Sanders Blog

Sunday, 17th November, 2019

A quiet day which has started with politics and political interviews as well as reflections on  a devastatingly crass interview by a member of our royal family broadcast last night, will be gently played out with newspapers and exercise. There is certainly plenty to read today and, as I write at 11.00 am, I have already completed a 30 mins swim and are preparing for our morning constitutional. 

Our pool is exactly right for us. We don’t want some plunge pool to cool off or a playing pool for families with children. We want a swimming pool so we can do ….swimming. This pool is ideal. It is 16m x 2.5m / 52ft x 8ft. Even in the lovely, warm weather here, the water in a pool can feel quite chilly to get in to. Our pool is heated all day/night to a deliciously warm temperature. The owners usually charge for this but gave it to us ‘free’ because we were renting for a month. They have also clearly heard that I stumbled into the pool in the evening darkness at last year’s property because they have automatic lights fitted for all round illumination. Although we don’t need to, we make a practice of covering the pool after every swim in order to cut down the cost of maintaining the temperature.

Been reading an amusing story in a Greek magazine/blog about Sifnos and its police force. We never really had much to do with the police force apart from getting identity documents authorised/stamped (for a fee) prior to receiving building permissions. The one police station is about the size of a public toilet. The force for the entire island is three strong although one is on long term ‘leave’ and they only have one patrol car at their disposal which is an ancient, 4-wheel drive that keeps breaking down. No wonder the islanders feel they should not fear the law because it may turn up late by bus.

Monday, 18th November, 2019

A lovely hot (warm) and sunny day in which we rather indulged ourselves by relaxing in the sunshine. Of course, we did do our regular hour’s swimming and our minimum 10,000 paces.  Actually, we are averaging 12,000 per day while we are here. We did walk down to the shopping mall where Christmas decorations had been put up over the weekend.

Nothing seems appropriate about Christmas here as the sun beats down although villa rental prices significantly increase for the month of December. Pauline cooked the most wonderful meal of pan fried tuna steaks which she served with salads. Pauline’s sister is not well. She has had a hospital procedure which has led to complications and left Pauline concerned. It makes our current destination feel quite remote. P is back in hospital. However, there is nothing to be concerned about yet.

Pizza Express in Woking  has suddenly achieved celebrity. I …….. have driven past Pizza Express in Woking and would do no more than that. Woking is bad enough. Pizza Express is a step too far!

Tuesday, 19th November, 2019

This is our 19th day and we have just 10 more left. We are really enjoying it and will definitely book this again. Today has been wall-to-wall hot sunshine out of clear, blue skies. We have exercised, followed political television and relaxed in the sunshine.

It is hard to stress how important the internet is to me, particularly abroad. Here, the internet is my connection with the outside world – television, radio, the web – and control of my house in UK. Last night was a cold one in Sussex and I was able to check the temperature inside our home, switch the heating on and, later, switch it off again via Hive. In this villa, the internet provides us with UK TV via a supply box, it provides our iPads and smartphones with internet connection to download our newspapers, our emails, Twitter, Face-ache, etc.. I just cannot manage without it.

In the last couple of days, our internet provision, which has been fantastic for over two weeks, has suddenly become a little flaky. I have had to reboot the hub a couple of times which is not confidence inspiring.

Today, apart from downloading our newspapers and emails, we have been keeping in touch with Pauline’s sister who has been in hospital again. I have had to report my INR result to Worthing Hospital. Pauline has had to order our repeat prescriptions from our local medical centre. We have monitored lights and temperatures in our house in Sussex. How would we do any of that without the net?

Wednesday, 20th November, 2019

After 20 days here, we have done 20 hours swimming and 40 hours walking. We made a conscious decision not to rent a car although we have a garage for 2 cars here. It is a 10 minute walk down to the supermarket from here but a rather longer walk back because of the very steep hill. We do quite a lot of admiring of the view on the way back. The weather is so wonderful – 24C/75F and gorgeously sunny most days that walking is a pleasure. This November has been the best weather in the past 4 Novembers here.

As regular readers will know, we are incorrigible foodies. One of the true pleasures of travelling and particularly abroad is sourcing and sampling the local foods. We love cheese but don’t eat a lot of it nowadays because of its high calorific content. However, foreign cheeses have to be sampled and on this trip we have become addicted (That might be a bit strong.) to a white, lightly smoked cheese called Quesos Flor Valsequillo.  It is not for vegans like my sister, Catherine, because it comprises cows’, goats’ and sheep’s milk. Occasionally, if we are desperate for a snack after all this exercise, we will eat the smoked cheese with some Beetroot remoulade called Ensalada de Remolacha. 

Actually, I was so enamoured of the cheese that I searched it out on the net and discovered it had been awarded World Cheese Award this year in Bergamo, Italy. I am not surprised.

Thursday, 21st November, 2019

Scorching hot day after a muggy night. We spent the morning swimming, sunbathing on the patio, watching the Labour Manifesto launch and doing a little shopping. There is nothing of great value that Tenerife can offer other than stark scenery and climate or weather. I don’t know which word is more appropriate.

We have had a couple of days when the temperature reached 28C/83F but most have hovered between 24-25C/75-77F. Night time has ranged between a minimum of 22C/70F – 19C/66F. Every room here has air conditioning but we haven’t felt the need for it either as a cooler or a heater. Imagine that, an environment where little energy is expended on temperature control. It’s a difficult concept for we poor Brits to understand particularly in the middle of November. What I also don’t understand on an island of perpetual sunshine is why solar power is not in more evidence. Look at the roofs on the Mall below. Wouldn’t you expect them to be energy generators?

When we go shopping, we walk down from the seclusion of our villa to Siam Mall which is next to Siam Water Park. It is an easy enough walk down but a killer walk back. It is so steep that it has taken three weeks before we have really got used to it. On days when we do a big shop, we return up the hill by taxi – blowing at least €3.00/£2.60 in the process. As we intended, our life here has settled in to a ‘normal’ process of contentment. Unfortunately, we leave a week tomorrow but we will be back.

Friday, 22nd November, 2019

Our villa is South facing. The sun rises in the morning through the mountains on our left and sets across the sea to our right. You won’t be surprised to read that this morning has been no different. The most gorgeous sun rise at 6.30 am which followed a lovely sunset across the sea last evening.

There was one difference. When we walked out on to the patio this morning we noticed small pools of water on the furniture. Over night it had rained. We didn’t hear it so it can’t have been strong but water there was and the surrounding cactuses had obviously thought it was Christmas come early.

Today has proved the most delightful one with strong sunshine and 25C/77F temperature. We ate our meal of cold meats & cheeses with salads out on the patio under a burning, late afternoon sun. We watched the sun sink beneath the sea and prepared for a quiet evening of reading and watching the political debate. What more could anybody ask?

Saturday, 23rd November, 2019

Start of our final week for this spell. Actually, although the temperature is 22C/70F by 9.00am, the sky has clouded over and the light is dulled. It is no problem. Actually, a break from sunshine after three weeks of it, is a welcome change. We know it will be back soon. Just done my first swim of the morning and the water was deliciously warm – rather like swimming in the bath. 

We know that we have a couple of hours of walking and another half hour swimming to build in but today will be Pauline watching Strictly on TV and me watching Spurs v West Ham with Mourinho in charge followed by Man City v Chelsea on my iPad via the VPN.

Well, the day has turned into a blazing hot and sunny one with clear, blue skies and strong sunshine. We have already reached 27C/81F and Pauline has retreated to the pool. Spurs have beaten a poor West Ham and, having done my required walking for the day, I am limbering up for a 30 mins swim myself. Just 5 more hours of swimming before we leave. I’m going to be so clean!

Sunday, 10th November, 2019

What a wonderful, wonderful but exhausting day. Hot and sunny all day, we walked for miles/kilometres and swam for ever – or so it felt. It is only 7.30 pm and I am struggling to move. 

We still did all the normal things like watch the round of political programmes. I watched two, excellent football matches particularly Liverpool easily seeing off Man. City. We followed an hour’s swimming with a long walk up above our villa to the huge volcanic crater which is now cultivated with acres of banana plantations, salad vegetables and prickly pears.

Pauline produced a delicious meal of roast chicken breasts wrapped in Serrano ham with roasted red peppers, onions and garlic mushrooms. There is no luckier man in the world! Pauline’s reward is to watch the results show of Strictly Come Something.

Monday, 11th November, 2019

Another wonderful, wonderful day. Hot, wall to wall sunshine we really had to push ourselves to complete our exercise targets …. but we did. We walked and sweated under a beating sun up to the volcano crater which is incredibly fertile farm land and produces acres of salad vegetable plus even more acres of bananas. 

There is really only one booming business here, however, and it is tourism and particularly property development connected to tourism. Homes for retirement and homes for rental are going up everywhere. Of course, the weather is perfect for builders and for sellers. There is really only one reason to come to the Canary Islands and that is the all year round climate.

There is almost unstoppable development moving further and further up the mountains and away from the coast.

Tuesday, 12th November, 2019

The lovely days just go on. Today we had a gentle walk down to the market and bought fresh langoustines and scallops for our meal. The langoustines are incredibly cheap in Spain. We bought a kilo for €7.84/£6.70 whereas a kilo in UK would be £18.00/€21.00. It is disgraceful that our market is so out of kilter with the real cost of healthy ingredients.

Langoustines, of course, generally tend to be shipped from UK fishing fleets to markets in Spain. The small amounts sold in UK are premium priced. Why? It is an absolute joy to shop for fish here.

The Spanish are big on really good, fresh produce. This fruit stall contains Pauline’s Breakfast for a year – lots of huge, ripe Papaya but it also has locally grown bananas which just cannot compare with the South American ones I buy from Asda in Sussex. You may notice a section of Prickly Pears which are cultivated here And you can find growing wild all round Greece. They are the fruit of the cactus and pickers have to fight past dreadfully painful spines in order to harvest them. There also different cactus fruit in the form of the bright pink/red Dragon Fruit which, I must admit, I’ve never tasted. This month could be a first.

Wednesday, 13th November, 2019

Interesting and really enjoyable day. We registered 26C/79F but it was a little more cloud and sun today. We did our 30 mins walk to Adeje. It was delightful as an exercise and we walked along beautiful streets on our trip:

We walked down to the shopping area of Adeje but it was very disappointing. Blackpool on steroids was an over statement. I stood around while Pauline went in to Mango and then this:

We walked back and did our second swim of the day followed by grilled swordfish steaks and salad.

Thursday, 14th November, 2019

Exactly half way through our month away. We have done our 14th hour of swimming and our minimum of 140,000 paces. Actually, we have done much more than that. We had a downbeat day after quite a demanding one yesterday. Even so, we walked down to the sea and back. At the risk of sounding snobbish, this place is not for us. Adeje beach makes one want to run a mile.

The streets are lined with Irish Bars, Curry Houses, Fish & Chip Parlours interspersed with the odd Nail Bar and Tattoo Shop. This is the sort of thing that abounds on the path side.

We slunk off back to our villa and cooked Sea Bass en papillote to eat with green bean salad and tomato salad. It was absolutely wonderful. I don’t know why but I watched a bit of England. I couldn’t really watch it as the score reached 5-0 but it played out in the background.

Friday, 15th November, 2019

A day of fulfilment and enjoyment. We are so lucky to share this experience in our lives. Warm, sunny, relaxed, we have done our full exercise regime and eaten the most wonderful, pan-fried tuna steaks with tomato salad and mixed bean salad. 

We had very sad news of the death of our former colleague’s wife of 60 years. Dori Fidler was wife and partner to our colleague and friend, John for 60 years. We have been involved with John for 47 years and are trying to understand what it must be like to lose such a long-term partner. 

On our walk this afternoon, we found Tenerife’s answer to the Corinth Canal. The only problem was that it is ‘dry’. Obviously it has seasonal use as floods pour down the mountains to the sea.

 

It has been a delightful day and we have really enjoyed ourselves but we are carrying round the mortality of our colleagues. It is a heavy feeling which impinges on us and our own mortality. It underlines how important it is to squeeze the most out of our lives. 

Saturday, 16th November, 2019

We are half way through the month and half way through our stay here. It is a beautiful day with crisp, bright views. There is something about the Mediterranean colours and vivid clarity of light that appeals to artists and really appeals to me. This view from our property early in the morning sums it up.

After breakfast and a swim, we walked down to the supermarket for our major shop of the week. We believe that living here would cut our regular cost of living by about 50%.

All this wonderful, quality foodstuff is so cheap. I have found the most delicious, fruity red wine for just €2.48/£2.13 per bottle. At the fish counter, I have my smartphone constantly ready to provide translation. Just making the slightest effort is rewarding because the staff immediately respond more positively.

We broke the habits of our recent past by also purchasing some sirloin steak which Pauline used with shiitake mushrooms, green peppers, onions and garlic to produce the most wonderful stir fry. Obviously, there was no noodle content but it wasn’t missed.

My self-discipline is appalling but my addiction to routines overcomes that weakness. We did our 2 x 30 mins swimming plus 10,000+ paces walking routine. Actually, we are recording an average of 12,000 paces per day for the time we’ve been here. I know it has to be done so it is done.

Sunday, 3rd November, 2019

Up early on a beautiful morning. The temperature throughout yesterday stayed a steady 29C/84F and didn’t fall lower than 22C/70F overnight. At least we are missing the strong winds and heavy rain back in UK although, reading our local news on-line, we find a lot of trees blown down in Sussex. Even on our Development people are posting pictures of branches down.  

So many properties are on the market round here that we thought we would investigate. We were flabbergasted to find that the property we are renting was recently bought for €900,000.00/£780,000.00. It’s lovely but this can only be for its all year round income.

Monday, 4th November, 2019

Up early to the BBC R4 Today programme on my iPad. We’ve got fantastic and currently reliable wi-fi here. Downloaded our newspapers while Pauline squeezed 2 huge oranges for me and made porridge for herself. I went out to the pool and did a 20 mins swim and then coffee with the ’Sky News’ All Out Politics programme while Pauline had her swim. 

Around mid-morning, we set out to walk to Playa de Las Americas. It is a downhill walk and fairly quick and easy. When we got there, we wondered why we’d bothered. It is hard not to adopt a snobbish, superior tone but the place was awful. Big women covered in tattoos, big men struggling to complete word searches, Burger Bars and Irish Pubs intermingled with Tattoo Parlours and Tourist-Tat shops. It is the stuff of Brexit!

We gave the place a chance – honestly – and then took a taxi back to the relative sanity of our villa high up above the hell on earth. We watched the start of the contest for Speaker. They have a small man’s big shoes to fill. At least Bercow has ensured it will be a Labour MP as next Speaker which will be a help.

We did our second swim of the day which meant I had exceeded my DL Health Club routine with well over my steps target and 40 mins swimming on the record. Pauline cooked a wonderful meal of roasted chicken breasts wrapped in Serrano ham and accompanied by roast florets of cauliflower which we ate as the sun went down.

Tuesday, 5th November, 2019

A quiet day ‘at home’ today after our long walk yesterday. We did go down to the supermarket – HiperDino – at Siam Mall and do quite an extensive shop. The fish choice in Spanish supermarkets is incredibly diverse in choice and cheap in price. We bought swordfish steaks, tuna steaks, whole sea bass and a bag of John Dory. This latter is considered the king of fishes in UK and commands a premium price. Here in Spain it is just another fish and very moderately priced.

We bought salad vegetables, grapes, figs and huge oranges for juicing, bottles of cheap wine, Spanish cheeses and lots of other, interesting things besides. It’s just too much fun shopping in foreign supermarkets. By the time we left, we were so overladen that we couldn’t possibly have walked back. We went to the taxi rank and paid the huge sum of €4.00 (Including tip) for a ride home up the incredibly steep hill. 

We got up as the sun shone strongly over the sea and enjoyed an hour or so of sunshine on the terrace before doing our first swim of the morning. We did two, strong sessions of swimming amounting to an hour in total. I felt absolutely exhausted after it. Pauline cooked a wonderful meal of swordfish steaks with green bean salad and tomato salad. We ate it as the sun went down over the sea towards La Gomera.

Wedesday, 6th November, 2019

I’m tired today. I think (hope) it’s down to all the swimming I’m doing. I did 50 mins yesterday and have to manage an hour today. At home, we only manage half that each day. Having a heated pool constantly staring us in the face just piles the pressure on. There is no escape. However, we spent the first couple of hours this morning watching the newly launched Tory election bid in melt-down with gaffe piled on gaffe. It is enough to gladden the heart.

This is a comfortable villa. In order to get the facilities, we have had to rent something far too big for our needs. It has this open plan Lounge/Dining/Kitchen room which has the pool out one side and the patio out the other end looking over the ocean.

We have 3 large bedrooms and 3 large bathrooms each with a walk-in shower. Every room has air conditioning and the house has 2 televisions with UK channels. The wi-fi is excellent and relatively quick. The kitchen has oven, ceramic hob and hood plus a dishwasher. As well as the main dining table, there is another on the patio for eating outside. There is another, outdoor settee and armchairs as the photo illustrates plus sun loungers for 6 people. There is a laundry room to the right (but out of shot) of the picture above which contains a washing machine, Dryer, Ironing Board & Iron. In short, there is virtually everything we could need for a month’s stay.

This place is ideal for our purpose which is not to come on holiday. We’ve been ‘on holiday’ permanently for over 10 years. No, this villa is to allow us to move our life, temporarily, to another location for a month where we can continue to live in our shorts, a location where we can continue our routines of exercise, political discourse, current affairs, sourcing, cooking and eating nice food and generally hiding away from the world in our own bubble. It’s what we do!

Thursday, 7th November, 2019

Canarian time is exactly in line with UK time although someone forgot to tell our mobiles which thought we were in España and added an hour. These, in turn, interfaced with our watches and completely fooled us for a while. We are not even in the EU here and I managed to sort it out after a while so we have resumed our usual sleeping/waking/eating pattern. Awake at 6.00 am and up at 7.00, I was swimming by 7.30 am. I am enjoying falling out of bed and into a lovely, warm pool – via a gorgeous glass of freshly squeezed orange juice – for a 30 mins swim.

After newspapers and the All Out Politics programme on Sky News Channel, we set out for the down mountainside walk to the supermarket. We love shopping for quality ingredients at the best of times but particularly in European supermarkets. Admittedly, it was rather trying on a small, Greek island but we rose to the challenge. Here, so many wonderful things are available in such abundance that the struggle is all about what not to buy.

Today, Pauline is cooking Fish – John Dory – which is expensive to buy in UK even though it is caught in UK waters. A strange looking, but delicious fish a, john dory’s bizarre shape and long fins make it look weird.  It has a large mouth which is used to suck in very large prey items such as fish and shrimps. It has a black spot on each side of the body which is said to be the thumb print of St Peter.

I had always thought that the famed fish, John Dory, was named after a person but have learnt today that it is an English corruption of the French description. It is essentially yellow-golden in colour. In French it would be Jaune-d’Or. Hence John Dory. You have to admit, it’s a real looker. Alright, it’s not but it tastes wonderful.

Friday, 8th November, 2019

Gorgeous day here with full, hot sunshine all day which contrasted strongly with reports of flooding back in the UK. We did 30 mins swimming then we walked down to the supermarket and Pauline indulged herself.

We spent a little while ambling through the ‘Mall’ (horrible Americanised term) and then did a reasonably large supermarket shop. With more bags than we would care to carry up a steep climb back to the house, we took a €4.00 taxi ride and got home in about 4 mins..

Back just in time for the Politics programme, we spent the next couple of hours relaxing. Then, we set out on a couple of hours walk up the mountain, past the volcanic crater, the farm shop and the banana plantation. By the time we had walked home and done another 30 mins swim, we were ready for our meal. Actually, we just had a bottle of wine, some cheese, salad and that was it. 

Saturday, 9th November, 2019

After freshly squeezed, Valencian orange juice and Yorkshire tea, a 30 mins swim and then Kenyan coffee, we set off to walk to the shops. Saturday is a good day to buy the newest fresh produce all over Europe and the Tenerife market is no exception. Particularly, we were looking for fresh Tuna (Atun) & Swordfish (Espada). In UK, the former is much more expensive than the latter. We have been shocked to find that here the complete reverse pertains. Everything here is almost half the UK price or cheaper. Even so, Tuna is just €9.95/£8.58 – in UK £22.10 per Kilo. Swordfish is €14.90/£12.85 – UK £20.00 per kilo.

The worrying thing for the Brexit-voting, British fishermen is that so much of this fish goes through UK markets en route to Spain and that will be priced out of the market if we leave the EU. 

For the last couple of evenings as we are finishing our second half hour of the day in the pool, a little, yellow-breasted chap with a long tail visits us and drinks from the water splashes on the tiled surrounded. It looks and acts like a pied wagtail but the brilliant yellow colour is unusual. I’ve looked it up and it is, indeed, a wagtail known as Motacilla Cindera or Grey Wagtail. It is anything but grey.

Sunday, 27th October, 2019

A beautiful, sunny day which started off cool but warmed up rapidly. I had to juggle politics with rugby and gardening followed by gym routine and packing to go away for a month.

One of the values of renting a villa rather than a hotel room is that we can wash, dry and iron clothes – well, Pauline can. I haven’t got a clue. It means that we don’t have to carry too much with us. Other than shorts and tee-shirt, I will need little else. One set on and one in the wash would do me although I am told what I must take by my friend.

We have learnt the hard way to scrutinise the villa’s facilities and this one includes a dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, ironing board and iron, Fridge, Hob, Oven, Microwave, Grill, and Coffee maker. We have developed the rule that anything we rent must provide at least as good as we’ve left at home.

We rarely eat out but really enjoy sourcing good quality ingredients and cooking for ourselves. It provides us both with a pleasurable experience. So, a well equipped kitchen is a prerequisite for us. We enjoy producing our own meals so much that Pauline takes one or two of her favourite knives with us to ensure quality preparation.

We will be picked up by taxi and taken to Gatwick because a month of carparking charges is not cost effective. The hour long journey will cost us £50.00/€58.00 each way. We will be taken to the Sofitel which is just a covered walkway from the North Terminal.

We can check in at the hotel and then, in the evening, trundle our cases over to the bag-drop area in the terminal and drop them off through the automatic process. After a good night’s sleep, we will walk across to the terminal, go through security to airside and to an Executive Lounge where we will have a bit of breakfast before going down to Gate and setting off. Long ago, we Checked-In online for our flight and printed out boarding passes. It really is all so easy these days. It’s been a long time since we even suffered a delay. (Not wishing to tempt fate.)

Anyway, we have a few days to finish off all the jobs a house needs before being left for a month. I have to cut the lawns, sort out the automatic lighting system and make sure the central heating is set to frost-free. At least nowadays I can control all that from my smartphone.

Monday, 28th October, 2019

A cool but glorious start to the morning. We cooked outside yesterday and will do again today but, with days to go before we leave for a month, we will frost-wrap the fig trees this morning just in case. Shopping this morning and then gardening followed by a full Health Club workout.

Sunbathed in the back garden while Pauline griddled swordfish steaks. Yesterday it was tuna steaks. It is delightful to have such lovely weather. This is officially Half Term down here. We have always associated October Half Term with Autumn leaves. I have vivid memories of an image that summed up the epitome of futility. We drove through the Yorkshire Dales one Half Term week and the weather was blowing a gale. We came across an old man, miles from anywhere, sweeping dry, brown leaves as the strong winds blew them everywhere. What was he doing?

I have other memories of walking the streets of Lille in France kicking through the leaves in the weak sunlight. I am a little ashamed to admit that these memories can make me rather maudlin. It felt wonderful and sad at the same time – the very definition of oxymoron. How many Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter seasons does a man have? It is a reminder not only of passing time, of the inevitability of death but of those loved ones who are gone. It is unbearable and inevitable at the same time.

Tuesday, 29th October, 2019

A nondescript sort of day with occasional, weak sunshine alternating with grey, forbidding skies. Not cold but fresher than it has been. We did a bit of garden tidying and clothes packing against a background of the political landscape playing out on our screens.

Our last day at the Health Club for a month was tiring. Somehow, it is easier when a run of continuity stretches ahead. Anyway, we did it while watching the Parliament Channel and then came home to cook our meal and watch the Parliament Channel for an hour or two longer. Reading back through my newly restored Blog, I found that this week in 2008, we were blanketed in snow and facing an Ofsted inspection at school. It was going to be a period of maximum stress. A year later, we had retired, spent six months in Greece and returned home to pay off our mortgage and embrace the future. How times and lives can change!

Wednesday, 30th October, 2019

Greece may be coming towards the end of its Μικρό καλοκαίρι (Little or Indian Summer) but we are just preparing to fly out and extend ours. Greece has, quite unusually, experienced a return to Summer weather in Autumn but it now seems to be coming to an end with much needed rains. We are about to fly to Tenerife for some much needed sunshine and warmth.

No Health Club today or for another month. I’ve cleaned the car and garaged it. The Alarm company have sent an engineer round to obviate any problems we might have over the next month. Actually, he has turned out to be a real expert. He has spent 3 hours working on the system and has replaced the sound box outside and three of the five infrared sensors in side the house. We remain in his expert hands for our ongoing security.

We have cleaned out and restored the smoke alarms, set the automatic lighting and heating and put the garden to bed. Our neighbours all around are well aware of our plans and fully in the loop in case of problems. Everything for the trip has been packed. The itinerary has been typed out and printed. We know exactly what to do from the moment that the taxi picks us up to the time we leave our plane in Reina Sofía Airport. That is how we have always operated. Micro-planned down to the last degree.

Oh, I forgot. I’ve got to have my haircut to save Pauline carrying her hairdressing equipment. We have weighed the cases and they are well below our limit but the less we carry the better so I will be forced to spend an immobile hour in the kitchen with a hairdresser’s cape around my neck. Still, I’ll look even more beautiful after that.

Thursday, 31st October, 2019

Up early and finishing packing. By 9.00 am, I was sitting in the kitchen in the ‘Richard Chair’ having my hair cut by my wife while watching All Out Politics on Sky TV. The house and garden are spick and span. The car has been cleaned and garaged. The taxi is booked and we are off to …

Actually, we will stop at the Sofitel Hotel ,where we have already checked-in online. We can drop our bags off between 8.00 pm & midnight and then go back to our hotel and sleep. Tomorrow morning we can walk through security unencumbered by baggage.

We are on the 7th Floor with a lovely view over the amazingly tree-lined countryside of Crawley. The drive here actually gave us the ability to look around at the autumnal Beauty of this area which is dominated by the airport.

Why does travelling always make you tired? From the moment I got in the taxi, I felt exhausted. The taxi driver was a very friendly Northerner from Macclesfield. He had lived on the South coast for more than 20 years but recognised our accents immediately.

Friday, 1st November, 2019

The start of a new month as October 2019 drops off the conveyor belt. Welcome to November which we are embracing in a new location. We have greeted the day at 5.00 am with a cup of tea and then checked out of our hotel.

Of course, as the Skiathan will tell you, there is more to celebrate than a new month. Today marks the start of the third Happy Non-Brexit period.

It is early – 5.00 am early. Waking up in a strange bed at this time is never ideal but needs must. Check-out from Hotel, walk down the covered path to Gatwick North Terminal and go through security to Airside. It is wet outside. At this time, the airport is reasonably quiet and we can walk fairly unhindered to our No1 Lounge where we will catch a little bit of Breakfast before going down to gate. We land in Reina Sofía Airport at around 12.35 pm and will be picked up by a driver arranged by our villa owner.

Everything went wonderfully smoothly and we took off On time in rain and a temperature of 9C/48F. We landed On time in wonderful sunshine and a temperature of 29C/84F. We were met by villa owner, Darius, who drove us to our villa. It was exactly what we expected which is nice.

Saturday , 2nd November, 2019

Up at 6.30 am on a hot and sticky morning. The temperature hadn’t dropped below 24C/75F last night but we were so tired, we slept soundly until 6.00 am.. Pauline had brought a citrus juicer for me and we bought oranges yesterday along with porridge for Pauline. Breakfast over, we settled down with our newspapers and the rugby. It wasn’t a surprise that we lost and, in a strange way, slightly reassuring that the Tories who had tried to co-opt the English victory for Brexit, we left holding the losing baby.

We walked down to Siam Mall and did a full shop at HiperDino supermarket. They had wonderful joints of swordfish and we bought 4 huge ones for half the price we would in UK. We bought salmon steaks and chicken fillets. We took 4 of the biggest red peppers that you have ever seen. In Sainsburys, they would have been half the size and cost £2.40/€2.80. Here, all 4 cost a total of €0.75/£0.65. How can that be? I am going to live solely on peppers for a month.

Well, thank goodness we’re going to win the election because, after England and then Man,Utd., I feel I’m on a losing streak! I did find my friend, Jeremy’s office near by ..

We came ‘home’ by taxi with all our shopping. The taxi cost just €3.50/£3.02 but I don’t think the driver was best pleased at such a huge fare. At least we had most of our provisions for the next few days and settled down to cook and eat the most wonderful swordfish steaks with Greek Salad and Green Salad. Now Pauline is fully involved in Strictly Come Something and I am out on the terrace doing this Blog.

Sunday, 20th October, 2019

Woke up at 6.00 am as normal and didn’t feel too bad after our long drive yesterday. We had a long list of jobs to get through so decided early on to restart our gym routine tomorrow.  The day was delightfully warm and sunny so, after doing our weekly shop at Tesco, we set about a couple of hours of gardening. Pauline trimmed the hedges while I mowed the lawns.

The back garden felt absolutely lovely and it was hard to believe that we are in the latter half of October. We cooked outside – griddled Swordfish Steaks – and enjoyed the fresh, warm air. The only thing about this time of year is that the evening time brings cooler temperatures and we had to close the patio doors by 6.00 pm.

My one other task was fitting new batteries in all three smoke alarms. We were told that they were interconnected and that fitting one wouldn’t be good enough. I proceeded to do just that. Of course, I could get the tops off and the batteries out but I couldn’t get the new ones in or the tops back on. Fortunately, my wife can do stuff like that. The first two alarms went back satisfactorily. The third one at the top of the stairs immediately started to bleep as soon as the new battery was inserted. We concluded that it was faulty and would need expert attention or completely replacing. We decided to phone for help on Monday.

In an idle moment this evening, I searched Google for methods of sorting out my troublesome smoke alarm. I immediately found half a dozen helpful videos on YouTube telling me exactly what the problem was and how to fix it.

In the video I chose, I was taught to discharge any residual power after removing the battery by holding down the test button for 20 secs. After refitting the new battery, the bleeping restarted immediately. Next I was told that there could be dust or a web on the sensitive plate – called something or other – and it should be blasted with air through all its vents to clean it. I hadn’t got an air compressor to blast it but I have got a strong puff so I gave it full throttle, refitted the battery and everything appears to be working correctly. Let’s hope I’m not woken up in the night.

Monday, 21st October, 2019

Up early on a dark and damp morning. Bin day – all three today. That ‘s my job especially as it’s wet. Soon after, I have to go out to the Parcelforce depot to collect a package from BT Openreach which they tried to deliver on Saturday morning while we were travelling home. The package is a new, high-speed hub for full fibre connection plus 2 wi-fi extender discs. Actually, our house is fully wi-fi covered but these extender discs will reinforce that distribution and, I’m hoping, I can use one to provide a better performance out in the back garden.

We’ve managed to book the BT engineer to come to our house on Wednesday and the alarm engineer to call next week on the day before we leave for the airport. We’re working on the just-in-time principle.

Ten years ago this week we suddenly had a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. We had retired 6 months earlier and now we were paying off a relatively massive mortgage. It had been hugely increased as we borrowed to build our Greek house. I wrote at the time that “Pauline and I are flying around the lounge with the lightness of being mortgage-free.“ We have bought and sold two properties since then but never had a mortgage and it is enormously confidence inspiring.

Tuesday, 22nd October, 2019

The most glorious day of warm sunshine and wonderful, azure blue skies. We shopped in the early summer day; swam in the June warmth; cooked outside in the wonderful  weather. Have I said it was a lovely, warm day?

I forgot until the last moment that my little sister was 62 yesterday. Of course she is in denial and she has deliberately had her photo taken with my younger brother, Bob, in order to make herself look younger.

We are going away soon so we spent an hour or so packing up the garden furniture and storing it in the garage. Tomorrow, we will wrap the fig and olive trees against the risk of frost while we are away. We need to leave everything in order before we go. Today, I moved a major investment which had matured over to another year’s account which will nearly keep our capital up with inflation. It is not exactly reassuring. I have considered purchasing a Buy-to-Let property or a property abroad but decided that both are time/risk demanding at the moment.

Wednesday, 23rd October, 2019

Early up because of expecting BT Openreach engineers. Very excited! Just unstacked the dishwasher and a ring on the doorbell announced their arrival.

Fibre has already been brought to a box on the outside of our house and now needs to be brought into the Study/Office. This involves drilling through an outside wall which I’m not terribly happy about but needs must. Pauline has deep cleaned the Study/Office just in case a man with a drill notices a bit of unremoved dust. She’s never really understood men and their relationship with dust.

Peter the Openreach engineer told me he was just 6 years old when I started teaching. He has a 14 year old son and was going to a Careers meeting to his son’s school tonight. It made me feel very old although not as old as Ruth. We’ve had so many trades people come to our house to offer us their skills and it is distinctly humbling to find how ordinary but wonderful they are. Just really good human beings doing their best for their families and their customers with no great sense of ego.

Peter was just an ordinary man with no great pretensions but hopes for his young son and the future. He was keen to talk and share his life with me. There were so many coincidences in which his life had, unknowingly, collided with mine. He had started school in South Benfleet in Essex just as I was starting teaching in Lancashire. Just as he was going to Secondary School, I got a job as head of English in a Secondary School 2 or 3 miles away on Canvey Island. His best friend lives on Oriental Road, Woking, Surrey about half a mile away from where Pauline & I lived in Surrey. Now he lives in West Worthing just next to where Pauline & I go to our Health Club every day.

I love people and their lives and this poor chap was forced to divulge his full history in the half hour he was at our house. As soon as he’d gone, I had to set the new hub up with

• 2 x Smartphones
• 3 x iPads
• 1 x Desktop
• 2 x Laptops
• 3 x Sky Boxes
• 5 x televisions

Fortunately many of them have WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) buttons to talk to the hub. This makes it all so quick to link them up. We came back from our Health Club stint, cooked our meal and then I did the whole thing in an hour. Apparently, we have immediately increased the value of our house by installing super fast, fibre to the door, internet. I would have done it anyway.

Thursday, 24th October, 2019

The darker mornings slowly creep up and we suddenly realise that we put the light on when we get up. It is a source of regret for me although I do accept the seasonal range of changing days. I am not Canute although even he did not try to turn back the tide but demonstrated to his subjects that even Kings were subject to natural laws. Fortunately, Man has learnt to work around nature with the social constructs that only humanity can devise. On Saturday night, one of those constructs will come to the rescue temporarily. We turn back the clocks and push the darkness back round the diurnal circle to form darker evenings.

It is rather grey anyway this morning with soft, wetting rain which contributes to the gloom of the day. We have a plumber arriving this morning to fix a leaking tap. A tap which cost nearly £200.00/€232.00 really shouldn’t be leaking after less than 4 years use. Apparently, taps like these have ceramic gland cartridges. It is all quite beyond my understanding so I look forward to an expert arriving. I, for one, believe in experts what ever slimy Gove says.

We’ve got just one more ‘expert’ to come to our house before we fly off to the Canaries. Next week, the burglar alarm man is coming back to comprehensively check our system. We will need it while we are away.

While we are away, we will be spending Euros. We buy our travel and accommodation with our credit cards in UK but all spending abroad is in local currency to avoid huge currency conversion charges. Over the past year, I have been forward buying currency as the Brexit debate ebbed and flowed and the Pound rose and fell against the Euro. I use FX experts like ICE and Moneycorp with whom I have accounts and who home deliver. Recently, however, Tesco Bank have more than matched them in value and I only have to go to my local supermarket to pick the up. Earlier in the week, the £1.00 = €1.1640 and I bought another £1000.00 worth to store away for future use. It’s gone down a bit since then so my constant monitoring was worth while.

Friday, 25th October, 2019

This morning, I lost my life – well, a significant part of it. This Blog is published on a hosted WordPress platform. I have maintained it since Christmas 2008 – It will be 11 years old in a couple of months. It’s strapline is a quote from TS Elliot’s The Wasteland in which the Fisher King describes his final attempt at coherence. This Blog shores up the fragments of my life in a final attempt at producing some coherence as a result. Of course, like everything, it will end in tragedy and failure but the effort will deliver it from futility or so I hope….

This morning, I lost everything. WordPress works with style sheets which form the framework in which content is contained and presented. Over the years, I have used 2 or 3 different style sheets just to keep the appearance fresh and interesting although functionality has been at the heart of my choice. There are thousands of WordPress stylesheets and existing content is instantly refreshed with a new wrapper. On Thursday evening, in an idle moment, I trawled though stylesheets and considered a change. Eventually, I decided against it and closed my computer down.

This morning, I was locked out of the last 11 years of my life. ….

Saturday, 26th October, 2019

I went to bed at midnight thinking about my Blog and woke at 6.00 am thinking about my Blog. I had attempted to restore data but, overnight, I realised that it was just the stylesheet that was missing. As I had browsed the stock of new stylesheets, I must have half selected one but not fully and deselected my original. Sounds garbled but I understand it. The error message I kept getting was: No stylesheet attached. I woke up knowing what I had to do – sort of.

I opened my control panel from my hosts – Ionos/1&1 – found the stylesheets bank and selected one, held my breath and refreshed my Blog page and up popped….

As I whooped round the kitchen, England scored their first try against New Zealand in what turned out to be a rout. England were brilliant and so was my mood. The day just couldn’t get much better. I’m going to the gym to celebrate.

Sunday, 13th October, 2019

At 7.00 am, the morning is mild (16C/61F) but grey and monochrome. My head-cold is still fairly monochrome as well. Any Blog reader will know that I live inside routines. Every morning starts at 6.00 am with BBC Radio 4. Up at 7.00 am, Pauline makes me fresh orange juice by juicing 2 large oranges. After that, I am handed a large cup of Yorkshire tea and my Breakfast is completed by some freshly made banana milk shake with fat free milk and calorie-free sweetener. Generally, that will carry me through until our meal at around 4.00 pm. Pauline makes porridge with fresh fruit for herself and drinks a cup of hot water. She hasn’t drunk tea or coffee for  almost 2 years now.

While Pauline makes Breakfast, I download the newspapers on our iPads and check email. Our mobile phones tell us what the temperature is outside. The house is so well insulated that it doesn’t provide much hint of external conditions. As I went through the emails, one stood out – You have won a National Lottery prize. Pauline pointed out that it was supposed to €15 million but the a check found our prize was £140.00/€161.00. Still, it’s better than a poke in the eye. It almost covers the cost of our hotel room at Gatwick airport at the end of the month.

This week, we are driving up to Yorkshire. I am looking forward to being reacquainted with my old friend, Harold Wilson, who we left standing outside the magnificent façade of Huddersfield Train Station. Like so many memories, time and distance soften the loss but returning evokes much emotion and so many memories.

Monday, 14th October, 2019

A grey, damp day which didn’t get above 17C/63F. It doesn’t matter. Yorkshire wouldn’t seem the same if it wasn’t like this.

Ten years ago, we were spending a lot of time in Oldham Hospital with Pauline’s little Mum who suddenly had shingles across her eye. It is a horrible, painful condition for anyone but, for someone in their mid-90s, it is very unfair. She made light of it and recovered.

My weather app. tells me that we are distinctly average for rain over the past 30 years and not so far off the average high temperature. Tomorrow should be dry for our drive to the North.

Got home from the Health Club today to find BT Openreach parked in our drive. They were pulling fibre optic cable through the ducts from the street cabinet to our house. Gone are the days when they had to dig up the road and drive. A junction box has been attached to the outside of our house in the flower bed and, next week, they will turn up to install the new hub and wireless extension equipment. A week on Wednesday, we will go from 30Mbs to 300Mbs in the blink of an eye. Apparently, at the same time, it will significantly increase the value of our house by improving its desirability. It will certainly be more desirable to me!

Tuesday, 15th October, 2019

Up at 6.30 am on a grey but mild morning. Final packing of suitcases and the car. Out by 8.45 am and on the road to Yorkshire via Repton in Derbyshire. Our sat.nav. And the AA app calculated 3.5 hours to Repton followed by 1.5 more hours on to Yorkshire. The first couple of hours’ drive were excellent and enjoyable and then we met a motorway closure around Leicester. The reason was a collision between a lorry and a van which completely closed the M1 for an air ambulance to land. The tailbacks were frustrating but we didn’t have a deadline so lived with it and got on our way again.

The changing face of my old, home village was fascinating/shocking. This picture below features a residential property know as The Manse. In the century between the 1870s and the 1970s, it was the manse serving the attached Congregational Chapel which had been central to so many of my family ancestors. The building to the right of the manse is a hair and beauty salon.

Ironically, the left hand side where the brown door now is was a pitch black cave of a place in which sat a grimy, one-legged war veteran who spent his day repairing boots and shoes. It was a place where old men gathered to gossip. For a young lad, it was quite a scary place. The right hand side was Wainright’s Forge where a furnace was constantly being stoked with fire irons and metal was beaten in to shape. The smell of tempered metal haunts me as I looked through the windows.

Today would have been Dad’s 104th birthday. Unbelievable to think he missed 55 of those years. Although I remember him, I often find myself questioning whether those memories are real or received. I wonder how we would have got on in my adulthood. I have a feeling that he wouldn’t have approved of me and my views.

A total of 5 hours driving plus a Coffee/Toilet break, visit to my parents grave and a short excursion around my home village stretched to near 8 hrs. When you haven’t got a deadline, delays don’t seem so important. Fortunately, the holdup didn’t happen until shortly after the toilet break which was lucky. We arrived at our hotel in Brighouse by 4.30 pm. Check-in, a cup of tea and then down to the gym to make sure I achieved my targets before settling down for the evening.

Wednesday, 16th October, 2019

The morning opened dark and wet but soon brightened up. We were up early and down to breakfast and then out in the car towards Huddersfield town centre. We were going to Bolton to visit my sister, Ruth and her husband, Kevan. We had to take them some flowers and we went out first to buy them.

Horrible journey in heavy rain and even heavier traffic with deep, surface water and terrible road spray. However, we got there and were just parking up when Pauline’s mobile rang. It was our next door neighbour. Our smoke alarms were all going off in the house and he couldn’t stop them. A few weeks ago, he phoned us while we were in Athens to say our burglar alarm was going off. When we got home, our three fire alarms had set of spontaneously for the first time. This time, there was little we could suggest to our neighbour but to turn the mains supply off and let the batteries run out for us to deal with when we get home.

We spent a lovely couple of hours with Ruth & Kev who are both looking extremely happy, healthy and hearty in spite of being so much older than Pauline & I. Annoyingly, I forgot to take a photo before we left. I will do so next time.

The drive back to Huddersfield was totally different. The weather was dry and sunny with blue skies and sunshine. The traffic was much lighter as we drove into Huddersfield town centre and then on through Netherton, Meltham and Helme.

We drove on past a green, Holme Valley as the sun shone over it towards Longwood where we lived until 2010

We left the North of England almost 10 years ago and, although we had spent almost 40 years together there with wonderful memories, it is not somewhere I could move back to now. It feels hard, harsh, lacking in the softness of indulgence. As a beautiful, theatrical backdrop, it has a lot to recommend it. As a place to call home, I have moved on to sunnier climes.

Thursday, 17th October, 2019

Can you believe it? Yorkshire has frost at 6.00 am this morning. It does presage a beautiful morning and this is the carpark from our suite on a the upper storey of our hotel.

Certainly, the onset of Autumn is more pronounced up here than is evident on the South Coast. At around mid day, we drove in to Huddersfield and up to The Manor House Restaurant in Lindley.

We met up with our old friends and ex-colleagues, Little Viv and Margaret. It has become a tradition and Margaret is tasked with choosing a new venue each time. She has rarely let us down.

A light lunch of Caesar Salad and sparkling water but with lots of heavy talking passed 2hrs very quickly. We split after agreeing to meet again in March. We drove in to town where the exciting new university buildings dominate the skyline. Today was Open Day and the town was flooded with hordes of excited young people dreaming of leaving home and setting out in the world.

Negotiating strange people like that, we drove back to our hotel for a cup of tea and to catch up on political events. I still am extremely optimistic about beating this Brexit nonsense!

Friday, 18th October, 2019

Up in the darkness at 6.30 am. It had rained torrentially in the night but was dry now. After breakfast, we drove over the Pennines to Oldham to the Crematorium to pay our respect to the memory of Pauline’s Mum who died 9 years ago today. We have done this every year since and will try to continue to have this focus in her memory. She deserved it.

We drove on to visit my friend and ex-colleague, Brian and his wife, Val, in Shaw. We only meet a couple of times each year. I love talking to him. There is no one more down to earth.

After a couple of hours with Brian & Val, we drove up to see the site of our old school completely covered in 40-50 new, Redrow homes. It felt quite divorced from our long term recollections. It underlined our distance between reality and memory and, without sentiment, we moved on. We drove on to visit relations of Pauline – Joyce & Harry. It was nice to see them and we had a delightful conversation for an hour or so before setting off over the Pennines to Huddersfield.

When we got back to our hotel, the final nail in our run of bad luck arrived. An email from our neighbour said, Smoke Alarms still not turned off but burglar alarms have now joined in.

Saturday, 19th October, 2019

Up early and very light Breakfast at 6.30 am. On the road by 7.00 am. Almost immediately told by our sat.nav. of an accident/holdup on the M1. It turned out to be a 25 yr old ‘pedestrian’ killed on the motorway by a Mercedes. What he was doing there goodness only knows although it was late on a Saturday night.

The diversion, which thousands took, added about 90 mins to our journey and left us exasperated. One thing saved our sanity and you will be shocked to hear what it was.

Today, Parliament met on a Saturday for the first time since the Falklands war. Boris Johnson was trying to get his EU Withdrawal Bill through the Commons. We knew he’d fail but there was always some tension about it. The debate went on for about 4 hrs and was absolutely fascinating. I managed to get live Parliament TV on my mobile and put it through our car Infotainment unit. As a result, although our journey took about an hour longer than it should have done, I hardly noticed any of it because I was gripped by the drama of the debate.

We arrived home about 1.30 pm and took bottles of wine to our neighbours either side to say ‘sorry’ for the disturbance of our smoke/burglar alarms disturbing their week. We griddled chicken out in the garden where the sunshine shone and the temperature made it delightfully warm. We were able to watch the voting conclusion to the Parliamentary debate on television and applaud the Opposition in their victory. Now we have to unpack and get on with normality.

Sunday, 6th October, 2019

A lovely, warm sunny day which reached 18C/65F. Morning on Sunday is papers, political discussions and home jobs. I actually spent a couple of hours cleaning the car. A trip to the Health Club which was very quiet and then home, shattered, we went round to our neighbour’s house. Drank a couple of glasses of red wine with them and chatted to neighbours from all around us as we wished Pat Happy 80th Birthday. It was nice to get to know them better. Let’s hope we get to celebrate such a birthday.

I threw in the bomb of Brexit to liven up the conversation and it didn’t disappoint. One chap just walked off to the other side of the room because he couldn’t cope with it. Our next door neighbour is a German lady who has lived in UK for 20 years and worked as an English teacher. She has been resisting regularising her status here because she resents having to do so after 20 years of public service and paying taxes to the UK state coffers and who could blame her? It is shameful that anyone in her position should be asked to do anything at all.

Monday, 7th October, 2019

Mild morning with brilliant, orange, mackerel sky. A bit of a breeze. We had a couple of tradesfolk attending our property. First to arrive was the Burglar Alarm installers who came to provide a 3 year service. When we went to Greece recently, our alarm went off. We think it could have been a spider. They are invading our house in abundance at the moment. As the service engineer finished his survey without finding anything specific, this little chap walked silently by.

Next up was the plumber. We have a flexible, pull-down, swan-neck tap. Recently, it started to leak from the base of its neck. The builders said it would be either a washer or a cartridge that needed replacing. The plumber decided he could fix it but would need a replacement part. He would have to return. At least Pauline was able to see what to do after our warranty runs out. The alarm man decided that it was about time to replace the back-up battery which he didn’t have with him. He would need a replacement battery which he would have to return to fit.

We will need two more appointments before we go away and we’re running out of days. We are off to Yorkshire soon and then to Tenerife until December. So little time yet so much to achieve!

Tuesday, 8th October, 2019

A mild -17C/63F – with weak sunshine. Pauline went out early to have her face rearranged at the Beauty Clinic. I stayed at home because my face is beyond repair. We only have three weeks to go before we fly out for a month in the Canarian sunshine. Before that, we will spend a few days in sunny Yorkshire. We are hoping to not need our central heating until we return in December.

Greece has already been hit by some difficult weather. Mount Olympus has seen snowfall but, over the past 24 hrs, the Cyclades islands including Syros and Andros, Sifnos, Tinos and Milos have been hit by strong winds, prolonged thunder and lightning and torrential rain leading to flooding. A video clip of a river running over the main street of Sifnos port, Kamares, was sent to me this morning and this of a venetian street on the island of Syros appeared this afternoon.

We always watch the Lunchtime Politics Live programmed on BBC2 and have become accustomed to setting off for the gym as it finished at 1.00 pm.. Recently, we adjusted our timing so we can watch while we are exercising. It is a great improvement and has made the routine go so much more quickly.

Wednesday, 9th October, 2019

Almost a full moon last night – apparently it will take another 3 days. Awoke to heavy rain in the middle of the night. Awoke at 6.00 am to dry and warm weather. By just after 7.00 am, the sun was up and blue skies slowly emerged. Looks like it will be a nice afternoon for swimming outside.

This time last year, I collected a huge, leathery seed pod from a tree in Tenerife and stuck it in my bag. When we got home, I researched it and found that I had collected seeds from Delonix Regia – The Flamboyant Tree. I read up about cultivation and learnt that one should put the seeds in boiling water for 24hrs. I did that with one half of my seeds and not with the other. The advice was totally vindicated because all those not boiled failed to germinate and all those boiled did germinate.

This is an extremely tender plant/tree. It is native of tropical climes. Although I grew my germinated trees on in pots outside, I knew that even a mild winter here would be a danger to them.  Recently, I brought two specimens indoors. In the following graphic, I feature the view from mid-July on the left set against one from today.

Although I am doing this for a bit of fun, it has to be taken very seriously – like Brexit. When we are away for a month, P&C are going to look after these fast growing trees. If they can make 3 ft in 3 months, October could be interesting for P&C. This is how a fully grown tree can look.

I just hope I can get them out of P&C’s conservatory by December and then fit them in the car to bring home.

We are almost half way through October but swimming outside is still absolutely delightful. Today, with sunshine on our backs and under blue skies we swam as squirrels chased other on the surrounding trees and birds feasted on the festoons of orange, Pyracantha berries that are set off brilliantly against the backdrop of the yew hedges. After more than an hour in the gym, swimming in this environment is a relaxing delight. We feel so lucky to have this facility.

Thursday, 10th October, 2019

An absolutely delightful day of warm sunshine and blue skies. We still have Basil thriving outside in pots in our back garden. Admittedly, the large leaved, Italian basil has finished but this hardier, purple-veined, Aramato Basil is still going strong. It tastes and smells exactly the same although its leaves are a little tougher and smaller.

My Broadband is supplied by BT. It is reliable, sufficient and reasonably priced. I get a download speed of around 32Mb and upload of circa 11Mb. However, for a couple of weeks last month, BT Openreach vans have been working in our street quite intensively. Today, I learned that I can now have fibre direct to my door for just £8.00/€9.17 per month extra. It will provide me with a huge increase in performance – almost beyond my expectations.

As our demands on our broadband bandwidth increase all the time with 6 televisions, plus control of heating and lighting services in addition to computers, laptops, iPads, Kindles and smartphones all drawing down from it, the increased speed particularly in wi-fi will be very welcome. It may be that the introduction of 5G will obviate some of this demand but, for now, we will take anything we can get with real gratitude.

Friday, 11th October, 2019

This is one of life’s ironies. Yesterday I wrote of arranging for our BT Broadband to be upgraded from 30Mbs to 300 Mbs. Upgrading from fibre-to-cabinet to fibre-to-home. Eliminating the copper from the street cabinet – even though it isn’t very far -makes such a huge difference. In about 10 days, I will receive new equipment – a new hub and wi-fi extender discs. The irony is that, within 5 hrs of booking this upgrade, our current BT Hub went down. I realised when we checked the Hive hub which piggybacks on the BT one and controls the hot water, central heating and lighting to find it wasn’t working.

Unfortunately, I realised it as I was going to bed at midnight. By 1.00 am, I had both hubs up and working so I could sleep without worrying. However, this morning, as we finished our coffee, all our smoke alarms went off.

They are incredibly noisy and difficult to silence. There was no smoke or steam or cooking. We can only assume it was a spider that set one off but the noise could be heard out in the garden and up the street even with everything closed.

After a while, even calm people working their way steadily through the problem become rather tense and tetchy. The alarms are mains powered with battery backup. Finding the isolation switch was an adventure. Getting to the toolbox and picking out the correct screwdrivers. Searching out a screwdriver to prise off the cap and then release the battery took a while. Eventually, we were able to stop, reset and reassemble the three units and, as we did, a small, black spider abseiled down from the one on the landing. We tested all and all were working correctly.

In the past week, we have had to address a leaking tap, a misfunctioning burglar alarm, wi-fi and Hive hubs down and misfunctioning smoke alarms. As a backdrop to this, I have contracted a severe head cold which is making my exercise routine more difficult than usual. I refuse to give in to it!

Saturday, 12th October, 2019

A grey damp day. My head cold seemed to get worse as the morning went on. We debated whether to go to the gym or not but I couldn’t let it go and forced myself through it. To cheer myself up and lift the gloom of the day outside, I spent a bit of time researching the immediate area of our home for the month of November.

Apparently, it is possible to walk to Siam Water Park and the Siam Shopping Mall in just over 5 mins and to the centres of Costa Adeje and Playa de las Americas in around 20 mins. This is ideal for us. We like to walk and explore new places.

Just over 38 years ago, we had got back from our first, Greek venture. Zakynthos was our first island. It didn’t have an airport so we flew to Hellinikon International Airport. From there, we got on a minibus to be driven across the Peloponnese to the port of Killini  and then ferry to Zakynthos Town dominated by the church of St Denis (Dionysius). Zakynthos was all but destroyed during an earthquake in 1953 and, after buildings were rebuilt with earthquakes in mind, a year ago, they were hit by another big one. Quite a bit of damage was caused although not on the earlier scale.

This morning, 2 more 4+ Richter shocks hit the island. They are said to be after shocks from last year.

Sunday, 29th September, 2019

The penultimate day of September 2019 opened with strong winds and rain. Surprisingly warm –  18C/65F at 7.00 am. We will only go out to the gym today so we hope it clears up before that. Newspapers and political programmes form the first couple of hours and then my job is to vacuum the house and do some dusting. Pauline is steam-cleaning the hard floors downstairs. Unalloyed joy!

Just as Greeks thought the economy was ticking up, Moodys, the credit rating agency throws a wet blanket over it:

The collapse of British tour operator Thomas Cook is “credit negative” for Greek and Cypriot banks because it reduces the cash flow of businesses in the tourism sectors of both countries … This development will result in a reduction in tourism revenue and investment … it may even lead to business closures. It could also affect other sectors linked to tourism, such as transport and trade…. the exposure of Greek banks to businesses (hotels and restaurants) that worked with the bankrupt company was 10.8%, and 13.9% for Cypriot lenders at the end of March 2019.

Thomas Cook employed around 1,000 people in Greece and accounted for around 3 million tourist arrivals per year, or about 9% of the country’s total arrivals of 44 million in 2018, according to Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος data. Thomas Cook had a particularly strong presence in Crete and Kos, where around 70% and 25% of the two islands’ hotels, respectively, had contracts with the company. The effect of Thomas Cook’s liquidation on Cyprus’ tourism sector is also likely to be substantial. Around 250,000 tourists annually travel to Cyprus with Thomas Cook and generate revenue of €187 million.

We, of course will go back to Greece in 2020 but we will also spend about 3 months in Spain/Canaries. We still intend to take our car on a ferry from Portsmouth – Bilbao or Santander. Because we know so little of Spain, we have been wildly casting around for where to spend the Summer. We will rent a villa which must have its own pool and all facilities for cooking, washing clothes and television + wi-fi. We will need somewhere to park our car securely. Originally, we were thinking of Murcia where our friends had an villa but they have sold it recently so we are now looking at Tarragona as a destination.

Bilbao to Tarragona is only 350 miles/550 kms. It would take around 5 hours to drive that which is a comfortable day out depending on when the ferry docked. I’ve been checking out places available on various villa rental websites. This is just outside Tarragona:

One thing that is immediately obvious is that mainland properties in Spain are much cheaper than those we rent in the Canaries. It seems that guaranteed winter sunshine carries a premium.

Did a full workout routine in quite a quiet Health Club this afternoon. The weather probably put many people off although it did dry up and reached 20C/68F. It is surprising how many go to eat in the restaurant without exercising. We have really been trying to push ourselves over the past few months and see that as a way to enjoy some extended times away without feeling guilty. We will feel that we have earned them.

One of the problems an obsessive like me suffers from is an addiction to little, orange bars on his smartphone. It genuinely pains me if one of them is blue – meaning a daily goal unachieved. It leads to the most ridiculous attempts to fulfil the target wherever I am. I am taking my gym and swimming wear when I go to France so that I can go to bed without worrying. Our hotel has a huge, indoor pool and a small gym which will do for the few days we are away. We will also be doing lots of walking anyway so I have high hopes of success.

Monday, 30th September, 2019

We are saying farewell to September 2019 with the most gorgeous morning. which I wasn’t up to photographing. A little bit cooler start at just 12C/54F but dry and glowing. Eventually, as we left the Health Club in mid afternoon, we had struggled up to 20C/68F with weak sunshine. We have done our last, formal workout for a short while but we will use the Hotel’s gym and pool to fill in while we are away.

The forecast as we travel tomorrow morning is for heavy rain but nothing as bad as the storm that will hit Manchester and the Tory Party non-conference. They have already had a lot of water dumped on them but there is a yellow weather warning out for tomorrow. Good job Ruth lives in the penthouse.

Had a delightful email yesterday from our Honda dealer. Their premises are rather cheap-by-jowl with housing in an old area near the sea. It takes about 10 mins to drive to them currently.

About 5 mins drive from us is a Peugeot dealership which recently has had a huge new development added. I thought it strange because I wasn’t aware that Peugeot were popular enough to merit it. Now we realise that Honda have taken over that franchise and built a huge new outlet for themselves as well. This will be wonderful for us. It is closer, more spacious with lots of parking.

Tuesday, 1st October, 2019

There are times when I really struggle to get to grips with the passage of the days. October already. All one can do is shrug and get on with the new day, month… Happy October, 2019 to you all anyway.

We are celebrating getting another month older by driving through the Channel Tunnel to one of our favourite hotels for a short stay. We will do some walking if the weather is friendly, some shopping and some wine buying. We will eat some nice food and try to forget that Pauline is 68 on Saturday.  I never thought I’d be married to an old woman but it comes to all of us at some stage …. if we are lucky enough to last that long.

It is 7.20 am as I write and light rain has just begun to fall. It looks like any walking will be inside today. I will be visiting the hotel’s gym and swim before I open my first bottle of wine in 31 days. Looking forward to it. I suspect that one glass will have a considerable effect never mind a bottle. Whatever, it will have to be red.

Lovely drive to the Tunnel. The hotel desk greeted us and we settled in. Out to the hypermarkets and then back to the hotel for a gym session followed by a meal and the wine. It’ s always a bit of an anti-climax after the build up over a dry month

It was good to complete our fitness targets after a day of sitting. It was nice to drink a glass of red wine after a month of abstinence.

Wednesday, 2nd October, 2019

Up at 7.00 am (ET) to listen to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme at 6.00 am (GMT). Down to a wonderful breakfast at 8.00 am/7.00 am with fantastic scrambled eggs. I always think one can judge the cooking by the quality of scrambled egg. It is not as easy to do well in catering, buffet proportions. The French bacon was quite delicious.

Pauline, as I enjoy repeating, will be 68 on Saturday. Because of that, she deserves being indulged. I hate shopping for clothes. She loves it. Today is her day so we have visited a huge, Designer retail Outlet in Coquelles. We have been there once before but didn’t stay because it was absolutely packed. Today, it is anything but.

If its not clothes, it is chocolate that Pauline likes to shop for. We spent quite a bit of time in shops like this:

We did so much walking today that we didn’t need the gym. We drove down to our wine supplier and had to dodge groups of immigrants running across the dual carriageway as they fled the local gendarmarie who were following to move them on. The migrants tried to stop lorries and get into the back of them as they were held up on the highway. The irony of the contrast between our indulgence of bulk wine buying set against the subsistence struggle of the dishevelled migrants was not lost on us.

We drove back to our hotel where we had a suite of rooms. We choose this hotel as much for its grounds which are extensive and are surrounded by farmers’ fields. On the grass was a mother hen with her newly hatched chicks. As I approached them, they rushed straight up to me to get the food they thought I was bringing.

As soon as they realised that I was empty handed, they were off back under the rhododendron bush. As we walked away, a spy had insinuated himself into the arch of my car’s wheel

Beautiful sunshine today but not warm. I don’t think we got above 15C/59F. The white cliffs of Dover and the broad sides of cross channel ferries have been picked out in the strong, sharp light of an autumnal sun.

Thursday, 3rd October, 2019

Up early and down to BREAKFAST. Won’t see that again for a long while. Scrambled egg …Oh, scrambled egg. Packed up and off. Down to the hypermarket for a few supplies and then to Euro Tunnel.

We are booked on a 12.50 (ECT) /11.50 (GMT) train but, as always, we are early. As always, the French are happy to put us on an earlier train although they are making it considerably more uncomfortable to experience security checks with long queues to get through. They are definitely emphasising the conditions we can expect as a Third Country if we’re ever stupid enough to Brexit.

The train journey was quiet, quick and uneventful. We read our digital newspapers and, in no time at all, the daylight began to flood back in to the train. From drive on to drive off was just 35 mins. Why would anyone volunteer to spend three times that on a ferry? As soon as we stop at the station, the train is so quiet that the doors open and we are driving off on to the Kent roads. The drive back is also quiet and uneventful apart from being slowed by the roadworks being carried out to facilitate a lorry stack in the event of Brexit. Of course, it doesn’t matter how short a period one is away, it is always nice returning to home familiarity.

Friday, 4th October, 2019

One of the problems with growing older is that our friends, neighbours and family grow old with us and … We have a number of octogenarian family members – which is a sign of the times – and, this weekend, our neighbour across the road will ‘celebrate’ being 80. We have been invited to help him and we bought him a card in France to test his linguistic skills.

I’ve bought and stored a card for Ruth’s 80th as well because it won’t be long. Even my wife will be 68 tomorrow. I am cooking a special, birthday meal – but not until we have done our gym workout. It will include langoustines, large scallops, monkfish and tail on prawns. I have to sneak out and source them tomorrow.

Saturday, 5th October, 2019

Happy Birthday to my darling wife. She was born on this day in 1951. In my view, she certainly doesn’t look 68 and she doesn’t act 68. We are going to celebrate by a trip to the gym. I am cooking supper – that should be interesting.

I am making two, fish dishes –

1. Langoustines in a tomato, white wine and dill sauce.
   
2. Monkfish & King Scallops in a garlic and tarragon butter sauce.

I am following that with Raspberry Pavlova with fresh, sweet raspberries and whipped cream. This is one of Pauline’s favourites. Anything with lots of whipped cream will be a favourite of Pauline’s.

I’m pleased to report that, even though we were shattered after 2 hrs at the gym, I managed to cook a really lovely meal accompanied by  bottle of dry champagne and a bottle of sauvignon blanc. We needed a rest after that.

Sunday, 22nd September, 2019

We were expecting the recent lovely weather to have broken by this morning. It stayed warm – 17C/63F – overnight. I’m still sleeping on top of the bed as opposed to in it not under it. We really are going to have to install air conditioning. It is 22C/70 F this afternoon and dry and pleasant with a bit of weak sunshine.

My sister, the wonderful Jane BG, posted something very interesting on Facebook today. It is an extended read but well worth the effort. Shoreham Port is just down the road from where we live and I certainly didn’t know how Brexit could affect it. This piece makes clear:

Posted from Shoreham Port in West Sussex:

“Just a few observations from a recent Brexit no-deal planning meeting I attended representing Shoreham Port.

1) If there is no deal, all fish and fish products (eg fish fingers) exports will require a Catch Certificate. The DEFRA official present said these can take up to 12 hours to process at the export port. Our biggest fishing concern at Shoreham says that if that is true then that would likely end all exports of live shellfish and fresh fish. Shoreham is the fourth largest fishing port in England and the largest port for scallops in Europe, with much of the catch exported.

2) All timber products exported, including the pallets the fish and shellfish are sitting on, will require a hygiene certificate, essentially saying they have been steam-cleaned.

3) With no deal, foreign fishing boats will be excluded from UK waters and UK fishing vessels will be excluded from EU waters. 80% of the fish sold in fish and chip shops is imported and 65% of the fish landed in UK ports is exported. Essentially, the fish Brits eat generally comes from abroad and the fish we catch is mostly sold on the continent.

4) With no deal, organic food and animal feed cannot be exported to the EU under any circumstances. 95% of Sussex lamb is currently exported, apparently.

5) One government official said we are not to expect delays at ferry ports despite all the extra paperwork. All exports and imports will require the relevant Customs declaration forms and exporters and importers will have to have a variety of forms and certificates.

6) All food, feed, medicines and certain other goods with hygiene, safety and/or a variety of other ‘non-tariff’ requirements will have to go through particular ports with the ability to process them. These ports will have something called a Border Inspection Post. The French have set up a huge Border Inspection Post at Calais, apparently, capable of handling all the traffic from Dover. However, there is no room for stacking HGVs and any trucks without the correct paperwork will be returned to Dover immediately.

7) Our Harbour Master believes Shoreham is the only designated BIP port for fish between Devon to the west and Yorkshire the other way. I’m not sure what that means if EU vessels aren’t allowed in our waters anyway.

If you want to know more visit #Shoreham4eu

Did an early workout today so I could watch Man.Utd. … lose at West Ham and Liverpool beat Chelsea. I’ve missed just 6 sessions in the past 3 months. Even as the darkness falls around 7.30 pm, the temperature has stayed at 18C/65F and really relaxing. Still, looking forward to a warm November in Tenerife. Before that, we are visiting France and Yorkshire.

Monday, 23rd September, 2019

Out early on a warm (18C/65F) and sunny morning. We went to Rustington for Pauline to have her haircut. The news, the conversation was about the fall of Thomas Cook Travel. It has been coming for such a long time. Every time we walked past a Thomas Cook shop, we would ask each other who goes there any more. There would always be one or two old dears who had never used a computer in their lives but they must have been rapidly dying out. The real surprise is that the company had been so slow in adjusting to the changing market. There are about 150,000 UK travellers abroad and 50,000 just in Greece. All will need repatriating at public cost.

There are always holiday company failures. It is a precarious business. I remember Court Line and Clarkson’s Travel shocking the nation as it collapsed in the early 1970s but it is the historicity of this oldest company in the world that reverberates.

In a connected but separate observation, the UK has rowed back on its original commitments to EU citizens living and working in UK by stating that their right to UK services – Health Service, etc. – will only be for 6 months in to a No Deal Brexit world. Many European countries, including Spain and Greece, had announced continuing support for UK ex-pats in their country on the expectation that UK would reciprocate. Now, they are already reconsidering that position.

One can feel this rabid, Brexit mob desperately trying to narrow the world and pull up the drawbridge. Soon, Skiathos will be off limits for UK citizens.

Tuesday, 24th September, 2019

Warm – 17C/63F – overnight but wet and that is how the morning opened. It was dark, wet and gloomy. Across the country, heavy rain was causing flash flooding in towns and cities. Here, it was just refreshing the trees and shrubs and washing our lawns a glistening, deep green.

I test my own INR every Tuesday and report the result to the Hospital Anti-Coag. Dept. about every 7 weeks. Twice a year, they ask me to do a testing check by getting the Doctor/Hospital to test me and match it to my own result. Today was that day. Fortunately, by 8.45 am, the rain had stopped and I went down to the doctors’ surgery for my test. My own test was perfect and it agreed with the doctor’s which is reassuring.

The sun came out literally and metaphorically as we sat and watched the Supreme Court deliver the most damning judgement on this Government and its hapless Prime Minister. Joy of joys! Of course, Johnson had insisted that the prorogation had nothing to do with Brexit and the courts said the same of their judgement so did the supremely brave woman, Gina Miller, who had brought the case and Jolyon Maugham, QC who supported her. Boris Johnson had failed his test.

Meanwhile, Greece is having a difficult time with the collapse of Thomas Cook as only one of its problems. 50, 000 UK tourists alone need repatriating not to mention German ones. Will hotels get their bills paid? Will they find contracts to replace these holes for the new season? An earthquake on southern Crete, a whirlwind causing havoc on the Peloponnese, were both followed by 832 migrants/refugees arriving in 48 hours. All they need is Boris Johnson to pop over to sort things out and they will have the full house.

Wednesday, 25th September, 2019

A second, lovely, grey, wet day. It is so enjoyable. I don’t have to water the plants or the lawns. Nature is heaving a huge sigh of relief. So is the House of Commons which has Boris Johnson by the short & curlies  (Google it.) and he is wriggling desperately.

The Tory government refused to bail Thomas Cook out even though the cost to the public purse would not have been much more than the cost to us of its collapse. The Turkish and Spanish governments were poised to join the Chinese if the UK government underwrote the extra £200 million demanded by the banks. I can only suppose that the Greek government couldn’t raise the cash to join in even though the fall-out from the crash will hit them hard.

It is not the last week of the season that is the real problem. It is the new contracts that would have been negotiated over the winter months which will hit hard. The regular loss of Thomas Cook flights in and out of the Greek airports, the hotel rooms pre-booked providing the Greek economy with security of income over next tourist season that will really be felt and may well drive current contract prices for other operators.

The defeat of Brexit in the next few months may come to the rescue of the Greeks in spite of the Skiathan’s concerns.

Thursday, 26th September, 2019

Out shopping at 8.30 am on a mild – 18C/65F – but rather grey morning. Asda followed by the farm shop, Sainsburys and then Tesco where we visited our favourite counter and its usual great display.

The Fish Counter Manager is an extremely amenable chap who goes out of his way to provide us with everything we want. In return, we spend a great deal of money with him each week. He is rightly proud of his daily, counter display even though you will notice his spelling isn’t the greatest.

Back home, I studied the Kamares Harbour proposed development. I was contacted by a Greek, Blog reader who has been with me since living on Sifnos. It provides context for the closure of Captain Andreas Fish Taverna.

Renting out a property that will become devalued by the development plan which means a huge redevelopment of concrete that will destroy the old fashioned, quaint port side buildings. The small island, retro-Greek style and atmosphere of this port which has particularly developed since the 1950s

Friday, 27th September, 2019

Heavy rain at the start of the day kept us indoors. Actually, we had decided on that the night before. Pauline was doing the dreaded ironing and I was addressing the financial investments.

Interest rates are falling. They could go negative if the ND-Brexit takes place. It means that I am having to readdress our savings accounts to get the best out of them. Until the febrile atmosphere is a little more settled, I really don’t want to tie stuff up for long. Because of that, I am struggling to get much above 1.4%. It will have to do for now.

I’ve never noticed this free-to-air television channel before. Richard drew my attention to it yesterday and I managed to download a series about Greek travel. I know we’ve done a lot of it but it was nice to see old haunts. The first programme we caught was centred on the Cyclades and included Syros, Naxos, Folegandros, Milos and Sifnos – all islands we have touched or stayed or lived on. We are looking forward to the Dodecanese, the Peloponnese, Northern Greece, Athens and more.  

This morning this was posted on an ex-pat Blog:

The Head of Greek Customs has made an announcement confirming that, in the case of a No-Deal Brexit, all imports and exports from and to the UK, including 7,000 products imported daily from e-shops, will be subject to the customs checks associated with Third Country nations. Tariffs will also be imposed.

This includes parcels through ELTA and Courier services. Greek businesses will need an EORI number to make declarations. 4,200,000 UK tourists a year will be subject to baggage checks and will be unable to carry more than 10,000 euros cash with them. He says that a no-deal Brexit would cause huge problems ….

There will be some ex-pats who voted for Brexit if they got a vote. Very few thought it would make their life harder. It’s looking as if a number of turns of the screw will give them pause for thought.

Saturday, 28th September, 2019

A beautifully sunny but rather blustery start to the day. By mid-morning, we are at 18C/65F and I wouldn’t expect it to get much further but it will do for now. We are away in France for a few days next week and will spend some time wine tasting and buying. It will be my first glass of wine or any alcohol for 31 days which will mean I have achieved around 90 ‘alcohol-free’ days this year so far. We will be away for November and I will certainly abstain over January. I would be pleased if I could get it up to 4 months in 2020.

It is important to take control of one’s own life and not to blame other people even though few could deny the significance of childhood and parents. While still an adherent to the tenets of Marx’ Economic Determinism, I am not a follower of Nihilism but would consider myself an Existentialist. The difference, as the Skiathan would tell you, is a fine one but important. Both camps believe that life is essentially meaningless but the nihilist extends that to everything – politics is meaningless, ethics are meaningless, etc.

Existentialists, who I identify with, believe that it is not enough to offer an absence of structures; not enough to reject existing systems of meaning like political correctness, non-racism, cordiality, cooperation and to offer nothing but the absence of these structures in their place. Life is essentially meaningless and, therefore, we can and should construct our own meaning and value system.

Our current politics is one of nihilism. It is one of rejection of existing systems of meaning. Don’t like the EU? Vote Brexit. What is Brexit. Well, Brexit means Brexit. That, in a nutshell, is nihilism and it has resulted in Trump and Brexit. There is another way. An Existentialist step forward.

Goodness, where did all that come from? Hoping to see the Opposition parties come together in the next few days, while the Tories are pretending to play happy families at their almost-conference, to ditch this government and install a temporary one to seek an extension to Article 50. We then have time for a referendum or a referendum through a general election to get rid of this lunacy about leaving our European heritage. The heritage of Marx, Nietzsche and Sartre.

Sunday, 15th September, 2019

Glorious, glorious day of blue skies and hot sunshine all day. We reached 24C/75F and very enjoyable it was too. It is so much more enjoyable when it is less expected. In the Mediterranean, it soon becomes de rigueur to keep out of the sun. It can soon become too much and so available that no one needs to sit out in it.

Of course, UK in Autumn is not renowned for hot sunshine and it is more important to enjoy every minute of it when it occurs. Being old and distinctly not body-beautiful, a sun tan is not important apart from for the essential vitamins provided by sunshine. I live in short sleeved shirt and shorts all year round down here so I already get plenty of exposure. We also swim outside for 30 mins per day which helps. We have a lovely set of patio furniture but rarely sit out because we are so busy being active and because it is so difficult to read an iPad screen in the sunshine. Today, I chose to do all the edging of the lawns which gave me an hour in the sunshine.

I wrote the other day of my need to keep reviewing the context of my life and that the Blog helps me with this. Last night I went outside in the warmth of the night in my back garden and had a weird moment when I asked myself, What are you doing here?  Not in my back garden but in this small village in the County of West Sussex. What am I doing here? Why am I here? Where do I really belong? I have absolutely no answer to any of those questions. I belong nowhere or anywhere.

Of course, we’ve moved around a bit and lived in different places and countries. On this day, 4 years ago, our solicitor phoned us to say we had exchanged contracts with the buyer of our Duplex Apartment in the Maybury area of Woking, Surrey. We were, effectively, homeless. Actually, our purchaser was still living in Australia and wouldn’t want to take possession until early October so we had a little extra period of grace but our new home in Sussex wouldn’t be ready until April of the following year. That lead to us spending 2 months in Tenerife and 4 months staying with P&C. At least we’re settled …. for a while.

Monday, 16th September, 2019

We may be settled but the world moves constantly. Everything is in a state of flux. When we first landed on Sifnos island, a speck of rock in the Aegean, we were learning to like many foods we had not had much contact with before. It is amazing now but, 35 years ago, I had little experience of olives, olive oil, oregano, basil or bell peppers. Even my experience of fish was largely restricted to what I was served swamped in parsley sauce on Fridays. I was rapidly educated.

I was particularly educated at what was the classiest restaurant in Kamares. It was called Captain Andreas Taverna and was owned by an influential family who also owned and operated a fishing vessel that supplied the restaurant. Their son, Andreas, who was about 12 years old, served us in the restaurant. He went on to become Mayor of Sifnos and only retired from that post last month.

As time passed, Andreas‘ father died and, later, his mother, Poppi, retired from the restaurant. Andreas worked for the OTE and then as Mayor. The restaurant was taken on by another side of the family and seemed to be doing well. I know we have been gone for 5 years but it came as a shock this morning to find that the restaurant was being advertised for rent. This will mean little to most readers of the Blog but, to us, it is quite shocking and indicative of our distance from the island.

Another chunk of our past life will be no more. For us, it feels a little unsettling. That restaurant and its owners/workers played a significant part in our Greek lives. First and final meals were eaten there to mark arriving and leaving. Now, all is leaving.

Tuesday, 17th September, 2019

Glorious day with warm sunshine and peerless, blue skies from day break to day’s end. A lovely day for a visit from P&C who drove down from Surrey. After a light lunch, we went down to the beach for a walk and to enjoy the sunshine and sea air. The temperature reached 24C/75F but felt warmer when we returned to the sanctuary of our back garden.

The beach path was quiet but there were people sunbathing on the beach and swimming in the sea. The view with its crisp light and azure blues looked more Mediterranean than southern England.

Even on such a lovely day, I managed to sneak out mid morning to do my exercise at the gym. At this unusual time of the day for me, the gym was a lot busier with Mums who had dropped off their darlings at school and now had time to themselves. Even so, I got to do everything I wanted to do and drive home before P&C arrived.

Wednesday, 18th September, 2019

The morning is opening on another, glorious day. You have to feel sorry for those going to work. Our guests will be leaving later and we will do another trip to the gym. It looks like it will be another warm day.

Five summers ago, I was making daily trips to the local refuse tip in Kamares, depositing things which we didn’t think our purchasers would want. Four years ago this week, we were making daily trips to the Storage Company to deposit things which our purchaser in Surrey hadn’t bought and in readiness for vacating our apartment. It is amazing how quickly these things fade – in my mind anyway.

For me, this essentially communal living in relatively cramped rooms proved to be a step too far. Having left Sifnos, we quickly realised that this could never be a long-term, all year round home. We had to buy a detached house.

Pauline had the patience to research and organise trips and viewings. I would have bought almost the first one we saw. It took us 6 months to find and then another 6 months to have built our current home but it has proved well worth the wait.

Thursday, 19th September, 2019

The gorgeous days just keep coming. Cloudless skies, strong sun and 23C/73F temperature today. Shopping round of Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco was completed soon after 9.30 am. We actually sat out in the garden and sunbathed while listening to the legal case against the government’s proroguing of parliament. It is quite inspiring to see barristers, at the top of their game, performing so calmly and expertly. We also did our exercise routine. We have only missed 1 day out of the last 28 and just 3 out of the last 56.

Had a problem putting the car in to Drive as we were leaving the supermarket this morning. This is the second time in a week. It is not a problem with the car but it is a problem with me. We’ve almost completed our first 2000 miles now so you would expect us to have ironed out all the wrinkles but, after 20 or so new Honda cars over the past 40 years, this one is like no other. It is miles better. We absolutely love it. However, familiarity has bred complacency.

There is no gear stick – manual or automatic. There are only push/pull switches. It isn’t difficult but in moments of relaxation or quickly required action, it is easy to revert to the old way and forget sequences of actions. For example, having pressed the start button – which produces a silent engine start, one has to depress the footbrake, depress the handbrake and press the Drive button. Should be straightforward but, when I did that on Monday, nothing happened. I did it twice. I even turned the engine off (re-boot) and followed the routine again but nothing happened.

Eventually, I realised that my door, which is incredibly light for fuel economy, was slight ajar. I didn’t know that the car wouldn’t move in that condition. Today, it happened again for a different reason in which I was to blame. At least we are being kept on our toes as we learn the new technology. Let’s hope this is an aid to staying young.

Friday, 20th September, 2019

Beautiful morning in the sunshine of our garden and a temperature of 23C/73F. Tried to make it active by doing a bit of lawncare. Part of this included spray-watering because we’ve had so little rain in the past 3 months. I’m really pleased because exactly 12 months ago we returned from a 5 weeks in France to a completely dead lawn after the hottest and driest period on record. We had to completely reseed it – something we had never attempted before – and the result has been little short of miraculous. Now it is rich, green and vigorous.

The Pound Sterling has ticked up a little against the Euro. It is currently at £1.00 = €1.13 so I forward bought another £1,000.00 worth to build up our stock. Who knows what will happen but we will travel come what may and will need euros. At the same time, the historically significant, Thomas Cook Travel is teetering on the edge of collapse, putting thousands of people’s holidays, flights and jobs at risk.

We are flying to South Tenerife for November. true to our characters, we have booked a villa, bought our flights, pre-booked the airport lounge, booked a hotel at Gatwick for the night before and booked a taxi to get us there. Everything is organised within a inch of its life. When we were there last November, the most common plane flying in to Reina Sofía Airport was from Thomas Cook Airlines. Holiday destinations around the world will feel the demise of such an iconic carrier/holiday retailer. Fortunately, we won’t be one of them.

Saturday, 21st September, 2019

Sounds like the last of the beautiful, late summer days is occurring today. We are going to enjoy it. Up just after 6.00 am, out to buy & post a birthday card for our friend, Little Viv by 8.30 am. Coffee and newspapers followed by some garden work and then off to the gym.

While we were spending half our year in Greece, I traced and followed a number of UK ex-pat Blogs. Particularly, I listed Bart Simpson’s Paros Blog which is now gone, The Skiathan’s Blog which has continued even through personal crisis and a strangely inconsistent support for Brexit, The Skopelos Blog, Symi Dream which is still going and, one of my favourites for lots of reasons, Democracy Street maintained by Simon Baddeley who I have actual and experiential connections with. I have retained these links and follow them regularly. What they do display is the precariousness of ex-pat life.

Ex-pat life is precarious because one is never ‘one of them’ and always a ‘comer-in’ as they say in Yorkshire. On our Greek island, we always knew this. We didn’t denounce it or begrudge it; we just accepted and worked with it. However, in moments of crisis, that is the time our true status was laid bare. Of course, there are always exceptional people who are prepared to cross mental/emotional/nationalistic frontiers but they are the exception.

For many of these ex-pats, of course, life is precarious because they are escaping something – may be it is romantically escaping the rat race, maybe it is following a dream, maybe it is escaping opprobrium of their sexuality in a different setting. Often these reasons lead to the burning of boats irrespective of the means to subsist. Many, maybe most, don’t buy properties as we did and have the means to support themselves but rely on renting and the fragile ‘tourist-based’ labour market to make ends meet. A number try to combine that with the chance to be more creative as writers.

I have followed John Manuel’s Ramblings from Rhodes for a number of years. Like me, he enjoys words and I appreciate that. He is, perhaps only a couple of years younger than me. He was a Graphic designer in UK before ‘retiring’ to Rhodes with his Greek wife where he wrote books and did a bit of tourism-related work. He seemed proud of his Greek home and garden and it came as a total shock to read that he was just renting it and that, after 14 years residence, he was being forced to vacate it. What an unsettling shock that must have been. He & his wife are moving to Crete. Ramblings from Rhodes will have to become Cuttings from Crete.

Hot in Brighton today with the Labour Party Conference getting off to an uproarious start as Shadow Cabinet Front Benchers lead a demonstration chanting for a People’s Vote. There were plenty of sun worshippers on the beach as well.