Sanders Blog

Sunday, 9th July, 2017

Pauline checking out the hotel’s shuttle service.

Wonderful sleep in this lovely, port-side hotel. Enjoyable and relaxed breakfast followed by a good read of The Sunday Times. Out for a long walk into the old town. It is so hot and humid that walking isn’t easy. It is a mish -mash of old and very old architecture blending with the new-ish. One of the things that is immediately obvious is that the streets are full of Italian restaurants. Can you believe they would be so popular? As a working port, it has some of the grubbiness of Patras and Piraeus. It is certainly not as stylish as Ancona but, from our hotel room on the 7th Floor (with no cladding and two fire escapes!), it looks really interesting.

Lost in Translation!

You might think, in the light of recent events, that staying on the top (7th) floor would make us nervous but the view makes up for it all. The hotel clearly take the risk of fire very importantly as this notice outside the lifts illustrates. We are going to enjoy our penthouse view and sleep peacefully because tomorrow we drive to Lucca as we explore Tuscany. Our hotel there is about 15 mins walk to the train station from which we can travel to Pisa (about 20 mins) and Florence (about 70 mins) as well as Lucca itself.

Tomorrow will be the shortest we do – just 95 miles – and we will stay in Tuscany for 4 days. We hope to look around for long-term-let properties for future years. We want somewhere we can spend a couple or three summer months which has cooking, sleeping and internet facilities possibly with satellite TV which we can drive to comfortably for the next decade of retirement.

Monday, 10th July, 2017

The Tory government is on the ropes! May is begging the Opposition for help. Can you believe the brass neck? They are also prepared to put the status of UK nationals living abroad in jeopardy because they are not prepared to accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ over European citizens living in UK. This is the flailing of a failing party which is letting its leader waver in the wind.

The £ is falling again. It is currently £1.00 = €1.13 set against £1.00 = €1.43 three years ago tomorrow which marks the day we left Sifnos. Not a time to be buying European property now!

The centre of ancient Lucca.

We left Genoa at around 11.00 am in stifling heat and arrived at our hotel in Lucca in less than two hours. The temperature had reached 33C/92F but felt hotter because of the humidity. Our hotel is delightful and our room is lovely. The car is parked in the large carpark under a tree for shade. It will stay there for four days while we let the train take the strain!

We unpacked and, after a cup of tea, set out to do the 20 mins walk to the railway station. En route, we found a huge Co-op Supermarket. The train station is where we will come to go to Pisa and Firenze (Florence) over the next few days. We found that the trains are so frequent that we will just turn up and get the first one to arrive. They cost next to nothing as well.

On the walk back, we called at the supermarket to buy our meal. It always starts with cucumber and tomatoes followed by salami, roast ham and mortadella. Fresh peaches for sweet are wonderfully refreshing.

Tuesday, 11th July, 2017

It is 3 years today that we left Sifnos for the last time and drove to Patras as a prelude to driving back across Europe.

It is always a bit hit and miss choosing hotels on the internet. It is reasonably easy to make a mediocre place look wonderful with a little graphical technology. That is why I like to use the IHG chain because it is a fairly reliable guarantee of a reasonable if not luxurious standard right across the UK and Europe.  The hotel we are now in is an independent chain because there was no IHG available but it has turned out to be lovely. The carpark is huge and secure. The reception is pleasant and bi-lingual. The room is very clean, reasonable size, well appointed with good facilities – we have a safety deposit box. The wi-fi is strong and the breakfast was excellent. There is a small gym if we can cope with exercise after walking around the old town all day.

Birth place of Giacomo Puccini.

After breakfast, we went out to get things from the car. I had parked it under a tree for shade. Mistake – a bird had pooed all over the bonnet. It was trained to do that by Stavros’ sea gulls which have been range finding over his little boat. Over night, it had set hard like concrete and took me 15 minutes to remove with my cleaning solution. After coffee, we are off to the medieval, walled town centre of Lucca. It is only about a 20 mins walk away but it is very hot so we will take our time.

Did I say it was hot? As we entered the walled city, the temperature reached 39C/102F, It was high humidity and low air movement. In spite of that, we had a wonderful day. I even managed to visit Giacomo Puccini’s birth place. What joy!

After a couple of hours of sweaty walking, we stopped for a drink and a rest. A beer and a sparkling water – €8.40. Worse than Venice but enjoyable all the same. Then, we left the walled city and walked to the train station to buy tickets for tomorrow. We are going to Firenze (Florence) for a few hours. The return tickets are €34.00 for two return tickets.

We walked on further and called at the supermarket to buy salad, prawns, pressed carpaccio of octopus and tapenade. Back to our hotel for a much needed shower and some food before listening to the BBC PM programme. Big day tomorrow!

Wednesday, 12th July, 2017

Beauty before the bridge!

Up early this morning, breakfast and out to walk to the train station. Lucca to Firenze in 80 mins. The temperature is unrelenting at 36C/97F. We walk out of Firenze train station blinking into the strong sunshine. We have held visions of Florence – the Duomo, The Uffuzi, the Ponte Vecchio, etc. for many years. I’m afraid to say that, as we fought our way through the thousands of tourists, Florence didn’t really live up to its expectations.

The temperature precluded joining hours of queues outside the Duomo and the Uffizi. The Ponte Vecchio was tawdry and crowded. We opted for a beer in the shadow of the bridge. It was much more rewarding. We met a lovely couple from Wrexham and then went on to talk to a couple from Australia.

We walked back to the Firenze Statione through the beating sun and thronging crowds. The train leaves at 14.10 and is on time and busy. We got comfortable seats for the 80 mins journey and settled back to watch the tableau that is the Tuscan countryside.

Thursday, 13th July, 2017

The punishing schedule continues – more Breakfast. We can only just manage. Today we are going to Pisa which is only 30 mins away by train. Unfortunately, it is incredibly hot and humid. The temperature is 37C/99F but the humidity is so high that we are soaking wet before we even finish the 20 mins walk to the station. After a few days in the Tuscan cities, one becomes a little blasé about the architecture and Pisa continues the same theme although it is a little more gentle and civilised than Firenze and not so insular as Lucca.

Of course, we had to visit the Leaning Tower even though we constantly try to resist being tourists. There were hordes of Japanese (and one or two others) attempting the hands-supporting-the tower’s-incline cliched pose while hordes of partners photographed them. We took our photo, bought two bottles of iced water and slaked our thirst. Then, we left the hordes and walked into the Archbishops’ House grounds which were a haven of cobbled quiet.

From this cool, shady tranquility we walked back towards the train station. Three hours out in that heat was enough. We seem less tolerant of the extreme heat as we get older, I used to revel in heatwaves in Greece but it is too much for me now and we both seek out the shade and the air conditioned. I don’t drink enough water as it is and particularly in heat. I must try harder.

Tomorrow we drive to Bologna. We have driven past it 30 times in the past 20 years and always said that we must stop and visit. Tomorrow we will.  We are looking forward to it. Bologna is the food capital of Italy. It must be our spiritual home!

Friday, 14th July, 2017

We are sorry to leave Lucca and our lovely hotel even though thunder was rolling around the sky in 36C/97F at 11.00 am. We might return to explore the countryside rather than the towns. We took the A1 to Bologna. It’s only 100 miles and takes around 2 hrs. It is 130kph/81mph most of the way so I set my cruise control to 82mph in order to say I am not being controlled by the law.

We are staying in the Holiday Inn Express Fiera Bologna. We have stayed in sister hotels in Parma and Moderna. They are fantastic value for money. A night in a double room with breakfast, tea/coffee making facilities, a safety deposit box, a settee and TV, a small gym and a restaurant plus wonderful parking can be had for about €60.00. It is really good. Because I am an IHG Gold Card holder, our 2 night stay is free through points accrued. We also get a penthouse room overlooking the outskirts of Bologna. Tomorrow, we will leave the car in the carpark and take the bus to the centre of Bologna. We have driven past it 30 times in the past 20 years but now we have the chance to explore the food capital of Italy.

Saturday, 15th July, 2017

The Giuseppe Verdi Shopping Arcade

A lovely sleep followed by a lovely breakfast and out into a lovely morning. Everything is LOVELY. We set out from our hotel at about 10.00 am in 25C/77F and walked across the road to catch the bus into the centre of Bologna. We got off at the Train Station and, armed with a hotel map, we walked towards what we thought was the modern centre. WRONG! The map was so small we couldn’t read it and ended up in the centre of the old town which was full of spray paint graffiti on lovely old stone buildings.

After 15 days of continual sight-seeing, our legs are beginning to feel the pace. We found our way out of the old town and, after viewing the Giuseppe Verdi Opera House and offices of the Università di Bologna, we stopped for a beer (and a glass of water) to watch the world go by. This really is the best way to understand a city and its people. Forget the dignitaries and their buildings. Watch the people.
We have met some wonderful ones. Yesterday, it was a lovely girl (aged 21) from Bologna who had trained in hotel management in Portsmouth at great cost to her family in the hope of forging a career in the hospitality industry back home. Also, a wonderful young woman from Mongolia who had given up everything to go to a college in Manchester, live in Rusholme and learn four languages. A young, African-origin man, got on the bus and desperately struggled with his few English words to make sure we got off at the right stop for our hotel. These are life affirming but humbling events that go to the heart.

Tired and moist, with a temperature of 32C/90F, we return to our hotel on the bus. It has cost us €3.00/£2.60 each way (4 km) for two of us and been an absolute delight. Aren’t buses good fun? We haven’t been on one for years. Back at the hotel, a shower and change of clothes is an urgent task then we can settle down to reading the papers on our iPads. Dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight and then a drive of about 200 miles and 3.5 hrs through Moderna, Parma, Piacenza, round the Milan ring road, round Lakes Como and Lugano and in to Switzerland to Bellinzona. This is a journey we have driven 30 times and know very well.

Sunday, 2nd July, 2017

A late morning. Didn’t get up until 8.00 am although that was Central European Time and equivalent to our normal 7.00 am. We drank orange juice followed by tea followed by coffee and downloaded the Sunday Times on each iPad then settled in to watch Andrew Marr. I hope you saw that duplicitous, oleaginous, obnoxious BASTARD Gove. He is the exemplar of the worst in politics.

At 11.00 am (CET), we checked out of our hotel and drove down to Cite Europe to fill our car’s fridge with nice things to eat for our meal later on. It is the easiest way to control our food intake rather than accept a restaurant menu. We bought prawns, humous with olives, taramasalata, tomatoes and cucumber.

We drove on down an empty and beautiful A26 motorway to  Reims. The Best Western Hotel de la Paix is a pleasant stop that we have made a number of times. It has a gym, an indoor pool and reasonable if functional rooms. It is in the centre of the city but has a basement carpark which is secure and is one of our requirements when searching city hotels. I follow the speed limits in Europe, setting cruise control almost all the time. Although we had a couple of stops for coffee, we still arrived by 2.30 pm which was ‘Check-in’ time. Our room is pleasant and, after unpacking, we walk round the city centre – past the cathedral, the opera house and a multitude of restaurants – until we have the drive out of our legs.

Now we can read the papers, watch the BBC News and have some food. Tomorrow, we set off for Dijon where we will spend a couple of days.

Monday, 3rd July, 2017

Woke at 7.00 am (CET) to listen to BBC Today programme on Radio 4 at 6.00 am (BST). Orange juice, tea and coffee with a banana and we went out for a walk in Reims to start our day. By 11.00 am, we were packed up and checking out. We put our bags in the car and gingerly manoeuvred out of the underground carpark and on to the pedestrianised street/road. The day was fine, sunny and warm –  22C/70F – as we entered the A26 motorway heading for Dijon.

If you’ve ever done this sort of drive, you will know that the motorway is in fabulous condition and there are very few motorists on it. The fields stretch for miles/kilometres in an uninterrupted patchwork quilt of greens, yellows and browns. Actually, there were quite a few whites as the garlic was flowering but the biggest delight is the wide expanse of sunflowers. What you don’t see a great deal of is cattle or sheep. We were looking, in vain, for fields of mustard.

A couple of drinks/toilet stops as the temperature climbed to 25C/77F and we were soon on the outskirts of Dijon. Our hotel is a Holiday Inn at Toison d’or which is outside the centre but with a handy tram stop nearby. It is huge and delightful. What we have learnt since arriving here is that Dijon Mustard is not an official designation and little of it originates in Dijon. Most of it, including this popular Maille brand, comes from Canada.

We are here for two nights so we will take the tram to the centre of Dijon tomorrow morning and spend the day there. We are told there is plenty to see and the day will be hot and sunny. If we manage to catch the right tram back and get off at the correct stop, I will report back on our experience. If we don’t, send out a search party! We’ve got to be in Lyon on Wednesday.

Tuesday 4th July, 2017

Woke up to a gorgeous morning which led to a really enjoyable day. The sky was blue. The sun was strong and, at 7.00 am (CET), the temperature was 22C/70F.  After a leisurely start with BBC Radio 4 and The Times, we ventured out into the inferno that was rapidly rising to 29C/85F and on to a tram bound for Dijon Centre. The ticket was just under €3.00 for two of us. The journey took about 10 minutes and immediately showed what a delightful city Dijon is. Old buildings have been proudly and carefully preserved by converting their uses to modern requirements. Living space blends seamlessly with commercial space and transport is cheap, available and green.

What Dijon does do is sell mustard strongly even if it isn’t really made here any more. All the tourists obviously expect it so they go all out. Shops are everywhere selling small jars (for tourist presents) of scores of differently flavoured examples of ‘Dijon Mustard’. We sat and drank frapuccinos across the street from this shop which is claimed to be the original site of the first Dijon Mustard shop. Your guess is as good as mine whether it is all commercial hype or not. Frankly, I’m happy to believe it and buy my Dijon Mustard in Sainsbury’s!

We walked round the huge, Food Hall / Market and agreed we could buy one of everything – and that was just the 15th fish counter never mind the vegetables, meat, preserves, jams, olives, etc.. We also agreed that we wouldn’t want to carry a lot of stuff around and back on the tram so, when we eventually returned by tram to our hotel, we went in to the wonderful Carrefour next door and bought a host of salad delights and fruit for our meal. This really is a terrible way to have to live one’s life. After our meal, we finished off the afternoon with a walk through the massive park across the road from the hotel. It was replete with a lake and trees full of mellifluous birds enjoying the sunshine just like us.

Wednesday 5th July, 2017

A functional hotel for a one night pit stop.

Up at 7.00 am with the temperature at 22C/70F. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the hotel and our car! A liquid breakfast and then a trip to Carrefour next door to buy our food for the day before setting off on the A31 and, eventually, the A6 – the wonderful l’autoroute du soleil to Lyon. We are driving through wine country. So many of the wine labels of one’s past flash by on the road signs – Chambertin, Musigny, Nuits-St-Georges, Beaune, Mersault, Montrachet, Macon. As we drove, the temperature rose to 27C/81F by 11.00 am and 30C/86F by 1.00 pm.

We arrived by 2.00 pm and the temperature had hit 33C/92F by the time we got out of the car and unloaded our bags. After a drink, we went out for a walk in the vicinity but, with only one night here, this was never intended as an in-depth explore – more a taster. Any way, it soon proved too hot to do much pavement walking. We returned to the hotel to watch Wimbledon. We saw Konta win, Murray win and are currently watching Nadal winning while we read our newspapers.

Tomorrow we drive to Italy and spend a couple of days exploring Turin. Looking forward to that. Hope the sun controls itself a little.

Thursday, 6th July, 2017

It is hot! We have set off for Torino (Turin) at 9.30 am CET on the A43 through Chambery and past Grenoble, through Susa Piedmont and Rivoli. The motorway is quiet and beautiful but Turin town is busy, chaotic and stressful. Eventually, in 32C/90F of heat we find our hotel. We have to drive through an archway that makes me breathe in. When I’m through, I breathe out with successful pride and see a huge tram sail straight through without hesitation.

Our hotel is on Via Assietta 3, Torino. It is in the heart of the city and very near the train station. Tomorrow, we will do some exploring. Tonight, we are going to eat in the hotel restaurant and then relax and build up our strength for tomorrow.

Our car is in the hotel’s underground carpark and will stay there until we leave for Genoa. This is not a city in which to relax and drive. You have to do one or the other. On our 7th day of travel, we will choose relaxation and exploration on foot.

Friday, 7th July, 2017

Up at 7.00 am in a freezing cold, air conditioned room. Opened the shutters on to Via Assietta – the street our hotel fronts on to – and the heat hit me. It is a surprisingly quiet street for a city centre hotel. After a perfunctory breakfast, we set out to explore. Before we have been out 30 mins, my feet are aching and my shirt is soaking. We pressed on.

The city is just quite beautiful at every turn. Every other outlet is a food provider and every food provider is for panini, pizza, sandwiches, pasta, risotto, etc.. It looks impossible to eat non-carbohydrate food in this city/country. I think I’m going to be drinking a lot!

As well as my Blog, I’m keeping a rolling Faceache page going, Tweeting and writing a series of postcards to my old friend, Caroline, who doesn’t have a computer. It isn’t so easy to find postcards now and particularly not post boxes.

….It’s evening – 9.00 pm – and we have just eaten the most delightful meal of tomato salad, olive tapenade, roast ham with herb crust slices and smoked tuna slices. We drank a bottle of ice cold Savoie Blanc which has gone down well in a temperature that still reads 29C/84F. We are satisfied, tired and very happy after a lovely day well spent. What more can one ask of retirement or life in general? Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring as we drive to Genoa Port.

Saturday, 8th July, 2017

Very hot and humid this morning. We turned the air conditioning off last night because of the noise and the room was uncomfortable when we woke at 6.00 am CET. After breakfast, we went outside for a walk to stretch our legs and buy something for our meal this afternoon. Cheese, ham, tomatoes and cucumber with a bottle of wine will do nicely. Packed the car up, settled the bill and left around 11.30 am.

It is Saturday and the roads of Torino were quieter although still manic. Having negotiated the city centre, we were soon on the E70 motorway (speed limit 81 mph ignored by Italians) driving for two hours to the port of Genoa. At this point, when we most relied on our sat.nav., we were led a merry dance right through the centre of one of the busiest ports in Europe just as all the ferries were docking/leaving. Our blood pressure rose but we took a deep breath and worked our way through a mish-mash of small roads until we found our way out and to our hotel – Holiday Inn City Centre Genoa. It is lovely – very modern, very swish and very comfortable.

We drove into the underground parking which is an important facility for foreigners in Italy. It is some of the best garaging we have used and will make life comfortable for the next two days. Into the hotel and we are on the top – the 7th floor – which is great for our view over the port. My IHG Gold Card membership gives us free, hi-speed wi-fi. That is important to me. We go up to our Executive Room and check out the facilities – wi-fi works, TV works, wall-safe works, air con works. The view across the harbour is lovely. Just across in the ferry check-in, there is a huge food market. We buy pesto-verde to eat with our salad and slices of porchetta. Our meal is put together by Pauline and I open the wine which has been chilling in our in-room fridge. A bottle of Montefalco Sagrantino 2011 – absolutely delicious.

BBC News Channel is featuring wall to wall G20 plus the Test Match and the wonderful efforts of the British Lions.  We also have some English language film channels but, unfortunately, no Wimbledon. We settle down to our newspapers and watching the world go by. Tomorrow, we will step out to explore Genoa. We will miss Andrew Marr but we will enjoy a hot and sweaty walk through magnificent buildings of Genoa port.

Sunday, 25th June, 2017

After  eight and a half years, we have reached all the 4s. Can you imagine 444 weeks or 3108 days of stream of consciousness dribble. At least the Poison dwarf loves it! And here’s some more.

The day started off grey but soon gave way to blue sky and sunshine although we didn’t get above 20C/68F. After a morning of political programmes and pottering among the pot plants (all the Ps), we did a lovely workout at the gym which was delightfully quiet. These ‘workers’ just don’t have the stamina nowadays!

The Greeks, of course, know instinctively how to do it. The country is being ravaged by a heat wave – 35C+/95F+ – so the refuse collectors have gone on strike. The refuse bins smell in the summer heat at the best of times. You can just imagine how the streets of Athens stink as the heatwave mixes with days old rubbish.

Monday, 26th June, 2017

Gorgeous day here that reached 25C/77F in lovely sunshine. We left for Worthing at 8.30 am. Pauline had a hair appointment at Toni&Guy and I had an appointment at Starbucks coffee shop. Job done, we drove home to learn that the Tories had bribed the DUP with our money to keep themselves in power. I almost feel like joining insurrection on the street myself. In the afternoon, I cut the lawns, trimmed the hedges at the front of the house and tidied everything up.

Pauline cooked the most wonderful meal of Sea Bass on the bone with salad and asparagus followed by fresh strawberries. We reviewed our process for Holiday setting our central heating and made sure we had everything necessary for our car. We have made all arrangements and are ready for the off. Looking forward to it!

Tuesday, 27th June, 2017

Life in our quiet, coastal village proceeds serenely against the backdrop of a National cacophony of chaos. It feels humiliating in the extreme that our government is presiding over such internal and external instability.

At home, the Tory Government has Local Authority infrastructure imploding around itself. Doctors leaders are warning of impending doom in the Health Service in addition to the existing shambles of Social Care. Schools are screaming about inadequate funding and inability to appoint and maintain staff. What links the two is a pay freeze which, in reality, is a pay cut. Set against this is a huge, ‘magic money tree’ bribe of Irish extremists to keep the Tories in power.

On going austerity has been thrown in to sharp relief by the tower block tragedy which has escalated into the narrative of a nationwide cost cutting neglect of standards. There are not enough building inspectors, firemen or fire engines, not enough Local Authority funds or workers. The Tory Government can’t be blamed for it all but they have been caught in charge of the spinning plates and will be blamed just as they can be blamed for the humiliation that is Brexit. Who knows where that will end!

Wednesday, 28th June, 2017

Wet, wet wet! Warm, warm, warm! Who could predict how lovely rain would look. We had almost forgotten it. It started in mid afternoon yesterday, has continued intermittently over night and that pattern is set to be replicated today. The only downside is that the sky is rather depressingly overcast.

I’ve been meaning to feature something that appealed to me in the press a few days ago and which was picked up by tv-tabloid morning programmes today. It is the story of an Indian gentleman called Singh who lives in Newcastle and speaks with a fairly broad, Tyneside accent. He has a ‘convenience’ shop which he chose to badge Singhsbury’s.

Sainsbury’s threatened him with legal action if he didn’t remove it. You can see how closely it looks like one of their superstores and how they might feel threatened. Undeterred, Mr Singh, complied and changed his little shop’s name to Morrisinghs. His reward has been national coverage although he says he can’t cope with any more exposure because he’s working 90 hours per week as it is. At least Morrisons has a sense of humour and are nor pursuing him for threatening their empire.

Thursday, 29th June, 2017

For a year or so now, my INR has been stable. My testing periods are between 6-8 weeks apart, the testing strips are provided for me and I do all the testing myself. This means I can keep on top of my Warfarin dosage and, if I go abroad, there isn’t a problem. My parameters are INR 2.0 – 3.0 and today I tested at 2.7. Almost perfect. I just email my result to the  Anticoagulant Clinic of my local hospital and they provide dosage and future testing advice by return. It is a wonderful service that gives me great confidence. On my part, I always take the medication prescribed. I never fail and I never forget to test and report on the set dates.

The hospital told me I am the ideal patient. Apparently, lots of people don’t medicate or test as required. Distance medical care is going to become increasingly common with ‘Skype‘-type consultations, on-line ordering of medication and appointment making. Patients are going to have to look after themselves more, taking responsibility for their own health much more than has been expected in the past.

We have spent the day making sure that the house and garden are ready to be left to their own devices and to take care of their own health for a few weeks. The lawns have been cut as short as I dare. The patio plants have been clustered and an automatic watering system installed and tested successfully. In doors, automatic lighting has been installed and the heating system set to ‘Holiday’. Typically, the plants around the house are just beginning to come into their bloom. I’ve given them a talking to and told them to slow down.

Friday, 30th June, 2017

The last day. We will never see June 2017 again. Make the most of it. What better way to mark it than with a trip to the Waste Recycling Site on a sunny morning? We will miss our waste collection next week and – true to dynamic precision planning – this job of self expurgation was No. 29 on our Going Away Jobs List. Filled up with petrol (No. 30) on the way back at a price of £1.11/€1.27 per litre and then did a tyres/oil/washer bottle check before packing and garaging the car. That’s how it goes – one day Littlehampton Waste Disposal Depository and next day Tuscany!

Saturday, 1st July, 2017

Happy new month. We are up at 6.00 am this morning to put the house to bed before leaving for Tunnel crossing to Europe. Must see Europe again before they abolish it! A night in Calais/Coquelles and then on to Reims, Dijon, Lyon, Turin, etc..

The dishwasher has been run through and emptied – by me. The heating/hot water has been set in ‘holiday’ mode. The car is packed with a month’s clothes, etc.. The automatic lights have been set and tested. The final act is to spray each room with fly spray before closing the doors. Lastly, the alarm can be set without fear of live insects flying/crawling across the infra-red sensors and triggering a deafening siren. Make sure the doors are locked and BREATHE!

Lovely drive from Sussex, touching Surrey and into Kent and the Eurotunnel. Warm sunshine but fairly busy roads. We entered an extremely busy tunnel check-in at around 11.00 am. We were on board and moving shortly after mid day and in Coquelles before 2.00 pm (CET). We checked in to the Holiday Inn – a hotel we’ve been using since it was badged Millenium Copthorne many years ago. It is sultry warm as we visit the hypermarkets. Tomorrow, we will drive 2.5 hours to Reims.

Sunday, 18th June, 2017

Phew what a scorcher! As readers of the Blog will know, I am something of a weather watcher and recorder. My iPad app and my smartphone app tell me throughout the day the weather in numerous different towns and cities of my choice across the globe. I list all the places I have lived and worked from those in Yorkshire and Lancashire to those in Greece to Surrey to where I live now in West Sussex. Today has been consistently hotter than Greece and Italy throughout the day. We got up to 21C/70F at 7.00 am and, by 2.00 pm, nearly melted as we got out of our air-conditioned car at the Health Club in to 30C/86F. As I write at 11.00 am, it is still 23C/74F and distinctly clammy.

Our pots of herbs are loving the climate they are encountering. Particularly, the basil – both Italian and Greek and the French Tarragon are flourishing really vigorously. What they do need is regularly watering and cutting to encourage new growth. We are in danger of having more than we can cope with. The new figs are really doing well and I will feature them after we come back from our European Tour – assuming they survive.

Monday, 19th June, 2017

A hot day without cloud cover or mitigating breeze. We reached 30 C/86F but spent most of the day at a sweaty 27/81F. Out in the sunshine, the tarmac was liquidising. It reminded us of Sifnos where crude road surfaces rutted and melted on a regular basis. I valeted the car and then used my new, cordless hedge trimmer to …you can guess what. It is lovely, balanced, light and easy to use. we set off for the Health Club but decided en route that we had done enough today and turned round and came home.

Even though we didn’t make it to the gym, I did my 10,000 paces and feel satisfyingly tired. We relaxed this afternoon in the garden with garlic stuffed olives and a bottle of Pino Grigiot. I’ve quite grown to like this Italian/New Zealand mix which is lovely chilled with salad. This evening, I will complete the guidance notes for our European trip next week so that we can get the most out of it. Particularly, I’ve been researching Tuscan properties for longer term rental. It would be nice to have a villa or apartment in Tuscany to rent June – September where we can live our life in a more sophisticated environment than we could in Greece. Greek simplicity is fine for a while  but not for too long. Certainly, you don’t want to be taken ill there!

Tuesday, 20th June, 2017

Greek God – 1980

Weather, weather, weather, weather! We’re British. We’re obsessed with weather and we are in the middle of one of the longest, hottest June spells on record. Our local forecast says tomorrow may well be the hottest June day since the record breaking summer of 1976. Where were you then? I was stuck in a dingy flat in Oldham, Lancashire at the age of 25 and after 4 years of teaching. I couldn’t afford to go on holiday and I was determined to lose weight. I went running, starved myself and pedalled on an exercise bike all day as I read books about the history of the Labour Party. I lost 6 stones in the six weeks school holiday and went back a ‘new man’. Over the next two years, I put it all back on and then lost it all again and…. Yo Yo weight loss/gain started there and lived with me for 40 years.

The last few days have been Greek weather without the frustrations. Today started at 7.00 am and it was 20C/68F. I mowed the lawns and then needed a shower. By 1.00 pm, it was 27C/81F as we set off for the Health Club which turned out to be an oasis of air conditioned cool. We did a hard work out and found the temperature gauge had reached 31C/88F as we left at 3.30 pm. We are already discussing whether we should fit ceiling fans in the bedrooms and possibly even air-conditioning units. Where is Frangiskus when you need him?

Wednesday, 21st June, 2017

It is 10.00 am and a sweaty 27C/81F. It has been a very warm night and, of course, the morning has ushered in the Summer Solstice or Longest Day. Apparently, 34C/93F is forecast for today which could be an all time record for June.

Of course, it is going to be a very long day for the Tory Party which is having its programme for the next two years read out by the queen in Parliament even while it is still trying to buy the support of the Irish DUP. We can only hope that they will be put out of their misery very quickly and a new election called.

It was so hot today that we gave the Gym work a miss and just enjoyed the garden. I put the sprinklers on to water the lawns for about three hours and we enjoyed the sun for a while. We had watched the Queen’s Speech and had confirmed that the impotence of the government had completely neutered it. There is still no agreement with the DUP and, this afternoon, there is a hint that the Scots. Nats. will have a veto over the Great Reform Bill. It’s all going very well!

Thursday, 22nd June, 2017

It’s all down hill from here. The days are getting shorter as we breathe. Today has opened oppressively hot and I was just remarking on the possibility of thunder when thunder began to roll around the sky. It was accompanied by a few, large spots of rain for a couple of minutes. Later in the day, as the temperature rose to a heavy 26C/79F, the sun beat down from blue skies.

We did our weekly shop and then sat down to make some plans for our European trip. We are inveterate makers of Plans and Lists and you can’t beat a good spreadsheet. Today I was looking at jobs that have to be done before we leave and things to see while we are travelling. The jobs list is simple one of necessary arrangements like set internal lighting timers; set plant irrigation timer system; check car tyres, etc.. At the same time, I was continuing to explore places we will visit. We intend to travel from our Tuscan hotel base by train to Florence, Pisa and Lucca.

Today, I was researching Pisa and hope to visit the Palazzo Blu modern art gallery on Lungarno Gambacorti pictured above. In Lucca, it would be lovely to go to Puccini e la sua Lucca opera house and, in Florence to visit the Uffizi Gallery. It would also be nice to just sit in a sunny, Italian piazza and sip a coffee or glass of wine and watch the world go by. We will see which alternative wins out.

Friday, 23rd June, 2017

A slightly fresher start to the day with pleasant sunshine. We spent some time working through the settings of our satellite navigation system. It is a built-in one that comes with our Honda car. We have had that since shortly after we bought our first CRV in 1999. Until a year ago, the Honda badged sat. nav./infotainment unit was sourced in the USA but not from a commercial, across-the-counter name. It was fantastic although it was starting to show its age. Our new car has a built in Garmin-based unit which is very unfriendly and counter-intuitive. It has taken us twelve months to really get to grips with it. This European Tour should be a good test. Unlike earlier sat. nav./infotainment units, this one incorporates internet access but I would much prefer a good sat. nav. and less features.

We have managed to program in all our hotels from France to Italy to Switzerland to France. At least this year will allow us to use our Mobile Contracts in Europe freely including data roaming which helps. If you’ve ever driven across Europe, you will know that BBC radio is a problem. FM radio doesn’t really survive the Channel and DAB is even worse. LW is the only possibility and I have know it last until I was in sight of the swiss alps although it is barely distinguishable from the reception background ‘noise’. When I was listening to the Test Match, I would put up with any interference.

Today our car is one year old. For about 30 years, we would be waving it goodbye this week and picking up our new one but we have only done 6900 miles this year which is around half what we would normally have driven when we were working. It will probably do 3 year’s service before we trade it in.

Saturday, 24th June, 2017

Sun in a Glass

The sun has gone. The breeze has lowered the temperature markedly. The sky is overcast. My breakfast recalled the sunshine in the most wonderful, fresh orange juice. The juice of two oranges releases a skyful of sunshine.

The next month will involve a lot of driving and quite a few hotels. It won’t be easy to wash and dry clothes so the car will be packed with enough to get us through. They are laid out on a bed in a guest room having been painstakingly ironed by Pauline. Now she is harvesting herbs from pots on the patio. Italian and Greek Basil have both grown really well. They have been savaged and turned into Pesto. Later, it will be portioned up and stored in the chest freezer in the garage. Dill, Oregano, Tarragon and Thyme will all be chopped and frozen for winter use. I will feed the herb stumps which will, hopefully, regenerate for another crop.

We bought patio furniture in a hurry a year ago when we had no table and chairs in our kitchen. Now it is outside, it is not ideal and I’ve been looking around for replacements. I’ve known of a company called Rattan Direct for some time and would like to see the quality of their products in reality. I checked the showroom. There is one ….. in Bolton. I feel a visit to see my sister coming on. Now, however, it’s time for the gym!

Sunday, 11th June, 2017

Ferdinand Tönnies

As Ruth will clearly remember, in 1887 Ferdinand Tönnies published Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft or ‘Community & Association’ which first described the contra-distinction between the pre-modern sense of community or family and neighbourhood and the modern concept of atomization in individualism. Gemeinschaft is characterised as the old notion of social relationship in community and is set against what we now consider the norm of organised individualism or society. This latter concept derives its origins from Hobbes concept of the social contract described in Leviathan and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations which expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity.

It is this movement from the old to the new which has always meant so much to me. Born into a large family in a small village, I longed to escape into the anonymity of elsewhere. The fact that it turned out to be Yorkshire, in general, and Huddersfield, in particular, we will gloss over. However, having moved a number of times and lived in different parts of UK and Europe, I very definitely feel myself a ‘Citizen of Nowhere’ or Citizen of the World’ in the modern parlance rather than rooted in community – Bolton, for example. It is liberating and isolating in equal measure.

Wednesday, 14th June, 2017

As France humiliated England by beating them with 10 men, so Theresa May managed to humiliate herself in front of Macron by losing control of her notes in the breeze. This morning, the European Parliament humiliated UK by crowing about our floundering politicians and offering us a chance to turn back from Brexit but on less favourable terms.

It is with those concepts in mind that I look forward to European travel this year – driving through France, Switzerland and Italy; travelling to Greece; holidaying in the Canary Islands.

Monday, 12th June, 2017

We eat more fish than ever. Red meat is virtually never entertained. In fact, discussing it this morning, we could not remember when we last ate Beef, Lamb or Pork. It can certainly be counted in months. We have almost fallen into this diet without consciously choosing it. I know, medical advice warns of the dangers of eating too much red meat and that may have, subconsciously, influenced us but we didn’t sit down one day and make a formal decision to change. We eat lots of salmon – hot and cold, cod, sea bass, bream, sole, prawns, squid and whitebait. Really, the only meat we eat is chicken, duck and pheasant.

The carbohydrate grouping of bread, potatoes, pasta and rice and derivatives have been off my list for about four years now after I discovered that they built up my blood sugar temporarily and then it crashed soon afterwards leading to my eating again to satisfy it. The other element of denial is green vegetable which contains large amounts of vitamin K. This militates against the blood thinning chemical, Warfarin, that I take for Atrial Fibrillation. I don’t eat no green vegetable but I do it rarely and it is all the more exciting when I do. Today, for example, I positively drooled over a small portion of green, French Beans.

Of course, additionally, we have done formal exercise for a number of years and more intensively in the past couple or so. A blogger I read religiously boasted of ignoring such exercise and diet and taunted us that he was doing so while eating pizza. That is so unkind it can barely be lived with. Occasionally, if I dream of breaking out from the straightjacket that I have fashioned for myself, I dream of PIZZA or Rissotto. I don’t follow that dream just as I have never smoked a cigarette since 9.30 pm on the 15th October, 1984 when I sat in a Masters tutorial and decided to give up my 40 a day habit. I fear that one slip could lead to total collapse.

Roast salmon topped with (homemade) pesto crust with tomato & (peeled) cucumber salad was the order of today followed by a small amount of apple and yoghurt. It has an extremely ‘clean’ taste and a distinct lack of heaviness that carbohydrate engenders. I find that it doesn’t make me feel sluggish or bloated and doesn’t lead to sugar rushes and crashes which encourage repeated needs to eat.

Tuesday, 13th June, 2017

Glorious day of blue sky and sunshine and 22C/70F. We have spent most of it outside. We have done a really enjoyable gym session but the garden has called today. We cooked Whitebait out there this afternoon which we ate with salad and a New Zealand Pinot Grigio. No Pizza! Life is sweet!

You can’t beat a good spreadsheet and I don’t try to. I have spreadsheets to tabulate and record so many things. With only a couple of weeks to go, my most pressing spreadsheet records places in Europe, hotels in places in Europe, distances to drive between hotels, nights booked in hotels and places of interest to visit while there.

Today, I have been researching trips out from our hotel in Tuscany. Trying to park in major tourist towns in Italy is not advisable so we will travel from Lucca to Florence and Pisa by train. The Italian train company is incredibly cheap and quick with a 90 mins trip costing just €12.00/£10.50 and leaving every 20 mins.. A trip to Pisa takes just 30 mins and costs €6.00/£5.25. The last train journey we made was an absolute nightmare. If these are cocked up, it will be more genitalia than Trenitalia! We are already researching long term lets in Tuscany for next year. This summer, we will check them out and make a decision.

Wednesday, 14th June, 2017

It’s one of those days. The sky is clear. The sun is strong and the temperature is 27C/80F. We decided to take a break from the gym and to drive down to the trawler shop on Littlehampton Pier. It was delightful to walk on and not too busy because the schools are back. We had a good walk in the Marina and drew the sea air into our nostrils before calling at the fish shack to buy two, big, fresh, Sea bass for our meal.

Some mothers were on the beach and supervising their pre-school children as they swam in the sea. Cockle & Whelk stalls were open in anticipation of the season and older people sat around the coffee shops on the edge of the beach. Rather like Sifnos, it is a place waiting to happen. I met this gorgeous girl on my walk along the promenade.

Thursday, 15th June, 2017

Another lovely day to mark mid-June. Already, the Summer is galloping along. The temperature in our back garden this morning was 25C/76F in the shade. There was just a hint of a breeze off the sea. We did a full supermarket shop and then a big Health Club session. I am, currently, absolutely knackered but happy. We have eaten Roast Cod Loin with King Prawns and fresh Dill (from our pots) with Asparagus and Broadbean Salad. Michael would have loved it!

Back in the real world, if you wanted a visual explanation of the General Election result, it is provided by the party leaders’ response to the tower block fire in London last night. Theresa May went down to speak to the firefighters and left without speaking to bewildered residents. Jeremy Corbyn went in to the groups of survivors, cuddling, consoling and offering help. May has learnt nothing from her Election debacle when she spoke in a sterile environment to carefully selected party workers while Corbyn was wowing the crowds on his tour of the country and interacting with everyman.

Rising interest rates are being signalled by 3 members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee as UK is hit by a perfect storm of a falling economy and a rising inflation. The former militates against raising interest rates while the latter demands it. What a position from which to approach Brexit!

Friday, 16th June, 2017

High Summer meets mid-June as the temperatures rise towards the 30sC. We decided to do a couple of gym sessions over the weekend and allow ourselves time at home today. Lawns cut, car washed. House vacuumed and hard floors steam cleaned. We feel seriously in control of our environment. Our meal of griddled chicken and salad was cooked outside in the garden under strong sunshine.

The backdrop or mood music of the day has been created by the increasingly febrile reaction of sufferers and activists, reacting to or hyping up the tower block fire in Kensington. The pressure point has focussed on mortality numbers which have been under-reported / played down and have moved, under pressure, from 6 to 17 to 30 and now 70. Celebrities, using their ‘status’, have appeared on the media openly challenging these numbers and reporting first hand accounts of 100 – 200 deaths. The media has been quick to shut them down. One celebrity had been booked to appear on Newsnight but was quickly replaced because she had challenged the official line earlier in the day. The political Blogs are alive with rumours of ‘D’ Notices being imposed upon the media by the government to limit the furore. If it is true, they will fail.

Saturday, 17th June, 2017

A delicious, Summer’s day which saw a temperature of 27C/81F here. We spent the morning in the garden and I put the sprinkler system on for a couple of hours. By 2.00 pm, we were working hard in the gym which was quiet as workers made the most of the sun. This evening is rather uncomfortably warm and we know that temperatures tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday are forecast to touch 30C/86F so we need to pace ourselves.

At 2.oo pm yesterday, I ordered a cordless hedge cutter on-line from GTECH. At 10.00 am this morning, it was delivered to my door. It came ready charged but I will try it out next week so as not to annoy the neighbours with the noise. Looks an excellent machine though. We now have their vacuum cleaner plus hand held, their lawn mower and their hedge trimmer. They are so convenient without an electrical cord that I would recommend them to anyone. I had a slight problem with one element of the vacuum cleaner which has a 2 year warranty. I phoned for advice and received a replacement the next day.

As a ‘new man’ who revels in house work – well, using gadgets, actually, – I celebrate this day every year for a special reason. It is on this day in 1980 that someone went out of control in his car on the bend as we approached our school and cut our first new car – a 2 month old, pageant blue mini – in to pieces. Pauline was badly cut and bruised. I was thought to be dead but revived and I spent two weeks in  hospital unconscious with brain bruising. It took the best part of a year to recover from that set back and I would never have done it without the patience and dedicated love of my wonderful wife.

Looking out as the sun beats down from a clear, blue sky on our lush, green lawns with birds singing heartily and with so much life left to live, I reflect on the 37 years of time I might have lost just there. For that reason, I empathise and celebrate with the Skiathan and his wife whether they are eating pizza or not. She has fought back from Stage 4 cancer and critical surgery and is now cancer-free. Life can feel very good at times not least when you fear losing it!

Sunday, 4th June, 2017

A slightly fresher feel to the day which is also a little breezier. Only 17C/63F in pleasant sunshine. We are going to the health Club for another workout this afternoon. We’ve found that the weekends are currently quieter than during the week so the experience is much more enjoyable.

I rarely go to see the doctor. Other than ongoing treatment, I feel remarkably healthy. My blood pressure is 112/72 with a pulse of 68. However, recent chest pains have returned and Pauline is going to seek an early appointment tomorrow just to eliminate any concerns. With a father who died very young of a heart attack and a younger brother who had a heart attack in his mid-30s, it is sensible to be cautious. The fact that I am on permanent warfarin should help but I may need an ECG to put my mind at rest. It’s amazing how a small seed of doubt can grow into a central concern.

Salmon & Asparagus – Marriage made in Heaven!

Well, we’ve been to the gym and done 90 mins hard workout without any signs of distress so I think things must be alright. We’ve decided not to seek a doctor’s opinion at the moment but to monitor the situation. Came home and had the most wonderful meal cooked by my wonderful wife. It did include sin but who wouldn’t on a Sunday. My sin was to have fresh asparagus which I’m not supposed to eat because of its high vitamin K content. Boiled and dressed with Kalamata olive oil plus lemon juice and cracked black pepper. The taste is nigh on orgasmic. Asparagus with roast, wild salmon just cannot be beaten!

Monday, 5th June, 2017

Yesterday it was reported that we had had one of the warmest and driest Springs on record. Today started fresher and breezier and, although we got to 18C/65F, by late afternoon we had persistent, light rain which is continuing as I write at 10.00 pm.

Health & Safety Gone Mad!

This morning, I spent a couple of hours searching through my store of old, family photos for some things one of my sisters had requested. Just by the way, I came across this early snap of my father in around 1929. He is middle of the back row in a white shirt. It looks as if he is 13-14 and is a less beautiful version of me. What struck me was the diligent attention to Health & Safety policy. Who carried out the risk assessment?

I also found four, long letters that I wrote in 1993 from the Cycladic island of Folegandros to my mother. We started to spend a few weeks there as Hotel Kamari and Sifnos started to become uncomfortable and noisy. If you are looking for a quiet, unassuming, traditional Greek Island, Folegandros could well be for you.

Did our third, consecutive day of exercise at the gym. We are talking about extending our sessions by adding work on additional pieces of equipment. Last time I used the rowing machine, I was too enthusiastic and pulled a muscle in my back. We are considering trying again but working our way in to it more carefully. I would like to build the circuit up to two full hours eventually. If I give myself a few minutes of ‘recovery’, I feel that I could go again but I am relaxing in the Jacuzzi by then. Must try harder!

Tuesday, 6th June, 2017

A blustery but mild night with sporadic, driving rain. One of the few mornings that I haven’t got up and walked straight outside barefooted. Surprising how wet rain is! Turned my mind to other things – barefoot in Tuscany, gadding about Genoa, Touring in Turin – and feeling optimistic. What more could a man want?

Tomkin cherry tomatoes

If we are what we eat, I am a tomato. They are my go-to food of choice. I have eaten untold kilos of Piccolo cherry tomatoes  over the past two or three years. Usually, they originate in Italy or Spain. I have found a new variety which, I hope, will become a staple. In Asda, I speculatively bought a pack of Tomkin tomatoes grown in Lancashire of all places. They are sensational in flavour, sweetness and skin toughness. If Brexit does actually happen, at least I will have a source of tomatoes. Some consolation although not much.

Wednesday, 7th June, 2017

Mild – 18C/65F – but breezy day. I pushed myself to work harder. I spent 2 hrs fully valeting the car. Working outside in the sunshine was enjoyable. We spent the afternoon at the Health Club where I was keen to increase my output. I’m going to do it incrementally rather than all in one go. Increased the time on the running machine to 45 mins and on the bike to 25 mins and then did some weight-stress pulley work ( I don’t know what the apparatus is called really. The one pictured on the left is rather like a ‘home’ versin of it.) for 10 mins followed by 25 mins in the pool. It left me about 20 mins in the Jacuzzi/Hydro Massage Centre.

What I was particularly encouraged about was that I recovered quickly from this routine and started thinking about doing it again tomorrow. I came home with the intention of spray treating the lawn which I wouldn’t have considered until recently after exercise.

Over today, we have moved closer to making a decision about going away to the Canaries for November. It may turn out to be Gran Canaria where we’ve found a nice, 5* hotel. It has two, heated, outdoor pools, a gym, two restaurants, lovely big suites with fridges, tea & coffee making facilities, a sofa and easy chairs, flat screen television with satellite channels, Wi-Fi, safe, sea view balcony with table and chairs and sun beds/parasols. These are the things we look for in a month away so we can continue our life but elsewhere. Is it worth £6,000.00/ €6,907.00? We think it probably is.

Thursday, 8th June, 2017

A lovely day which saw the breeze drop and the temperature reach 18C/65F. It was shopping day for us – Asda, Waitrose & Tesco. It took two hours and felt like it. Another session at the Health Club left us feeling fairly self-righteous and clean but tired and aching. We’ve done 7 out of the last 9 days.

The day started, of course, by going down the road to the local Community Centre to vote. Let’s hope Jeremy appreciates our support! Just as the election campaign was announced, a middle aged woman called Brenda was stopped on the street and asked if she had heard about it. Her response to the interviewer went viral both as a source of ridicule and a symbol of the person in the street’s indifference. Oh, not another one, she exclaimed. It’s ridiculous. There’s just too much politics now.

This is important!

People like me despair at that sort of response. The idea that politics is something you do for a few minutes every five years is the great problem with democracy and the reason why so many politicians are able to take us all for fools. Politics affects every single phase of our days and our lives from the price of our weekly shop to the cost of our house; from the safety of our movement on the streets to the effectiveness of our transport; from the quality of the air that we breathe to the safety of the water that we drink. Politics ensures our dust bins are emptied and our fire brigade comes to save our burning house, that police face off terrorists and catch our burglars. Politics addresses the privileges of the rich and the needs of the poor. Brenda would be the first to complain if these things went wrong for her and so should we be. Go out and vote and change the world!

While I was in the gym, I was watching Countdown, the alpha-numeric quiz show which helps me concentrate on mental exercise while I’m doing the physical. The presenter, Nick Hewer, volunteered the fact that he couldn’t see the point in food other than the necessity of life. What it was he ate was of little importance to him as long as he maintained his energy levels and his health. For us, this is so perverse. He may eat to live. We very definitely live to eat. The joy of travel is the food. The joy of cooking is the food. The joy of shopping is the food. I didn’t marry a cordon bleu chef for nothing ….. as well as her astonishing beauty.

It is now just after 10.00 pm and the Exit Polls suggest that the Tories may lose seats and not have an over all majority. There may be a god after all. Of course, as the night develops, this projection may not be sustained but whatever happens, The Labour Party are back on the scene and can affect the Brexit negotiations. I might need a banana to cope with this!

Friday, 9th June, 2017

Just an hour after the polls closed last night, the heavens opened and thunder and lightning tore the skies asunder. It was a Shakespearean harbinger of a UK political storm. The Exit polls predicted that the Tories had failed to force their ‘nastiness’ on the country. Everyone was laughing loudly and declaring that it just couldn’t be right.  It was and you don’t have to look far to realise why. Public Sector workers have seen their pay cut for 8 years. Young people have been saddled with life-changing debts just for the sake of an education which didn’t give so many of them reasonable jobs. A large proportion of the country didn’t want a ‘hard’Brexit out of the Single Market and it looks as if they now won’t get it.

The Labour Party are on the march as we return to two party politics. They have polled 40% of the vote. UKIP are finished and the Greens have made no advances. The Liberals threw their big chance for returning to prominence although it was good to see them gain a few seats. What this does mean is that the Tories are beholden to the Irish who don’t want a hard border and will mean compromising on Freedom of Movement and the Single Market. The DUP want to keep the Pension Triple Lock amusingly. They are also opposed to the Climate Change movement. They will extract a tough penalty for their support.

Saturday, 10th June, 2017

Gran Canaria

Surprisingly lovely and warm day reaching 22C/70F with clear blue sky and strong sun. Almost no breeze today. Tonight, the sky is bright and clear at 10.00 pm and still rather muggy at 18C/65F. We have been to the Health Club for a couple of hours and then cooked Calamari and Greek salad out in the garden. It has felt like a lovely day over all and you can’t ask more than that.

Tonight we booked a month away in Gran Canaria for November. We have never been there before so it will have novelty value at least. It has a gym, spa, two heated, outdoor pools and lots of walks so we can continue our programme as if we are at home. It also has the all important Wi-Fi in the suites so normality will reign.

Sunday, 28th May, 2017

I love driving. I can drive all day quite happily. Indeed, we are going to spend July driving in Europe. The ghastly state of Britain’s motorways and the frustrations they engender makes them incredibly tiring. We only had 4 hours sleep on Friday night and then did 7 hours driving on Saturday morning. We were in bed for just about midnight and allowed ourselves a leisurely ‘get-up’ this morning. Rising at 8.00 am felt scandalous but it was a one off indulgence.

The day was very humid and warm although not consistently sunny. In fact, just as we set up to cook outside this afternoon, we had a clap of thunder and a brief downpour. I’m sure the garden was more happy with that than we were. I am troubled today. The faces of my siblings are floating across my head’s cine screen. Past and Present meshes and clashes in the kinetic imagination along with Regrets and Possibilities.

It was lovely to see Bob and put my arm round him for the first time in so many years. We shared a bedroom for 18 years and I was transported back there by his face. His ingenuity and inventiveness gave me more than he knows. I was shocked to find he wears hearing aids. I was even more shocked to learn that quite a few of my siblings have hearing problems. For a number of years, I have been aware that, when I lie on my right side in bed, the radio sound is extremely muffled. I am not deaf in my left ear but my hearing is impaired. Of course, I am also almost blind in my left eye. Mum suffered from terrible tinnitus in later life. If you didn’t believe in Genetics you should take note. You heard it here first – if you’re not a deaf Sanders!

Monday, 29th May, 2017

Spectacular Thunder and Lightning storm between Midnight and 2.00 am this morning and an uncomfortably humid night. There were over 500 lightning strikes over our region last night.

Today has been sticky hot with plenty of sunshine and occasional bouts of light rain. I managed to mow and feed the lawns in sunshine and then retreat to my newspaper when it rained. I also enjoyed watching Huddersfield Town win promotion to the Premier League by beating Reading in the playoff final this afternoon. Back to the gym tomorrow.

Tuesday, 30th May, 2017

Grey but warm today. At 7.00 am we are seeing 16C/61F but no sun. We are going to the gym later but I have to catch up on correspondence first. Skinny Lizzy has written to me twice since Friday and I haven’t replied yet. Must say thank you to Brian for his hospitality.

Ruth seems to have got it into her head that I am a creature of habit. If only life were that simple. I have always embraced the new, the innovative, the change agent. I have always been an ‘early adopter’ of new technology. I bought the first computers for my school, I was the first to buy, teach myself and then teach others how to use the BBC Computer 35 years ago. I introduced my colleagues to the internet 25 years ago when it was just text-based and felt the waves of scepticism and fear come back from them. I designed and launched an early, institution-wide intranet before most people knew what they were.

Totally Unacceptable!

I have tried never to stand still for too long. I suppose you could call that a habit – moving house seven times (so far) in our married life, building and living abroad, etc. could hardly be characterised as set in one’s ways but I would concede that I do have a ‘habitual’ element to my character. Pauline has always called me low level Aspergic (She calls me low level many things but that is the nicest!) because of my need to line things up, balance light switches on/off, keep every where very tidy, etc. I also like to have routines in my day. There are things I always do – get up at 7.00 am and go to bed at midnight, for example. My diet has led me to regulated food types and eating times. For me, they are coping mechanisms which (D) will find useful when he takes the pledge.

I am an inveterate recorder and planner. I keep spreadsheet records of my weight, blood pressure, INR, etc. I have spreadsheets  recording electricity, gas and water use. Pauline maintains precise, financial records. We have done this all our married life. In some respects, the Blog is just an extension of this documentary habit. To some people, like Michael, recording and sharing one’s life with others is anathema. I have the confidence to know and acknowledge I am weird and share that fact with others for their amusement. I do have some guilty secrets but I’m not telling you!

I’m going out now to buy another gadget to help my plants cope while we are away. I’m going to fit a digital timer to a water spray system in my back garden to water the pots once or twice per day to avoid putting that responsibility on our neighbours. I had three or four of these in our Greek garden but didn’t see fit to repatriate them. This one from Screwfix is under £20.00 and will do the job easily.

Wednesday, 31st May, 2017

Well, May has gone out on a cracker – in more senses than one. Today has been warm and very sunny throughout the day – 22C/70F at mid day. Tonight is a hot and sticky 18C/65F. We’ve done a good session at the Health Club and even managed to do our swim although still indoors. We were certainly tired at the end of our session which last over 2 hours.

Our local farm which is about a mile away has already opened its Pick-Your-Own service with broad beans, onions, rhubarb and strawberries already available. We are forecast to have lovely weather for the next week or so and we will almost certainly have a trip to the farm to gorge on strawberries although not until we’ve paid for them, of course.

Thursday, 1st June, 2017

Welcome to the new month and the official beginning of Summer 2017. In spite of the fact that it feels like Summer arrived quite some time ago, the official start has been celebrated with lovely warm sun and blue skies with a temperature of 23C/73F.

The weather is particularly appropriate for our next door neighbours who are driving up to Buckingham Palace for a Garden Party. I received a text while we were shopping in Worthing asking if we would take their photo just before they left home this afternoon. I made it back in time to do just that and record the event below. Gill’s only problem was that, having got the hat fixed on, could she wear it in the car for a couple of hours and not have to fix it all over again in the Buckingham Palace loo. She emailed later that they had loved the event, the weather and the food. I don’t know if they managed to meet the Queen. Rather them than me!

We were involved in more prosaic events of our own – cutting and shaping hedges, mowing and edging lawns and watering pot plants. This is the most delightful place to live in the sunshine.

Friday, 2nd June, 2017

A warm leading to hot day that reached 27C/81F in the shade. We have both been feeling a little under the weather for a couple of days – tired and lethargic. Yesterday, I experienced background chest pains and again first thing this morning. I thought I had pulled a muscle. Pauline thinks it might be a chest infection. We have both had lingering, background head colds for a week or so. I Googled Angina Symptoms but Pauline pointed out that hearts are on the left whereas my pains were on the centre right. Biology has never been my strong point.

Saturday, 3rd June, 2017

Delightfully sunny day that reached 22C/70F at mid day. We were tired this morning because we had been up at 3.30 am. Do you know how light it is at that time in the morning in June? Very light. Our neighbour’s burglar alarm went off and I decided I must go and check the house. All the doors, windows and back garden gate were locked. By the time I had checked, the street was populated by half-dressed neighbours coming out to check. The people from the house where the alarm had been triggered were away but we had their mobile number and texted them. Fortunately, the alarm cut off after 30 mins and we made a cup of tea and then went back to bed.

We relaxed outside in the sunshine this morning entertained by a troupe of newly fledged starlings taking some of their first flights and landing clumsily on our fence top before inspecting the lawn for grubs. The grass is looking particularly good at the moment and perfect for a starling-diner.

Catherine has asked me about pictures of Ruth’s Mum. I must admit, I have never seen one. I wonder if cousin (D) has. After all, he is very old! I must scan in and circulate all the family photos that I have.

We had a wonderful session in an almost deserted Health Club this afternoon and I was surprised to find that I have lost 4lbs since my last trip there on Thursday. No wonder that I’ve been feeling so starving all the time!

Sunday, 21st May, 2017

What a wonderful day! I suppose it was all over UK but here we had blue, cloudless skies from Dawn until Dusk with lovely warmth reaching 21C/70F. No workout today. We even sat outside in the sunshine with coffee and newspapers.

Tomorrow is the deadline for registering to vote in the General Election. There are still so many people who have not and, probably, will not get a vote. I find it so hard to believe. I couldn’t wait to vote in my first General Election. In 1969, the voter age was reduced from 21 to 18. I would like to see it reduced to 16. My first vote was in June 1970 when the country made the mistake of electing Tories and Edward Heath. He was in power for just over 3 years and presided over the oil price hike and petrol shortages accompanied by the miners’ strike and the power blackouts. Fortunately, we had another chance to vote in February 1974 when Heath thought he would have his position strengthened but found himself replaced by dear old Harold Wilson from Huddersfield. Heath went on to sulk for ever! Wilson went on to embrace the White Heat of Technology! I had a third chance to vote when Wilson called a snap election just 8 months later when he secured the massive majority of 3.

Wilson sadly retired as he developed the first signs of dementia and James Callaghan took over before losing to THATCHER in May, 1979. So, excitingly, I had the chance to vote and change things in UK four times in the first decade that I was eligible. The Scottish Independence Referendum campaign was so invigorating for the Scots, it would be great to engender that appetite for change in UK elections.

Monday, 22nd May, 2017

If days can get more wonderful than this, I want to see them. The sky was blue; the sun was strong; the temperature reached 26C/79F and all was well with the world.

Strong & Stable (Not!)

We went shopping and then I cut the lawns, watered and fed all the herbs in pots before setting off for the Health Club. We had been told that the outdoor pool would be closed for repair and refurbishment but the work was only just about to get under way and we were able to do a last outdoor swim under sunny skies before the pool was drained. It was delightful. By the time we got home, I had completed 16,000 paces and was ready for roast salmon with pesto topping and salad.

The day had started on a bounce as strong & stable May had proved anything but by changing her manifesto promise of 4 days ago after being told how upsetting it was for her core supporters. You can’t get more strong and stable than that. It is almost unprecedented in modern election politics. The Labour Party did exactly what I wanted them to by announcing the cancelling of University Student Fees from the new academic year thus aggressively fishing for the youth vote hours before voter registration closed. Isn’t politics exciting?

Tuesday, 23rd May, 2017

Lovely day which I spent gardening in the morning, trimming hedges, watering lawns, cutting edges. We went off to the Health Club for a couple of hours and then came home to cook our meal outside in the garden. I was in charge of griddled courgettes, mushrooms and shallots with chicken thighs which had been marinated in garlic and tarragon.

The News and newspapers have been wall-to-wall Manchester Bombing but I did notice in The Independent that Jane BG has been working her magic again. They reported under this heading: India cancels plans for huge coal power stations as solar energy prices hit record low that the cost of solar power in India had been in free fall against the cost of coal. That is when people should consider moving to renewables. We shouldn’t be hurting ourselves economically to do it but, rationally selecting the cheapest option. I still don’t understand why it cannot be made mandatory for all new property’s roofs to be constructed of solar power generating materials. On that scale, it would soon become cost effective.

Wednesday, 24th May, 2017

Gorgeous, gorgeous day which was sunshine all the way and peaked at 26C/79F. We had to do our weekly shop today because we are going to leave for a short pilgrimage to Yorkshire tomorrow. I put the water sprinklers on the lawns for a couple of hours and then we went off to the Health Club for our third, consecutive session of workout. Unfortunately, today we were not able to swim. The closure of the outdoor pool has started to show its true impact. Swimming classes filled the two, indoor pools so we gave it up as a bad job and basked in the Jacuzzi and Sauna.

The Weak & Wobbly.

The Manchester bombing has given May the chance to play the ‘firm smack of leadership’ card so I am pleased that Corbyn has declared hostilities reopen from Friday. He was just building up a head of steam as May was floundering in ‘U-turns’. This momentum has to be quickly re-established. I got one piece of election literature for the local election and that was from the Tories. When I confronted the others at the Poll Booth, they pleaded lack of funds. In this national ballot, I have received just one piece of literature. Guess who from.

What Nick Herbert has omitted to point out is that, only a week ago, he belonged to a party who pledged to take your house away and deplete your savings down to the last £100,000.00. It doesn’t matter that you have scrimped and saved to shore up your finances against future disasters. As soon as signs of dissent appeared, May insisted she never really meant it. There was always going to be a ‘cap’ and it was always going out for discussion anyway. NOTHING HAS CHANGED, Don’t Panic! NOTHING HAS CHANGED, Don’t Panic! – apart from that! This is duplicitous politics at its worst.

Of course, it followed the Hammond U-turn disaster. Careful-as-he-goes, Philip Hammond jumped recklessly into a policy of raising National Insurance charges (basically, a tax) which went down like a lead balloon and had to be reversed within days with the mantra of ‘the listening government’. Unfortunately, it was listening to the wrong people.

Thursday, 25th May, 2017

A hot and sultry night has given way to a very hot morning. By 7.00 am, I was outside watering potted plants and giving them a good talking to, telling them that we are going to Yorkshire and that they had to look after themselves for a few days. Bags are packed and everything else done. We are setting off early in order to have enough time to visit as many people as we can.

This morning feels like a ‘Sifnos’ one. The people of Sifnos, on the other hand, are feeling a different heat. The Greek government has passed through harsh, new measures on tax and pensions only to find their optimism dashed once again as a bailout tranche is denied them. New charging for water is adding to the pressure on outgoings and I’m told that they are currently worrying about ferry services in the winter which are uneconomic in a time of essential economies.

As we left Sussex at 9.30 am, the temperature read 25C/77F and, after driving through the fringes of the Sussex Downs, we crossed into Surrey to the temperature of 26C/79F. The Yorkshire border brought 27C/81F and, when we stepped out of the car in Brighouse, we thought we were in Southern Europe. It had taken a rather frustrating 6.5 hrs with problems on M25 and M1 holding us up and slowing us down. It’s almost impossible to enjoy a drive across UK any more. The fact that the weather outside was for enjoying and we were trapped in a metal box did add to the frustration.

Friday, 26th May, 2017

It’s a hard life!

A hot night has given way to another hot day which read 27C/81F on Marsden Moor at mid day. After BREAKFAST, we drove over to Royton to visit my old colleague and good friend, Brian. It was a lovely visit and we talked non-stop for a couple of hours before driving back to Huddersfield by crossing Marsden Moor basking in baking, hot sun. The moors always look so Greek in this weather.

After leaving Brian, we drove a ‘Memory’ tour through Meltham and Helme, stopping to gaze on those-we-have-known. The nice thing is that memories are not all they’re cracked up to be. Yorkshire and its stone properties and the Moors and their stark desolation are just that – memories which soften and fade with time.

Ruth ‘holding’ me – before I started at the gym!

This evening, we are going out to help Ruth celebrate her 70th birthday. This is more about me than her. I’ve got a 70 yr old sister!!! Fortunately, I’m still quite young really. Let you know how it goes later in the evening.

I was a post-war baby brought up on food rationing and coupons. Look how huge I was as a baby. Suet Pudding, Jam Roly Poly, lots of bread & butter, home made cakes and pastries were the staples that have given me a life long weight problem.

Ruth did well by managing to gather under one roof for a few hours quite a few of my siblings – Bob, Jane, Catherine, Liz and Michael – which was no mean feat. It was certainly a very interesting experience. It was almost like having all my own weaknesses and strengths reflected back to me. I could really sense that I was in them and that they were very much in me. When Catherine approached and spoke, I saw my Mother more strongly than I have done in 30 years. When Liz giggled, I was transported back 50 years sitting in our family dining room. Ruth, who is very gregarious and active, looked very happy with her own family and friends around her and she deserved that. Her girls and their children are quite delightful. I couldn’t stop telling anyone who would listen that the last time I saw Karen, who is now 42, was in her plastic pants and nothing else shuffling around the lounge floor before she could walk.

I also met one of my cousins and his lovely wife. My cousin (D) preceded me at the Grammar School my Dad and I both attended but had left before I got there – so he is obviously very old. I think I have seen him twice in the past 40 years. His wife assures me I have met her before but my terrible memory denied that. She is a delightful lady who has a lot to put up with. I suspect (D) has some of my stubbornness (Doesn’t that look an awkward word?) and, instead of taking his wife’s advice, has to arrive at his own solution.

In essence, (D) needs to lose weight if he wants to live another 15 years with his lovely wife. The trouble is, he has lived with this weight problem for so long that changing it looks an impossible task and he feels it is too late to try. If he did, he would quickly find that quite the reverse is the case and he would come to relish the achievement. There are very few things really left to achieve in retirement but this is one rewarding goal.

Saturday, 27th May, 2017

We got back to the Hotel this morning at about 1.00 am and were in bed for 2.00 am. The alarm went at 6.00 am on a hot and sultry morning and we were on the motorway by 8.30 am. The M62 and the subsequent M1 were both lovely to drive this morning but, having got on to the M25, we began to crawl at an effective 15 mph for a couple of hours. As soon as we got off the M25, our trip down through the Surrey Hills and the fringes of the Sussex Downs was quick and delightful. I estimated we would get home for 1.00 pm but it was 3.30 pm before we actually made it. 7 hours is a crazy time to take for that journey.

The Labour Party have been soundly condemned for advancing views about Terrorism, its causes and prevention in the course of fighting the election. The Tories, meanwhile, have done exactly that in the guise of ‘strong government’. Polls this weekend show the Tory lead cut from 25% at the outset to just 6% now. Although this may be illusory, transitory or a ‘blip’, the Tories are wobbling. The Times cartoon today encapsulates this position neatly.

Sunday, 14th May, 2017

What a glorious morning. The garden and patio are bathed in hot sunshine. The increasing collection of herb pots is visibly reaching to the warm light. We’ve planted out the basil today – a mixture of large leaf, Italian sweet basil and small leaved, Greek basil. We are not going to get frosts but whether it is warm enough for basil to prosper yet is debatable. Today, we are only touching 17C/63F so we will see.

Just watched a dispiriting United performance against Spurs in the last game ever at White Hart Lane after 118 years. Although Rooney was the last scorer of a goal there, his performance over all was poor. Hull were relegated yesterday. Hull is one dismal place – home to Prescott, the Poison Dwarf and a relegated football team accompanied by high unemployment statistics and extreme poverty levels. Can’t decide which is worse. Lovely bridge, though.

Monday, 15th May, 2017

Warm but wet this morning although the light rain stopped as we left the house at 9.30 am in 17C/63F. We drove to Worthing to return ‘stuff’ to M&S, walked across town to the sea front store. The town looks shabby and many of its inhabitants rather ‘on the edge’. We drove back to Littlehampton calling at Sainsbury’s and Argos, Tesco and Wickes. We got home 4 hours after we had set out and I had done 7000 paces already.

After a drink, we set off for the Health Club and did a couple of hours by which time my paces count had reached 14,000 and we were both absolutely done in. Roast salmon and salad for our meal and then relaxation. I was catching up on reading – newspapers English and Greek, Blogs English and Greek. Things are looking badly wrong for Greece again with sentiment moving them back towards the exit door.

As Syriza is forced to contemplate doing what they came to power pledging they would never do – legislate to impose harsh austerity measures, so the hard-pressed population is reacting. There will be a general Strike on Wednesday although ferry boats will be out of action for Tuesday and Wednesday. If you’ve booked an island holiday beginning or ending on those two days, tough. If you’re stuck in Athens, site-seeing may be hindered by Strikes of buses until the weekend and don’t get ill because the action will also affect hospitals.

Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster, trumpets: Greek economy slides back into recession. The Guardian in Britain says: ‘From bad to worse’: Greece hurtles towards a final reckoning. They argue that agreement between the Greek government and its creditors is stalling and the population have given up hope of a resolution. They conclude:

Even if the latest impasse is broken and a deal is reached with creditors soon, few believe that in a country of weak governance and institutions it will be easy to enforce. Political turbulence will almost certainly beckon; the prospect of “Grexit” will grow.

What should be most worrying for the country is the prospect of nationwide strike action harming the golden goose as services which directly affect the tourist industry are affected.

Tuesday, 16th May, 2017

Here it has been sunny, hot and humid. At 7.00 am it was 17C/63F and by mid-afternoon it was 23C/73F. I cut the lawns in strong sun and we did a full exercise routine which finished with a lovely swim outside. For the second, consecutive day, I easily achieved 14,000 paces. I even vacuumed the house when we got home and griddled chicken and courgettes in the garden for our meal.

It feels as if we have been active all day again which is more than can be said for Greek seamen. Their strike has been extended until Saturday. The islands are cut off and any tourists on them stranded. The weather in the Cyclades has been gale-force winds at Beaufort 8 which makes the seamen’s strike seem opportune but can’t be helping the tourist trade. Imagine you flew out to Athens for a week expecting to catch an island ferry. You will now be stuck in Athens with strike action paralysing that city too.

Wednesday, 17th May, 2017

A warm and muggy day that saw some much-needed rain. We had quite a few jobs to do today and decided to give our aching bodies a day off in order to do them. It is one of the joys of self determination in retirement. We are well in to our 9th year of retirement and have packed an enormous amount in to our first 8 years. Two sets of our friends, married couples who are of broadly similar ages to us are just  embarking on retirement now. We reflect how lucky we have been to stop working early in good enough health to enjoy it.

We have been looking at Canary islands for a month away in November. Having done 3 months in Tenerife last year, we have been casting around for a different one. The only other that we have direct experience of is Fuerteventura which we stayed on over 20 years ago. We have been struggling to find a really good hotel with all the facilities we want and, preferably, adults-only. We think we’ve found one but back on Tenerife in Los Cristianos which is busier than we would normally choose but is an adults-only hotel which should be quieter and more ‘select’.

We are hoping to make a decision tomorrow which will virtually tie up the rest of this calendar year. We were reflecting on how quickly 2017 is already disappearing. By the time we get back from Tenerife, Christmas will be upon us and the year will be all but over. And then came 2019!

Thursday, 18th May, 2017

Honda DAB/FM Radio/ CD / Bluetooth Mobile / Internet / Sat. Nav.

No sooner are drought conditions mooted than it rains …. and rains. Today is warm and wet. The lawns are looking more emerald green than ever. The atmosphere is humid and the plants outside appear to double in size each day. Honda phoned this morning to say our new media/comms. unit was ready for fitting. We will go in tomorrow for that and to have our Year 1 Service done. Both jobs will take a couple of hours so, instead of a ‘Courtesy Car’, we will take our iPads and relax with Honda coffee. Everything is ‘free’. We have a 5 Year Service Agreement with the car and a 5 Year Warranty on everything to do with the car. Our Sat.Nav. is almost the first thing to go wrong in the past 30 years.

We are definitely getting fitter. We did another strong, 90 mins workout in the gym culminating with 30 mins in the outside pool under warm, gentle rain. It felt wonderful and I could have done it all again.

Friday, 19th May, 2017

Out early this morning on a bright and fairly warm start to the day. Had to be at the Honda Dealership for 8.30 am to have our First Service which comes at 12,000 miles or 12 months which ever is first. We are a couple of weeks off the first anniversary and have only done 5,800 miles but our media/comms. unit was being replaced so we killed two birds with one stone. It was needed for 2 hours and, rather than taking out a courtesy car and going through the rigmarole of transferring our insurance, we sat with a lovely pot of fresh coffee and our iPads using the garage’s Wi-Fi and reading our newspapers.

It was soon done and we were on our way but the weather changed and the heavens opened. Honda give us a complimentary valet but the rain soon washed every inch of the car and left it sparkling. Honda reset all the radio presets for us. We have DAB, FM and Longwave. We have been told for ages that FM was going but DAB reception is still a little flaky in some places whereas Longwave is still the best bet to pick up the cricket commentary on Testmatch Special while driving in France. Now we have to redo all our Favourite Destinations by saving our locations when we visit them. I have to pair up our mobile phones and iPads via Bluetooth as well. Still it’s good to be back in working order.

Did our last 2 hour session of the week at the Health Club and our last swim in the outdoors pool for quite some time. The health Club inform us that while repairing the crack in the pool’s floor, they are going to take the opportunity and completely refurbish it with new tiling throughout. It could be late August before we get back in. For some reason, the indoor pools just don’t give the same experience. Perhaps it is the over fluorinated water that we find off putting.

Saturday, 20th May, 2017

A lovely, sunny and moderately warm day of 15C/59F. We have spent the day at home doing jobs. I have been potting new plants up, weeding flower beds and sweeping the patio. I also had to reacquaint myself with the car’s automatic tyre pressure deflation warning system which came on when we were recalibrating our tyre inflator machine. This is the sort of thing that comes up so rarely, one forgets the process and the handbook really becomes important. I learn so many things while looking it up. For example, my tyres will give me a visible indication when they are close to needing replacing. The indicator is a triangle that appears on the wearing tyre. I’ve only once had to replace a set of tyres on the car because we replace the car so regularly. I was shocked to find that 4 tyres cost nearly £1000.00/€1,164.00.

Pauline cooked the most wonderful meal of roast sea bass on the bone accompanied by roasted cherry tomatoes in tarragon. Absolutely wonderful. As a one-off, we had green, French Beans which I’m not supposed to eat.

Sunday, 7th May, 2017

Herbs L to R – Tarragon, Sage, Olive, Oregano, Thyme, Bay

Pleasant day with patchy sunshine and reasonably warm. It’s a day off work  with no trip to the gym. We went out to the garden centre for some more clay pots and a couple of dill plants. They will be potted up tomorrow along with basil plants. I’ve decided to buy an automatic watering controller for the times while we are away.

Norma & Harry

It is already 8 years since we retired even though we still walk the corridors in our dreams. Of course, we worked with hundreds of staff over nearly 40 years. Our school employed 130 teaching staff at its height and we regularly hear of older ones falling off the conveyor belt of life. It was nice to see Norma, my assistant for a few years, celebrating her husband, Harry’s birthday.

Harry used to teach Craft in my school until he had a bad accident at home and fell from a ladder – an accident that provoked a severe stroke at the age of 40. He was unable to teach after that but here he is celebrating his 80th birthday. Norma is 75. It is good to see they have had life after his accident. Harry, a skilled carpenter, filled his time with little jobs at home and he restored the ‘Richard chair’ for me many years ago.

Monday, 8th May, 2017

The weather is lovely, bright and sunny but we’ve had a difficult day. I spent a couple of hours valeting the car while Pauline cleaned the house. The car doesn’t know what’s hit it. It’s never been so clean. The leather seats have almost satiated on polish and the paintwork is inches deep in wax. Pauline’s cleaning halted early when our cordless vacuum halted and blurted error messages. We read the manual, followed the recommended steps and accepted it had died.

Fortunately, when I phoned GTECH at 6.00 pm this evening, I was told that replacement parts would be with me tomorrow. An hour later, I was messaged by DPD arranging the delivery. I don’t think we could have expected a better response than that which is fortunate because our sat. nav. went on the blink this afternoon.

We have an integrated Comms. / Sat. Nav. / Entertainment system which is Honda badged. This afternoon, it froze, freed up and then froze again. I only just found my way home from the Health Club. We had been to do another two hours of hard work which culminated with 30  mins in the outdoor pool. This will mean a trip to Honda tomorrow to get it sorted out. Fortunately, it will cost nothing apart from time and it is a very rare event with our cars.

Tuesday, 9th May, 2017

The day started and finished with clear skies and strong sunshine. In between, it was fairly overcast. I wouldn’t describe it as warm for May at 13C/56F. We went out early for Pauline’s doctor’s appointment and then to Worthing to pick up my new suit. I also bought a water sprayer for irrigating my lawns. We have had an incredibly dry winter and there is even talk of a hosepipe ban in the summer. I am getting in there in advance. It costs next to nothing and gives a choice of about 7 spray patterns. Our lawns are going to love it!

My new fig trees.

The GTECH vacuum cleaner broke down yesterday. A new part was delivered this afternoon and everything is back up and working. You can’t ask for better service than that. On the way back from Worthing, we stopped in at the Honda garage to tell them about a ‘dicky’ sat.nav./infotainment unit. They put a diagnostic computer on it for a few minutes while we had a cup of coffee and pronounced a whole new unit was required. It will be available in a few days. We have used less than 12 months of our 5 year warranty.

When we got home, our neighbour came round with our fig trees which had been delivered while we were out. Tomorrow I will be preparing planting holes  and with stone at the bottom to restrict the root growth which will encourage fruiting. It will be interesting to see if the micro climate of our back garden is good for fruiting figs.

Wednesday, 10th May, 2017

Figs – sticks which should fill out and grow by next Spring.

A lovely, warm and sunny day that reached 20C/68F by early afternoon. After coffee and the papers for half an hour, we completed our tasks in the house and then went back to the garden centre for more clay pots to pot up our new fig trees. I say trees but they are really short sticks with a few green buds. However, we know from experience that, once they get going, they will grow and bush and become very vigorous. What we don’t know is how well they will fruit.

We potted them up with some stone at the bottom. Restricting their roots encourages fruiting. That’s why the rocky subsoil of Greece is so good for their success. I’m hoping that the residual warmth of the garage wall reflecting back what it has absorbed throughout the day will encourage more clement conditions to further help their development.

This is where the day begins.

Did a lovely but hard session at the gym culminating in swimming 400 metres in the outdoor pool under warm sunshine. I am definitely beginning to recover from these sessions more quickly. Indeed, I have not felt this vigorous and energetic since I was at school. I am finding it harder to sit down and stay sitting down – something I used to specialise in. On the days when we don’t go to the Health Club, I find myself pacing around the house looking for things to do. My computer is beginning to feel superfluous to requirements. My iPad provides most news and social media content over coffee in the morning.

Today when I got back from the Health Club, I vacuumed the house and cut the lawns while Pauline produced our meal which, today, was a wonderful Greek Salad and Calamari. Absolutely delicious!

Thursday, 11th May, 2017

Yet another lovely, warm – even humid day that reached 21C/70F. We did our regular Thursday tour of the supermarkets. Actually, we missed one out. A new Aldi opened about a mile away this morning but the opening jamboree attracted so many crowds that we thought we would check it out later in the week. We did buy another, fresh octopus from Morrisons. It is locally sourced and very cheap. When we got home, I watered the lawn again because we still haven’t had any rain in spite of forecasts.

Meltham Mills

When Pauline & I got married nearly 40 years ago, we were living in our first house together in Meltham, West Yorkshire. Just down the road, David Brown Tractors had taken over an old, stone mill for their production. We went on our first Greek trip in 1980 to Zakynthos and, as we got off the ferry, we were confronted by a David Brown tractor on the quayside. This morning, the BBC Breakfast show was investigating Manufacturing’s attitudes towards Brexit. Their film came from that same old, stone mill in Meltham which has now been taken over by a modern textiles firm called Camira Fabrics. Here, in West Sussex, at 7.30 in the morning we were transported 40 years to another world and it felt very strange. So much has happened since then.

Friday, 12th May, 2017

A warm, sunny and fairly ‘muggy’ day which reached 17C/63F by mid afternoon. It started with light rain and rained again just as we were swimming outside before warm sun reappeared. We have done 10 x 90 minute sessions out of the past 14 days and we are both beginning to feel it. Unfortunately, the Health Club have informed us today that a serious crack has been discovered in the outdoor pool and it will have to close for 5 – 6 weeks from the end of next week which is a great pity because it has been an extremely enjoyable addition to our exercise. There are a couple of indoor pools but, strangely, the experience is completely different.

In Greece, Kathimerini reports that more than 2,500 refugees live in Athens squats while the numbers arriving are rising rapidly again. The EU seem to oscillate between helping and blaming the Greeks for a problem which can only be defined as living on the front line.

At the same time, it was admitted this week that Capital Controls – limits on Greek’s withdrawal of cash from their bank accounts – will remain in place for another two years at the least. These restrictions are onerous but necessary to prevent capital flight from an ailing economy prone to illegal activity. Three years ago, we had enough difficulty repatriating a few hundred thousand euros and be quite skilful in the way in which we used the ‘system’. Today, we might well find it impossible. There is an alarming story on a Financial website of a couple who bought and lived on Zakynthos now, because of ill health, wanting to repatriate their money having sold their property in Greece but being stymied by capital controls. The more I read, the more grateful I feel.

Saturday, 13th May, 2017

Pinto

What a glorious day. Lovely sunshine and reaching 18C/65F. We drove 50 miles up to Surrey to deliver cases of French wine to P&C. We stayed a couple of hours and drove the 50 miles home again. It is a delightful drive with hedgerows in full height and full bloom, Chestnut trees are decorated with white a red candle flowers, white, May Blossom decorates the  Hawthorn hedging and, as we approach the village, Lilac bushes intermingle with racemes of wisteria with a heady mix of colour. Our back garden was bathed in strong, warm sunshine and everything was so green. What a time to be alive!

Heard from an old, Sifnos friend this week who I haven’t seen since he left the island about 10 years ago. Martin (Pinto) is a lovely lad who we befriended on the island when he was struggling to make ends meet. We used to pass on all the back copies of (expensive) newspapers to him to keep him up to speed with the world. He came to have lunch with us at our house. When we returned one summer, Martin had left after suffering the fate of many English ‘friends’ of Greeks. We have stayed in touch ever since and, this week, he has told us he is buying a house in Cheltenham.  We are really wishing him well.