Sanders Blog

11th November, 2012

Today, I had to turn my mind to finances. Since we retired, it has been hard to know where to invest money. The stock market has been weak and savings account rates low. We have had a policy of always saving the full ISA allowance each year for both of us. We also run an on-line investment fund which we can drop money in to at any time. It is a good discipline and means we never worry about money. My mother lived on her investments alone for much of her life and could talk knowledgeably about companies and their share earnings. She kept tranches of Blue Chip shares for long periods. My approach is small beer in comparison and I don’t take any risks that I can avoid and just try to get ahead of inflation. It is becoming harder. The bonus that comes with popular investment accounts usually lasts for a year and so I am regularly looking to reinvest at this time of year. I didn’t come to many conclusions before the football started.

Having watched Man. U. make Villa look distinctly ordinary yesterday, I watched Man. City just beat a remarkably poor Spurs who are definitely still missing Harry. Chelsea v Liverpool weren’t so much better although it was good to see Liverpool with a bit of fight back.

12th November, 2012

Went to bed at 10.00 pm last night and the radio came on this morning at 4.00 am. By 5.00 am, we were in the car with Phyllis & Colin and two, huge cases en route to Gatwick Airport. The road was busy but we arrived at about 5.40 am and were going round Tesco by 6.30 am.

Off to the Health Club at 1.00 pm and we managed a half kilometre swim which really made us feel more lively. I got back to find a Facebook request from a lad I haven’t seen since 1972 at college. It turns out, he has been living and teaching quite near me in Kirklees for a long time. It will be interesting to hear his story:

By coincidence, we will rehearse the early morning process again tomorrow but drive to the tunnel and across to France.

13th November, 2012

Up again at 4.00 and on the road at 5.15 am. The drive down to the Tunnel wasn’t quite as straight forward as usual because of some early morning fog patches which slowed traffic down but we were still at the tunnel for around 6.30 am. It’s all so much easier than in the early days. I book on the internet and enter my car registration and get an email confirmation. As I drive up to the unmanned check-in booth, a camera reads my number plate and by the time I get to the machine’s screen, it reads, Welcome, Mr Sanders. I press a button and it prints my paperwork out and off I go. I must admit, it doesn’t speak to me which I miss because I’ve spent the Summer shouting back at the speaking toll booths, Arrivederci.

  

This was just a shopping trip today. We didn’t buy wine for ourselves because we didn’t need any but we drove over to the Calais Wine Superstore first to buy a little bit for Phyllis. We then went on to Cité Europe (which was almost deserted as you can see below) and walked round the large Carrefour. The quality of fish, meat, cheese, butter and vegetables is wonderful and €250.00 later, it was time for lunch. A pleasant little bistro provided us with a two course lunch of soup – onion for Pauline and crab for me – followed by Beef Bourguignon and french fries for Pauline and Roast Lamb with a garlic cream sauce and Duchesse Potatoes for me. Delicious! Unfortunately, because I had to drive home, I could only drink sparkling water but that was ok.

 

We lingered so long over lunch that we only just made our departure time of 3.40 pm but, with the hour difference, we were back in UK by 3.15 pm and home in Surrey by 4.30 pm. Cheese and biscuits and a bottle of red wine for Supper and an early night.

14th November, 2012

Today is the most beautiful, mild, sunny day you can imagine for mid-November. It is one of those days when one is glad to be alive – to be retired, free and alive is a real bonus.

I even enjoyed the goals scored against England in the evening. Ibrahimovic showed that there is no substitute for talent with a wonderful hat trick topped off with a brilliant fourth goal.

12th November, 2012

Another lovely day apart from the fact that we were up at 6.00 am and in a hospital queue by 7.00 am for my INR blood test. I was feeling shattered after ten minutes in the queue but I couldn’t show it because standing immediately in front of me was an 86 year old little old lady with a tube up her nose attached to an oxygen bottle that she had wheeled with her on a trolley. She didn’t complain so neither did I.

We went off to the Peacock Shopping Centre at 10.00 am because Pauline was desperate to look for a new bag. She had browsed the internet for hours and identified two, particular bags – one from Debenhams and one from Lewis’s. The bag has to hold a Kindle, an iPad, passports, tickets, currency, keys and mobile phone plus sundry other things. It must have a long enough strap to go diagonally across the chest with central and internal zips. She doesn’t want to pay much more than £100.00. We went to the relevant shops to look at these bags:

   

Of course, non had them in stock. The internet has reduced these once great shops to husks.

This afternoon I took Pauline to Woking Walk-in Hospital for a small operation on a cyst on her toe which had been increasing in size over the summer. I wasn’t in on the action but they split open the cyst and squeezed some jelly-like substance out of it. I don’t know what flavour.

This evening, we have to go to a Management Committee Meeting for the Development within which our Duplex lies. It will deal with the Annual Expenditure of our Management fees which amount to nearly £2000.00. This includes the on-site biomass as well as maintenance of the grounds – trees, grass, fences, lighting, etc..

Got a note from John Ridley this afternoon suggesting that he and Nigel (Nigel!) should act as estate agents for our Greek house. I can’t see it myself but it was nice to hear from them.

I’ve just been reading Skiathan Man and he’s been watching England cricket. Where’s he getting that from on Skiathos? Surely not from Nova.

16th November, 2012

Today there were three by-elections all won by Labour including the weather-vein constituency of Corby where the star-struck Louise Mensch had run off. Bad night for the Tories but even worse for the Liberal Democrats who will be annihilated at the General Election for reneging on their election promises. At the same time ‘Police Commissioner’ elections were mocked by the electorate as irrelevant and, at a price of £100 million, a costly waste. It was pleasing to see that Prescott was rejected by the impoverished, sink area of Humberside. Little good ever comes out of there!

Skiathan Man – always an interesting read – quotes a Greek teacher: ’17 demonstrations planned in Greek cities on Saturday, bring your own Molotov’. It demonstrates how far Greek society is moving away from the civilised mainstream even if one acknowledges why. He also kindly explained how he watches the cricket. I’d forgotten that normal people have broadband. When we are in our Sifnos house, we only have a 10Gb dongle contract for internet access. I once watched a day of cricket from ‘Sky TV’ and used 6 of my 10GB allowance for the month. Nova did televise England in South Africa but it’s a long time until that comes round. I envy Skiathan Man and that at least.

We are going up to London on Thursday. It takes about 20 minutes on the train. We went down to the station this morning to purchase Day Travel Cards. For £ 13.20 our cards will allow us to travel to Waterloo and back and anywhere on the underground. If we look like making it a regular trip, we will probably invest in Senior Rail cards which, for £28.00 give us one third off all rail journeys even first class. Actually, we are planning Harrods, Fortnum & Masons, Borough Market and, possibly, the Tate Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition – Victorian Avant-Garde.

17th November, 2012

A fairly grey and overcast day. We had just had breakfast when the dentist phoned to say Pauline’s re-worked veneer had arrived and she would fit it in the next twenty minutes if we could make it. We got there and the job took more than an hour. The original price for the job was £350.00 but because of the problems the surgery had in sourcing the correct veneer, the price was reduced to £230.00.

While Pauline was in the surgery, I sat in the car reading notes of research done by David Pritchard into the Sanders Family history which he did eight or more years ago. At the time, I was deep into work and gave it a cursory although enjoyable perusal. Now the time has arrived when my genes are itching to take up the baton and I hope I can build on David’s work. His research took the family back to the 1770s. I have the time and the inclination so, amongst other projects in Surrey and Greece, I hope to report new discoveries in the next few months. What has particularly spurred me on was as the result of some early enquiries I made at the beginning of this year. I was struck by the name of my Grandmother who I didn’t meet. Dad’s Mother who was called Flook. I thought this was quite a strange name. In fact, I thought it might be German but found it was listed as an interesting and unusual surname derived from the Old Norse personal name “Floki”, which was originally a byname meaning outspoken or enterprising. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnes Flooke, which was dated November 24th 1609, marriage to William Huffe, at St. Dunstan’s, Stepney, London, during the reign of James I. I also found that the Flook name was/is heavily clustered around the Bristol area.

I contacted the Bristol & Avon Family History Society. I knew Grandad Sanders was a pilot in WW1. I knew Mabel Lillian Flook came from Wickwar in Goucestershire where she married Grandad in November 1914. I asked myself how a solidly Midlands-based man could find himself marrying in Gloucestershire at the beginning of a war that he survived, against all the odds, as a pilot. I thought that, if I was sent to train and/or be stationed in the Bristol & Avon area for an activity that gave me a life expectancy of about seven weeks, I would look to pass on my genes immediately. Grandad Sanders didn’t hang around and Dad was born in 1915. When I got back from Greece, I received this quite explosive letter:

Chipping Sodbury
Bristol
South Gloucestershire BS37 6LQ

September 2012

Dear Mr Sanders,

A friend of mine has showed me the request that you had included within Bristol and Avon Family History Society journal, for September 2012, about the information within your request for help, about your grandmother and other relations.

Your Grandmother is my aunt, Mabel Lillian Flook, Mabel the older sister of my father, Norman Albert Flook. I have been steadily working my way towards you and your siblings. However, I am stuck now, trying to discover the second marriage of Lily Catherine Sanders nee Coghlan, to Gordon J. Bennett, the death of Lily Catherine Bennett, the birth of Ronald Albert Wilson and finally the death of Ronald Albert Wilson. However, as soon as I have managed to discover these four certificates, then I will move onto their children.

Going back in time, I have managed to get back fully to Samuel Flook. Who would be your great great great grandfather. Samuel Flook baptism took place within the Parish Stapleton in 1812 and his wife Sarah Breddy. Sarah baptism took place in 1814.

I also have discovered the names of Samuel Flook father and mother. However, I have not researched them at all yet. Therefore, I may be able to carry on going back. Your other great-grandmother was Martha Ann Cratchley. She was born on the 25th February 1870. I already have extra layer of information on the Cratchley, right back to the second Samuel Cratchley. Who was born in Randwick Gloucestershire, at about 1778.

So if you would kindly let me know. What information you require. Then I will gladly provide you, with anything that I am able.

W. A. Flook

November 4th, 2012

A slothful day of laziness and indulgence. Aren’t they all? This one was worse. Breakfast, newspapers, football, lunch with wine, football, dinner with wine.

Tomorrow will be better!

November 5th, 2012

Up early. Went down to the garage to prepare the car for its trip to Yorkshire tomorrow and its exchange for the new car. Check oil, windscreen bottle and tyre pressures. Empty the car of everything that doesn’t belong to it. The most important thing was cleaning the sat. nav. of saved destinations. It is just getting ready for its 24 month service. (£250.00) I won’t need to do that. It probably would be expecting a new set of tyres (£1000.00+) so I won’t need to do that. The Road Tax is due in three weeks. ( £250.00) I won’t need to pay that. All in all, I’ve saved money by buying a new car.

We went on to the Health Club and had a wonderful, first session. Swimming, Jacuzzi, Steamroom. We had it almost entirely to ourselves. We do know that they must be struggling for clients. As soon as we showed any interest, they wouldn’t leave us alone, phoning with new offers. Even in the affluent commuter belt of Surrey, people are having to make savings. One of the first things that goes is the Health Club membership.

November 6th, 2012

Up at 4.30 am and out by 5.30 am on the M25 before full rush hour. It is incredible how many people are on the road at this time in the morning. Sat. Nav. told me that it was a journey of 202 miles. and, leaving at 5.30 am, I should get to Huddersfield Honda Dealership by 9.20 am. In spite of a coffee stop in Leicester Forrest, we managed to shave 30 mins. off that time. It was lovely to see Chris, our salesman of 25 years relationship. He confirmed that it was the 20th new car that he was handing over to us. He also told us that we would receive a cheque for £500.00 from Honda for being such long-standing customers. We were with Chris for an hour while he tried to explain all the computer aids of a car that is so new, he hasn’t been able to master them himself. I told him I would spend some days on the car and then send him some notes of guidance.

We drove away and on to Netherton – a village on the edge of Huddersfield – where there is a farm shop that we have used for years. We bought half a dozen pheasants for £4.00 each plus lots of quality meat which will tide us over until we go to France.

We drove on to Repton to visit Mum’s grave. It depicted a quintessential English Autumn day. A Keatsian Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. The light soft, the trees colourful, the ground carpeted with the bronze fire of fallen beech leaves. To complement the scene, light rain had begun to fall. I found myself weeping in empathy as I concentrated on the thought of my dead Mother.

 

If I analyse it, I am weeping for the idea of a lost Mother and, probably, for myself rather than for her but, in memory, she lives.

Life has to go on and so did we. The new car was a delight to drive even though I had to fight to access the new, DAB radio. It had 400 stations but it took me ages to find Radio 4. I did it but, at 120 mph, put the rest of M1 users at great danger. Pauline shouted at me. I will need the rest of the week to get to know all the innovations in this model. You need to be retired for this car. You need the free time.

We were home by 3.00 pm and, after driving 550 miles, I sank into a large, leather sofa with a huge cup of tea. I woke in time to watch a mediocre Man. City. scrape a poor draw against Ajax.

I love elections. Whether I can stay up to watch in the US Presidential contest tonight, I don’t know.

November 7th, 2012

I didn’t make it through the night but the radio woke me this morning at 6.00 am with the pleasing news that Obama had been re-elected. Sanity, at least in part, has returned to the US.

I rarely read instruction books for new gadgets. One of the tests of quality is the level of intuitiveness they are endowed with. Today, I spent one hour working through the Audio system in my new car. It shouldn’t be difficult. It is a combined unit of satellite navigation (no longer DVD-based but constantly ‘live’), a DVD player, a radio with DAB/FM/LW, a CD player with a hard drive storage. It is integrated with a trip computer which reports mileage (switchable for kilometres) fuel consumption/fuel remaining/road temperature. The whole thing is controlled by touch screen, controls on the steering wheel or voice commands. I’m pleased to report that after an hour of play, I can get Radio 4.

The other innovations I have had to get to grips with urgently are the ‘keyless entry’ system. You don’t need to use your key to open the doors. As long as it is in one’s pocket, the car doors will open and the engine will start at the push of a button. Similarly, when leaving the car, one merely closes the door and everything locks automatically. At the same time, the key fob in one’s pocket tells the car from a couple of metres before one enters it to set the driver’s seat to the previously chosen position. It holds two separate settings programmed to two separate fobs. Dream on!

November 8th, 2012

Up at 6.00 and at the Walk-in Hospital for my blood tests by 7.00 am. Unfortunately, there was a huge queue. I had an appointment elsewhere for a ‘flu jab at 7.40 am but I didn’t make it in time. By the time I left the Walk-in Centre, it was standing room only. It was so busy, a lady from the office came out to take my blood. “Don’t worry, I’ve been trained.”, she said and that really worried me. She did a good job and by about 8.00 am, I was having my flu’ jab.

Home for breakfast – Shreddies & coffee – with the digital newspaper and then a couple of hours writing before setting off to the Health Club.

Wonderful couple of hours at the Health Club this afternoon. We swam just half a kilometre but I was tired when I’d finished. We haven’t swum for nearly three months and I’ve got to get back in to the routine.

November 9th, 2012

A bright but slightly chilly morning. The temperature was forecast to reach 10C/50F outside but it felt quite chilly as we left for the Health Club. We managed an extra six lengths today. My body says, ‘Thank goodness I don’t go at the weekend.’

In spite of the temperatures outside being half of those currently in Greece, we haven’t felt the need to put the heating on at all. The insulation of this new apartment is phenomenal.

Today I learnt that my new car has warning sounds if I set speed boundaries. Experimenting, I set 30 mph and 80 mph as the boundaries it would warn me of breaking. I’d only gone a couple of miles before I took this parameter off because it shouted at me every time I went over 30 mph. I also found that, as soon as I play a CD in the unit, it rips it into MP3 format and saves it to the hard disk just as one might do on a computer. The CD then becomes redundant as far as the car is concerned so it can be played elsewhere instead. As long as the car is in ‘park’, it will play a DVD where the Sat. Nav. screen is and, although the cars transmission is automatic, the steering wheel includes gear change paddles that will over ride the automatic gear selection.

November 10th, 2012

We are off to France next week so I am desperately trying to get up to speed with the new car. Sorry to bore you. Today, I’ve been learning some of the switches. The tailgate rises and falls electronically. It can be switched internally from the control panel or externally from the key fob which will also open and close the electric windows. I have a (VSA) vehicles stability assist button which is on be default and prevents over and under steering. Actually, the power steering is much lighter on this model. I have a deflation warning indicator that I have to set when the tyres are inflated correctly and sounds if one falls below standard. I have a Hill Descent Control button which I have to set for the obvious. I have ABS which is standard in most cars now but mine is topped up with an Emergency Stop Signal which is really useful particularly as I do a lot of motorway driving on the Continent. ESS switches on the hazard flashers automatically if you brake hard at 60 or above. I also have (CMBS) collision mitigation braking system which is a radar sensor which detects if the vehicle in front cuts its speed and automatically cuts mine to match. This is particularly helpful with cruise control which I use all the time on the motorway. There will be a test next week to see how much you remember. I certainly won’t pass it.

Bacon sandwiches for lunch today as we watch the Rugby. Life could be worse.

28th October, 2012

Another fine day meandering down retirement lane. Sunday papers with fresh coffee. Smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch. A wonderful afternoon of football on TV. Liverpool drew with Everton in an excellent game and then United beat 9-man Chelsea in a strange but captivating victory.

 

Dinner was chicken, red onion and sweetcorn with wonderful, Italian pasta and a bottle of Tuscan Sangiovese followed by Pauline’s dark chocolate and amaretti Torte with autumn raspberries. Wonderful!

Pauline has been cooking all weekend. Two Christmas Puddings, a Christmas Cake, Amaretto-Chocolate Tortes in readiness for December. A dozen salmon and cod fishcakes for meals in the future. Our rule is that we never eat a pre-prepared meal unless we are dining out. Everything is fresh and made with the best ingredients.

29th October, 2012

I’m on the last leg with my latest website construction. I am fighting with a couple of difficult pages which just don’t work yet. A pleasant day. We went out for a walk. The trees are losing their leaves but still glorious.

30th October, 2012

We decided to take advantage of the special offers still being made by Eurotunnel and book another French trip before Christmas. An offer of £22.00 return just cannot be turned down. We will do our monthly shop there on November 13th and December 12th.

My new website is at the proof reading and testing stage. I aim to have it up and working in the next couple of days.

31st October, 2012

We have been discussing joining a Health Club since we got back and there is a good one near where we live. The Nuffield Health Club in West Byfleet is huge and has wonderful facilities. It has lots of machinery, a pool, jacuzzi, and steam room for me. It also hosts lots of exercise groups like Pilates and Zumba for Pauline. At £100.00 per month, it works out cost effective as long as we go four or five times each week – which we will.

 

1st November, 2012

Kalo μηνα  Happy November

I launched the new website today and sent a link to the Notary. Ironically, we received a phone call from our amanuensis on the island. They had been chopping wood for their burner in anticipation of a cold winter. They were informing us of our electricity bill which will amount to about £150.00 for the six months. Not bad.

2nd November, 2012

We received a call for help from Phyllis & Colin to go round and assist them ……………. build a fluorescent green mountain bike that had been ordered over the internet. It is a birthday present for one of the boys but it beat us. Half an hour was all we needed to know it was a job for the professionals. A quick call to the local Halfords and a quote of £40.00 was enough to drop the project.

We bought a very expensive pheasant in a local butcher’s shop the other day. We had it for dinner this evening and it was absolutely wonderful. We must buy plenty more from the farm shop in Huddersfield when we go.

3rd November, 2012

Torrential rain all night gave way to a lovely, bright morning. TV News reported snow in the South West. It is still quite mild here. We haven’t had to turn the heating on yet. Long may it continue. Even though we went out early this morning to do the weekly shop, by the time we had got home and had coffee, it was time to watch United destroy Arsenal.

Christmas arrangements have been made: we have agreed to meet for a meal with the family on Christmas Eve at our local country pub – The Inn at Maybury. On Christmas Day, Pauline & I will cook for eleven people with traditional turkey as the main course. Starter will be finger food – smoked salmon, etc. Pauline has made the Christmas Puddings and the cake already giving them time to mature  – like me.

The website went up this week and already has been visited 37 times. We have already had two couples looking round the house. A Sifnos couple went round last week and thought the price reasonable. I think it is although that was the hardest thing to get right. Certainly, we could have put it on at a higher price but it will only sell if it is considered a reasonable price and I think this is. The irony is that, two years ago, we could have added an extra €200,000.00. It is not a problem. My abiding principle in building the house was that it should not compromise our life and finances in UK. What will be, will be! I’m already planning our return to Sifnos next Spring.

21st October, 2012

It is a real sign of old age when a brief jaunt away takes days to recover from. I plead guilty. I did drive 650 miles over those three days but I think it was the socialising that really tired me out. Pauline and I live so much in our own little bubble that social intercourse spread over three days really took it out of us. I have slumped with the Sunday Times today, watched a couple of games of football and written a few emails.

Tomorrow is the 55th birthdays of my brother, Mike, and Sister, Liz. I still picture them as 10 or 11 not 55! Ruth met Liz recently and said she was limping with arthritis and that Mike had it so badly he had been unable to get out of bed one day. I am not aware of it in our family at all. Ruth told me that she and David are going with Jane to Buckingham Palace in a week or two when she receives her CBE. Liz will be the next one. She has already had lunch with the queen and her job is likely to lead to some automatic honour in the end.

22nd October, 2012

Happy 55th Birthday to Mike & Liz. How grown up are they?

   

Sent an email to Liz and got a nice and immediate reply. Sent a card to Mike who refuses to embrace technology. I don’t know why. He’s extremely intelligent. I might hear from him in a year or two.

23rd October, 2012

We are developing a very busy schedule over the next few weeks so I’m desperately trying to get this new website completed and published. It’s not one I have to maintain other than fielding correspondence so, when it’s finished, it won’t take up a lot of time.

When I got back from Greece, I was shocked to find a letter from a member of the Bristol & Avon Family History Society. The correspondent had long been investigating their own family and finally found that it became entangled with ours. The letter was asking for help. I will deal with that next and that may also result in a website redesign ultimately.

Before Christmas, we have a trip to London for shopping. We want to visit Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and Borough Market. We would like to do a second one to visit the Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition at the Tate. We have at least one shopping trip to France and a trip to Yorkshire to collect the new car. I will visit Repton on the way back.

In addition to these, we have a string of Doctors’, Dentists’, Hygenists’, Hospital, Diabetic Clinic appointments. I have so many friends/correspondents to get back up to date with that my emails are likely to blend in to the Christmas Card List. Still, it’s better than being bored, isn’t it?

Watched Man. Utd. splutter through to victory against Braga in the Champion’s League. They will have to do better than this.

24th October, 2012

The mornings have been grey for a few days now. It isn’t cold – by British standards – at 16C/61F but it is a bit depressing. It’s only 18C/64F in Athens and Skiathos so the difference isn’t as great as one imagines. My morning starts at 7.30 am with a glass of fresh orange, a huge cup (bucket) of breakfast tea and then a bowl of cereals – usually Shreddies which I love. After downloading The Times on to my iPad, I make a cup of fresh coffee. My coffee maker produces a wonderful cup of Capuccino for about 22p. It would cost about £2.20 at Costa Coffee. The newspaper this morning, like the news bulletins for days, is dominated by the BBC’s relationship with Jimmy Saville. To hear executives say they didn’t know is ridiculous. I heard him say back in the 70s that he liked to take young girls back to his caravan.

This afternoon, Pauline is going for a fitting for a new veneer on her front tooth. She lost the last one in Greece. The new one will cost £320.00.

25th October, 2012

Had to be out early this morning. Blood tests – a standard INR plus my annual diabetic check. The nurse really did take an armful. After that, we had to drive a couple of miles to take Pauline to visit the Doctor. She is prone to developing ganglions or little fatty cysts. Five years ago, we had a real scare when she developed one in her forearm that was initially thought to be more serious but, fortunately, turned out to be completely benign. We had to go down to Birmingham to have it removed by a Specialist. Now she has one on her shoulder which is starting to impact on her mobility and which will also have to come out. This time, it will be done locally. Later, Pauline had a second ‘fitting’ for a veneer at the dentist. Neither of us has seen a doctor or dentist for over six months so to return to this kind of regime makes us feel our age.

26th October, 2012

For years now Pauline and I have loved cooking with and eating game – pheasant, partridge, pigeon, quail, rabbit & hare. In Yorkshire it was cheap and readily available. Pheasants, in the shooting season, cost £3.00 each from our farm shop. A good sized rabbit was about the same price. We have just found a butcher down here selling fresh pheasants for £6.75. Fortunately, we are off back to Yorkshire to pick the new car up and we will go loaded with cool boxes which we will stuff full of cheap game from Hinchcliffe’s Farm Shop in Netherton.

After buying up all the supermarkets this morning, Pauline is making the Christmas Cake and Christmas puddings this afternoon. Let’s hope they last until Christmas.

27th October, 2012

The national weather forecasts have been predicting freezing temperatures to replace the current mild days. As the week has gone on, the heavily trailed predictions just haven’t been matched by the reality. Last year, the huge fig tree in the garden next door was totally denuded over night by one frost. Every time I go past, I warn it to enjoy its last day of leaves but next day it remains in all its finery. The media have managed to find evidence of cold – snow in Scotland and a smattering around Newcastle. Big Deal! Tomorrow the non-cold weather is replaced by mild again. Get the gritters out. We put the clocks back tonight. This was a big deal when we were working. An extra hour in bed. Now retired, it means nothing. All our clocks update themselves automatically these days.

In Greece it is Ochi Day tomorrow. You might think it’s that day every day for many Greeks. At least it is looking much more hopeful that Samaras has managed to bring off the impossible and to get a deal with Europe which will include a two year extension. Who knows. It just might work.

14th October, 2012

A quiet day of Sunday papers and some time developing a new web for a special order. I use Macromedia’s Dreamweaver and Fireworks usually but I am trialling a new piece of software and finding it very exciting. It’s nice to find you can’t do something and have to fight to understand it.

15th October, 2012

A nice, sunny morning. Pauline has gone off to her Pilates class with her sister. I’m getting on with my web design. In my email this morning I received one of these regular offers for a day return crossing of car and passengers through the channel tunnel for a total of £22.00. We booked our monthly shopping trip immediately.

I am beginning to get really concerned by time. I’m sure it’s speeding up. Today, it was announced, is the 25th anniversary of the Great Storm which Michael Fish denied and we woke to find trees blown down everywhere across the south of England. Twenty five years!

16th October, 2012

Fascinating focus in the media today. We’ve been talking about the lack of reciprocity in Europe vis a vis Health Treatment. Britain is such an easy touch. Wherever one goes in Europe, one is asked to pay up front and possibly claim some of it back through the EHIC card.

Up until now, British doctors and hospitals seem to treat anyone free of charge. Well soon it may be closing that open-door policy even for ex-pat British passport holders. The pressure on the NHS is so great now that rationing is being openly employed for British taxpayers. Essential things like cataracts and hip replacements are being put on hold for lack of funding. The Tory Government are looking at policing Healthcare access and confining it to those who can prove they have spent at least 180 days each year living in the UK. We know people who live abroad for all but the odd week back in UK but who expect their country of origin to provide the healthcare when things get serious or expensive. The government must cut that out.

17th October, 2012

Still working on this new website today. I’m really enjoying it but it is intricate and labour-intensive. We are going away for a few days tomorrow so it won’t be finished until next week.

We’ve been in Woking, officially, for a whole year now and I haven’t actually seen a doctor at our new practice. I see nurses for blood tests, etc. but nobody of real substance. Today, I am going for my Annual Review with an actual doctor – a cardiac specialist. That will be interesting. I’m bound to have my blood pressure checked. It won’t be good. I’m watching England being run ragged by Poland. What are they doing?

18th October, 2012

This morning we drive to Lancashire. It is the second anniversary of Mum Barnes’ death. She would have been 98 now.

We are going to the Crematorium to pay our respects and to remember her. En route, we will stop in Repton to visit my Mum’s grave.

Neither Pauline nor I believe in an after life but we still feel the visit evokes the memory more than just a thought. While in Oldham, I will visit my old friend, Brian – ex Drugs Squad, ex Murder Squad. He is the most wonderful man and about the only person (other than my wife) that I would trust with my life.

Later………..

We got off at 5.30 am and had an excellent journey in fine weather. We felt that we were a bit under pressure to get everything done and decided to visit Repton on the return journey. On reaching Oldham, we went straight to look at the new school buildings going up all over the town at a cost of tens of millions of pounds. This is how our reborn school will look as Waterhead Academy with its 2000 pupils. The photos below are poor because I took them on my iPad but you will get the idea.

 

Appropriately, we went on to see Kath (aka The Maltese Falcon because she was born there) who was my cleaner in school and who went on to clean for Pauline’s Mum and adopt her as a surrogate Mother. When we arrived, on the second anniversary of Mum’s death, Kath and her husband had ‘lit a candle’ in memory of her. It was very touching. We went on to see all the other friends and relatives we had arranged and then drove back to Huddersfield – actually, Brighouse where we were staying at the Holiday Inn. It’s not a brilliant hotel but, for years, we visited it five or six times a week to use the Health Centre – pool, jacuzzi, gym, steam room, etc. It was familiar and comfortable.

At 6.30 pm we drove down to the most unlikely and unprepossessing part of Huddersfield fringed by the railway viaduct to visit Bradleys Restaurant. Until weeks ago we knew nothing about it and we have been kicking ourselves having long decried the lack of good restaurants in Huddersfield. Apparently, it has featured in the Good Food Guide for seven, consecutive years. Our friends and ex-school colleagues met us at the door and we went in to a lovely interior. I asked how long the restaurant had been there and was flabbergasted to be told that it was nineteen years. We have to get out more. The meal was absolutely wonderful. I had pigeon breast and black pudding to start and it was a revelation. Designer Belly Pork on a bed of garlic mash was fantastic and tarte aux pommes with elderberry ice cream really finished it beautifully. The amazing thing was, after paying European and Surrey prices over the past twelve months, the bill for four people each having three courses and sharing two bottles of wine came to just £93.00. Quite amazing for that quality.

It was a lovely end to the day with lovely, wine, food and friends. Tomorrow is Yorkshire day.

19th October, 2012

A beautiful, sunny day. We were up fairly early and had quite pleasant, buffet breakfast although we were still full from the night before. We set off for Bolton to visit my lovely sister, Ruth, and her friendly husband, Kevan. They seem very happy and relaxed in their new apartment. They seem to have coped with retirement and down sizing rather better than Pauline & I on first impressions. Driving back, we returned to our old house to visit Jean & Perry, our former neighbours. They are the most delightful friends and had lots of tales to tell us. Perry is a lecturer at Bradford College. He would like to retire but is in his mid-50s and feels trapped until his mid-60s. Jean is already in her 60s. We lived in a former quarry and often speculated about the security of its 35 ft. wall.

When we returned we were told that, shortly after we left, a huge block of sandstone cracked and fell on to the back lawn. Nobody could crack or split it and no one could move it so they’ve decided to make a feature of it with shrubs and trees around it and insurance companies will be told that it has always been there.

We left Jean & Perry and this is where we made our great mistake. Over the years, we have built up a strong friendship with Chris, our Honda salesman. Yes, he is a salesman but we have bought cars from him over more than thirty years. In fact, we have bought twenty five new cars during our thirty two year marriage and nineteen of them have been from Chris. We have had a new Mini, a Nissan (Datsun) Cherry, a Nissan Stanza and then in 1984, we bought our first Honda. It was an Accord and cost £7,400.00. We kept that for four years and then moved on to Preludes. We bought a new one virtually each year until we started driving to Greece in 2000 when we moved on to 4×4 CRVs. We just popped in to say ‘Hello’ although we did know that they were launching the latest model of our car today. When we arrived, the launch party hadn’t quite started. By the time we left, half an hour later, they had just sold their first car of the new model and we had just bought it. Our first new car back, in 1979, cost just over £1000.00 and we struggled to afford it. This new car costs a little bit more at £32,000.00 but they begged us to accept 0% finance. How could we refuse.

We have to return in a month to pick it up. Should be an enjoyable trip.

20th October, 2012

After a light breakfast from the buffet – I had yoghurt & berry compote – we made an early start. First we had to nip off to buy a batch of Hollands Pies for Colin who gets homesick without them. By some, strange coincidence, they had just been reduced from £1.53 to 50p each so we bought the shop out. Let’s hope his freezer’s big enough.

The weather was sunny and the motorway quiet. We have decided to visit Mum’s grave when we return next month. We were home for 1.15 pm. It was only then that I realised how tiring the three days had been. I fell asleep through the Chelsea v Spurs match.

7th October, 2012

The trees at our front door are showing signs of Autumn and an army of squirrels believe it to be true as they scurry underneath to hide nuts in a store for the winter.

Drove over to Epsom this morning – not to the races but to our nearest branch of Staples. I needed a new colour printer. I have a Brother Mono Laser printer which has been a wonderful workhorse for years and backed it up with an inkjet colour because I used it so rarely. I think the inkjet printer cost less than £50.00 which is really a throwaway price. The last colour laser bought for school, I remember distinctly, cost £3,570.00. I remember because I had a tussle with the Local Authority about which one to order to use for publicity work. I chose a Kyocera and it turned out to be a wonderful quality but one would never pay that for it now. It was as big as a dishwasher. Even the toner cost £400.00. It’s rather like OCR software which, in the 1990s was the holy grail and cost hundreds of pounds, now comes free with a scanner.

Anyway, I chose a Brother HL-3040CN colour laser because it was being advertised by Staples on-line at £107.00. I thought it was ridiculously cheap and, when I got there, it turned out to be so. The store had it advertised for £237.00, which is still unbelievably cheap. When I showed the Manager my web printout, he said it must be a typing error but he had to honour the lower price. Set up and used as soon as we got home, it looks a good buy.

8th October, 2012

The skies opened this morning soon after breakfast and rain poured torrentially. It was a delight to see after months of strong sun. Spent my morning writing to people in Sifnos – emails and hard copies. I interspersed this by watching coverage of the Tory Party Conference from Birmingham and a pretty sterile and tawdry affair it is. They are a caricature of 1970s Toryism. We are still, according to them, all in this together. Later in the evening, Channel 4 ran an investigative piece illustrating the hugely divergent and continually diverging levels of reward between those at the top of companies and those at the very bottom. It really did little more than reiterate the involvement of cronyism on Remuneration Boards but it did serve as a counterpoint to a Tory Chancellor looking to cut Welfare budgets.

9th October, 2012

A delightful day. I drove Pauline and her sister to Guildford. It’s less than ten miles away and is a charming place with much of the charm of somewhere like York.

For Pauline, it was like a walk through all the clothes catalogues that arrive so regularly in the post:

• Toast
• Brora
• Hobbs
• Cotton Traders
• Kew
• French Connection
• East

The only shop I accompanied them to was Lakeland because I wanted to look at a Sousvide machine but it was disappointingly missing.

10th October, 2012

The day has opened with beautiful, warm sunshine. The squirrels are going wild. The morning was spent helping Phyllis & Colin book a break in Tenerife. We used three, separate methods – internet helped me isolate the sort of holidays available. All websites offered internet reductions. Hard copy brochures had the same holidays but at even cheaper prices. Phyllis ultimately booked the holiday by phone and got it cheaper again. What was interesting was to find the internet site and the brochure disagreed about the flight times and the final booking confirmed different flight times again.

This afternoon a friend from Sifnos phoned with exciting news for us. She also said that, although the weather had been wonderful since we left, there was a lot of illness going round. Her children had been ill and she now had it.

We are driving up to Lancashire & Yorkshire for a couple of days next week and we made some phone calls to make arrangements to meet family, old friends, ex-neighbours and ex-colleagues. Every minute of the two or so days is now fixed up. We will be exhausted by the time we leave for Surrey.

11th October, 2012

Had to be at Woking Walk-in Centre for 9.00 am for my blood test. We then drove on to our dentist’s appointments. Pauline needs an expensive veneer on her front tooth to replace the one that she lost while in Greece.

We drove home through increasingly heavy rain and prepared lunch. We roasted red peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic with oregano and later made soup from them. I then did the most ridiculous thing. I applied for my Winter Fuel Allowance. I qualify for £200.00 per year. I don’t need £200.00. Last year our total heating bill was about £100.00. Even with our underfloor heating for a month in Sifnos we wouldn’t have spent £200.00 but, because we are entitled to it, I have applied for it.

Honda have invited us to preview the new CRV model out next month. I’m trying to resist it. I’ve had a new Honda most years over the past thirty. I occasionally have a hankering for a change of maker. These are the models I would consider at the moment:

• The new CRV
• The Volvo XC90
• The Land Rover
• The Range Rover

   

12th October, 2012

Had to visit Honda this morning to show them stone chip we got to our windscreen on the way through France. It seems it’s not as bad as we feared and can just be filled and buffed away. Autoglass are coming round this afternoon and will do it for free. The wine merchants I visit in Calais have sent us free return tickets so we will probably use them in November. I got an email from Friends Reunited yesterday saying someone had uploaded a photograph which featured me. When I found it:

I couldn’t remember a thing about it other than it was in Masham where we used to visit Theakston’s Brewery which, in those days only had an outlet in two or three pubs. Nowadays, you can buy it in Supermarkets across the country. The trouble with the photo is that I am surrounded by youngsters who I have no memory of. I can see Chris Tolley in the background, leaning against the wall. I can see John ???? in the door of the pub but the others are distant memories. It must have been 1971/2. Now this next one, I remember well. I’m the hairy monster with his hand up surrounded by some of his closest peers. I suspect this was 1970/71. There is Judy, Christine, Bill & Nigel in the back row and Anne, Kevin, Robert & Me in the front row.

Where are those days? Well the times are certainly changing. The Autoglass man who came round to fix the chip in our windscreen turned out to be a 40 year old, bi-lingual law graduate who had fallen on hard times and was driving round the south east of England, filling or replacing windscreens. Quite amazing but he did an excellent job for me. Strange to think that my pension for doing nothing is greater than his take home pay for five and a half days work.

13th October, 2012

A lovely, mild, Autumn day of sun and showers. All the lawns were cut yesterday, stray leaves vacuumed up and the rich, green stripes look great in the sunshine. Although we are doing fairly mundane things today, after six months in Greece, a trip to Tesco is magical.

30th September, 2012

Weird waking up in England. Opened the blinds and trees in full and vivid green leaf everywhere with green striped lawns below. At least the staff have been doing their job while we were away.

Breakfast was even stranger. I couldn’t remember which cupboards the cups were in. I turned to the oven in looking for the fridge. I downloaded the Sunday Times in a quarter of the time it took on Sifnos. I couldn’t work the handsets out for the TV and Sky. I struggled with the burglar alarm and wandered into one of the bathrooms and couldn’t find the light switches.

In the afternoon, we went round to have lunch with Phyllis and Colin. Mandy and the boys dropped in to see us. We’ve arranged to take Phyllis & Colin out to Dinner on Saturday to celebrate Pauline’s birthday. Her birthday is on Friday but Phyllis is going to the theatre on Friday to enjoy a belated birthday treat with Mandy. Enjoy the show.

Tried to watch Match of the Day but Greek time kicked in and I had to go to bed.

1st October, 2012

Stop the world. I want to get off! October already. Happy new month everyone.

Rain, grey skies and the news that Europe won the Ryder Cup. Excellent. New breakfast routine kicks in today – porridge. Now we have to make doctors’ appointments, dentists’ appointments, eye tests, diabetic checkup for me and hair for Pauline. We must have the car valeted and serviced.

2nd October, 2012

As we boarded F/b Adamas Korais a week ago, we said goodbye to our dear amenuensis. Without her and the many friends she introduced us to, we could not have achieved what we have. Today we spoke to her by phone. Unfortunately, she is in mourning for her nephew who has died of cancer. We felt so sorry for her loss. Rather unexpectedly, I also received an email from the Notary hoping that we had had a good journey home which was nice. Such a contrast with those who abandoned us.

Rather nice surprise today. Had a letter from Barclays Bank – not our bank – to be told they were holding money in a savings account for us. It looks like a carry over from when we sold our house two years ago. I thought the account had been closed. It will be tomorrow. This afternoon, we finished emptying the car and racking the wines. Booked a restaurant for a meal to celebrate Pauline’s birthday on Saturday.

I don’t know if you saw Ed. Milliband’s Leader’s speech in Manchester. I was captivated by it. It was an impressive tour de force of 70 mins. without notes. I do hope that is a springboard for the next stage.

3rd October, 2012

Out early today in a crisp, dry morning of 12C/54F to have the car valeted then on to Barclays Bank to extract a wad of cash and close the old account. Had to show our passports to prove our identity.

In to town to Specsavers for eye tests. They are free for both of us – me because I am diabetic and Pauline because she is so old. No change for me. Pauline needs stronger reading lenses. She hates going to the supermarket and having to have her glasses round her neck but it comes to most. In my case, I have to take my glasses off to read. Pauline tried to drag me in to a couple of dress shops but she could see I couldn’t stand it so we dropped in to Pre a Manger for a bit of lunch. Pauline went off to her hairdressers’ appointment at the Headmasters chain and I sat in Costa Coffee reading my newspaper.

This evening I watched a disappointing performance by Man. City or an impressive performance by Borussia Dortmund. They needed a penalty from Balotelli penalty to get an undeserved 1-1 draw.

Topped the evening off marvelling at the Tories total incompetence as evidenced by their staggering mess of the rail franchise. What a way to run a railway!

4th October, 2012

A day of research, thinking and writing. I’d forgotten how tiring it was. After six months on a Greek island doing not much more challenging than painting the pergola, brain work left me exhausted. Thankfully, it was punctuated by trips out to take Pauline to buy a kettle – she has been using her Mum’s for the last couple of years for sentimental reasons but now it has to go. Pauline also needed a new watch. Gone are the days when they cost a fortune. Pauline’s preferred one was £4.99 from Argos.

5th October, 2012

Happy Birthday to Pauline. She is 61 today and still looks under 50. It must be being married to me. We celebrated by me cooking dinner. We ate Salmon & Cod (well Saumon et Cabillaud actually because we bought it in France) with a Parmigiano crust with saute potatoes, green beans and an onion marmalade. I have to say, it was surprisingly good.

6th October, 2012

To celebrate Pauline’s birthday we went out for dinner with Pauline’s sister, Phyllis, and her husband, Colin. It was Chinese at Chu Chin Chow in Byfleet.

The meal was incredibly good, particularly the duck and squid dishes. We had lovely conversation and were surprised when we left that we’d been there for over two hours.

23rd September, 2012

We’ve made a last minute decision to leave early. The conditions – rapidly and vastly reducing ferry connections including the termination of Speed Runner next week plus an Autumn of Discontent in Athens with a General Strike on Wednesday affecting transport. It seems opportune to be taking a break. Contacted Superfast and they have a Luxury Cabin for Tuesday from Patras to Ancona.

• F/b Adamas Korais leaves Sifnos this afternoon and we will be on it.
• Two nights in a 5* Hotel just outside the new port in Patras.
• 23 hours on Superfast up the Adriatic to Ancona.
• Drive 3 hours to Parma in Italy for one night.
• Drive 5 hours to Mulhouse in Alsace for one night.
• Drive 4 hours to Reims in Champagne Country for one night.
• Drive 3 hours to Calais, through the Tunnel and up to Surrey.

I will try to maintain my Blog. I’ve booked hotels with wi-fi but it doesn’t always materialise.

It seems a pity to be leaving because the weather is settling down for a hot week of swimming and socialising but WE WILL BE BACK.

24th September, 2012

Wonderful trip on a quiet F/b Adamas Korais arriving in Piraeus by 8.25 pm.

Jockeyed for position with Marios from the supermarket as we drove off. He wished us a good journey and we drove off in to the night. The traffic from Patras was immense and continuous. The traffic our way was quite light and we did it in a record two hours. The car was so relieved to leave those cramped, island roads and thanked me continually for allowing it to stretch its legs as we cruised at 120 mph along the newer stretches of motorway.

The new port is further on than the old which is why we have switched our hotel from old favourite, Patras Palace to the Poseidon Palace which offers so much more. Our room is lovely. We arrived in time to have dinner which was very nice. There is free wi-fi throughout the hotel so I downloaded my copy of The Times to my iPad over breakfast and then we drove down to the new port offices to check on sailings and the strike.

What we learned quite surprised us a left us feeling extremely lucky. We leave on Superfast at 5.00 pm on Tuesday. The strike begins at midnight. Our boat goes but the Wednesday boat doesn’t and, possibly the Thursday boat won’t either. That surprised us because, usually, these strikes haven’t affected Greece-Italy ferries. We raised the possibility of the ferry tying up at Igoumenitsa but they had clearly been asked to consider that possibility already because they laughed and said that the boat would reach Igoumenitsa in time to leave by 11.30 pm and, therefore, there wouldn’t be a problem.

The temperature is climbing to 30C/88F and we have driven back to the hotel to swim in the wonderful pool. You can walk down their jetty and swim in the sea but the pool is delightful and incorporates a huge and powerful jacuzzi. We have had it completely to ourselves for a couple of hours and feel very relaxed.

25th September, 2012

After a wonderful meal in the Hotel restaurant last night, we only needed a light breakfast. Unfortunately, we couldn’t resist the bacon & eggs on offer so we are feeling podged again. It is a lovely, still and warm morning – forecast to reach 29C/85F – which we are spending walking in the gardens and catching up on correspondence. A lot of my readers have wished us a safe journey and a good winter. It could be nothing other without the Poison Dwarf.

We board at 3.30 pm and sail at 5.00 pm. After dinner, we will try to stay awake to see the stop at Igoumenitsa at 11.30 pm and then sleep. The boat docks in Ancona at 4.00 pm tomorrow. The poor people booked for Wednesday’s 5.00 pm sailing are having to wait an extra seven hours in order to beat the strike.

26th September, 2012

We dined on grilled salmon last night with a bottle of chilled, red wine followed by half an hour out on deck getting plenty of sea spray in our faces. We went to bed at 10.30 pm and were out like a light so soon that we completely missed the stop at Igoumenitsa around 11.30 pm. This morning dawned bright and sunny and our luxury cabin at the front (bow?) on top deck with huge, panoramic windows gave us wonderful views of …..the sea and sky.

Breakfast in the A La Carte Restaurant comes in the price of our ticket so we couldn’t turn it down – could we. Fresh orange juice, a pot of wonderful coffee, toast, bacon & eggs followed by croissants.

We staggered to the Purser’s Desk to buy a wireless internet card and download The Times to my iPad. We both find ships frustrating slow. We would never consider a cruise for that reason. Superfast XI docked at 4.30 pm and we were off shortly after 5.00 pm. Under our own steam, driving was a nice feeling. More importantly, the weather was warm and dry in total contradiction of the BBC’s weather forecast which suggested that the whole of our journey would be wet. The drive from Ancona port to the centre of Parma was really enjoyable and we arrived at our hotel by 8.30 pm. The Hotel Villa Ducale was ok but only ok.

It demonstrates the difficulty in upgrading and maintaining an older building. The room was rather dark and a bit dingy although the bathroom was lovely. The dining room was like a huge, souless hall and the Maitre d’ like Basil Fawlty although the food was rather good.

It wasn’t cheap. It cost us €180.00 for the night with dinner. We won’t go back there.

27th September, 2012

This morning we set off on the hardest leg of our journey – a five hour drive from Parma in Italy to Mulhouse in Alsace, France. Gone are the days when we got off the boat and drove non-stop to Zeebrugge to catch the ferry back to Hull. Retirement brings so many benefits, not least, low season prices and an indulgent drive through Europe. Once again, the weather was beautiful even in Switzerland. We were expecting thunderstorms there but the sun shone and the clouds remained high and white. Admittedly, the temperature fell to figures we hardly recognised – 11C/52F – and the peaks had plenty of new snow on them but huge waterfalls were spectacularly crashing down the mountainsides everywhere.

Our route today has been: Parma – Milan – Lake Como – Lake Lugano – Lake Maggiore – Belinzona – San Gotthard Tunnel – Altdorf – Seelisberg Tunnel – Lucerne – Basel – Mulhouse.

With a break for coffee, it has taken five and a half hours. We are staying at a hotel that we’ve used a couple of times before and enjoyed – The Holiday Inn. It is reasonably priced and very comfortable, has a fantastic restaurant and a wonderful, basement pool with sauna and gym.

  

Tomorrow we drive to and stay in the champagne city of Reims. We are looking forward to that.

28th September, 2012

Wonderful drive this morning from Alsace to Reims in the heart of the Champagne Region. Late summer sun bathed the almost empty motorways – abandoned by the everyday French because of the level of tolls. French motorways are beautifully planted with the most glorious trees which increasingly display orange and golden burnished leaves as the depth of Autumn intensifies as we get closer to Calais and the coast.

We were in no hurry although we mooched around in our hotel room until 10.00 am, drinking coffee and listening the Today programme on Radio 4 and doing our correspondence. I downloaded the paper and read a chunk of it. No breakfast this morning. We are still full from last night. After a couple of hours driving:

Mulhouse – Colmar – Strasbourg – Metz – Verdun – Epernay – Reims (There are shorter routes but this is the quickest.)

We stopped for petrol and to have coffee and a sandwich. We wouldn’t dream of doing this in UK but French Service Stations are clean, attractively laid out and sell the most amazing fresh coffee and top quality food. I just had a baguette with ham and salad. It was gorgeous with every element from ham to oak-leaved lettuce to cornichons to mayonaise being chosen and combined for its quality. The coffee was as good as I could make myself. For that – €11.00 / £8.80. Not too bad for heaven.

We arrived at our hotel in the centre of Reims – about 100 mtrs. from the famous, ornately neo-Gothic cathederal – The Mercure Reims Centre Cathedrale.

  

With great good fortune, we found the hotel has a secure, underground carpark and the hotel itself has just completed a full refit. It is delightfully comfortable from the brand new carpets to the huge new bed. We have every channel imaginable on the new, flat-screen television and a fantastically ‘cool’ bathroom. Wi-fi is strong and free in our room and everywhere else. I’ll let you know later about the restaurant.

29th September, 2012

Well, today we drive to Calais, spend two or three hours stocking up on wine and doing a month’s grocery shopping in Auchan and Carrefour. We will find somewhere nice for lunch. We have booked a spot to drive through the tunnel at 5.00 pm (France)/4.00 pm (UK) but it may be that we choose to go through a couple of hours earlier. It will take us another hour to drive to our home in Surrey and mark the end of one 6 month period and the start of another.

After three delightful hours on an almost deserted motorway in beautiful sunshine, we arrived in Calais at our favourite wine outlet – The Calais Wine Superstore – and then drive on to Auchan in Coquelles where we do our grocery shop. We have a bite to eat and then drive on to the Tunnel, arriving about 2.00 pm (French time), hoping to get on an early train. Unfortunately, one of the ferry companies is on strike so the trains are full but we still get into Kent for 4.30 pm and to Surrey before 6.00 pm.

The grounds around our apartment looked wonderful. The lawns closely mown and green, the trees in luscious leaf with squirrels darting everywhere. The temperature was a bit keen for a man in short sleeves – 14C/57F – but it was nice to feel a different climate. We had bought bread, butter, cheese  & ham in France and that made a quick tea along with a bottle of something. I just managed to stay awake long enough for the evening news and Match of the Day before a shower and falling into bed.

16th September, 2012

A lovely day of sun and cloud with temperatures reaching 28C/83F. While Skiathan Man was dancing in the rain, and rain forecast here receded into the future. We have had a true Sunday. Newspapers in the morning, light lunch and football match – Reading v Spurs. Defoe won it with two goals. I’ve always wondered why Defoe was only used as super-sub by Spurs and by England.

Later, Dimitris, his wife and beautiful little girl came round for a drink and a chat. We sat for a couple of hours as the sun went down, looking out to sea and infinity. It was delightful. Later, we went to Panos and Rania’s to eat. We weren’t terribly hungry so we only had a main course of Beef Orlof and chips but it was nice to see them again. Rania’s Mum is staying with them. She is a really lovely lady.

17th September, 2012

Today, according to BBC Weather, was supposed to start with rain. As I walk out on to the patio and look over the port at 7.00 am, nothing could be further from possibility. Cloudless blue sky, barely a rustle of breeze, sun gently rising. Rain? What rain? Just as I am a newsaholic so are we avidly interested in weather. It is the British disease. We watch Ant1 weather, Mega Weather and, especially, ET3 weather for the usually excellent Sakis Arnaoutoglou in a fifteen minute presentation.

Of course, I also have a weather app. on my laptop and on my iPad which taps into the continuously updated, global weather monitoring stations. You just can’t have too much weather! The problem is, the weather hasn’t behaved itself for some days now. When you want rain, you just can’t get it.

18th September, 2012

Since we retired, teachers’ pay has been frozen. Our pension, however, is updated each year according to the rate of inflation. It is inflation-proof. This government changed the inflation index from RPI to CPI (Retail Price Index to Consumer Price Index) with the intention of controlling the increases. The biggest difference between the two indexes (indices?) is that the first includes Mortgage costs. As we don’t and will never again need a mortgage, we really don’t feel too bad although the difference at the is 0.3%. What it means is that our pensions will have risen over 2 years by 7.7% which is not too bad in these recessionary times. The increase each year is based on the September figure but not uprated until the following April by which time it can be well out of date. Whatever the increase, we are grateful to be paid to indulge ourselves.

Watched Man. City deservedly lose to The Special One.

19th September, 2012

Busy day. Blood Test. Consistent over five weeks now at 2.3 – I must be behaving myself. Coffee and Sweet Pie at Prago. Visit to the Accountants. Visit to Kostas & Maria. Visit to Olga.

Watched Man. United play and beat Galatasaray although I couldn’t stay up right to the end.

20th September, 2012

The plumber is coming to do some work in the garage tomorrow so I have been set the task of cleaning and tidying the entire place today. We currently don’t have any doors on our garage and all the flotsam and jetsum of the island blows into it and settles along with stray cats, lizards, spiders, etc.. We dump everything we don’t want in the garage. Now is the day of reckoning.

After two hours, I am exhausted and have made a New Year’s Resolution. The year 2013 must be the year of the Garage Door. It must be automatic operated and remotely controlled. None of this getting out of the car!

21st September, 2012

Up early for a beautiful day. Still – all the weather forecasts apart from the BBC said it would be windy – calm, warm and beautifully scented. We went to the tip with all the rubbish from our garage and then cleaned the car. I have decided that I am going to keep it until the end of next year. The new model is launched in November but I’ve made the mistake before of buying the first one off the production line of a new model only to find teething problems still to be ironed out.

The plumber arrived exactly at 10.00 am as agreed but could only do part of the job and will have to come back next week some time to finish it. We had our own agenda to complete – cleaning the inside of the car which is beginning to look a bit grubby. Today, the leather will get the full treatment as will the carpets and internal glass.

Unlike those more Northern and softer islands, Sifnos has not yet had its first rain of the Autumn. We were hoping for it this week and had unscrewed the cap on our flat roof drainage system that captures rainwater in our huge water tank. Like all Cycladic properties, ours is built on the cubist style with flat roofs. The red dust of the Summer has drifted up there and settled and would have been washed down by the first rains. However, Pauline is so keen to capture all the soft, rainwater that we have spent an hour up on the roof, hosing it down and leaving it clean for the first rains to drain straight into our tank.

22nd September, 2012

Another lovely Saturday. Warm and still. Nice to see Giannis, our neighbour, back at work after a health scare. He says he is alright although he looks like he’s lost a bit of weight already. Apostolis, our neighbour in front called to ask if everything was alright. He was aware that we had a brief power problem yesterday but it was soon sorted out when the Power Company came down. Went up to speak to the Woodman in the middle of the morning. He is going to give me gardening lessons when he plants his vegetables at the beginning of May. I am going to help him and learn how he grows such fantastic produce almost entirely without water. There are such lovely people on this island and they are desperate to help poor foreigners like us. It is quite humbling.

9th September, 2012

The tourists/holidaymakers are virtually gone and the island seems to be relaxing again. If you don’t rely on tourist money which we don’t, it is a nice position to be. My judgement is that the season was not half as bad as feared but still rather lighter than in a good year and the season certainly started late and finished early. No doubt NTOG or GNTO as they call themselves now will claim a bumper harvest but they are so discredited in their figures it is hard to take seriously. Still, the local economy won’t have done too badly.

The weather is also bringing the season to a close. At the moment, days are pleasant but breezy but, unlike the hardy Skiathan Man, I will reach for a sheet tonight. Inspite of this evening’s cool wind, we had a lovely family party with friends outside on the terrace, drinking beer (the children had cherry cola – can you imagine it?) – and chatting.

10th September, 2012

The Ferry Timetable is collapsing fast as evidenced by the new posting:

We remember the untimely death from a brain tumour of Pauline’s brother John (Jack) Barnes six years ago today. (picture to follow)

Each Autumn we get from the woodman who supplied our windows and doors a special maintenance kit which we apply religiously. We do this so as not to invalidate our 10 year warranty which is already 6 years old. The solution is manufactured in Ancona and consists of a cleanser and a shellac-type substance that creates a transparent, protective skin over the wood and paint finish that protects them from sea air and UV rays. It certainly works. Today, is treating the windows and doors day.

A trussed up goat lay in the back of a speeding pickup bleating loudly all the way down the hill past our house to the valley below where it will almost certainly draw its last breaths trussed up on a hoist with its throat slit. This is real life in the raw! I quite like roast goat but then I’ve always been good at disassociation.

11th September, 2012

When we first came to Sifnos in 1984/85, the post office was a dingy, dark, dirty place that was little cared for. Having said that, the post was delivered by a chap on a motor bike with a leather satchell slung across his chest. There is no well established street naming system or house numbering system but he knew everybody by name and those he didn’t would be known by someone else. I suppose because of the economic problems, the post delivery system was shelved. We had to go up to the post office to ask if there was any post for us. Collections of neighbours would create informal groupings to help each other in this but ‘getting your post’ was a time consuming business. First travel to Apollonia. Second, stand at the counter in a long queue. Third, wait until I go round the back and check if there is something for you. If not, you can personally thumb through huge piles of uncollected letters that are stacked up in a box at the side of the office. It was a system that provoked annoyance, even fury as people waited in long queues.

Along came a new post master who immediately shook things up. He couldn’t conjure up cash to revive deliveries but he could bring a system to the problem. The Greeks aren’t too keen on systems that involve a change in their lives. There was no way round it. Now we have batches of numbered post boxes and keys to those boxes. Post is delivered to these boxes if the recipient has bothered to tell people they expect correspondence from to add the box number to their address. This is the chink of weakness because it seems that so many refuse to do that simple thing. The post master comes down with huge piles of wrongly addressed mail twice a week and a committed few try to help him distribute them. We go down on Tuesday and Thursday for mail. At least now we know that we will definitely get our mail.

The Post Office is in line for early sell off.

I read Tom Winnifrith’s interesting views on Greek privitisation:

Arriving at the Post Office which serves a small suburb of not a very large town I stumbled in a sweaty wreck. The place is open from 8.30 AM until 2.30 PM five days a week meaning that its staff (in this State owned enterprise) have to put in a back breaking 30 hour week. They are probably paid for 14 months a year and get to retire at 55 but that is not the point. Did I mention how many staff were crammed into this small office? Five. That is one member of staff for every 1.25 customers that I observed during my 20 minute visit.

But, as he observes, cutting the staff and extending the working hours of the others creates many more problems. Whoever buys  ELTA will have a difficult job as the new Sifnos Post Master has found out.

By the way, you really must read The Skiathan where Skiathos Man is illustrating his penchant for swimming in the 1930s. What a man he must be and sleeping without a sheet – the stuff of legend!

12th September, 2012

A delightfully lazy day. While my Pauline was indulging herself by painting the back of the house, I was indulging my enjoyment of writing. Lots of correspondence. Lovely email from my sister, Ruth. A long email from our ex-neighbours in Huddersfield about their drive to Spain and back and then an excellent email from our current next door neighbour who reached the point of selling her property and then changed her mind and took it off the market. We’re very pleased.

The sheet was definitely not needed tonight.

13th September, 2012

The return of summer. Stepping out of our bedroom on to the patio at 7.00 am, the world felt like a lovely place. It was still, quiet, warm and beautifully scented. As the day has gone on, the temperature has risen to 28C/83F and it feels wonderful. For some reason, the island is a different place today. Maybe it is because people have left. We drove down to Platys Gialos this morning. It was almost deserted.

As we walked down the street, it was so hot we fancied an ice cream. It was impossible to buy one. Either places are now closed for winter or they have not replenished summer stocks. Well, it’s good for the waistline and, goodness knows, it needs it.

After a lovely lunch on the patio – tomato, mozzarella & basil salad with garlic sausage and thin toast. A cold beer went down well with this but even then, the muggy heat drove us inside soon after the meal.

14th September, 2012

Finished the painting of the house today. We just have the garden perimeter walls to complete. It is a quite delightful, still, warm day. The air is clear and the island magical – for most of the day. On Fridays, people return from Athens.

The brushcutter has been out of action for a while. Today, instead of taking it to be repaired, I took it apart and repaired it myself. I had a nice, feeling of achievement after that.  We were supposed to be going out to dinner but just didn’t feel like it and stayed at home to eat an all-in-one-pot dish I cooked of pork, potatoes and onions with sage and oregano. Even though I say it myself, it was delicious accompanied by a slightly chilled bottle of Rosso Piceno. It’s made from the sangiovese and montepulciano grapes and is delicious. What will I do when it runs out?

15th September, 2012

Can you believe we are half way through September already. I seriously subscribed to the view that time was rushing ahead when we were teaching because we were working so hard. We didn’t have time to stop and take stock. Let’s live on a Greek island, I told Pauline. We will be able to slow time down. How wrong I was. It seems to have speeded up.

Talk about return to Summer. It is happening with knobs on. We’ve reached 32C/90F today almost without a breeze. No sign yet of the promised rain. The BBC says we will get it Monday/Tuesday. We’ll see.

Went out shopping today in Exambla and, within half an hour, we had a request to go and visit friends next week at their house. Another family asked if they could visit us and they will come for a drink tomorrow evening. We had an offer of olive oil if we go round for coffee to another family. We still have to return a social visit to the Notary’s family. I can’t cope with all this social whirl.

Typical separation of labour this afternoon. Pauline is painting the garden walls while I am watching football. The first match, Norwich v West Ham, really wasn’t that good. I’ve got Man. Utd. v Wigan and Sunderland v Liverpool next and, if I can stay up, there is a recording of Stoke v Man. City. I’ll be shattered after all that.