedial work doing in the study so I can receive Sky+. Because we are moving in to a block of apartments with central satellite dish and a cupboard full of cables, this is not as simple as I expected. After hours of investigation, I have to ask the builders permission to run a cable to my study.

Pauline’s nephew, Daniel, is 8 tomorrow. He wants a lemon cake. After a trip to Waitrose, she is baking this afternoon. I’m cooking Sea Bass fillets on a bed of pea & parsley risotto for Dinner.

17th November, 2011

Glorious day today. Bright blue skies, clear sun and 14C. Had to go for my first INR check in Woking this morning. They have a weirdly slow and expensive system. In Huddersfield, I turned up, had my finger pricked, waited for two minutes and was the advised of my warfarin dosage for the foreseeable future. At the same time, I would be given my next appointment. In Woking, I have to turn up and give an armful of blood then go home and wait for a letter to tell me what dosage to adopt. Then, I have to telephone for my next appointment.

The development company phoned to say I could have a Sky cable run from the communal dish to the Study. I’m going to get a huge television stuck on the wall with another Sky HD box so I can watch the football without annoying Pauline.

18th November, 2011

A pleasantly mild day of 14C. For the first time in weeks, we have no commitments. We decide to create our own. We are going to do the Over-60s Bowel Cancer Screening Programme process. (If you’re squeamish or eating, look away now.) What you get is a card with three flaps. Under each flap are two ‘windows’. In total, one has to smear faeces across each window with one of six cardboard paddles. In order to do that, one must intercept a stool from reaching the toilet pan and take samples from different areas of the stool. Surgical gloves are an advantage. Two samples each day for three days have to be stored in a cool place (the fridge?) and then sent back to the labs. Life does not get much better than this!

In spite of some technical difficulties, we both managed it today. We have resolved to eat more onions today to give the testers something to draw on.

19th November, 2011

The wardrobes are being delivered today between 8.00 – 10.00 am. We got up early and arrived at 7.15 am. The furniture arrived 15 minutes later. Two young men carried it in but didn’t apolgise for being early. At least it will be ready for the fitter on Monday.

6th November, 2011

Spent the day at the apartment unpacking the last six boxes. It is a bit of a nightmare at the moment because we are waiting for the carpets and wood flooring to be laid and are reluctant to put anything down which will impede the fitters. We are having to cram everything in to kitchen cupboards, on to already tiled floors in bathrooms, etc. Anyway, it is done. I even managed to find time to watch some football on Sky although Wolves v Wigan was not earth shattering.

7th November, 2011

Can you believe it. We are doing our Christmas Cards at the beginning of November. We have the time. Our cards will include a copy of our new home address and phone number. We have had this problem with TMobile’s credit agency. I have written to them clarifying our address and today I tried to speak to them to resolve the issue. I was met with a stone wall. I have to wait for them to deliberate. Very frustrating.

8th November, 2011

One of the real frustrations in a new build is getting the ‘Snagging List’ addressed. This has been exascerbated by the fact that we have been abroad for our first six months of ownership. The first snagging list was done but only after Pauline’s sister constantly nagging the builders. Since we have come back and started to prepare the flat to be lived in, we have developed a new list of increasingly irritating ‘snags’. The Sky engineer found satellite points on the wall unconnected to anything outside. Already, I’m not having a good week!

9th November, 2011

In Huddersfield, Anti-Coagulation testing is very user-friendly with the intention of encouraging warfarin-users to take up their support. In Woking, it seems to be quite the opposite. I have now been to three separate testing centres who are reluctant to take me on because of the pressure of numbers on their service. Of course, non of them can refuse but they don’t make me welcome.

Today we went to a National Health Dentist to try it out. We went with some trepidation. The practice had five dentists listed but we were assigned to the youngest and least experienced. When we met her, she turned out to be a skinny, little Indian girl who could have been a Sixth Former. Actually, she was brisk, efficient and excellent.

10th November, 2011

The telephone engineer found telephone points on the wall unconnected to anything outside. After a while, trying to address these niggly little snags wears one down. When I phone the Developer’s Customer Help line, I always get an answerphone and I am beginning to lose patience.

I have bought a Sky Bundled Package of TV/Broadband/Phoneline. The telephone engineer is from BT Openreach because the local Exchange has not yet been ‘unbundled’. Fortunately, we got an engineer who knew the Development and was able to get in to the central (Dry Riser) cupboards and connect us up. He says we will be up and running by tomorrow. In addition, our TMobile phones arrived. I chose TMobile over other providers mainly because of its reception in our apartment but also because of its generous (unlimited) internet/email provision and no extra cost. I chose an Android-based smart phone over a Blackberry because of its much superior internet facility. Two, free Samsung Galaxy phones arrived today. I set them up and put them to charge.

11th November, 2011

Went down to the apartment. The landlines were working and the mobiles both worked perfectly. The week may be finishing on a better note. Pauline and I cooked Cassoulet for tea. It was very enjoyable to make and to eat.

12th November, 2011

Two weeks today we should move in to our new apartment. That will be seven weeks after our return from Greece. We feel that we will have achieved a lot in a reasonably short time.

Watched England beat Spain tonight. I’m not sure what it proved but it was a pleasing result.

30th October, 2011

One of the problems with our new apartment is poor mobile reception. Over the years, Pauline and I have had spells with O2 _/ with 3 and, currently with Vodafone. Unfortunately, there is no Vodafone signal at all inside and only a poor one outside. That is not acceptable. Today, I cancelled our contracts and obtained a migration code to port our numbers across to a new provider. The only provider with a useable signal in our apartment is TMobile. They are now owned by Orange so one gets the best of both signals. Fortunately, TMobile will give us a nice, new smartphone free with unlimited free internet and an hour’s free international calls a month in addition to our any time/any network minutes.

Had to get to Gatwick Airport for 1.20 pm to pick up Phyllis & Colin returning from a week in Spain. They were on Easyjet and the flight landed 25 minutes early. Fortunately, they were held up in Baggage Reclaim for quite a while which meant we were there on time. They arrived to find a temperature here of 17C.

31st October, 2011

One day before November and 17 – 18C is forecast. We have clerical work to do in the first half of the morning – contacting Woking Council to get them to collect the bed base we no longer need. Apparently, the cost of collection is £26.00 unless one is aged 60+ when it becomes half price. Doesn’t seem fair, really. Does it?

1st November, 2011

Happy November! I’m still wearing short sleeved Tshirts. Today we are meeting the Sky engineer at the apartment. He has an appointment time frame of 8.00 am – 1.00 pm and actually arrives at 1.00 pm. When he does, it takes him five minutes and he is off. Fortuitously, just as we are leaving the Taylor Wimpey ‘snagging list team’ arrive unannounced and begin to address all the little niggles that we have asked to be addressed. They were excellent.

The Greek situation is spiralling out of control. Papandreou has been forced to offer a referendum at the eleventh hour when it appeared Europe had found a solution. It could all come crashing down around our ears.

2nd November, 2011

Another day of shopping. Lovely mild day and quite sunny. We went to Guildford to shop for bathroom furniture. We also were looking for ceiling lamp shades and standard lamps. We left the house at 10.30 am and returned at 2.30 pm. I was absolutely shattered. I really don’t like shopping.

When we got back, I cooked prawn risotto while Pauline arranged for my anti-coagulation test. We are really pleased to have a system that will work while we are in Surrey and in Greece. Watched Manchester City tonight easily beat Vila Real. Quite boring really.

3rd November, 2011

We went to the doctor’s surgery to try to sort out diabetic eye and foot checks and a diabetic clinic. It turns out that everything is done on one site which makes life easier. They gave me yet another urine sample bottle so that, when I go to the surgery on the 24th and 28th November, I have to take two urine samples to the same nurse for different purposes. She will take two blood samples and test them separately for different purposes. That really is taking the ….Michael. I’m going to be walking round with an empty shell of a body.

4th November, 2011

To get a new mobile phone contract, we have to go through a credit check. Our new-build address is causing a problem with that. Either companies do not list it at all or they have it listed in a different form. We have companies telling us that we’ve got our own address wrong. Today, I have to contact TMobile because their credit rating agency have rejected us. Pauline has to contact the company selling us oak furniture on a buy-now-pay-in-12 months basis because they have rejected us. Both companies believe it is because of our unestablished address.

5th November, 2011

My first chance to watch Sky Sports football in High Definition and in my own home today. Newcastle against Everton could be quite a good match.

23rd October, 2011

Almost November and the temperature reached 21F in Woking this afternoon. The sun was out; the sky was blue and the trees showed early signs of Autumn. If this is Global Warming, give me more of it. We were up early and out at 8.00 am to take Phyllis & Colin to Gatwick for their flight to Spain. The M25 was very quiet and we got there and back in an hour. We were back in time to watch the rugby final. It was a good match which I enjoyed because I wasn’t partisan.

This afternoon we went down to the flat but we have been so busy over the past two or three weeks that I felt too tired to continue unpacking boxes or cleaning. We picked up the post and went off to read the papers. I was only pleased that I don’t have access to Sky TV so I couldn’t see United’s humiliation.

24th October, 2011

Went down to our apartment to open some more boxes. I wrote an inventory of our unwanted furniture – or our second downsizing. Went to Waitrose to buy food for our evening meal. Met Mandy which was quite a surprise. Later, as we were about to start cooking, Mandy called round with the boys who had been out playing tennis. They gave us each a little chocolate cake that they had made. To say thank you, I put the boys on the carpet and sat on them. I’m sure they appreciated it.

25th October, 2011

We were supposed to be meeting the Sky installers this afternoon but the day started off disastrously. We had lent our large, flat screen TV to Phyllis & Colin while we were away in Greece. Today, we had to take it down to the flat ready for the Sky+ installation. We have ordered Sky+HD multiroom and Sky phone and Broadband package. It saves us about £50.00 per month on our separate services from Sky and BT. Let’s hope the quality is as good. Anyway, as we carried the huge TV down to the front door to put it in our car, we realised that there was a problem. The front door would not unlock. It is a mortice lock and it looks like one of the levers has dropped down blocking the lock in the process. Nothing daunted, we manage to lug the TV out of the back door, through the conservatory, across the car park to the car.

We drove down to the flat. When we got there, I took out all the paperwork I had received from Sky only to realise that viewing cards should have arrived in the post and hadn’t. I had to phone Sky and rearrange. Viewing cards will be sent in 3-5 days. We returned to Phyllis & Colin’s house, tried the lock again with no success and proceeded to search for local locksmiths. As luck would have it, there is a locksmith who lives twenty houses up the road from here. We are waiting for him now.

While we wait, I phone Woking Community Furniture Project and ask them to come and collect our our unwanted furniture. They will come on Friday. They have craftsmen who will spruce it up and give/sell it to needy people.

The locksmith came, inserted a screwdriver into the lock and gently twisted it until it clicked back in to place. It took him thirty seconds. He said he would normally charge £75.00 but, because he was a neighbour, it would only cost £45.00. Oh, Thanks!

26th October, 2011

A very grey and wet day. We went shopping – again. We went to Bath Store in Walton on Thames to buy cabinets for the bathrooms. We bought mirror-fronted stainless steel wall cabinets – 3 x double, 1 x single + 1 x tall – to have put up in the family bathroom, the en suite and the downstairs cloakroom. We have a little man coming to put them up for us soon.

We went on to Farnham to a shop I had found on the Internet and which we were so pleased to see. We wanted a dining table and chairs, a tall display cabinet for glasses, etc and a sideboard for cutlery & crockery.  I found some lovely oak pieces on line and one of a handful of outlets happened to be in Farnham about a mile and a half from Jane BG’s house. I didn’t destroy her day by calling round unannounced but I may do one day. The furniture store is called Oak-Furniture-land in East Street. As soon as we saw it, we loved the furniture and bought everything we needed. The lady processing our order was struggling with her computer. I told her I was an ex-IT teacher and it made her even more nervous.

We went to Waitrose in West Byfleet and bought trout for tea. Pauline cooked it with a lemon, tarragon and olive oil marinade. It was wonderful with a green salad. Waitrose is posh even for a Sainsbury shopper. When we leave the carpark we don’t put our validated ticket in to a machine to raise the barrier. We hand it to a man who is dressed like, looks like and sounds like Prince Charles. He says, Thank you very much, Sir. Drive carefully. I’ve started to tease him that he could be a machine. I ask him if he needs oiling, etc.

27th October, 2011

A pleasant and quite warm day. After quite a lot of driving yesterday, we had a morning off bringing our diaries up to date, contacting suppliers to firm up delivery dates, doing correspondence we have not done since leaving Greece. After lunch, we went down to the flat and prepared for visitors who are arriving on Friday. The Furniture Project are arriving to take away unwanted items many of which had belonged to Pauline’s Mum and had just tided us over in temporary accommodation:

Items for Collection

·      Reclining Arm Chair – Large upholstered metal action
·      Two walnut veneer coffee tables
·      Old pine kitchen chair
·      Dressing Table with back mirror – modern pine
·      Two bedside cabinets – modern pine
·      Kingsize Bed – Pine Head & Foot boards – Iron side rails – folding base
·     Nearly new mattress
·      Circular Dining Table + 4 chairs
·      Standard lamp
·      Television stand

The other callers tomorrow will bring wood flooring for the hall which has to acclimatise in our property before it is put down permanently.

28th October, 2011

Beautiful clear blue skies and strong sunshine. We had to be down at the apartment for 11.00 am. We got the furniture ready for handover and then took a couple of garden chairs outside and sat in the sun under the gloriously autumnal trees and waited for visitors. Packs of wood for the hall floor arrived first at 12.00 pm and we had to wait almost until 4.00 pm before the furniture was collected.

Back at Phyllis & Colin’s house we ate rabbit stew with garlic bread and green salad. It was absolutely delicious. Brought my calendar up to date: 

October 28th	Friday	Woking Community Furniture Project  11.00 am – 4.00 pm / Carpetright delivery of flooring
October 29th	Saturday	Browns hair with Genny – 9.15 am  / Bathstore Walton to collect cabinets
October 3oth	Sunday	Collect  Phyllis & Colin from  Gatwick  1.00 pm
October 31st	Monday	John to see Dr Goad 3.30pm – Take all medication
November  1st	Tuesday	Sky Specialist to install box
November  3rd	Thursday	Residents meeting 6.30 pm – Maybury Centre, Board School Road. GU21 5HD
November  10th	Thursday	Openreach Engineer –  8.00 am  – 1.00 pm
November  17th	Thursday	INR Check – Woking Walk-in Medical Centre – 9.25 am
November  19th	Saturday	Wardrobe materials delivered
November 21st	Monday	Wardrobes & Shelves fitted – All Day
November 23rd	Wednesday	Carpets & Hard flooring layed – Morning
November 24th	Thursday	Kathy health check at Hillview 11.40am
November 25th	Friday	Bed delivered   –  Advised time by text message + Lounge Furniture
December 6th	Tuesday	Trip to France
December 12th  – 17th		Suite delivered

It feels quite busy although I suppose I would have considered it easy in the past.

29th October, 2011

A gorgeous, sunny day with clear blue skies. Off early to Weybridge for Pauline to have her haircut at Brown’s Hairdressers by a girl who trained at Sassoons in London and is a trainer herself now. I love Pauline having her hair cut because I get a quiet hour in a coffee shop with the paper. Today it was Coffee Republic on Weybridge High Street. She seemed reasonably pleased with the result but I have a feeling the search may go on. We went on to Bath Store in Walton on Thames to pick up five bathroom cabinets we’d ordered.

Back home and ham & salad sandwiches and a glass of red wine for lunch with Football Focus. Life could be a lot worse.

16th October, 2011

I actually bought a Sunday paper and read it from cover to cover. Went down to the apartment to unpack boxes. We have to get a charity to take a lot of stuff away. It will be the second downsizing since we left our large house. This one will be painful – lots of huge, framed pictures, pottery we have collected over the years with lots of invested memory.

Lovely colours on the trees around our garden:

     

17th October, 2011

Big day today. After more box unpacking at the apartment, we have to seal a new doctor. Tomorrow, we go to Huddersfield and say goodbye to our doctor of over ten years. We have a present of Sifnos honey, Italian olive oil and French wine to thank her for her wonderful service. An excellent doctors’ practice that we have identified has rejected us because we live too far away – 1.85 miles. We are going to look at one which is just 1.5 miles away.

We have been to the Hillview Surgery and are delighted with it. It is newly refurbished and welcoming. Even better, it was the surgery of Sir Alec & Eric Bedser. They had donated a great deal of money to the surgery.

18th October, 2011

Up at 5.30 am – a beautiful morning but cool. Out of the house at 6.30 am and on to the M25 heading for Monsom Lane, Repton. Visited Mum’s grave and said, ‘Hello’. The beech nuts had fallen in huge quantities and were scattered everywhere but real signs of Autumn in the tree colours were hard to discern. It was a windy day. The winds of October are supposed to drive dead leaves from the trees. This October, the leaves aren’t cooperating. Someone had left flowers at Mum’s grave quite recently.

 

  

On to Oldham. Today is the first anniversary of Pauline’s Mum’s death. It is a painful time and we went to the Crematorium to view the inscription in the Memorial Book. On to our hotel near Brighouse.

19th October, 2011

Up at 7.00 am and down to breakfast by 8.00 am.. So unusual to eat bacon & egg. Off to Hepworth Honda to visit our friend, Chris Woods, who has sold us new cars for the past thirty years. On to pick up our pre-ordered prescriptions and then on to Sainsburys to pick them up. The novel part of this was that the prescriptions were all free because both of us are 60.

After a cup of coffee, we drove to Leeds to Barker & Stonehouse. We looked at a dining room table and a set of chairs and two cabinets for the lounge. We may order online. Back to Oldham and to our old house at Quarry Court to visit our neighbour, Jean. As we left her, we met our other neighbours, Graham & Margaret. It was nice to see them all again.

20th October, 2011

A day of meeting friends and relatives. After breakfast, we drove down to the Anti-Coag. unit at the hospital for the final test. Then we drove over to see Brian & Val in Shaw, Oldham. At lunchtime we drove to Bolton to have a cup of tea with Ruth and then drove back to Huddersfield to go out to Dinner with ex-school friends, Margaret & Viv. Finally back in our hotel room, we collapsed – full & tired – and watched footage of the killing of Gaddafi.

21st October, 2011

Early morning appointment with our wonderful GP, Judith, to have flu jabs, a final diabetic review and to say goodbye. We gave her a jar of honey from Sifnos, a bottle of olive oil from Italy and a bottle of wine from France. It was a lovely, final meeting. Back to the hotel and then off to the motorway for our drive back Surrey.

The motorway was great while it was called M1. As soon as it changed to M25 it clogged up. The last 30 miles to one and a half hours because of a number of accidents and one slow patch where we were advised that pedestrians were on the motorway. We saw one young man but have no idea why he was there. We called in at our aparment on route to Phyllis & Colin’s house where we are staying. Lots of mail had arrived including our updated driving licenses. While we were there, a lady from the council called to talk to us about Recycling. Fortunately, I was in the toilet doing my own recycling and Pauline had to deal with her.

9th October, 2011

Went down to our apartment to do some cleaning and tidying after leaving it empty for six months. It is was a beautiful day. We were delighted with how the landscaped grounds around our building were looking. The trees are in magnificent colour. The apartment is set in the grounds of an old convent. As we were driving in, I noticed a little grey haired old lady teeter on the top step of huge step ladders with electric hedge trimmers in hand, cutting back a huge conifer. As we passed her, I turned down the window and shouted, “I expect to see a peacock in that conifer when I come back!” She looked so astonished that she nearly fell off the ladders.

We cleaned and measured up the rooms so that I could produce scaled plans ready for ordering furniture. When we left, the old lady was just getting down the ladders from a perfectly shaped conifer (in a conical) with the electric shears. We stopped the car in the road to say, ‘Hello‘. She told us that she was 82, her name was Joy and that her husband had been Head Gardener in the Convent where our apartment was built. She was clearly a character and lonely. It was hard to get away because she soon started rambling on about lots of stuff like her grandaughter getting a university place and then dropping out, etc.. Unfortunately, traffic came the other way and we had to move on.

10th October, 2011

Today I phoned Sky to book an installation of a package containing television, phone line with free calls and unlimited broadband. It will cost £70 – £80.00 per month which will save us about £40.00 on our previous arrangements.Went down to our apartment again and parked for the first time in our underground garage. We noticed that our nearest neighbour was parked in her space so we decided to go and introduce ourselves. She is a single woman who told us she’d been retired for four years and was now 54. She had been in the army and looked ‘well clipped’ – it turns out she was a General. She told us that she spent her time playing golf and travelling abroad. There is a meeting for the Management Group of our Development soon and we agreed to go together.

11th October, 2011

Today we went in to order fitted wardrobes for the bedrooms. We are almost the only people shopping in this huge store. Later in the day, we go in to an empty bed shop, an empty carpet shop, an empty Bathstore and an empty sofa store. Everywhere they are putting up ‘Reductions’ signs. We booked a man to come and measure up for the wardrobes with fitting and some bespoke additions. We know, roughly, the price of the carcases but are told not to pay anything until next Saturday when the price will be reduced by a further 15%. Later in the day, we get a phone call from the salesman to say that, if we pay a deposit, we can have 20% off.

12th October, 2011

Phoned my web space provider today because I still haven’t got access to my Blog after a whole week. I am quite dismayed and very angry. They tell me they are still working on the database connection. I asked how many people it affected and they became quite evasive. I became more suspicious.

13th October, 2011

This morning, coincidence??, my Blog became available again. Thank goodness for that. I can get on with updating it. I am nine days behind.

Had emails from friends in Yorkshire who we are going up to see next week. We also learned that a girl we taught with for about thirty years and who was about three years younger than us, died in her sleep last night.

14th October, 2011

Bought two settees and footstool for the lounge plus a sofabed for the study. We then went on to the carpet shop and chose two carpets. Pauline insists on an 80%/20% mix of wool/man-made fibre. We asked for two swatches and took them down to the furniture shop. It was obvious which of the two went best and we returned to the shop – Carpetright – to order. We will have the carpet laid right through the apartment – lounge-diner, stairs, bedroom 1 and bedroom 2. The price was 50% off but just as we were going in to the shop, they were putting out notices for an extra 10% off. We didn’t complain.

15th October, 2011

We now have a timetable for the next few weeks. We have jobs still to achieve but this is the barebone list:

October 18th Leave for Huddersfield
October 19th Visit friends in Oldham + go shopping in Leeds
October 20th Anti-Coagulation at HRI + visit Huddersfield friends / Dinner with M&V
October 21st Final Diabetic Clinic + Say goodbye to our Doctor.
October 22nd Carpets & Hard flooring measure up
October 25th Sky Specialist to install box – 12.00 pm -6.00 pm
November 10th Openreach Engineer – 8.00 – 1.00 pm
November 21st Wardrobes & Shelves fitted
November 23rd Carpets & Hard flooring layed
November 24th Bed delivered
November 25th Suite delivered

2nd October, 2011

Lovely sunny day which we spent cleaning the car and packing ready for leaving tomorrow night. Because of the strike situation, we had to go down to the ferry ticket agency – Aegean Thesaurus – to confirm that our ferry would still be running. They confirmed.

Watched some pretty awful football on the part of Bolton and QPR an d was delighted to see Spurs beat Arsenal.

3rd October, 2011

Our last day in our Greek house for this year has arrived. We got up early and gave the cats their last breakfast. They will get an evening meal and we will leave food out for Tuesday breakfast but they will almost certainly eat it during the night. I have just phoned Nova TV to cancel my satellite subscription until next April. After coffee, we will start to pack the car for the journey.

Next, we will drive up to Apollonia and fill up with petrol, cancel our internet service and do some shopping for the journey. That is why this Blog is predictive rather than reported today. By 10.00 am, I will have no internet connection until I reach the hotel in Italy on Wednesday. There is satellite internet on the ferry up the Adriatic but it is painfully slow and unreliable. Hopefully, I will write again from Lake Como.

I’ve been up and cancelled my internet provision but, because I pay in advance, I learn that I will be able to use it at least up to tomorrow and, maybe, even on the boat. Having packed the car, we will go out go out to eat early and then get our boat at 23.59 pm. We will aim to sleep for most of the six hours of the trip and drive off in to the Athens traffic at 6.00 am tomorrow. It will take about three and a half hours driving to get over the Korinthos Canal and half way round the Peloponnese to Patras but we will be there by around 10.00 am on Tuesday. We can then get some breakfast, ‘Check-in’ and get our tickets and drive down to the dock where we will board at about 3.00 pm. We sail at 5.00 pm Tuesday and dock in Ancona about 12.30 pm Wednesday having called in at Igoumenitsa on the way – an approximately 19 hour voyage.

4th October, 2011

The ferry arrived thirty minutes late last night but docked fairly much on time in Piraeus this morning. By 6.30 am we were spilling out in to the busy, Athens rush-hour traffic. By 10.00 am, we had arrived in Patras – the main Pelopponese port. This is the Patras Bridge of which they are so proud.

I bought my first newspaper for six months and, after checking in and getting our tickets, we parked up and snoozed in between reading the latest news. We boarded Anek at 3.00 pm.

5th October, 2011

Pauline is 60 today. Neither of us can believe it. We have different views on ageing. Pauline sees it as a guilty secret to be denied even to one’s self on the basis that if you deny you are sixty, you aren’t 60 and you don’t feel 60. I always believed that I would die, like Dad, at 49 or earlier. I have always felt older than my age and, when asked how old I am, I always anticipate my next birthday by saying, I will be 61 in April, or whatever. I see it as a real achievement to get to the next birthday. Yesterday, when we got on the ferry and went up to the Purser’s desk to get our cabin key, I told him she would be 60 when she sat down to breakfast on Wednesday. It is late season and this ship is almost empty. When we got down to breakfast at 8.30 am, we were the only people in the restaurant. Normally, it is usual to queue for a table. The waiter had already been told to treat us royally. Our breakfast was free and we could have as much of anything we requested brought to our table. Fresh orange juice and fresh coffee were poured and constantly replenished until we asked the waiter to stop. We had bacon and scrambled eggs followed by croissants with butter and jam until we could barely move. We were just summoning up the ability to get out of our chairs when the waiter appeared with a glass dish full of thick and snowy Greek yoghurt, which he insisted we finish our meal properly with, topped with Greek honey from Crete (the home of the ferry). You must have a sweet, he said. (For breakfast?) We couldn’t upset him.

We staggered out on to the deck and into the sunshine. It was 9.30 am and warm. There was no sight of land and we dock at 12.30 pm. After a few minutes fresh air and sunshine, we stagger back to our cabin. I have my lap top and the ship has a satellite internet connection. It also has Greek TV through satellite. We watch the news coverage of the General Strike across Greece today. I check my emails and the newspapers on the web while Pauline reads her book on her Kindle. Suddenly, the cabin phone rings and the Purser speaks to Pauline. He wishes her Happy Birthday and says she must be pleased to be 16. He says, You are only as old as you feel and today he feels 100. Pauline tells him she will check with him when we return in April. The Purser says that then she will be 15. Pauline is happy.

Before I went to bed, I tried to access my Blog to write it up. I got an error message which I’ve never seen before. I will have to do it tomorrow.

6th October, 2011

Up early. A cup of tea but no breakfast. I have to drive from Grandate, Como via Colmar in Alsace to Metz in France today. It is a 370 mile journey which is estimated to take 6.00 hours. The weather was lovely, the roads were deserted and the journey was wonderful. The Hotel Metz Technopole is a pleasant stopping off point with a wonderful restaurant. We stayed there last year and decided to repeat the experience.

 

7th October, 2011

Just a 4 hour journey to finish our trip. Our Tunnel crossing is booked for 6.00 pm but we will certainly go earlier. In Italy, we stocked up with wine and cheese. Now we drive straight to our favourite wine store – The Calais Wine Superstore.

By 4.00 pm UK time, we are back in England and on the motorway to Surrey and West Byfleet. After six months, it feels very strange. This evening, I try to update my Blog but I still can’t access it. I email 1&1, my hosting company for an explanation.

8th October, 2011

We spent the day going through a backlog of mail and feeling very tired. In the evening, we went over to Mandy & Kieron’s to celebrate Pauline’s birthday with steak and potato rosti.

25th September, 2011

As a wounded soldier, I had to take it easy. My ear – big in the first place – has swollen considerably and is miserably uncomfortable. Pauline has cleaned the splits and dressed them with antiseptic cream. I have been holding an ice pack on my ear until I couldn’t feel my face in an attempt to get the swelling down. It was stopping my hearing.  We were supposed to be going swimming but I have been banned in case I get an infection.

To add to my woes, there was just one, poor quality, Premier League match today – QPR v Aston Villa and it ended in a boring draw.

26th September, 2011

My ear is still swollen, throbbing and weeping a bit but we have to get on. We go up to the tile shop to pay for the waterproof treatment of our pergola roof. Six man hours plus the solutions comes to €500.00 which seems a bit steep but we are assured of a ten year warranty so we pay up.

We have coffee with Panos & Rania

27th September, 2011

Pauline & I are very similar in our reactions to things. As soon as we reach our final week, we are desperate to get on with it. We leave on Monday night, strikes permitting. We have done all the planning, bookings, etc.

• Monday: Sifnos – Piraeus on F/B Adamas Korais leaving at 23.59 and arriving next day at 6.00  am.
• Tuesday: Patras – Ancona on Anek Lines leaving at 17.00 and arriving next day at 12.30 pm. (Wine buying)
• Wednesday: Ancona to Lake Como – a four and a half hour drive.
• Thursday: Lake Como to Metz in France – a six hour drive.
• Friday: Metz to Calais – a four and a half hour drive. (Wine buying) 6.00 pm crossing through Tunnel to UK.

We have made lists of all the jobs we must do before we leave and we are ticking them off as we get through them. Teachers to the last.

28th September, 2011

This morning it was blood test, shopping, frappe and sweet pie at the cafe and relaxing in the sunshine. Our friends and restaurant owners, Panos & Rania along with their daughter, Nefelli and Anna, their chef, came round for coffee this afternoon.

My INR is all over the place again. I had to phone Huddersfield R.I. and they advised a new warfarin dosage. Tonight I am switching between Arsenal and Chelsea. The Chelsea match looks the best. Goodness knows what Man. U. were up to last night.

29th September, 2011

Can you believe that tomorrrow is the last day of September and we leave our Greek home in four days. Actually, the weather across northern Europe is lovely at the moment, dry and sunny, and would be ideal for our drive. It seems to have come a week early for us. It can’t possibly last. We really don’t want to be driving through heavy rain in Italy and France or snow in Switzerland.

We have food for three meals in the fridge/freezer and four days to eat. We decided to go out to eat. We went to Meropi restaurant. It is one of the traditional tavernas in the harbour which we first ate in when we came here in 1984/5. Meropi is an ancient Greek name – a girl’s name. In our naivety, we thought it was owned by Mr & Mrs Meropi when we first frequented it. We were served by a girl – daughter of the owner – who wasn’t even born when we first went to the restaurant. She is Katerina and she is 25 years old. She told us that she is getting married in November and she invited us to the wedding. Unfortunately, we won’t be there. We sat by the sea and ate chick pea balls with garlic sauce and then beef in red sauce (tomato) with potatoes. Red wine made us even more relaxed.

As we walked back to our car, we met Christos, the cafe owner, who told us he had just come back from Santorini where he and his wife and new baby had spent a week’s holiday. He didn’t like it. The island was ‘full’ of Japanese tourists with cameras. He wants Greece to leave the euro and return to the drachma. We disagreed on that. We went on past the ‘supermarket’ where we saw Giorgaikis (Little George) who is 27 years old and 6′ 4″ tall. His brother, Nikos, is on crutches. He was hunting on the mountain and fell and broke his ankle quite badly. We drove home for coffee and to sleep off the food and wine.

This evening. our feral cats who have been fairly scared of most human contact throughout the period we have been feeding them became incredibly affectionate. We are already feeling terrible that we are going to leave them to fend for themselves in the next few days. We don’t know if it is the cooler nights sleeping outside or the increased confidence that they have in us or the animal sixth sense that something is changing and we are going but today, Little Ginge & Little Tabs, followed Pauline around everywhere she went outside – opening the shutters, collecting the washing, etc. They even started rubbing her legs and kissing her foot when she fed them and she managed to stroke Tabs’ back as he ate although Ginge still shied away.

 

Little Tabs really does take after his adopted father. He is as fat as a house while Little Ginge is still more delicate. Even after they had been fed this evening, Little Ginge sat on the windowsill and continued to cry. We went out and told her she was a cat and that it was her tradition to go off catting at night time but she took a lot of persuading.

30th September, 2011

This morning Pauline is picking olives for bottling and taking back to England. Then we are going to the accountant to ask about the lost legal papers on our house. First we will call in at the Post Office to ask them to save all our mail until April when we return.

When we get to the Accountant’s office, we are told that the papers have been found in the Tax Office in Athens and are on their way back to Sifnos. Suddenly, all worries are waved away. It is a typically Greek resolution to a problem that has concerned us for two or three weeks but which Greeks around counselled us not to worry about because everything sorts itself out in time. And it has!

My ear is a lot better today but my arm has come out in an angry bruise from the fall.

We leave the island at midnight on Monday and just manage to get our ferry before the Seamen’s union goes on strike. The air traffic controllers have already arranged theirs and the buses, trains and taxi drivers are in the midddle of theirs. To add to our luck, the five day weather forecast says our journey across Europe will be warm and dry.

1st October, 2011

I can’t believe the days are flying by so fast. I thought retirement would slow them down. Anyway, Happy October to you all.

It feels like the end of term. All we have to do is tidy our offices, make a few speeches of gratitude for all the support colleagues have given us over the past few months and then head off on our merry way only to return after a short while to start all over again. In those days, of course, all our personal organisation was crammed in to spare, non-professional minutes. Now, we have lots of time and almost everything is done well in advance. Today I will have my hair cut outside on the terrace. The falling hair will drift away in the breeze and remain on my land while we are away. Pauline is ironing and packing the last clothes while I will be watching the football. We are planning how to eat the remaining food over the final three days and drink the last bottles of wine. We have just enough food for the cats and we’ll leave their Tuesday breakfast for when we’re gone. After that, they’ll have to hunt out their food.

18th September, 2011

The swimming just gets better. Nobody else in the sea. Warm, clear water. Air temperature almost permanently hovering around 28C/83F.

Had the pleasure of watching United destroy a rather ageing and shabby Chelsea.

19th September, 2011

The woodman didn’t turn up to finish the job today which worried us a bit but we were told to go to the tiler’s shop to arrange for him to send someone down to put the final coatings on the roof. It gets a red, rubberised coating followed by a white coating to reflect the sun away followed by a varnish to keep the whole thing perfect. The tiler’s wife said it would be a week before they could get to us so we are keen to follow up on that before we leave.

The sea seemed even warmer today and the swimming was delightful.

20th September, 2011

The  woodman, Konstantinos, his brother in law, Adonis, and his wife’s Uncle, Giannis, arrived at 9.30 am to complete the work on the roof. It has been a really professional, high quality job.

   

Amazingly this afternoon the sky has turned cloudy and we are told that we have a 30% chance of rain tomorrow. Everyone here will love that – apart from a few tourists who are left. We haven’t seen any ‘weather’ since May. Every day is hot, dry, blue sky and sunny. Nice to have a change at last.

21st September, 2011

Last night we thought there would be a huge thunderstorm. At 11.30 last night, we were sitting outside watching almost continuous sheet lightning flashing just behind the mountainous bowl in which Kamares Bay sits. The lightning was not followed by thunder but it was fairly hot and humid. We went to bed expecting to hear the beat of torrential rain on our flat roof in the middle of the night. It didn’t happen and this morning brought blue skies with fleecy clouds. It feels a little fresher than normal so, maybe, the prospect of rain is going away.

We are continuing jobs in preparation for closing up the house. We leave in twelve days and there is lots to do. I have written before of our hardwood windows & doors which were supplied by Sylor. The paintwork is electromagnetically applied which means that rather than having to repaint every year as most islanders do, we have a ten year warranty which is already in to its sixth year and standing up well. In order to keep up the standard, we are supplied, free of charge, with a ‘Care Pack’ which contains a bottle of liquid detergent and a ‘water-based impregnating agent’ both of which we apply each Autumn. We are also given a WD40 can for the hinges and other metal work. However sceptical we may have been at the outset, Pauline has religiously done the job each Autumn and the warranty will easily be fulfilled and, probably, another ten years.

We went up to the woodman’s to speak to Maria, his wife, and to pay the bill. It was €1100 but worth every cent. As we drove home, I suggested we call in at the tiler’s shop to speak to his wife, Katerina, to see when they were coming to put waterproofing on our new roof. It just so happened that three men had returned from a tiling job early so they were immediately despatched to our house. It is so un-Greek-like but it was magical. With thunderstorms predicted for tonight, we now have a waterproofed roof which will do the next ten years. The workers will come back tomorrow to put the white coat of paint on and then again on Friday to varnish the whole thing.

22nd September, 2011

Well, it’s happened. We’ve had our first rain since early May. There was no thunder & lightning,  just a heavy drumming on the roof as a ten minute monsoon style rain hit us. It was 3.00 in the morning and we got up to watch in excitement. Little Ginge & Little Tabs were cowering under the outdoor furniture. This was their first ever experience of rain. We opened the door and smelled the freshness before leaving the cats to their fate and going back to bed.

The morning has broken with warm sun and clear, blue skies. Isn’t this how life should be organised? Heavy rain at night and warm, bright skies during the day. Pauline is painting the underside of the pergola roof. I’m cleaning the bathroom. It may be a reversal of traditional roles but we each do what we can. We are a good team.

It is two and a half years since Pauline & I did a day’s paid work. Our pay arrives every month at a rate that means we notice no difference from when we were in work. Every day I feel something of a fraud. In April, while Teachers’ pay is frozen until the end of 2012, our pay will increase by 4.5%. In a year, Pauline will receive her old age pension in addition. We won’t need it but we will invest it if we can find something worth putting it in to.

23rd September, 2011

Pauline is painting the edges of the pergola in a freezing, early morning temperature of 22C/70F. No wonder the cats wolfed down their food and went off to snuggle in the garage. I don’t think we will be swimming today.

The temperature eventually did reach 26C/79F but we didn’t go swimming. Two young men appeared for the third day running with huge cans of varnish to put on the pergola roof. It now has a thick, red, rubber layer covered by a white layer covered by a clear varnish. That is it now. Pauline painted the edges white today and she will do the same to the underneath tomorrow. I will not write about it again – unless it blows down.

Greece has no money. Local government is cutting back everywhere. Amusingly, all local, Greek Authorities will be expected to balance their books by 2013. What one would be able to correctly infer from this is that they don’t balance their books currently and haven’t done for years. They just go cap-in-hand to central government for hand outs to make up the shortfall. Often the shortfall is scandalously large. We went for a drive round the island and were surprised to find that large portions of the road system were being freshly re-tarmaced. Some of them, in our view, didn’t really need it. Something fishy is going on!

24th September, 2011

Woke up early this morning …………… on the bedroom floor with blood pouring out of the side of my head. It was just after 6.00 am. The room was pitch black because the shutters were closed. I wasn’t drunk.

As I woke, I felt myself falling – not surprisingly because that is exactly what was happening to me. I had rolled off the side of the bed and caught my ear on the pointed corner of the bedside cabinet tearing my earlobe. I take a long time to come round in the morning. I didn’t this morning. I knew immediately that I was on the floor and something hot and wet was dripping from my ear. Pauline was instantly at my side with a huge towel to mop up the blood. I take Warfarin and my blood doesn’t clot. The fall had torn my ear lobe and the blood flow was insistant. The photograph below was taken four hours later and the blood had just begun to clot.

 

11th September, 2011

After a football free weekend last week, I was looking forward to some good entertainment this weekend. Apart from United’s slaughter of Bolton, 5 – 0 (Sorry, Ruth but Bolton were lucky to score 0.), the other five or six games I saw were poor quality and boring.

The day was saved by the most wonderful weather. The sea temperature is 25C/77F according to our forecaster and the air temperature was 28C/83F. It’s not boiling but it feels very pleasant. We had a beautiful swim in crystal, clear water.

12th September, 2011

With the possibility that the woodman might appear with his team ‘after 9.00 am’, we were up and outside by then. We have got an ongoing job of land clearing and leaky pipe checking (for leaks). That’s what we got on with. By 12.00 am, it was clear the woodman wasn’t coming today. We were tired and sweaty. Showers and out shopping. Back for coffee and then it was time for swimming. Once again, we did our mile in wonderful water. There were about three ‘wrinklies’ couples on the beach. Since June 1st, we have swum about 100 miles.

Back at the house by 3.00 pm and, after a shower, we have a little snack of a few crisps & nuts and some little bits of garlic sausage with a glass of wine. We are going out to dinner tonight so we just want to get ourselves through the next four or five hours of hunger. By 4.00 pm, Pauline is reading her Kindle and I am snoozing in front of the News. The Greek government are talking about a new property tax. The next thing I know, it is 6.00 pm. The cats are clamouring at the windows to be fed. The small snack at lunchtime is still filling our newly shrunken bellies and we cancel the dinner out. We’ll do that tomorrow.

13th September, 2011

The wonderful weather continues. After a bit of gardening, Pauline phones the electrical shop about our broken brush cutter. It’s repaired. We go up to collect it and it illustrates one of the delights of Greece. When we get to the shop, the machine is repaired and working. The shop hasn’t done it and they make no charge. Why? we ask. Because Georgios was passing on the bus and he knows about these machines. He repaired it. He doesn’t want paying. What can you say but Thank you.

A few days ago the Garden Centre man said he was waiting for insecticide for the blight on the lemon trees. Today, he said it had come in. We bought it and a sprayer. He told us how to dilute it and apply it. We will do it tomorrow. We really are going out to eat tonight.

First we have had a lovely swim. Although there are only a few wrinklies this year, this is the sort of transport that they seem to like to arrive on:

We did another mile of swimming in wonderful water although today the tide was going out strongly and we had to fight it. The photograph below illustrates our swim:

14th September, 2011

Still, blue skies and 33C/92F today. After breakfast, we did three gruelling hours of garden clearing, testing and repairing the leaky pipe network. After a short recovery period, we went off for our swim. The water was warm and still.

When we came back, Pauline phoned the woodman who confirmed that he is delivering materials tomorrow evening and his team will start work on Friday morning. Tonight we have to spray our lemon trees with an insecticide. Apparently, all the citrus trees of Sifnos are suffering from thrips which can be erradicated with this spray. We have six citrus trees and I have to cover my skin, my mouth and nose before I start the job. At least the evening is still.

We are a bit worried about our cat family. They are incredibly close and supportive of each other. They are constantly kissing and cuddling each other; they don’t fight over food; they are together all the time. In the past few days, Mother has started to change. She has gone off on her own, been a bit moody and struck out at the kids. We are not sure but we think she might be pregnant. The kids are finding it very hard and Little Ginge, particularly, spends all her time near to us, crying. I can’t take it. I’ve told Pauline, she’ll have to come home with us.

15th September, 2011

A hot (33C/92F) but difficult day today. We went up to the electricity shop to change the clarify our billing address because we had not received our last two paper bills even though the charge had been deducted from our bank account. The man at the electricity shop did that on his computer but told us to contact the accountant, because there was a problem. In order to get ‘full’ electricity, one has to submit the paper which the planning/building authority issues after the building is completed. This paper says that the final building has been checked and it adheres to the original plans. Only then can people have full electricity switched on. Our papers were submitted four years ago but we still haven’t been granted full electricity. Apparently, our papers were submitted to the Authorities in Milos as normal. Milos sat on them and when finally questioned, said only Greeks could submit their papers to Milos. Non-Greeks had to submit them to Athens. The papers were submitted to Athens and passed. In this process, the original paper has gone missing and only a photocopy remains at the accountant’s office. The electricity shop says it cannot switch on full power without the original paper. This is not good news and could delay matters even more.

16th September, 2011

After six months of asking, the woodman says he is coming today. We will see. Today has reached 33C/92F with a slight breeze. We worked hard in the garden for two hours or so and then had a wonderful swim. Pauline made pizza for our meal. We eat so little now, one, homemade pizza absolutely fills us.

The woodman arrived at 6.00 pm bringing wood and saying the job would be done tomorrow. We cannot believe it. I got so emotional I kissed him. He seemed quite pleased.

17th September, 2011

At 9.00 am, we were outside drinking coffee when the woodman and team arrived. They set to work and we sat and watched. The woodman’s wife’s uncle began in the laundry. Because non of us speaks a common language, I had produced diagrams on my computer of what we wanted and where. He seemed delighted with those. The woodman and his brother-in-law began to dismantle the pergola. Half way through the morning we offered coffee which they laughingly declined because it was Nescafe not Greek coffee. But the homemade tyropita or cheese pies that Pauline baked were wolfed down with a bottle of water. They will work until 3.00 pm so we will miss our swim today. The first football match is at 14.45 pm (Blackburn v Arsenal) so we won’t have time. We will have to do double tomorrow.