Sanders Blog

23rd December, 2012

The Blog began four years ago this week. Mum had died a few months earlier. Pauline’s Mum was still with us although she was beginning to feel rather unstable on her feet at the age of 94. She managed another two years. Four months after the first Blog entries, we had left our jobs and taken the first steps into the world of retirement. We had already spent a our holidays for a couple of years in our Greek house and were contemplating freshening up our home in England prior to putting it on the market. At the time, we had intended to work for one more year. We might even have done two if the house didn’t sell. As it is, we had to seize the financial settlement on offer while it was there and to move on to our next five year plan.

Unlike previous diary attempts which failed on day two, this one has endured for the very reason that so much has changed in our lives since its inception. The Blog has formed a stable axis of a turning world and I believe that it will continue to do so.

24th December, 2012

A lovely, bright and extremely mild day. Pauline has spent the morning preparing things for the family feast tomorrow – making chocolate torte, making ice cream and orange sorbet. I spent a few hours working on a new, on-line photo album software which I need to help me upgrade the Sanders Site as it presents new things. Later in the afternoon, we all met at The Maybury Inn for an early evening meal. Two of the boys, aged 11 and 9, were already rather too tired. It was a nice, homely meal to start Christmas.

25th December, 2012

To most of our Greek readers, Καλά Χριστούγεννα. Happy Christmas to one & all. Bah, Humbug!

We woke to a mild, bright morning but, by the time we had finished breakfast, the skies were leaden with dark thunder clouds which opened and deluged the neighbourhood. Soon we will leave for Pauline’s family’s home to suffer Christmas.

Pauline cooked a wonderful meal. Everyone had a happy time. We ran off when Strictly Come Dancing was mentioned and retreated to the sanity of ‘Sanders Towers’.

26th December, 2012

The morning is wonderful and calm. The sky is blue and the sun is pouring through the windows. The temperature is only 8C/47F but feels much warmer. No Health Club today. We used to drive to the coast for a picnic on Boxing Day but we have decided to spend the day reading and writing. Pauline sent for three swimming costumes and they arrived on Christmas Eve. She is trying them on this morning and parading around the house. All part of life’s rich tapestry. This evening, there are a couple of football matches to watch.

Turkey Pie for our meal today followed by the remainder of the wonderful chocolate torte with raspberry sauce that Pauline made for the Christmas Day meal.

The whole day was complete when United won in the last minute and City lost….again.

27th December, 2012

Another lovely & bright day. I received a letter from Bill Flook including copies of :

• Mabel Lilian Flook’s Birth Certificate
• Mabel Lilian Flook’s Marriage Certificate to Richard Watthew Sanders – our Grandfather
• Mabel Lilian Flook’s Death Certificate
• Richard Watthew Sanders’ Birth Certificate

While I was idly browsing a research bank, I also came across

• Auntie Kessie’s Teaching Appointment Record.

I am beginning to make connections, to feel empathy with lost members of my family. I am wandering around in a world of Repton of a century ago and to realise what events must have meant to them. It is quite exciting.

Phyllis bought us some wonderful freesias before Christmas and, as they continue to open, the lounge becomes increasingly perfumed. I love flowers. If it didn’t feel so decadent and self indulgent, I would fill the house with them.

28th December, 2012

Incredibly mild for the end of December. These dog days between Christmas and New Year are strangely anti-climactic. However, we have our wedding anniversary to celebrate on the 30th so that is one event to look forward to. We may go out for lunch if we can manage to eat anything after Christmas food.

I’ve spent the day planning for 2013. Pauline & I always like to be clear about our commitments and targets where ever we are. More of this will unfold as time passes. For the immediate, I am about to work on the Sanders Website and one of my needs is display the genealogical material efficiently. I particularly want to display graphics attractively. I use Macromedia Dreamweaver and there is a very basic facility in there to do the job but the professional platform is Java. I learned very early on that I am not a scripter. I went on a very expensive three day course and sank without trace. I was quite surprised because I think extremely logically but I was useless at learning script. I’ve bought a small, off-the-peg program to build my presentations for me. Even I can do it. Now the web will be swamped with photo albums.

29th December, 2012

Received an email from Ruth today with a nice photo of a few old codgers. I’m still looking for the key to turn time back particularly when I hear reports of people like Tony Gregg falling off the conveyor belt at 66!

16th December, 2012  

This is the last week of the fourth year of my Blog. I would never have believed, when I started, that I would sustain it so long. I am determined now to maintain it until I can no longer write even if its format or platform is forced to change at some time in the future. I may be the only one but it gives me genuine pleasure. Pauline has proof-read the whole four years and I am about to save it in Pdf form as well so I can make a future hard copy. All sounds a bit navel-gazing but, when you’ve got a navel like mine, what else can you do?

My Great Great Grandfather, Edwin Thomas Sanders, Chairman of Repton District Council, had a brother William (1869 – 1927). I was browsing through some old newspaper reports and came across this:

According to the family tree I’ve inherited, William would be 30 years old at this time and a bit mature for this recklessness but who knows. His father, my  Great Great Grandfather, Richard Sanders, owned the flour mill at the end of Main Street and I was lucky to find two photographs in a little softback book of photos of Repton.

They are said to date from 1900 and feature the mill which is their home. The children who would have lived here at some timed were Annie, Edwin Thomas, Sarah, Alfred Henry, Mary Jane and William Richard. By the time of these photos, Great Great Grandfather, Richard Sanders had been dead for nine years and Edwin Thomas, as the eldest surviving male heir, had taken over in charge of the Mill. In the photograph, above left, Alfred Henry Sanders (1864 – 1938) is seen holding the horse, centre right. The woman standing is Mary-Jane (1866 – 1946) and the woman sitting is Sarah (1862 – 1940).

The photograph above right shows Mary Jane feeding the chickens and a pig. Her long skirt trails in the mud. Mud splatters feature on the once white walls of the thatched dwelling. The water supply is a hand pump from the well on the outside wall of the house. Cold, dark, damp and dirty is what springs to mind. Having said that, they all lived to respectable ages (at least those that didn’t die in infancy.) Great Great Grandfather lived to 70. Annie lived to 76, Edwin Thomas to 67, Sarah to 78, Alfred Henry to 74, Mary Jane to 80. Only the youngest, William Richard let them down by only managing 58 years but I suppose he was a bit reckless!

Actually, Edwin Thomas is listed in 1895 as a Builder of Repton, as I suspected. Wealth built up in milling was being used to diversify into other services. I have to present the next article of evidence in two pieces. The item, below left, is continued by the item, below right. It is a report in The Derby Mercury of 1895 of a Lively Parish Meeting in which the second half lists E.T. Sanders (Builder) as dissenting. It also shows William Dakin (retired builder) as in the dissenting ratepayers of Repton. William Dakin was married to Edwin Thomas’ sister, Annie.

By 1909, Edwin Thomas was a highly respected member of the community, aged 49 and describing himself as a builder. He was elected to Burton Board of Guardians and Repton Rural Distric Council.

I cooked Cassoulet for Dinner this evening. It was a real success.

17th December, 2012

We were just about to go swimming when we found our road had been totally closed for resurfacing without any warning at all. We now realise that this was at the behest of the developers not the Local Authority so there were none of the statutory notices in advance. Lucky we had no emergencies.

Spent the day researching and found the source of Richard Sanders (1821 – 1891), my Great Great Grandfather’s Will and of William Dakin’s, who was married to my Great Aunt Annie. I have to send to the Derbyshire Records Office for copies.

Ate a wonderfully, smelly, gooey cheese that is like imbibing a deep tasting double cream with attitude. We bought it in France on spec.:

18th December, 2012

The daily swimming session is beginning to show real dividends. We are doing just 600 m. each day but I’m feeling much better for it. Having missed a day yesterday because of the roadworks, I felt quite tired today at the end of 600 m.. I’ve got to be up to 800 m. by the end of January and 1000 m. / 1 k. by the end of March. We’ve got to incorporate the jogging and rowing machines in the new year.

19th December, 2012

The day has started with beautiful sunshine. We have no appointments booked apart from the Health Club. I hate Christmas and all it stands for both religious and commercial but I love getting cards. I love all mail. It is a standing joke in our house that I run like a puppy to grab the post as it comes through the letter box. I love ‘junk’ mail. I am happy opening and reading a flyer from the latest pizza joint nearby even though I will never eat their wares but I love hearing from relatives and friends and cards and newsletters are just my thing. Got a card and newsletter from an old school colleague this morning which was lovely to open. People’s lives are what really interests me and people watching.

Felt absolutely dead after swimming today. It was raining and Pauline put her umbrella up, saying she didn’t want to get wet! News on Greece was good today with the City announcing, Standard & Poor’s ratings agency last night upgraded Greece’s credit grade by six notches. This is its best position for the Greek economy for quite a while.

I’m cooking again tonight – Duck and Green Salad – but not being too adventurous. We bought wonderful, huge duck breasts in France and their flavour is dynamic. Washed down with a carafe of claret. Wonderful! I’ll be back swimming tomorrow.

20th December, 2012

Welcome to 20. 12. 20.12. A dark and gloomy day. Heavy rain all night has given way to persistent rain this morning. It feels cold at 9C but I notice Sifnos is only 9C this morning and Skiathos is only 8C  with torrential rain that has made an impact on the streets. For me: Operation ‘Tidy Study’ this morning before swimming.

You will notice the other Blogs I follow in the Blogroll or ‘Links’ list at the side of my writing. I usually work my way up from the bottom to the top although some are not currently operative. An interesting lady who lives in Piraeus and writes almost exclusively about food has written an interesting article in the last couple of days entitled: Are there too many municipal employees? It can only be a rhetorical question but so many, native Greeks can’t see it or, at least, acknowledge it. Just as it is for the State industries/services, so it is for State Bureaucracy. The author is not Greek but married to a Greek. She is in a unique position to observe and comment. I wish she would do more of it.

It is fatal being retired and married to a cook. We appear to have eaten all the mince pies she has made. And now she’s made a Christmas Cake. Actually, she made it weeks ago but iced it today. The little decorations on the top typify Pauline completely. She bought them in 1967 when she was doing her ‘O Level Domestic Science. Unlike me who would have lost (or eaten) them by January 1968, Pauline has kept and used them for 45 years. She has a wonderfu sense of continuity. We’ve been married 34 years at the end of this month. Can she keep me going as long as the decorations?

21st December, 2012

This is the shortest day – Winter Solstice 2012. In fact, the skies are blue, the sun is out, squirrels are running around with gay abandon. Yesterday’s dark skies would have been much more appropriate. I may have to divorce my wife. I will certainly have to restrain her. Yesterday, in addition to all the other cooking, she made an apricot and cream sponge sandwich cake. I was going to put a picture of it on my Blog today but we ate it. (The cake not the Blog.) I will never lose weight at this rate. We had to put in an especially hard swim today but now I can’t walk.

Had a lovely, long phone call from our Greek Amanuensis last night. We caught up with lots of island gossip. Stories of torrential rain abound. We had sent our friends a large box of presents we bought at Fortnum & Masons – Different sorts of teas, speciality coffees, high quality chocolates, fudge, biscuits, etc.. It arrived on the F/b Adamas Korais on Wednesday and they had great fun opening each, individually wrapped item. We had to say a massive thank you for their very special help and friendship. They told us that another of our friends, the Notary, had suffered a fall in her office and is quite badly injured. We will speak to her tonight.

22nd December, 2012

This is the season of goodwill to all men. It seems to include Greeks. Reading Kathimerini over the last couple of days, the news about Greece is unbelievably positive. You might like these articles:

• Current account deficit shrinks further, lifting economy.
• Last major austerity package, says eurozone official.
• German paper picks Samaras as politician of the year.

Who would have thought that Samaras could do it. He’s held the most unlikely coalition together for almost six months against the opposition of almost 50% of the constituency. The Germans have been the Greeks’ bogeymen and to hear them recognise Samaras’ achievement will mean a lot – as will the suggestion that they need not fear another austerity package. Whether or not it is true, the Greeks feel they have been subjected to new austerity measures every few months for the past three years. After all, they’re even having to paying tax on their earnings now. Where will it end?

 9th December, 2012

Sunday, which used to be such a dreaded day – family at church followed by family lunch followed by family walk – is a lovely, relaxing day. The Sunday Times is interesting today. Gove’s war over pay for teachers is one of the provocative items. I’m not a teacher. It won’t affect me but it still riles me. The man is bonkers! He is already talking about putting his Department on a ‘war footing’ against the teachers. Having floated the idea of regional pay, he is now pushing ‘payment by results’. Both show a complete lack of understanding of the type of people who become teachers. I walk round the lounge, seething against things which will have no bearing upon me. Pauline tells me to calm down.

I sit down with a cup of capuccino and sip it slowly like a Greek and then turn back to my iPad newspaper to read: People have morals, not firms like Starbucks and my blood pressure hits the roof. I think back to this time last year as HMRC pursued us for £3000.00 of unpaid tax and wonder what sort of world I’m living in. I suddenly realise that I am fiercely pacing the lounge and Pauline is telling me to sit down. I turn back to my coffee and iPad and read: Nurse Russell knows what’s killing the NHS and I’m back in the chaos that Pauline & I have experienced over the past five years or so. I really am becoming a grumpy old man. I’ve always had a point of view but now I’ve got time to pursue it. The House of Commons email server will be reset to block my address very soon!

It was all brought back to perspective by a football match. Now that is worth getting worked up about, particularly when it’s City v Utd..And what a match! United deserved to win 2 – 3 but the quality was high on both sides. Later, I cooked tarragon chicken and potatoes with a cold & crisp, lemon-tangy, Pinot Grigot. My blood pressure’s feeling better.

10th December, 2012

Pauline is unwell. It’s only a head cold but, after four, clear years, it has hit her. She had forgotten what it was like. Today she is dosed up with Lemsip. She is staying in doors because it’s quite cold outside. We are not going swimming until tomorrow.

I received a second email from my cousin, David. It contains lots of good information plus two photographs that I haven’t seen before. Of course, David is very, very old so I would expect his memory of family history to be much deeper than mine.

This photograph was taken – I’m sure in our garden in Repton – I believe around the date 1924-25. It is a happy family scene featuring my Grandmother who I never met, Mabel Lilian Flook with Aunti Kath on her knee and my Grandfather, Richard Watthew Sanders with Aunti Marg. on his knee. Dad, Eric Richard Sanders aged 10+, is sitting in the middle looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. I looked identical at that age.

I wrote earlier about being contacted by a member of the Flook family who has quite a bit of family tree work done already. I’ve finally been able to reply with information about and photographs of his/her Aunt, Mabel Lilian.

11th December, 2012

In spite of strong sun and cloudless sky, the frost has stayed all day. Even now, at 3.00 pm., frost whitens the lawn under the trees. Unfortunately, we are due to be out early tomorrow for a shopping trip to France and freezing fog is forecast. We’ve checked oil, tyres and water. We’ll see what the next morning brings.

12th December, 2012

Up at 4.30 am and out at 5.30 am. It is -4C and we are expecting freezing fog on the motorway. The temperature falls to -6C as we drive but the fog stays away. We get to the tunnel check-in with 45 mins to spare. The sun is just coming up as we drive through passport control which is a desultory affair.

Time for coffee and newspapers. The 8.00 am crossing seems popular. The 30 min crossing is soon over. Lovely sunny morning in France. We drive to the wine store first. We only spend around €200.00. Unlike the old days, travelling from Yorkshire, we can pop over the Channel any time we like. We don’t need to stock up for six months. Off to Auchan in Coquelles for coffee and grocery shopping. We bought a bit more wine including a case of champagne for Christmas, a large assortment of pork, duck, rabbit, fresh salmon and white fish. Lots of salad things, meat patés, and an assortment of cheeses.

I can’t cope with more than two hours shopping anywhere. By 12.30 pm (French), I was shattered. We bought a sandwich which we ate with coffee and checked-in for an early train home. As we drove up the motorway at 2.00 pm (UK), the sun was already going down. The temperature dropped 4 degrees immediately we crossed the Channel. The further we drove into Surrey, it was apparent that the frost had never disappeared. I couldn’t really stop to photograph the really intense scene. My iPad grabbed this.

13th December, 2012

Another very cold morning. Up at 6.00 am and queuing outside Woking Walk-in Hospital bt 6.45 am in -4C. Born in Derbyshire and 40 years in Yorkshire has toughened us. It was noticeable that the Surreyites couldn’t take it this morning. Later we take the wine we bought for Phyllis & Colin. They seem happy.

Pauline is still really suffering with this cold. It is almost a week now. We decide to stay in the warm. Pauline is cooking salmon & pesto parcels for the Christmas Day starters. I’m continuing to work on the update for Sanders Web which will be lauch as soon as I’m happy with it.

It is reported on a Greek Blogsite today that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras declared that the Grexit era was dead. Speaking in Brussels to reporters after the Eurogroup approved the mammoth bailout fund of 52.5 billion euro, an obviously relieved Samaras said:

“Solidarity in our union is alive, ‘Grexit’ is dead. Greece is back on its feet.The sacrifices of Greek people have not been in vain,. It’s not only a new day for Greece but also a new day for Europe.”

“Grexit’ is the short term used by international media commentators and economists to describe scenarios about the possibility of bankrupt Greece exiting the euro zone.

14th December, 2012

Heavy rain outside with occasional flakes of snow. We’ve just been told that West Yorkshire has had its once a year morning of black ice with people unable to step out of the houses without falling, multiple car crashes and lots of rescue horror stories. Dozens of Kirklees schools were closed today. We remember the experience vividly and I was only too pleased to sit and watch the cricket. Lovely stuff. It is so good to watch a winning England side.

For living in the development that contains our duplex apartment, we pay a service charge. It is something we have never done before. Originally, it was set at just under £2000.00 per year and we expected it to increase every five years or so. This charge pays for weekly cleaning of public areas inside and out. Although we have our own front door on to the garden, we walked down a carpeted corridor to the underground carpark. That corridor is cleaned and hoovered every week. Windows are cleaned. The Development and the carpark electric gates are serviced when required. Trees and bushes are planted and pruned. The leaves swept up and taken away. The lawns are mowed. The parking areas are swept. The communal lighting is maintained as is the binstore. The tv satellite and distribution system is maintained, all electrics, water, etc. are maintained. To add to this, it includes the cost of generating power in our own on-site Energy Centre and supply of all our heating and hot water. It also includes our house insurance and Emergency Repair Service. The more one looks, the more it seems to be a very good deal. What has made it even better is that the £2000.00 per year has been reduced over two years to £1400.00.

Quite unexpectedly today I received a phone call from Bill Flook. He had written to me out of the blue during the summer. I’m still not sure what relation he is to me. All I can tell you is that my Grandmother Mabel Lilian who I never met was Bill’s Aunt being the older sister of Bill’s Father, Norman, Albert Flook. He is only 50 which surprised me and he has been an invalid for twenty years. He has agreed to send me paperwork of his research and I will do similarly.

15th December, 2012

Beautiful, bright and sunny day with much better temperatures up at 10C. I’ve completed the setting up of a new, on-line savings account and received the paperwork to start using it today. The only thing is that it’s a whole 1% less than last year.

Spurred on by Bill Flook contacting me, I’ve returned to research today. I’m enjoying looking through past newspaper records and I just illustrate a few findings today. Family members will remember that Grandad Sanders – Richard Watthew – had three fingers missing on one hand. We were told that he cut them off in the circular saw in the wood store. Well, I found confirmation of that:

I’m not sure Granddad would have described it as a Minor Mishap.To put this horrible and traumatic accident – referred to by one newspaper as a ‘little mishap’, into context, it happened one year after his father died and just six months after his wife has given birth to Edwina, an experience that has or is beginning to unhinge her mind. And we wondered why Grandad was so monosyllabic and serious.

A few years later he was bouncing back as the following advert illustrates:

2nd December, 2012

Interesting article about inflationary pressures in the British economy in The Times yesterday. It was illustrated by this chart:

It is allied in my mind to the suggestion that Public Sector pay is unlikely to rise before the next election under this coalition. It is also apposite because we retired one year after it’s baseline. In that time, because we have payed up our mortgage and down-sized and because our Teaching Pensions have increased by inflation plus Pauline is about to access the State Pension, our disposable income will have risen by around 20% whereas the average, per capita household income has diminished by just less than 4%. At the same time, while energy bills have nationally increased by 63%, ours have literally tumbled by around 60% as we’ve left our large house. Petrol costs are up by 13% nationally whereas ours are down by at least 50%. OK, we still eat and food prices have affected us like everyone else but the overall position has led to us feeling incredibly fortunate and not in a position we could have predicted when we took our first, tremulous steps into retirement.

3rd December, 2012

You can always tell people with time on their hands. One of the jobs on the list for this week is Christmas post. Cards and presents for Greek friends. I’ve managed to resist the Poison Dwarf this year. Cards for British and French friends and relatives. My job was to do a brief, illustrated note – one for Greece and another for Britain – to slip inside the card. I was also responsible for printing the address labels from our database. Pauline had the easy job of handwriting all the cards because she doesn’t trust me. Once she went mad because I signed them all from John & Pauline Sanders. I couldn’t see what was wrong with that but she said it was rudely impersonal. I argued that I hated receiving cards from people and not knowing who they are. Happy Christmas from Martin. WHICH MARTIN?????? I know lots of Martins and I can’t read the Post Office stamp.

Which is why I am not allowed to write Christmas cards – good excuse. I received a present from Honda today. A cheque for £500.00 for being a good customer. Better than a poke in the eye. Went for a really good swim – we have set a target of an extra five lengths by the end of the week. We did our extra one for today. By Friday, we will be doing 600 m..

4th December, 2012

Off to the Post Office with a parcel for Greece. £40.00 to send 6.5 kilos in 7 days with a £100.00 insurance cover. It’s not great but needs must.

So many jobs have come up today that we’ve had to miss swimming. It’s feeling very cold outside today. The Greek Blogs seem to be moving seamlessly from olive collection to wood gathering. Cold weather is on its way to Europe.

5th December, 2012

At 6.00 am, I looked out of the window and teased Pauline saying, Heavy Snow! She believed me but it wasn’t. We listened to the Today programme for an hour and then Pauline got up, looked out and said, You won’t believe it’s snowing. I didn’t and it was. The snow was what you would call ‘a light dusting’ but we heard of Luton and Stansted airports being closed, schools in Essex being closed, trains to London being delayed and problems on the roads. Laugh on Yorkshire!

Our next door neighbour sent a text during the morning saying she was playing golf in Woking this morning but would put her keys through our letterbox this afternoon as she set off for Manchester to fly to Qatar to play golf. She was doing the same in Spain last week. What a life.

Braved the blizzards to go swimming today and managed an extra couple of lengths. We’re on target for 30 by Friday. Back home, I checked my Blog for this day over the past couple of years. Last year was fine but, in 2010, we were renting a tiny flat in Huddersfield and it was the coldest night on record of -18C. We were surrounded by a foot of snow. Even so, life continued as normal.

6th December, 2012

My computer says it is -2C outside at 8.00 am but by 10.00 am, we are in positive figures. I managed to catch a bit of the Test Match on television. Alistair Cook was on another Century and England were making India look tired.

I had to be dragged away to do shopping. We’re off to France again on Wednesday so we can’t afford to clog the freezer up in advance. As we walked around the supermarket, I had the story of Anastasia Karagaitanaki ringing in my ears. I read about her in Ekathimerini in an article headed, Depression deepens Greek middle class despair. Anastasia is a 59 year old, former cafe owner. When her business went bust, she had to move in with her aged Mother and now they both survive on the €785.00 that her dead father’s pension still provided. Her great fear is what she will do if and when her Mother dies. Just as in England, the political elite find it easier and more to their taste to squeeze the middle classes until the pips squeak rather that chase those who can afford to avoid tax.

7th December, 2012

I often watch Yorkshire local news on BBC to maintain our links with the past. Every work day of nearly forty years, we drove over the Pennines from Yorkshire to Lancashire and then back again in the evening. In the winter, we would invariably go the M62 one stop each eay. As anyone who uses it will know, southerners complain about the M25 but it is nothing compared with parts of the M62 which is a nightmare. The small section we travelled on experienced serious accidents two or three times per week which brought long traffic delays. It was renowned as the highest stretch of motorway in Britain. If snow was around, we would get it. We once hit a blizzard in April while driving to the airport. This morning we saw film of our stretch of the M62 which was blocked yesterday morning and again last night at rush hour. We will never do that again.

We are continuing to enjoy and discover new elements of our 13th new Honda CRV. Because we spend six months abroad each year, I have despaired at not being able to adjust the headlights for right hand driving. We ‘ve always had to rely on those cut out and stick beam adjusters that you can buy from Halfords. After six months of car washes in Europe, they are not so good. Today, Honda have confirmed for me through the ‘concierge service’ (We new CRV drivers have our own, dedicated concierge service, you know.) that Smart Technology in my headlights not only switches them on automatically according to the level of daylight but makes them shine left when I steer left, right when I steer right and self-dip if I’m on an upward incline or if it senses traffic coming towards me. I have put a complaint in to Honda about the lack of an espresso machine so I expect to see that in the next model.

Went to the local waste disposal centre to get rid of a lot of junk that had been clogging up our garage store for months. As we dumped it, we heaved a sigh of relief and the garage rose visibly. We reached our target in the swim today; 600 m. up from 500 m. last week. Our task now is to get to the 1000 m. / 1 kilometre as soon as possible. I need a lie down.

8th December, 2012

Will someone please stop the clock. It’s the 8th of December already. My life is running away. It is a wonderful morning, one that makes me feel so glad to be alive. We have a top gastro pub just over a mile away from us and we’re going to walk there for lunch. First I have my Blog and emails to do.

• Email to David Pritchard. I sent one a few weeks ago but haven’t heard back from him.
• Email to Martin – ex-Sifnos friend.
• Email Rizwan – ex-teaching colleague.
• Email to Ruth – lovely sister.
• Email to Chris – Honda Salesman/friend in Huddersfield.
• Email to Anne Clwyd, MP.

Over the past four years, Pauline and I have had three close relatives die in hospital. We have seen the NHS up close and personal and been subject to its dreadful short comings at first hand. We have seen the poor, physical state of the buildings, the lax maintenance of the interiors and learnt of the appalling short comings of NHS Management through recent experience. Pauline & I went to the trouble of meeting with the Senior Management of West Pennine Acute Hospital and, reviewing our notes from that meeting in the cold light of day, they are no less shocking. We are learning to become grumpy old people. We were touched by Ann Clwyd’s tears in the House of Commons last week as she described the gross neglect of her husband as he died in hospital. It so mirrored our own experiences but was said by the Minister and the Nurses Leader to be an unfortunate one-off. It was neither ‘unfortunate’ nor a one-off. It is the result of a systematic breakdown in the nursing management which encourages semi-literate nurses to believe they are graduates who go on to believe that basic care is beneath such intellectual status.

25th November, 2012

Sunday papers, fresh coffee, Politics on Sunday, two football matches but no goals. Smoked salmon for lunch and Pheasant for Dinner. Torrential rain seems to be falling everywhere but here. The Chelsea match – twenty five or so miles from our home – was played in sweeps of monsoon rain. Here it was dry. Our old home area in West Yorkshire seemed to be reporting raging rivers and inches of rain to come.

People in Greece are picking their olives and taking them to press although Skiathan Man says many think they can buy olive oil cheaply enough to not bother with the back-breaking work of picking themselves. We left just a little early this year to pick any of ours but Pauline cured two kilner jars of ours very successfully last year.

26th November, 2012

A pleasant, mild morning enhanced by highlights of England’s Test victory. I have been captivated by a family photograph that David Pritchard sent me. It looks like it was taken in the garden in Repton. He thinks it was circa 1925:

As I understand it, the photograph features from left to right:

Granddad Sanders (Richard Watthew [Dick] b. 1889) and on his lap is Auntie Kath (b 1921); Sitting high is Kessie (Kate Anne Kesterton) (b. 1887) and next to her is the Grandmother none of us got to meet, Mabel Lilian née Flook (b 1894). Sitting next to Mabel is Great Grandfather Edwin Thomas (b. 1860). On the grass, with his head on Great Grandfather’s knee is Eric (b. 1915), my Dad looking exactly as I did at that age. Next to him on the grass is Auntie Marj. (b. 1919). Seated on the right of Great Grandfather is Great Aunt Susan Sarah (b. 1886) and Great Aunt-in-Law Annie (‘Nance’ b. 1833), wife of Dad’s brother, Edwin Thomas (b. 1891), who is sitting in the deckchair on the right with Mary Kate Delamont Sanders (b. 1920), later Mary Long, sitting on the front edge of his chair.

I have decided to start with a difficult-to-do character, my Grandmother who I never met, Mabel Lilian née Flook (b 1894) because she was incarcerated in a Mental Asylum later euphemised with the name Pastures Hospital Mickleover from 1930 until her death in 1962. She gave birth to her final child, Auntie Edwina, and, within two years, was incarcerated never to return home. I have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Derby Records Office.

27th November, 2012

First thing I had my annual review with my doctor. It was excellent which was pleasing.

I’ve had a reply to my FIR which gives me real hope of some answers. Twitter-feed informed me that Flooding is making access to Repton from north of the Trent extremely difficult.… and I was back in my youth remembering the fields of floods cutting off Willington. It is still raining in the North but, in Surrey, everything is calm. We are almost at the end of November and we’ve used the central heating for two hours since our return from Greece. We are told that really cold weather is on the way and yet our apartment is built to such standards of insulation that body heat of two adults is enough to keep it warm. Our heating and hot water bill last year was just £100.00.

I cooked smoked salmon risotto this evening and it was really enjoyable.

28th November, 2012

For the past couple of weeks, Pauline & I have been going to the Nuffield Health Centre in West Byfleet and swimming half a kilometre each morning. We are really enjoying it, getting quicker at completing it and recovering much sooner. From Monday, we are going to start adding lengths until we are up to the kilometre. The Health Centre is coming towards the completion of its total refurbishment and, next week, will be installing dozens of new pieces of machinery. I’m going to get really fit watching that happen.

29th November, 2012

Up at 6.00 am and out at 6.30 am to be at the Walk-in Centre for my blood test. It was freezing and we had to stand outside for ten minutes. Back for coffee and to watch Heir Hunters, a television programme I’ve become addicted to. We can’t go swimming today because the burglar alarm is being serviced at an unspecified time. I debated whether to get the step ladders out to make the service easy but, when the engineer arrived, he was a 6ft. 7in., 23 year old boxer who could do the whole job without going on tiptoes. The burglar alarm – linked to a call out centre and the police – cost £240.00 per year but the service takes ten minutes.

Pauline made MORE mince pies while completing three different lots of housework at the same time. I was more ambitious and read the paper and then turned my attention to financial matters. Sort of Men’s Work! We are consummate savers. After using our full ISA allowances, we like to use a savings account that we can dump spare cash in to. Three or four years ago, I was getting 4.2% including a bonus. Two years ago, this was down to 3.1%. Today, it is impossible to beat 2.2% for an easy access, on-line saver. I am going to use the Post Office account for this so we can easily move money around easily whether we are in Greece or UK.

30th November, 2012

Glorious blue skies and strong, low sun all around. Autumn leaves still clothe the trees but, this morning, are crusted with frost for an hour or two before the sun burns it off.

Out just after 9.00 am for the weekly shop. The Tesco supermarket is already busy. It is a 24 Hr. megastore with an M&S attached. The carpark is big enough to swallow half of the residents of outer London. Christmas is everywhere. Personally, I hate Christmas and all that attends upon it. Fortunately, my wife is of a similar opinion so we reinforce each other’s predjudices quite selfishly. I saw an advert for half price, artificial Christmas Trees today and thought, if I  made Christmas Trees, what time of year would I feel it necessary to halve the price in order to persuade people to buy them. After a nano-second’s thought, I decided that July would be a good time to offer half price Christmas Trees. As it got closer to Christmas, and people became keener to secure a tree, I would feel confident to increase the price. Adverts like this rely on the herd instinct to be infected by the celebratory instinct and to suspend critical thought and rational judgement.

By the time we finished shopping, cars were looking for the last few parking spaces in this vast carpark which one needs Olympic training just to get across. Home for coffee and then out for a wonderful swim. I’m beginning to feel better everytime I do it. Later, I had to go for my annual diabetic review. All my readings were fantastic and I left the surgery skipping.

1st December, 2012

It cannot be the last month of the year already. Happy December everyone.

Skiathan Man drew my attention to an interesting article in The Guardian – a newspaper which is a bit too boring for me normally. In the month before we left Sifnos, crates of beautiful logs started to appear in delivery yards. The local tile shop was ‘branching’ out (no pun intended) by stocking a few crates. They certainly seemed to sell quite quickly although I remember thinking that a crate of logs would go up in smoke in no time at all. The Greeks think their electricity is expensive. I honestly don’t think it is much more than ours although I’m sure many homes aren’t insulated as well as ours. I think there is also an anti-establishment, anti-authority thing going on. Property tax bills are being tied to electricity supply and there is a revolutionary spirit abroad – We’ll show them. We won’t use their electricity. We’ll live simply off the land. We’ll collect our own firewood. They couldn’t do that on Sifnos and I don’t think they’ll find buying logs is a great deal cheaper than paying for electricity.

18th November, 2012

Disaster today. My huge, desktop coputer has thrown a wobbly and gone into cardiac arrest. In truth, I had known it was coming for a few days. The on/off switch has been temperamental. It is either the switch or the power supply which is fortunate. At least the hard drive storage is alright. Now, I’ve got to find a company to help me with this.

19th November, 2012

At 9.00 am we will go to PCWorld repair desk. If that is no good, I have a number of choices around Woking. We also have to fit in a swim at the Health Centre and picking Phyllis & Colin up from Gatwick Airport. I took the CPU of my set up down to PCWorld which has now been amalgamated with Dixons/Currys. Their technical centres have been fantastic sources of support but now they have been instructed to deal with only a small number of branded products. They couldn’t deal with mine which came from Evesham Computers in 2004. Evesham went out of business in 2008. I did a quick search in the area for independent tradesmen and settled on SurreyCPR, a very local, one man firm who had an excellent website. I phoned him at 9.00 am and he was with us by 12.00 pm. The problem turned out to be the power supply unit (£50.00) but this meant I needed a new display card (£20.00). I asked for a new DVD Writer to be fitted (£30.00) and the hour’s call out was £50.00. The total of £150.00 was wonderful and I would have paid it three times over. The computer cost me £2,700.00 eight years ago.

Phyllis & Colin were supposed to be landing at 18.15. I monitored Gatwick’s arrivals board and was amazed that the flight was estimated to arrive thirty minutes early. Because we were concerned about rush hour traffic and finding parking, we left an hour before they were due in. It turned out that there was virtually no traffic, car parking was easily accessible and then Phyllis & Colin were forced to stay on the plane because its landing was early. The passport control was a crowded nightmare and we ended up waiting for a very long time.

20th November, 2012

On Monday, while I was waiting for a computer repair, I used my laptop to continue my research. I subscribe to an on-line service called Ancestry.co.uk which gives me immediate links to most of the important databases. I managed to locate my Great, Great Grandfather, Richard Sanders born in Birstall, Leicestershire in 1821 and his wife, Anne who was born in Desford, Leicestershire in 1828. I know David Pritchard has already covered this ground but I feel obligated to at least rehearse it myself before adding to his research. (Hope you are enjoying your Sunday, David. I was wondering who The Observer reader was. At last you’ve revealed yourself.) Today is a wet day – grey and rather gloomy. The temperature is only 12C/54F. We will have our swim but otherwise will stay tucked up and I will have time to go on with my research.

I Googled the name Mabel Lilian Flook / Mabel Lilian Sanders and came up with a piece of unformatted database data entitled FLOOK WILLS. This is what it said.

MARTHA ANN  </b>  WICKWAR GLS WID </b> 1928  to  FLOOK, GEO WM .Brewers Clerk  &  SANDERS, Mabel Lilian w/o Richard

It so happens that this was the year of the birth of her last child, Edwina, and just before her incarceration in The Pastures Hospital. I will raise this with my new best relative in the Flook family.

21 st November, 2012

The Greek newspapers note that increased optimism about a deal for Greece in Europe is bolstering the value of the Euro. Samaras is playing a much more cunning hand than I ever gave him credit for. I didn’t think he had it in him. He is holding a shaky, flaky coalition together while taking an angrily sceptical population, kicking and screaming through the pain of major surgery without much sedative being offered. However, even Samaras, having got Greece to accept its side of the bargain, needs Europe now to honour its part.

22nd November, 2012

We drove to West Byfleet station and caught the 10.00 am train to Waterloo which only stopped at Surbiton. From Waterloo, we took the Underground to Green Park where we got off and walked to Fortnum & Mason. As one enters the shop, it looks a bit like an Eighteenth Century Knocking Shop. Further inside, it looks like an upmarket Woolworths gearing up for Christmas. We bought lots of things for our Greek friends – specialist teas, coffees, chocolates, biscuits, etc. Then, laden down with our purchases, we went across the road to sit in an alley (That alley turned out to be the Burlington Arcade.) drinking fresh coffee (at what turned out to be Laduree, world famous Parisian cake makers and inventors of the famous double-decker macaroon.). You will note how tired Pauline looks. Anybody who tried to shop with me would look just as exasperated. I am not a happy shopper. Sitting drinking coffee and watching the world go by is more my sort of thing. Later, we went back to Green Park for the Underground to London Bridge for Borough Market. This was absolutely fantastic. Every type of food produce one could imagine was on sale. We even met a Greek girl from Sparta who was selling olive tea. We tried it and bought a bag. We bought four more pheasants for less than we paid in Yorkshire and then had lunch in a fish restaurant (The Fish! Kitchen) in the heart of the market. We had fish, chips and mushy peas – wonderful quality fish in beer batter, mint flavoured peas and excellent chunky chips with a cold bottle of Trebbiano. The bill – £60.00 and no newspaper wrapping in sight.

We were home for 4.00 pm and then I slept for a couple of hours. I was exhausted. I’m certainly not a shopper. Recovered in time to watch a delightful, new semi-comedy drama called Last Tango in Halifax and starring Derek Jacobi, Anne Reid & Sarah Lancashire. It was wonderful and so was the landscape.

23rd November, 2012

Early trip to Tescos for the weekly shop this morning. By 10.30 am it is so teaming with silver shoppers that we cannot bear it. On this particular morning, however, I am really struggling after so much shopping yesterday. I am absolutely exhausted and really only want to lie down in a darkened room. Still, Pauline is determined to make mincemeat today in preparation for mince pies. I don’t know why. We only eat them all. We even cancelled swimming today and sat quietly with a smoked salmon salad for lunch before doing a few jobs. I had some writing to do and phone calls to make. Pauline steeped her dried fruit in brandy. Fortunately, I arrived just as she was spooning through the mixture and I offered to taste it. I was allowed.

For Dinner tonight I cooked braised rabbit  and served it with savoy cabbage and baked potato. The rabbit was bought in France so, of course, it came whole including its head. The eyes looked at me as I severed it. I’m not al Qaeda, I said to the eyes. They didn’t look convinced. Tonight, there is a rabbit’s head rolling around in my bin. Having said that, the rabbit was fantastically tasty and produced a wonderful gravy which really complemented the meal. Sorry eyes.

24th November, 2012

I was born in to the United Kingdom. The Commonwealth was all around me. By the time I had reached my late twenties, alarm at the rising tide of immigration had made me English. The Northern towns where I lived and taught had developed substantial Asian enclaves, almost no-go areas at times. I started to travel abroad – to Greece, to Italy and to France. I became decidedly European. I am still fervently European but my allegiances are being sorely tested. I live half the year in Greece and shop during the other half in France. I love to travel and stay in Italy and yet the ever expanding Union is testing the patience and pocket of all around me. Defending my European credentials is becoming harder. Economic migrants from both Bulgaria and Romania are much poorer than the rest of the EU, with GDP per capita of about 33% of the EU average but will soon have free entrance to our labour market and benefits system. In return, I may, in theory, have free entrance to the Greek Health Service – if they had one. It is little more than symbolic in places. Drugs are in short supply. Doctors are unpaid. Experienced doctors go private. The market is totally out of balance. It is hard to see a way out of this at the moment.

11th November, 2012

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

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

12th November, 2012

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

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

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

13th November, 2012

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

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

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

14th November, 2012

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

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

12th November, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

16th November, 2012

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

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

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

17th November, 2012

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

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

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

Chipping Sodbury
Bristol
South Gloucestershire BS37 6LQ

September 2012

November 4th, 2012

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

Tomorrow will be better!

November 5th, 2012

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

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

November 6th, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

November 7th, 2012

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

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

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

November 8th, 2012

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

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

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

November 9th, 2012

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

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

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

November 10th, 2012

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

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

28th October, 2012

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

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

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

29th October, 2012

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

30th October, 2012

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

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

31st October, 2012

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

1st November, 2012

Kalo μηνα  Happy November

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

2nd November, 2012

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

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

3rd November, 2012

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

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

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

21st October, 2012

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

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

22nd October, 2012

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

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

23rd October, 2012

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

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

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

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

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

24th October, 2012

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

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

25th October, 2012

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

26th October, 2012

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

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

27th October, 2012

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

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