A bit of a shock this afternoon. Our Duplex appeared on RightMove suddenly and, within an hour of spotting it ourselves, a woman was outside viewing it. We had been told that they wouldn’t start marketing until after Bank Holiday Monday. Obviously, they thought better of it.
I’m afraid it was rather an indolent day watching football and a bit of motor racing. I did take part in cooking the meal which was excellent – although I say it myself. We jointly cooked Rabbit Cassoulet. It was an absolutely delicious twist on the classic, French pork & duck cassoulet.
25th August, 2014
A rainy morning, dull and leaden skies – beautiful. I deliberately went out for a walk to feel the rain on my face – delicious! The project today – as it’s raining in Bristol too so the One Day cricket is on hold – is to prepare the pictures for sale.
I’ve reported before that we have over thirty, huge framed nineteenth century pictures from a past home which are too big and dated for a modern house. I’ve found an auction room that I believe will sell them but I have to provide an illustrated catalogue for valuation. Today, we will photograph and list with artists and dates. Tomorrow, we can contact the auctioneers.
26th August, 2014
Pauline’s persistence seems to be paying off. Hours and hours each day trawling through property sites has produced some good finds. This property is one of just four being built by a private builder next to a cricket ground – hence the name of the house. It is in East Sussex with pleasingly short distances from Woking and the Channel Tunnel. The houses aren’t finished inside yet but we have spoken to the agents, done some ‘due diligence’ checks and we hope to go down and look on Thursday.
Heavy rain for the second day although it is mild. We have to go to the Health Club for a workout. I need it. First, we will visit Phyllis & Colin to discuss a buffet we are constructing for tomorrow night with all the family.
27th August, 2014
It would have been Pauline’s Mum’s 100th birthday today. She died aged 96 and we really had thought she would make it all the way.
We all met for a buffet meal this evening. Phyllis & Colin, Mandy & Kieron and the boys, Pauline & I. It was nice to mark the occasion. I took this photo of the three girls:
28th August, 2014
Went to hospital for the first time since April for my blood test. We were up at 6.00 am and out by 6.30 am.. At 7.00 am I was giving an armful of blood and ten minutes later at home drinking my morning’s orange juice. By mid-morning we were driving down towards the outskirts of Royal Tunbridge Wells.
The houses we went to see weren’t really far enough on in their build to make a judgement about them. The area was beautiful – perhaps too beautiful in the sense of being in the heart of countryside with lots of narrow, thickly tree-lined lanes. We haven’t written them off but we will continue to look in the meantime. What we did learn was that we rather liked Tunbridge Wells.
We weren’t disgusted at all. We will look in a radius of that town which has all the facilities we want.
29th August, 2014
I don’t know if I caught this reading Skiathan Man’s Blog but I’m definitely feeling under the weather. I am tired, lethargic, lacking energy. I couldn’t face the Health Club today. We did the Sainsbury’s shop and came home. I’ve been sitting around going ‘Oh! Oh.’ all day. I’m rarely ill but, when I am, everything and everybody suffers with me.
This afternoon we had to go out so that the Estate Agency could show a prospective buyer round. It wasn’t someone who wants to live here but rather a speculator who wants to invest. I can’t see that sort of buyer wanting to pay the price we are on at but you never know. We haven’t found anywhere to move to yet so it is becoming a little more urgent.
30th August, 2014
The new freedom we have found since selling our Greek property has been enormous. It has amazed us both. On Monday, we are driving to Norfolk for a few days to fulfil a long-held wish to re-visit Pauline’s childhood haunts. In October, we are driving up to Yorkshire to visit friends and, in November, we fly to Athens for a break and, later, drive to France for a shopping trip. I am already exploring our plan to rent a property in Italy next Spring en route as we drive to Sifnos for the Summer.
We quite fancy Le Marche – Urbino or Perugia areas. A month there will leave us with a short journey to Ancona for the Superfast connection.
Exhausted after an hour in the gym, I’ve spent the afternoon watching Man. Utd. draw a goalless game against Burnley – AGAINST BURNLEY – England almost certainly losing the One Day series against India and completing the catalogue of the pictures we are going to send to Auction. We are only going to sell 22 framed prints at the moment. They have been great friends for twenty five years but it will be good to start afresh in a new house. This is the catalogue: Framed_Prints
We have been back in Surrey for four weeks. If we’d stayed to full time, we would have left the island in three more weeks this year. As it is, we are enjoying the cool of a lovely, English Summer and planning our next trips. We intend to go down to the south coast this week and in two weeks, we are off to Norfolk. Poor, old Barty Simpson on Paros is talking of hot and sticky days. I don’t miss those.
At least England won the Test match and, with it the series 3-1. The Indians rather gave up really.
18th August, 2014
Just heard from my little sister, Liz, at 7.00 am. She’s off to Portugal this morning. Liz is Tri-borough Executive Director of Adult Social Care Services for three, leading London councils: Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. She is pictured here with her grand daughter, Georgia Rose.
Well Autumn temperatures seem to have arrived early. Only 20C/68F is forecast for the week ahead. It feels rather as it used to do when we had left Italy in mid-September, driven through the night and woken up in France. Cool and unusual!
Today, we are contacting the estate agents who came to value our Duplex to tell them which one we have chosen to sell it. A trip to the Health Club to stay alive and then planning a day or two driving to the areas we have chosen to explore for our future property.
The Notary on Sifnos, our friend, Elerania, contacted us and we had a long chat. It was lovely to hear news of what’s going on but the more one hears, the more one despairs of the country ever throwing off its Third World mantle. At least we sold to the right people!
19th August, 2014
You will notice a change. I thought I couldn’t continue with a Header that was a view from someone else’s house. It does not signal any less commitment to Greece or Sifnos but acknowledges a change of location. The Sifnos book has been proof-read and despatched. We await its return.
I must report the winning joke from the Edinburgh Fringe by Tim Vine was:
I decided to sell my Hoover… well it was just collecting dust.
Four years ago he won with:
I’ve just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I’ll tell you what, never again.
although I rather liked:
I picked up a hitch hiker. You’ve got to when you hit them.
We are still struggling to choose which Estate Agent to ask to sell our Duplex. Two out of the three were asking 1% and the third was 1.5%. This morning, one phoned to say they were having a new promotion and would do it for 0% just to get our business. It doesn’t necessarily persuade us but it makes the decision more complicated. We are going to discuss it with Phyllis this morning.
This afternoon, on impulse, we drove down to Hampshire to look at a property which was just being built. Although the illustration on the web looked fine and the actual structure was acceptable, it was too near the road with all the attendant noise to make it worth following up.
20th August, 2014
Quite a cool start to the morning although it was bright and sunny and reached 22C/70F by early afternoon. Having finally made a decision, I contacted the two Estate Agencies we were rejecting and Pauline phoned the one we had chosen. They are coming to take photographs tomorrow afternoon.
We were supposed to be going to pick Victoria plums on a Surrey farm but, after an hour in the gym, we decided to pick them from a shelf in Waitrose instead. It was far less time consuming.
We are entering the last third of August and the summer is running out. Barty on Paros is already talking about boats to Piraeus being booked up as Greeks go home in their droves. It is amazing how short the ‘season’ is in Greece.
21st August, 2014
A cold night. Got down to 7C/45F (in mid-August!). Had to sleep under a sheet for the first time. Currently, at 11.00 am, it’s only 18C/65F but lovely and sunny. The gardeners are outside mowing the lawns and tidying the flower beds. The smell of new-mown grass is heady in the sunshine. A quintessential English Summer’s day.
Photo shoot by the Estate Agency this afternoon. Pauline and I have a process we go through when selling a property – and this is the fifth one. We try to de-personalise it, removing as much clutter as possible. I then take photos to see what stands out as good or bad so that, when the professional turns up, as many problems have been eliminated as possible. This is one of the bedrooms after de-cluttering:
22nd August, 2014
She has been dead for six years now but Mum would be 91 today. I’m sorry she hasn’t made it. She wouldn’t thank me for sharing this and I’m amazed how young she actually is but this photo was taken in 1981 when she was only 58 – five years younger than I am now – in her retirement bungalow that she and Gordon bought on Bretby Lane.
Happy Birthday, Mum.
Another chilly night has given way to a sunny day of 22C/70F. The phone doesn’t stop ringing. Pauline has emailed so many Property Developments that Sales Office staff keep bombarding her with invitations to view. Actually, we are going to look at one in Surrey on Sunday.
It feels like we are constantly on the move at the moment. We will be driving down to Sussex next week to view some more Developments. The week after, we are going to Norfolk for a few days. We are going to Yorkshire in mid-October and I am currently planning a trip to Athens in November plus a trip to France in November. Should keep us on our toes.
23rd August, 2014
A morning of on-line Property Searching, talking to Sales Staff over the phone, planning trips next week. One of our problems is that so many houses we like – and we want a brand new one – are still at the drawings stage and won’t be built until Spring 2015.
Went to the Health Club for an hour. We expected Saturday morning to be busy. It was quite the reverse. Something about an hour’s exercise makes one feel deserving of a rest. When we got home, I watched the football & Cricket and Pauline did the hoovering – well, she gets bored easily.
I looked for flights to Athens Eleftherios Venizelos airport in early November. I was very pleased to find that British Airwayswas as cheap as easyJet who also charge for Baggage. Two return flights cost us £313.96/392.87€ all in. You can’t say fairer than that.
We were told to expect the tail end of Hurricane Bertha to hit us during the night. It didn’t. No wind at all. We woke to a pleasant morning but, by 9.00 am rain started to fall and became quite torrential for about an hour and a half. Gutterings were overflowing but the trees and plants seemed to breathe a big sigh of relief. The Surrey Cycle Race chose exactly the wrong day and wrong start time but who likes cyclists anyway. Let them swim!
Talking of swimming, I dug out some photos of our first trip to Greece – Zakynthos as I wrote yesterday. It was August 1981. We had been married for three years and had just recovered from a very serious car smash. It was our first holiday together and our first time flying. I was 30 years old and Pauline 29. You will notice that we haven’t changed one bit.
11th August, 2014
Lovely sunny morning but much cooler today – only 21C/69F. We spent our last weeks giving things away on Sifnos. Now, we are doing the same thing here. We are off to the Woking Hospice with lots of unwanted bric-a-brac and clothing. On Sifnos, we gave away carloads of things we didn’t need and took more than thirty bags of ‘rubbish’ to the bins. By the time we’d finished, the house almost floated it was that empty.
12th August, 2014
Bright, sunny, brisk morning – 20C/68F. We didn’t go to the Health Club so we have to a double session today. Tomorrow the first lot of estate agents come to our apartment to do a valuation and then others on Thursday. Lovely contacts with the island over the past couple of days keep us up to date. My work on the Sifnos book is progressing well.
In three weeks we are off to Wells-next-the-Sea on the Norfolk coast – a place that has resonance with Pauline’s family. She’s talked about it throughout our married life so, at last, I’ll get to see it.
13th August, 2014
Bright and sunny but cool morning. The apartment is prepared for its first valuation this afternoon. We had one done last November but estate agents tell us prices here have moved up markedly in the past ten months so we are having three, new ones done.
Pauline is fielding replies from her enquiries on new properties to buy. It still seems quite a hard sell is used by these agents. Fortunately, we are experienced enough to play them at their own game. We may go to pick plums at Garsons’ Farm next week after our valuations have been played out. Apparently, the Jubileum plums are ready. They are like Victoria plums but bigger and you can’t beat bigger plums!
14th August, 2014
Well, we thought house prices had gone up in since we went away but we were shocked to find our Duplex had put on £50,000 in nine months. However, we are struggling to find a property we really like. Stretching our budget to £550,000 has brought more in to view. We saw this, so far unbuilt, property in Kent. It is a one-off in a Kent village. It looks interesting although broadband speeds are poor there at the moment. The website says ‘superfast broadband’ is arriving in September 2014 but that must be a concern. Still, we’ll probably go and have a look.
Two more valuations today and then we’ll decide whether to proceed or not. Exciting times!
Well, the outcome has been astonishing. Of three valuations, there is a variance of £125,000. The lowest estimate was beaten by £75,000 in the second and by £125,000 in the third. As the third has just sold an adjacent property, we are pleased to go with that. We were told that it should go within six weeks so we’ve got to get a move on and find our ideal property in our ideal area but where that is, we haven’t a clue. We are going to explore some areas next week. The fifth Test starts tomorrow so I will be ‘busy’.
15th August, 2014
Went shopping at Sainsburys Knaphill which is about five miles away. It is huge and well stocked and points up why Tesco is suffering at the moment.
We took our current prescriptions with us because there is a pharmacy within the supermarket. I was shocked to see the notice on the counter announcing that prescription charges have gone up to £8.05/10.04€ per item. I have a list of 9 items and Pauline has one more so our bill would have come to £80.50/100.40€ – an enormous bill. Fortunately, it costs us nothing because we are over 60. In fact it has cost me nothing for nearly ten years because of my Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis but the cost otherwise would be huge. At least we can easily get the drugs. In Greece it would be far less certain.
The cricket’s going well. At the time of writing – 3.35 pm – the Indians are 83 for 8. They don’t like it up ’em! …… The day finished India 148 all out and England 62-0. England will now definitely win the series.
16th August, 2014
A quiet day working on projects in hand. I had correspondence to write for the Management Group of our Development and progressed the book I am putting together.
Unfortunately, I was being constantly side tracked by the Test Match which was certainly going well and three football matches which weren’t – if you’re a United supporter. Roasted tarragon chicken with a medley of roasted vegetables for our meal. Overall, it was a lovely day.
The day began overcast but humid and has developed in to a wonderfully sunny summer’s day with bright light and a gentle breeze. Sunday (digital) newspapers this morning and some business to finish in a communication with our Management Company.
I have a
Desktop computer (1 year old) with Colour Laser printer and Mono Laser printer
Toshiba Laptop (3 years old)
iPad Wi-Fi (2 years old)
Pauline has a
Toshiba Laptop ( 1 year old)
Amazon Kindle (3 years old)
Amazon Kindle (1 year old)
We have been discussing updating for a little while and, today, I ordered a new iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular from the Apple Store.
I also ordered a new leather case for my old iPad which is going to Pauline and a case for my new one. We are going to need a new laptop sometime this year as well but, first, our mobile contracts will be up in September and EE will be offering us new smartphones to tempt us to stay with them. They are offering a new shared 4G Data plan with unlimited calls and texts which will do nicely for two smartphones and two iPads. We couldn’t do that on Sifnos although I do rather envy Bart Simpson on Paros who has been gorging on fresh figs picked in his garden. We completed our sale just a few weeks too soon.
Interestingly, Bart muses on the origin of the saying: ‘I couldn’t give a fig!’ It goes all the way back to Middle English when a fig was considered a free fruit of no worth so it meant to care almost nothing. You wouldn’t say that if you saw individual figs wrapped in tissue paper to protect them being sold in Waitrose at 50p/60c each.
The day was completed with a lovely call from my friend, Brian, who I haven’t seen since last October. He is on a three month tour of England’s coastline and was phoning me from Bude in Cornwall. We have agreed to meet for lunch in October when we drive up to Yorkshire.
4th August, 2014
Blue skies, bright sunshine, clear diary – what more could one want. Actually, Pauline is contacting Estate Agents for three valuations of our property and I am planning out the sections of my Sifnos Book. We will, of course, have an hour or so at the Health Club and we have been asked to cat-sit for our neighbour, Rosina, who is going away for ten days. Minnie (who is so big she should be renamed Maxi) is a lovely, friendly cat who will be fun to look after.
5th August, 2014
I was so preoccupied today that I am having to write my Blog in retrospect. Couldn’t go out because we were expecting deliveries. Pauline continued to contact builders/developers in the Kent/Sussex/Berkshire areas and prepared to grill them on things like:
Are you in a Flood Zone?
Where’s the nearest Health Club?
Can we have underfloor heating?
Can we re-specify the kitchen?
Meanwhile, I was collating material for the Sifnos book and preparing the sections. When the new iPad arrived at around mid day, I was consumed with setting it up and altering the old one for Pauline. This took me the rest of the day and I still wasn’t finished by bedtime. Altering email settings gave me a headache for a while. I do everything in the Cloud and Pauline doesn’t yet. We use on-line calendars which we both want to edit, read and share. This is still giving me a bit of a headache. Lots of apps specific to my interests had to be reinstalled on my new iPad and taken off Pauline’s.
The second delivery – the leather covers – didn’t arrive until 3.00 pm by which time it was too late to go out. We cooked our meal – wonderful, farmshop lamb steaks with broadbeans, onions and tomatoes. It was delightful.
6th August, 2014
Woken by torrential rain in the night but, by morning, the skies had cleared and the sun was out. In our Greek home, we had become accustomed to cooking outside and our main method was griddling meat and vegetables. It’s not so easy to do in a smaller, apartment kitchen so we will look to install in any new house kitchen a built in griddle plate and heavy duty extractor fan. For a temporary measure, I’ve just ordered a large, cast iron griddle plate to put over our hob.
The temperature here reached 25C/77F with considerable humidity. Work in the gym was decidedly sweaty. It’s amazing how physical effort is affected by one’s mental state. Today, I did 45 mins exercise on a couple of pieces of equipment. All the pieces of equipment have mini TVs integrated into one’s personal exercise data. Today, Sky Sportswere showing the Ashes victory which was dominated by Freddie Flintoff. I was so engrossed in the games that I didn’t see the time flowing away. That’s definitely the way to do it.
7th August, 2014
Went to Sainsbury’s today to do the shopping. Not only is it much better than Tesco – so much more choice – but makes shopping on Sifnos look like visiting a third world country. The temperature here was a sunny and comfortable 24C/75F.
The choice is unbelievable so much so that we over bought. As we drove home, I began to think that we would never eat all that fresh produce before it went over but this is what the fantastic choice of a British supermarket engenders – almost unlimited choice.
An hour at the Health Club was enjoyable this afternoon and then Pauline cooked Salmon fillet in tarragon sauce with asparagus and griddled oyster mushrooms. Absolutely delightful!
8th August, 2014
A steamy day – only 24C/75F but humid and we had five minutes of heavy rain before the skies cleared again. Pauline has spent the morning arranging valuation meetings for our Duplex. She has chosen three companies – Townends, who will come next Wednesday and Curchods and Aston Meadson Thursday. We may invite Gascoigne-Peeson Friday. We are in the lovely position of not being in a hurry to move. We will go for the top-end valuation and then wait for the required offer. Not only have we not found another property to go to but haven’t even confidently identified the area along the southern coast that we want to move to.
Fortunately, the weather is dry at Old Trafford at the moment so I am watching the cricket. England are currently hauling the Indian total back and will soon overtake it.
Unfortunately, we had just returned from a couple of hours at the Health Club when the cricket was rained off for the day. England were going well but you can never trust the weather ‘up North’. Pauline cooked a wonderful meal of griddled vegetables – peppers, onions, mushrooms and asparagus to accompany griddled sea bream.
No wonder we rarely go out to eat. She is such a brilliant cook! As we finished our meal, the heavens opened here. Everywhere outside soon smelled so clean and fresh.
9th August, 2014
Gloriously hot and sunny day here undisturbed by weird tourists. A light breeze helped but it still felt rather humid. A day at home watching the cricket and what a result! I could hear Ruth applauding all the way up in Bolton. The nonsense that commentators talked about Cook before the game was completely dispelled and England won an easy victory. The Indians just aren’t very good in UK conditions.
Pauline reminded me that it was 33 years ago this coming week that we first went to Greece. We spent three weeks on Zakynthos (Zante) island. There was no airport on the island in those days. We flew cheap charter in the middle of the night to Athens and then went by minibus across the Peloponnese – through the now very familiar Patras – to the port of Kyllini where we got a ferry to the island. By the time we got there, we were so exhausted that we wanted to go home. Three weeks later, we didn’t want to leave and were firmly hooked on Greece. The rest is history.
How wonderful life is. A hot and sunny Sunday with the newspapers and Test cricket. Excellent day for England.
Pauline cooked duck legs with grilled vegetables – dreamy.
28th July, 2014
Hot and humid night gave way to early morning thunder storms. Heavy rain gave the grounds a fresh and perfumed sensation. We were busy indoors until mid-day when we drove to the Health Centre. Until then, Pauline was busily contacting developers of new houses towards the south coast and then fielding pushy phone calls from them in follow up.
Really enjoyed exercise at the Health Centre – We spent about an hour and a half ending up in the pool and Jacuzzi. After we got home, Elerania phoned us from Sifnos with news. I was busily watching England declare on 569 for 7 and take the Indians to 25 for 1 before the close. Tomorrow, we are off to France on a shopping trip.
29th July, 2014
Happy Birthday to Jane B G. Hope you’ve got another 40 to come – at least!
Didn’t sleep well last night. It was hot, humid and the foxes outside were screaming at each other. Why do they do that? Why can’t they talk normally like everyone else? Anyway, up at 5.00 am and out of the garage by 6.00 am. We are driving down to the Tunnel for a French shopping trip.
What a wonderful day! Mind you, every day is wonderful at the moment. An hour and a half down to the tunnel. Coffee and read the paper. Half an hour crossing (plus an hour for French time) and we rolled off in Calais about 9.30 am. Of the two, big hypermarkets – Auchan and Carrefour – we prefer the former at the moment. Their fresh fish counter is wonderful as is their huge, delicatessen area with more cooked meats and cheeses than you can imagine.
Today we stocked up on Sea Bream (Dorade), Salmon (Saumon) and Cod Loins (Pave de Cabillaud). We bought some more Duck which we both love plus half a garden of wonderful salad. It was wine that was our prime purpose today because the car was so stuffed full on the way back from Sifnos. Enough to get us through to our next trip in a couple of months time.
30th July, 2014
The lovely days just keep coming. We have begun to skip through life once again. Is it really possible to feel so free and happy? Today, I went round to try and sort out Phyllis’s email settings on her iPad. I failed miserably. I will have to do some research and go round later in the week to have another try.
Went to the Health Club and did an hour and a half in the Gym and the Pool. Felt absolutely great after that. Came back to find England had declared and left India with an enormous total to get in the last day. They now need 333 with 4 wickets down.
Another very warm evening. We have all the windows and doors open at 10.00 pm. We are told it might cool by the weekend.
I don’t know if I told you but the power shower in our apartment in Surrey is so strong it almost knocks us off our feet. It is such a difference to our pump-fed shower in Sifnos which was perfectly adequate but comparatively weak. We had a huge, corner bath in Greece as well but rarely used it. In fact, we’ve become confirmed fans of showers so much that neither of us has had a bath for over a year. Having written this, I’m going to have a shower now.
31st July, 2014
Survived the power of shower last night and I’m pleased I did. Went out early to pick strawberries and raspberries this morning on a hot and sunny morning that climbed to 26C/79F. The current strawberry crop are still plentiful although we had to work a bit harder for the raspberries. We managed about 4kg of each because we were the first to pick.
It always pays to be early. Pauline bought some more fig & sherry ice cream to go with the fruit and we are a big bowl as soon as we got home. Just no self control!
Got home in time to watch England wrap up the Test victory before Lunch. Really pleased.
Pauline, meanwhile, was emailing every house builder in Sussex, Hampshire & Kent and then spent the rest of the day fielding phone calls from them inviting us down to see their Developments. All the houses we are considering are new-build.
1st August, 2014
From the cat (and rabbit) that got the cream, Happy August 2014. Can you tell that the cat is dreaming of goldfish? The rabbit is just dreaming.
A warm, quite humid but slightly cloudy day for the start of August. It is a finance day with most things being done on-line. We have internet banking with three, separate banks plus accounts in two others. I am fed up of having to maintain spreadsheets just to remember where everything is. The aim today and over the next few weeks is to rationalise everything into a couple of institutions.
2nd August, 2014
Good Samaritan day. Went round to sort the email account on Phyllis’ iPad and to set up Skype for her. That achieved, we did a bit of shopping at Tesco and had the car cleaned. Pauline is constantly fielding phone calls from house builders and our short journey out this morning was interrupted by two more.
Going to the Health Club this afternoon. We don’t usually go at weekends but we are trying to up the activity levels. ………….. Just did 45 mins today but it was enough to make us feel better. The Health Club was reasonably quiet but the roads were full of cyclists. I can’t be doing with them at all. No cycling licence required, no road fund tax paid, no knowledge of the Highway Code to be achieved. These cyclists are laws unto themselves and a nightmare for motorists. Talking of nightmares, I wonder how the Poison Dwarf is getting on?
Up at 6.00 am Central European Time (7.00 am Greek Time & 5.00 am UK Time) and just had a glass of orange juice. Went down to the pool for a vigorous half hour swim. Can you believe it? We were the only ones there. Swimming was wonderful under the glass canopy and, as we did, a torrential rain storm passed over. Back to our room for showers and a cup of tea. Now Pauline is packing while I down load The Sunday Times to my iPad.
We will leave for Calais soon at about 10.00 am. Although the rain has stopped and the temperature is about 24C/72F, the roads will be still wet and the French reduce speed limits in that condition. Wet motorways are limited down from 130kmh/80mph to 110kmh/70mph and there have been so many reports in UK newspapers of French police targeting speeding British drivers in a revenue raising operation particularly on the A26/E17 so it will be cruise control set to the speed limit and a gentle drive to the coast.
Arrived in Calais at 1.30 pm. Checked in to our Executive room which was enormous. Went for a walk around the eight acres of gardens and then came back in to watch the British Open Golf Championship. Booked a table for Dinner at 7.00 pm.
The meal tonight was:
Chicken & Asparagus Tart
Medley of fish – Salmon, Scallops, Cod & Shrimps in Mornay Sauce
Plum, Apricot & Raspberry Tart with Chantilly Cream
Chilled Sauvignon Blanc
Absolutely wonderful end to our European adventure for this summer. And Rory McIlroy won as well. Good weekend!
21st July, 2014
Up at 6.30 am, showered and dressed. Down to breakfast at 7.30 am. (We can’t eat much more and are desperate to go back on our diets,) By 9.00 am, we’re off to Auchan for weekend shop – lots of fish including huge crevettes, cod steaks, salmon steaks and Sea Bream, lots of meat including duck joints and breasts, pork joints and rabbit, lots of wonderful salad vegetables and glorious fruit. We loaded only four boxes of wine because we will be back here in about a week when we have more space in the car. We did buy Pauline two more pairs of shoes from the shop she had bought from before. We also bought two pairs for Elerania because she so admired Pauline’s.
The temperature in Coquelles was 22C/70F as we drove down to the tunnel terminus at 11.00 am and, as soon as we drove off in Kent, it rose to 25C/77F. It was distinctly muggy. An hour and a half later we were back in Surrey and it felt as if we had never been away. Since leaving the island, we had driven 1238 miles/1993 km and 3313 miles/5331 km since leaving our apartment in April. After three hours, Pauline had unpacked everything, I had gone through fifteen week’s post, listened to all our phone messages including three from our Special Friend and two from Elerania, phoned Sky TV to reinstate our Satellite/Phone/Broadband deal which has been reduced by £40.00 per month while we’ve been away and watched the final over of the Test which England lost.
22nd July, 2014
Up at 5.00 am (7.00 am Greek Time) after being woken by the birds. We had slept with all the windows open (without the need for insect nets) because of the temperature. We didn’t realise how wonderful our Development looks in mid-summer. This is just a quickly snatched photo:
By 7.00 am, we had drunk fresh orange juice, tea and were firing up our coffee maker for the first cup in four months of really good, fresh coffee. We have a list of jobs longer than all four of our arms including:
Have the car valeted
Sign back on at the Health Club
Visit Phyllis & Colin
Do on-line banking
Check and reallocate ISAs
Pay the Window Cleaner
Book return tunnel tickets to France for next week
Catch up on correspondence
Search out local Pick Your Own farms.
We think we might try this one. We’ve bought meat from them before and the quality is excellent.
Excellent meal of tomato & Basil salad with gorgeous, giant langoustines in garlic oil. To accompany this on a day of 27C/81F, we drank a chilled bottle of Chenin Blanc. Can I get those letters and emails done? We’ll see.
Just been reviewing our hotels across Europe which were generally very favourable. Booking.com and Expedia requested our views. I quite got a taste for it. There are a fair few Sifnos hotels I’d like to review as well.
23rd July, 2014
Up at 6.30 am today so getting better already. Beautiful summer’s day with clear blue skies and an overnight temperature of 22C/70F which is forecast to rise to 28C/82F during the day. We are going to a PYOF – a Pick Your Own farm. In fact, we might go to two. Unfortunately, we’ve missed asparagus for this year but strawberries, raspberries, black currants and gooseberries are currently being picked along with so many vegetables that we couldn’t eat or store them all.
Booked a return trip to France next week to buy wine and do some more shopping. Booking.com and Expedia have both emailed me to say thank you for all the Reviews and saying they have entitled me to 10% off all future bookings through them. I shall certainly keep writing Hotel reviews!
We signed back on at the Health Club yesterday so we will try to fit in a couple of hours this afternoon. There is so much to do!
It was a glorious morning down on the PYO farm. We picked 2.5 kilos of strawberries, about the same of raspberries, 3 kilos (podded weight) of broad beans which we love and about 2 kilos of French beans. We also bought lovely looking pork joints from the farm shop without having to kill our own pig! We drove back to our home, calling in at Phyllis & Colin’s house on the way to give them half of our fruit. The are both very old and wrinkly and can’t get out much so we thought they’d appreciate the help.
24th July, 2014
Another gorgeous day. The Met. Office are predicting roaring hot temperatures and sunshine well into the middle of August. It will be our first summer in UK for 17 years and it may well be the hottest on record. At least we won’t get the dreadful heatwaves of Greece this year.
As well as driving around Europe, we intend to start flying to cities again. For example, we intend to spend a few days in Bologna soon. Right on cue, a facility has been upgraded on our Private Banking Account. Priority Pass entitles us to enter and use the facilities of all the airports’ Executive Lounges – internet and fax, free refreshments, fast track check-in and boarding, etc.. It also allows us to get away from the general hubbub of the airport.
For example, when we fly to Athens in the winter, we can use all four Executive Lounges –
Aristotle Onassis Lounge
Swissport Executive Lounge
Melina Merkouri Lounge
Goldair CIP Lounge
I can see us making good use of this.
Did an hour at the Health Club this morning – the first for almost four months. We had intended to swim at the end but we were so shattered that we came home and devoured a huge bowl of strawberries and raspberries. Pauline has spent the afternoon researching new properties in Kent/Sussex area. We are not in a hurry and have specific requirements. It must be new-build. We want four bedrooms, separate Kitchen, Utility, Living room and, preferably, double Garage. We would like two of the bedrooms to have en suites plus a family bathroom. It must have good, fast broadband and be fully cabled for satellite television. Pauline would quite like a Conservatory but it is not a deal-breaker. We don’t want to spend much more than £500,000. One of our projects is to identify possible areas and drive down to explore their possibilities.
This style of house quite appeals to us both and can be purchased well within our budget. This particular one is just north of Ashford in Kent.
My friend on Paros has been waving to me again. Even in Surrey I can see him standing and waving from Aghia Anna. If we move further South, he will come even more in to view. Next Spring/Summer we will be much freer to travel – Sifnos/Paros – Poros/Skiathos. Perhaps I can meet up with fellow Bloggers who have felt like friends for so long.
25th July, 2014
A very full day. Up at 6.30 am and out at the supermarket by 8.00 am. Unfortunately, we found that it is a popular time with pensioners. They see it as a social event and idle down the aisles chatting as they go. We had a pre-prepared list and tried to do it all in less than an hour. We were going to go to have the car cleaned but time ran out. Back out to the Pick your Own farm for 10.00 am. We picked another three kilos of raspberries and strawberries and bought some ice cream. Fig & sherry was our favourite although we also liked Belgian chocolate flavour.
Next, we were off to the Health Club for an hour’s exercise although the pool was out of commission today. Back home for fruit and a little blob of ice cream. Talking of little blobs, I’m quite missing the Poison Dwarf! Did some correspondence. Heard from Elerania today and wrote back. Also wrote a letter to Emmanuella & John. Sorted out some annual travel insurance and began to search out hotels for a trip to Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk and Bologna in Italy.
Very humid and warm – 28C/82F – but much hotter in the sun as we picked fruit. Suddenly at 2.30 pm, the heavens opened announced by bright flashes of lightning and huge claps of thunder. Almost like Greece, the downpour was soon over and the sun came out again as if nothing had happened. Everything smelled wonderful and fresh.
26th July, 2014
After an early breakfast of fresh orange juice and tea, we set about booking the future with a will. First, we booked three nights in Walsingham near to Wells-next-the-Sea where Pauline spent many happy childhood holidays.
Next we booked our annual pilgrimage to Yorkshire/Lancashire in October. We will spend three nights there. Now we have to fit a trip to Bologna in before Christmas.
After a supermarket shop and a trip to Phyllis & Colin, we were exhausted. We will go back to the Health Club on Monday. This afternoon I have completed communications with Elerania, Emmanuella, Brian, Little Viv and Margaret & Tony. They have all been despatched and we are going to turn our attention to other matters.
A lovely, gentle and slow day in this peaceful hotel. We went for a late breakfast at 9.00 am and then read the Sunday papers and drank coffee. An hour in the gym followed using the jogging machine and the exercise bike. We went straight from there to spend an hour swimming in the pool.
This evening we have eaten grilled salmon steak with grilled vegetables prior to watching the World Cup Final. Who to root for?
We leave Patras on Tuesday afternoon at 14.30 and arrive in Ancona by 10.30 on Wednesday morning. A quick trip to a local market and then on to Parma for the night. Thursday morning sees us drive to Mulhouse in Alsace where we stay for one night and then on to Reims on the Friday morning for a two night stop. On Sunday morning, we drive to Calais where we will spend the night and go shopping in the hyper-stores on Monday morning before making our crossing through the Chunnel and on our way back up to Surrey. We should be home by about 13.30 depending on the M25 traffic. The whole trip is great fun and something to savour.
14th July, 2014
What a wonderful day! We’ve woken up with not a care in the world, done an hour’s swimming in the deserted pool, eaten breakfast and read the newspapers. Not bad after a late night last night watching the Germans inevitably win. Actually, I was quite pleased for them and the strength of teamwork. It was nice to see Angela Merkel supporting her team just like she’s supported the Greek economy.
Usually, we don’t get back from Greece until the beginning of October. This year, for the first time in almost fifteen years, we are planning a number of trips. This is the short list we are considering:
Drive to the Dordogne and stay for a few weeks. The Bergerac wine region appeals. My friend, Brian, had a house there and loved it.
Drive or fly to Bologna for a couple of weeks.
Revisit Venice. I have long looked forward to that.
Fly to Rome, Verona, Florence to sit and stare for a few days.
Spend some time in Madrid & Barcelona. We have never been to Spain and think it is about time we did.
Visit the Amalfi coast.
Go to Sicily.
We probably won’t manage half of those but we’ll make a start. Longer haul for next year could include visiting my childhood friend, Jonathan Kelly, who has just retired from US State R&D in Boston Massachusetts. I haven’t seen him since 1969. We have long talked about Australia & New Zealand and must visit them soon. After all, the world is our lobster! Talking of lobster, that’s what we’re having for Dinner.
15th July, 2014
The middle of July! Where does it all go? I suppose, we have been busy but still the time has flashed by. Now we are up, showered and dressed. We’ve had a cup of tea, watched the BBC News, downloaded the newspaper and we are off to breakfast before packing, checking out and driving down to the port.
We have our new tickets but still have to ‘check-in’ at least two hours before departure. The ship sails at 14.30 but we will be on by 1.00 pm and off to our cabin. It has a fridge well stocked with complimentary goodies, a television that shows Greek and Italian stations plus BBC News & CNN. It is furnished with a big and very comfortable double bed, a dining table and chairs and a sofa and easy chairs. The bathroom is well appointed with powerful shower and a hairdryer for Pauline. Meals are complimentary for Luxury travellers.
We will hole up there and won’t really see other passengers until we disembark tomorrow morning by which time the ship’s number will have been swelled by passengers from Igoumenitsa.
16th July, 2014
Great crossing and, after a wonderful sleep, a lovely, waiter-served breakfast and gallons of fresh coffee, we arrived at the port of Ancona at about 11.00 am. We drove straight off and took the road to Bologna and Parma where we stayed in a lovely hotel for the night.
We were there by 3.00 pm and had intended to go for a walk but the temperature had hit 34C/93F and the sun was intense. We settled for reading the newspapers in our air-conditioned room.
Italian hotels cannot serve poor food, it is against their religion and the restaurant in our hotel is no exception. We ate a Starter of Caprese Salata – buffalo mozzarella, beefsteak tomato, basil and olive oil,
oven roast, wild salmon with grilled vegetables and a bottle of local wine. It was to die for! Coffee in our room and an early night.
17th July, 2014
Up at 6.00 am and, after a light breakfast, we made an early start for our five hour drive to Alsace. It was warm and sunny as we left, got hotter as we navigated the Milano ring road during morning rush hour and, as we drove past the Lakes and into Switzerland, still featuring snowy peaks, the temperature rose to 27C/81F then 30C/86F.
The drive so far has been delightful and we arrived at Mulhouse in France by 1.00 pm. Our room was ready and there was a complimentary bottle of champagne in the fridge. We went straight off to the basement pool for a long swim and Jacuzzi to get the drive out of us.
Now, at 4.30 pm, we can open the champagne and relax. We have a four hour drive to Reims tomorrow.
18th July, 2014
No breakfast today just a cup of tea. On the road by 8.30 am. Temperature at 8.30 am 24C/75F but as we ambled along an empty motorway past Colmar and on towards Reims, the temperature hit 34C/93F.
With so little traffic on our five hour journey, I just set cruise control and sat back. Having only to hold the steering wheel, I was in danger of falling asleep. Fortunately, the car radio soon picked up BBC Radio 4 and Test Match Specialso I could be entertained throughout the drive.
While we were driving, Elerania phoned from her Sifnos office to ask how we were and where we were up to on the journey. She told us our buyers were absolutely over the moon with the house which was wonderful. She is a lovely girl and a wonderful Notary. We were incredibly lucky to switch our case to her. She really understood and fully sympathised with our situation. We stopped just once for coffee en route and arrived at our hotel in Reims – Best Western Hotel de la Paix– by 1.30 pm.
We had booked a spot in the underground car park and were soon stretching our limbs in the pool. The TV carries British channels which is rather nice.
We are going to have a day off from driving and spend it walking around Reims tomorrow.
19th July, 2014
Lovely, relaxing day. Up at 7.00 am and into the pool for 30 mins swim. Back to our room for orange juice, tea and coffee. Listened to BBC Radio 4 and downloaded The Times which was full of high temperatures and Lightning strikes across UK. We reached 33C/92F today and it was a little muggy.
Went out shopping in the centre of Reims but, although the area is fascinating and interesting, there was little that caught our eye.
Our meal today was rabbit terrrine, chicken & tarragon terrine, mixed olives and a wonderful melting white cheese that I can’t remember the name of. We drank a wonderful red – St Chinian Sacre Coeur – something I’ve never found before.
I shall certainly look for it again. Last leg of the European journey tomorrow when we do three hours to Coquelles, Calais. We will stay the night and then do our week’s shopping before diving under the sea a driving back up to Surrey. It really is so lovely to see well-stocked supermarkets again!
Lovely day. Our special friends came round for the morning and brought us a present each. That was nice. While we were drinking coffee, the Notary phoned – on a Sunday – to tell us of developments. After our friends had left, we went swimming in Kamares Bay where the water was a bit cooler than of late because of the recent winds.
Filet steak with onions and mushrooms for our meal and then preparing things for Monday.
7th July, 2014
We were up at 6.00 am and, in the cool of the morning, had a long chat with the Cat. We then cleared the patio of thousands of mating & dying flying ants that had appeared over night. Up to the Notary at 9.00 am and then off to the Accountant. Some important paperwork was back from Athens but still in the hands of the courier who lives in Faros. We went there immediately to pick it up. Everybody was amazed.
You went to Faros yourself?
It felt like we had sailed for South America single handed rather than drive five minutes to the next village. With the necessary paperwork in sweaty hands, we drove back to the Notary who gave us more documents to be photocopied and then taken up to the KEP (Public Administration) Office where Eleni stamped and countersigned them for free and suggested we keep her signature because it would be valuable one day.
Now we are going to Captain Andreas’ Taverna for Lunch to relax before another meeting tonight. Life is so hard when you’re retired! Evening meeting with the Notary and our special friend.
8th July, 2014
Oh what a night, what a night it was …..
Dramatic events at the Notary’s office last night. It was the celebration of our 30th year on Sifnos and, accompanied by our special friend, by the Notary, Elerania and by the buyers of our house, we exchanged contracts and received payment for our house which we started as a project 14 long years ago. It has been a wonderful experience but it is definitely time to leave the goldfish swimming around the bowl. We will depart in September but return as tourists in May and stay with our friends for a couple of months.
Although we knew exactly what was going to happen last night, it was still quite stressful. We drank a bottle of champagne in double quick time when we got home (can I call it that any more?). Today was extremely busy. We went to the Notary’s office and received a copy of the contract which we had to get photocopied. We took a copy to the accountant’s office with a box of cakes from Gerentopoulos
and another copy to the electricity shop but it was closed because of strike action. We will go tomorrow and try again.
We went to the Banks to deposit money and transfer it to our FedEx Bank – Moneycorp who will convert it into Sterling and send it to our British Bank. We will invest it in British property over the winter and ride the property wave in UK for a change. It is a strange feeling living in the house now but not owning it now but it is also very freeing! Our friends are coming round for drinks this evening. It will be nice to see Elerania in a social rather than official capacity.
9th July, 2014
Can life get much better than this? Up early on a still and hot morning which, ultimately reached 34C/93F. After breakfast – first for the cat and then us – we planned our attack as we so often have to in Greece. The finances from our house sale are being sent to our UK account via a FedEx Bank. First to the National Bank. We were soon sent home for an avalanche of paperwork – UK Electricity Bills (proof of address), UK Teachers Pensions P60s for last year (proof of paying taxes in UK), National Insurance Numbers (Equivalent of Greek Social Security Numbers), UK Tax Numbers (proof we knew our tax numbers), Passports (proof of place of birth). I managed to access everything on-line, cut and paste and mock-up convincing printouts. Second time round we passed the test and the button was pressed to send our money to UK.
On to Piraeus Bank where we already have on-line banking and a random-pin generator which didn’t seem to be working. We had the finances despatched manually in the bank and then they discovered that my rpg need to be ‘activated’ before it could be used. They helped me to do that in the Bank. We left as our money winged its way to our UK bank.
As we were leaving Piraeus Bank, John from Oraia Sifnos taverna came in. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years but, when we first came to Sifnos, 30 years ago, John was 20 years old and serving in Boulis Café/restaurant on the water front. He asked what I did and, when he learned I was a teacher, that was what he called me. Hey, teacher! he would call out when he saw me. That’s how he greeted me today. As we walked back to our car, we stumbled on Dimitris who did our outside tiling and did it very well. He and his wife came over for drinks last year. It was nice to see him and we might meet up over the next few weeks.
We have been helped by so many good people in the past three months that I would like to place on public record:
Elerania Miliotie, the Notary has been indefatigably spectacular.
Our Special Friend has been a constant source of support for the past three years
Kostis Dimitriades, the architect, has been a wonderful source of support and specialist inside information.
Smaragda and Margarita at the Accountants have chased and found everything.
Pigi & George in the National Bank and Georgia in the Piraeus Bank have been incredibly facilitating.
Giannis Chouz late of Germanos and now back at the Post Office has been overwhelmingly friendly and helpful. I owe him a huge debt. I may offer to sponsor his football team next season.
These people, for no real gain on their own part, have gone out of there way to help us right some wrongs and move on. They have contributed to our success and I pay tribute to them.
10th July, 2014
Like yesterday, the morning has opened warm and still unlike the cat who was jumping around everywhere demanding food. We are going out to the Notary’s office and then following up some business in Apollonia. Later, people will come to the house for drinks.
When we go out this morning, I am going to photograph Pauline in the dress that she wore in her first year on Sifnos thirty years ago. Like her, it is a classic!
At least she didn’t get it from Boden! I, of course was wearing the latest, nearly-new fashion.
We are going out to Dinner tonight. Our Special Friend is supposed to be coming up first for a chat. We are really tired after quite a stressful three days so we will have an early night especially as there is no football.
Interesting meal. The Poison Dwarf and her acolytes were also present. It helped to underline the rightness of leaving. Rania said she would say ‘Goodbye’ the following day when they were not present and we understood.
11th July, 2014
We were up early to say our goodbyes to the cat who seemed blissfully unaware of the moment. We put the last things in the car and waited for the new owners to arrive. They were right on time at 10.30 am and we gave each other hugs and kisses and left them to enjoy their new home. The Notary said they would be the subject of great jealousy because so many expressed interest in buying “the best house on the island” but they were the only ones who could afford it. We are certainly glad we sold it to Greeks who will own it for the rest of their lives, bring up a family there and pass it on to their children. We were very happy with the price they paid and certainly didn’t want it to fall in to the hands of some strange tourist!
We drove down to the port and parked up to wait for Speedrunner. Our Special Friends and the Notary went out of their ways to be there and say, Goodbye for now. We have arranged to stay for a couple of months with the former next summer and then go to spend time on Poros with the latter. Even Stavros came down to wave us off which was nice. We drove on to the ferry and walked up to the VIP Lounge. It was beautifully air conditioned and almost empty. We ate smoked salmon sandwiches with a bottle of cold white wine and toasted ‘absent friends’. I had hardly finished the newspaper on my iPad when we pulled into Piraeus.
Friday night traffic in Piraeus was quite heavy but we were soon on the National Road and reached Patras two and a half hours later – just after 6.00 pm. As we drove, our special friends phoned to check we were ok. Just five miles further is the small village of Kaminia which has two hotels owned by the same family. The Poseidon Hotel and The Poseidon Palace Hotel front on the Gulf of Patras and are separated by a large citrus orchard. The latter is five star and features a wonderful pool, gym, steam room and sauna. The restaurant is fantastic and the rooms are large and comfortable. If you know Patras, this hotel is an oasis of luxury and calm. This will be our fifth time there. It is so much cheaper than four year’s ago. We moved from Patras Palace which was near to the old port and rapidly went down hill as the new port opened.
Sifnos is a desert for good fish and we have felt starved of it. Our first meal was grilled Sea Bream and an iced bottle of champagne to celebrate. We even resisted dancing the Gay Gordons! After all, we had left the goldfish behind. Just as we went to bed, our friend phoned to send Love and wish us well.
12th July, 2014
We slept so well and woke early and refreshed. Breakfast is buffet-style and as varied as one’s imagination. Unfortunately, we are not so equipped to take advantage of it now but, still, it was enjoyable. We drove down to the port and visited Superfast offices to collect our revised tickets. Originally, we were booked for the end of September and we were concerned that the few Luxury cabins would already be booked in July. Not a bit. We had full availability. We opted to sail on Tuesday.
Back at the hotel, we swam in the pool for an hour – until we were tired then made coffee and read the papers. Later, we went out for (what we considered) a six mile walk and returned rather tired. We order grilled mixed fish – salmon, swordfish, baby squids, mussels and octopus – with grilled vegetables – peppers, aubergines, oyster mushrooms, etc. – in our room. I managed to keep up with British radio and the Test Match. I was thrilled to hear Root and Anderson do so well.
A cooler day which is rather blustery. Out at 8.30 am to the café. Coffee and tea and then a quick visit to the Notary who is putting in overtime on a Sunday. Life is busy for her at the moment and she’s having her new office decorated. She is so helpful and understanding we can’t believe it!
Back home to read the Sunday papers. They make fairly grim reading for any Europhile. Twelve months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered the idea of UK leaving Europe. Now, I think it is odds on we will leave in the next three years. Cameron has played it very badly and, for short term party politics he has appeased the right wing by leaping in the dark. Now he is bound by a referendum which he looks increasingly likely to lose. We will all be the poorer.
For the first time in two weeks, we haven’t been for a swim. It was too windy to be comfortable. Mother Cat has eaten three and a half meals. Holland came back with a dubious penalty in the final minutes to beat Mexico 2-1. The Mexicans were definitely unlucky to lose.
30th June, 2014
The end of June and a warm day again with our car registering 28C/83F. Had an mid morning meeting with the Notary in her newly decorated offices and then off to the bank where were had a enjoyable chat with the newish Bank Manager. Georgia, a Cretan, is a delightful young woman who was extremely helpful.
Swimming was lovely today. The water was warm and pleasant. Our meal today was onion omelette using the eggs donated by the Elinoil petrol station and delicious they were too! The newspapers are full of cockahoop Tory MPs who are now in sight of their goal of getting us out of Europe and returning us to the Dark Ages of isolation and Little Englanders. The Daily Telegraph’s headline is: The “Junckernaut” is driving Britain to inevitable separation. The point they make is that failure to join the euro has made this inevitable.
1st July, 2014
Happy July 2014 to most of our readers. The tradition goes that the first to say white rabbit on the first day of a new month will have good luck throughout that month. I woke Pauline at 4.00 am to wish her ‘White Rabbit’ and my lucky month began by being sent out to clean the patio. Never accept tradition at face value or Greeks bearing gifts!
It seems to be ant season. There are trails everywhere outside and, particularly, on our patio. We brought a huge stock of ant boxes but, already, we are beginning to question if we have enough to get through until October. Maybe the problem will die down anyway.
It took me three hours but the tiles are looking wonderful again and I feel as if I’ve done some ‘useful’, physical work. The reward is to go out for Lunch. We are going back to Vathy. I hope to get rabbit on the third time of asking.
We did and it was wonderful. Roast saddle of rabbit with oregano. I know from experience that roasting rabbit isn’t easy. It is easy to over cook and make very dry. This was succulent, moist and full of flavour. What am I doing eating rabbit on White Rabbit Day?
2nd July, 2014
Wonderful day today. Started mundanely by cleaning the car. Received an email from Bart Simpson who I have missed for a while. He is back on Paros and with a new Blog entitled: Little greek Island. He is a pleasant and interesting man who is well worth following.
We spent the morning in discussions with out Private Bank Manager at Nat. West in UK. It is an excellent service although we pay quite a lot for it. Next I had to communicate with MoneyCorp, a FedEx Bank that is highly respected in UK.
We have agreed a suitable policy together.
3rd July, 2014
Up early this morning – well before 7.00 am.. Mother Cat dropped in to say Good Morning (in cat speak) but didn’t stay for any breakfast for the first time in three months. We had a leisurely start to the morning – Juice and Tea followed by the papers – before the serious work started when I had my hair cut. We did some tidying out of cupboards. It really is amazing how much useless stuff one accumulates over a decade but become reluctant to throw out. Moneycorp phoned to confirm our intentions and we decided to forgo our swim.
We had a wonderful swim yesterday. The water was delightful, clear and refreshing. The wind today is so strong and blustery, swimming wouldn’t be enjoyable. Anyway, we’ve got a very busy day tomorrow so this is a pleasant counterpoint.
4th July, 2014
The TV news included an item on incredibly strong winds frustrating Independence Day celebrations in the US. Here strong winds have dashed hopes of a pleasant swim and will probably do so tomorrow as well. We have been up to Apollonia for a meeting and to visit the café. We met up with Costas, the woodman who supplied our windows and doors. A bit of shopping and then things retired people do like reading the papers, resting, etc. France v Germany and Colombia v Brazil tonight.
Mother Cat has started behaving strangely. She didn’t come for breakfast yesterday and hardly touched her Dinner but drank an entire bowl of water voraciously last night. This morning she ate her breakfast but then walked straight in to the bush where she gave bith last year. We find it incredible that she should be pregnant because their has been no physical sign but she has been eating three meals a day for weeks so who knows.
I would like to say I took this photo in the garden but it wouldn’t be true. I was just struck by its quality.
5th July, 2014
What a wonderful day after a tumultuous night. I think I have quoted a famous line from our erstwhile Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, before but it is so apposite:
Wind
This house has been far out at sea all night, The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills, Winds stampeding the fields under the window Floundering black astride and blinding wet
Well, forget the wet but the rest fits perfectly. We closed all the shutters to avoid flexing and creaking. It was just as well because the booming wind was enough in itself. No damage but we were still quite tired at 6.55 am..
Did our shopping and noted the nearly €5Million donated by the EU (Us) for the new school. Later drove up to see the development of waste disposal at a cost of just over €5Million (Us again). People in UK would be horrified to see their subsidy of remote projects and would push even harder to leave the EU.
Our special friend phoned and we agreed to meet her and her husband this coming week. The Notary phoned and we shot back up to see her with paperwork. Life is jogging along nicely. We’ve had a lovely day and pensioners can ask for no more from life than that!
Up at 6.30 am and, before the cat could get her stomach in gear, we went out down to the dustbin drop to get rid of a smelly bag. This hot weather makes them turn very quickly. At that time in the morning, it was 22C/70F and before the sun was up so that was probably the mean, overnight number. It certainly still feels very comfortable for sleeping.
I’ve probably written about this before so stop me if I’m boring you but sleeping is something which has always interested me. For forty years while we were working, Pauline and I would rise at 6.00 am and just after 7.00 am, after a shower and a cup of tea, drive from Yorkshire where we lived over the Pennines to Lancashire where we worked. Bedtime for me was generally midnight. Six hours sleep was enough. Now retired, our friends expect us to catch on sleep. What’s the need to be up? I say that I never want to get like that. On the day we retired, I asked Pauline to kick me out of bed no later than 7.00 am and she has duly obliged every day for the past five years. We make the early mornings as productive as we can, getting jobs done while we are energetic. You’re a long time dead. Make the most of your waking hours!
By 8.00 am, we were on our way to Café Prago and to a meeting with our friend, the Notary’s husband after a phone call from Milos to arrange it. At the café, this little chap came over to make friends.
The temperature had climbed to 27C/81F by 10.00 am. We’ve come home to catch up on the Sunday newspapers, water some trees and bushes and then go for a swim. The water is wonderful and crystal clear. By 2.00 pm, the temperature is 30C/86F and swimming is all we want to do. Later, Pauline cooks steak & grilled vegetables in a red wine reduction sauce. Wonderful!
23rd June, 2014
A bit breezier and fresher this morning although we are expecting 28C/82F by afternoon. Apart from a swim, we are spending a quiet day at home catching up on emails, watering trees and bushes and reading the papers.
Today’s Times carries this front page and this page 5:
Before the fund HS2 at a potential £46bn, the Tories are proposing to build HS3 to save 25 mins travelling time between Manchester & Leeds. At the same time, cutting back the NHS which only needs £2bn. The High Speed rail lines will be absolutely inrrelevant by 2030 when they’re finished because superfast digital links will just make that sort of travel largely needless and yet the health of the nation will suffer. And proposals are being put forward to charge £10.00 for visits to the doctor. The world has gone mad!
24th June, 2014
A lovely summer’s day – 26F/79F at 9.30 am – with a pleasant breeze. We are in our eleventh week on the island and had to go up to the Elinoil station to fill up the car for only the third time this year. It cost 90€/£72.00 but is was very empty. The owner of the petrol station and his family are quite delightful people. Father gave us the bill and then a bag of 16 fresh eggs from his own chickens which he was pleased to point out were all date-stamped. Actually, each one had the date of collection written on in biro but it was his little joke.
As we left, he said, watch NERIT (the new Government backed channel) at 1.00 pm today. Apostolos is playing his bouzouki, This is his son, a lovely lad who is about to go off to college to train as a car mechanic but plays beautifully and, until recently, had a pet grouse called ‘Famous’ which he kept in a box. We must time our swim so as not to miss it.
Actually, we decided we didn’t have time for a swim on Sifnos. Nikiforos called with his taxi just after 1.00 pm and took us down to the port. We had an interesting discussion while waiting for Speedrunner with an American diplomat from Washington DC and his Russian wife who teaches Russian geopolitics in the local university. We had booked VIP Class and it was quite delightful. The taxi from Piraeus to our hotel – the 5* Electra Palace in Plaka – cost just 20.00€ and we were soon out to eat at one of our favourite roadside tavernas.
We were tired and went to bed about 11.00 am but woke up dry at around 3.30 am and we made a cup of tea. Flicking the channels on the TV, we came across Apostelos from the petrol station playing his balalaika in a repeat of the lunchtime show.
25th June, 2014
Already a warm 27C/81F and still. Swimming and little else will be the order of the day. Actually, we managed to get an hour and a half walk in after breakfast and before the thermometer showed a warm 38C/101F. Didn’t stay up for the Greek match last night but it was lovely to see it this morning re-played over and over again – particularly the last five minutes. Pleased Samaras was the scorer. He’s almost British now anyway.
Of course, we had picked the four warmest days of the year so far in Athens. It was just too hot to swim in the rooftop pool so we used the indoor, air-conditioned gym and pool. It was totally deserted apart from the Beauticians doing pedicure/manicure/massage and general pampering. We did about an hour of exercise to make up for the smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast.
26th June, 2014
‘Phew, what a scorcher!’ will probably be today’s headline. It is 11.00 am and already 32C/90F. We don’t have a lot planned apart from swimming. The newspapers are full of jokes about Suarez going out for an Italian and the Snickers advert which they say is tastier than an Italian. I feel sorry for Liverpool. They were denied the Championship at the last gasp and now may lose their top striker for months. The lad is mad. Why doesn’t he eat sensibly?
Pauline has been out this morning to the hairdressers – Michalis Anousakis salon- which is just across the street from our hotel. Later, we brave the heat to walk to Psiri district.
Talking about eating. We’ve gone fish mad recently. Baby fresh squid on Tuesday followed by grilled sea bass yesterday and grilled salmon today. No wonder we’re doing so much swimming. Anyway, the temperature has reached 40C/104F. There are a lot of very red faced tourists wandering aimlessly around. Fortunately, we are not in that class. While we are having Dinner, the Notary phones to confirm some news we were waiting for. We have agreed to meet with her on Saturday.
27th June, 2014
A lazy morning of breakfast, newspapers, swimming and packing. A taxi arrives to take us down to the port of Piraeus for just before 4.00 pm. We go straight on board and into air-conditioned VIP seats for a glass of wine and some peanuts. Back on Sifnos, Nikiforos is waiting for us to whisk us home. Mother Cat arrives immediately and reproachfully devours two day’s worth of Beefy chunks with a hint of salmon. She then proceeds to talk to us for half an hour as if she’s missed us. We feel terrible but there’s probably worse to come.
28th June, 2014
Mother Cat was so insecure after being left for four days that she stayed close all night. This morning, she was sleeping on my dining chair on the patio when we got up just before 7.00 am and after two helpings of her favourite dried food – salmon flavour – she went back on to the patio wall to enjoy the early morning breeze in her fur. I photographed her through the insect net which degrades the picture rather:
Off to do the week’s shopping, get some photocopying done and meet the Notary. Later, we will have a swim. The days are so hard!
