Sanders Blog

Week 80 – When’s retirement age?

27th June, 2010

If the LibDems managed a football team, this is what they would play like:

I blame the Manager and if it wasn’t the LibDems (and we’ve got plenty on them already) then it must be Capello. Those fantastic players don’t suddenly become rubbish. It is the way they are blended together. They weren’t. They looked and played amateurishly.

28th June, 2010

This has been such a long month. If we had been on Sifnos, it would almost certainly have flown by. Just two nights left in the house and we are off. I cannot wait! This morning we are posting two large parcels to Sifnos. One is the replacement tyre we couldn’t source in Athens and the other is a second and rather unexpected chance to send things rather than wait for next year and carry them in the car. For example, Pauline uses a once-a-day sun tan lotion which she makes us put on immediately after our shower in the morning. It usually cost £12.00 per bottle but in the past couple of weeks has been on special promotion in Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Boots at half price. We have been round and cleared the shelves buying up a ten year supply. The consignment cost £110.00 to send but it is worth every penny. It will be on the island on Friday – the day after us.

Also this morning Pauline is having her hair cut. No time for trips to Sassoons now; she is slumming it in Toni &Guy Huddersfield branch. What a nightmare! I’m sure it will be alright. Actually, it turned out that they had reduced their prices because of the Recession ( Recession? What Recession?) and a Top Stylist (Whatever that means.) cost only £40.00. Pauline’s hair looked lovely.

We are down to eating off paper plates now because everything else has been packed. It’s like camping out in your own home. Although, I suppose I’m not camping and it’s nearly not my home. Bacon & Egg sandwiches for lunch. Football and one-pot Pork, peppers & potatoes for tea. Plenty of rough red wine helps it down.

29th June, 2010

This morning it is raining. I can’t believe it. We are rather kicking our heels, now, waiting for the off. We do all our banking on-line and then Pauline duplicates it on her accountancy program. I was on the pilot team for Nat West On-Line ten years ago. Now it is everywhere. Pauline can verify her accounts and forward plan months ahead. And she does!

This means that we can control our accounts from our Greek house as well which is great. Now, for example, the pound is as strong against the euro as it has been in the past two years. It is time to move sterling into euros and put it in our Greek Account at the National Bank of Greece. Of course, we don’t want to move too much in case the whole country goes belly up and we lose the lot. New Democracy, the Opposition party is advocating not cooperating with the EU and the IMF and freeing Greece to sort its own way out. That could only mean leaving the Eurozone which really could mean curtains for the country. Of course, this appears quite attractive to all those who are now having their wages and pensions slashed.

One of the lovely things about banking on-line is the ability to start and stop Direct Debits, etc, at the click of a mouse. When you sell your house and leave an area, it is amazing how many DD can be cancelled. Of course, cancelling the mortgage payments when we paid it off was wonderful and you suddenly realise the mortgage insurances can go as well. Now we have cancelled Council Tax, House Insurance, Water DD, Gas & Electricity DD, Broadband and Telephone DD, Sky DD, TV Licence DD. The list goes on.

Two old friends from school have phoned and said they would like to come over and say goodbye to us. Viv & Margaret have been working with us for about 30 of our nearly 40 years and we will miss them. Since we have left, they have both jumped ship as well. Both have a bit of time to work – Viv is 56 so she needs to do another 4 years and Margaret is 54 and intends to do a bit of part time work over her last 5 or 6 years. Certainly, we have turned out to be the lucky generation. Can you imagine teaching when you are 70? As The Times Leader said yesterday, sitting behind you keyboard in Whitehall 70 seems perfectly feasible. In the real world it is bonkers in the head. Well he didn’t exactly use those words.

30th June, 2010

Woke up from our last sleep in our bed. It was a remarkably sound sleep and we didn’t rise until 7.00 am. We went straight into moving mode after a cup of tea. I dismantled and moved the bed while Pauline washed and dried the sheets. I carried out bedside cabinets while Pauline packed the washing basket up to go. We had showers and a cup of coffee and blew kisses to lovely Jean – our next door neighbour – as she drove out to work. Then, at 10.00 am, we went down in to the garage to wait for the removal men. Two lovely young chaps arrived with a huge removal lorry. They took one look at the house and all its steps. It’s a mansion one said. We’re going to be here all day. When I explained that we had sold most of our furniture and that it was staying where it was and that everything that was going was boxed and in the garage already, they were over the moon. The only thing I had left for them to carry from the house was the mattress. They loaded everything in 45 mins and were off to the store.

We locked up, put the alarm on, said goodbye to the house and drove out. Little did we know that our problems were just beginning. The hire car had to go back to Enterprise and we had a taxi booked to pick us up from there. When we handed over the car and sat waiting for the taxi, Pauline phoned the solicitor to let them know of our position. At that point, it started to go pear shaped. The solicitor told her that the expected ‘completion’ had not taken place. There was a problem at our buyers’ buyers offices and it would, hopefully, happen on later today or, possibly on Friday. If not, our buyers were going on holiday until July 21st and couldn’t complete until after that date. We had cancelled everything – including house insurance from midnight – and provided final readings for everything. We were angry as we were driven to the airport hotel. At 6.00 pm, the solicitor had gone home without calling us. The insurance company were closed. We went to bed with dreams of our uninsured house burning down while we slept.

We had to be up at 3.00 am and would be in the air for four hours.

1st July, 2010

At 10.00 am UK time we were in a crowded and frantically noisy Athens Airport trying to insure a house over our mobile phone. The girl couldn’t find our previous details that only expired a few hours before and was asking horrendous questions like:

1. How man square metres is the footprint of your house?
2. What type of stone is it built from?

Fortunately, someone else in the company came to our rescue, found our policy and extended for us. We took a taxi down to Piraeus, bought a ferry ticket and had lunch. There is free Piraeus-wide wireless internet service and I was able to pick up and write emails while we waited for the ferry. It was a slow ferry and we didn’t get in until 10.30 pm. It had been a long day and we still had no knowledge of our house sale. At least it was insured.

2nd July, 2010

This morning we got up early and looked at our vegetable garden in the light. It was doing so well. We picked courgettes as big as marrows, a kilo of french beans, some baby new potatoes and a couple of the dozens of lettuces. Unfortunately, the radishes had gone over.

We were very tired from the stresses of the past few days and decided just to chill out which wasn’t easy because of the heat. Fortunately, the new air conditioning unit that we ordered from Athens on the way home a month ago had been delivered to Stavros who got Frangiskos, the electrician to install. It is a wonderfully powerful Samsung unit that chills the entire lounge-kitchen-diner in minutes.

I had a bottle of wine with lunch and then fought to stay awake for Brazil – Holland. I’m glad I did. I was really pleased for the Dutch. I shared a bottle of chilled claret with Pauline & Stavros over dinner and then fought to stay awake for Ghana – Uraguay. I’m glad I did but I felt so sorry for the Ghanians. Both sides made England look pathetic.

3rd July, 2010

Got up early today. Cleaned the car with the power washer before the sun was too strong. Then we went for our first swim. The temperature was 32°C and the sea was crystal clear and warm. We stayed in for an hour. I hurt my back in the move and swimming has done it a power of good. Had an email from our ex-next dor neighbours.

Hope you are both okay and rested after your journey.

Our new neighbours have been moving in all day.  I haven’t seen them yet but there is a little slide in the back garden and a sandpit on the patio.

B&Q have been round today to take photos of the kitchen.  I used your orange pans on the range to give some colour.  They usually feature them in the brochures.  Everywhere we go in and out of the house we will have memories of you.  We are very grateful of all the useful things you have given us and I will look after them and keep busy with them.

Perry has been in meetings today at work and had come home looking quite content with what is expected of him next year.  I hope that is the case when he returns after the holidays.

Anyway hope you enjoyed your swim today.  It will be our turn soon.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Love Jean

P.S. A little boy has just run into our garden.  I don’t think Daisy approved as she was asleep on the table.

As a rider to that, you need to know that Perry is Jean’s husband – Peregrine – a lecturer in Further Education. He is desperate to retire but has just been made Head of Department. His wife Jean is twelve years older than him at 61. We have given her all household items that we didn’t want including some Le Creuset pans. Daisy is the ‘bumless’ cat. (with no tail). She is a stray who adopted Perry & Jean and refused to leave.

20th June, 2010

Seemed to spend the whole day driving – about eight hours in total – and in a rented, manual Vaxhaul Meriva. I was certainly tired at the end of it. We left home just before 5.00 am in beautiful sunshine. The motorway was absolutely empty. It felt like the 1960s. We arrived in Surrey half an hour early and walked round the property. It was still a nice, quality build but, when we got up to the three-bedroomed second floor apartment, we were disappointed with the layout and the size of a number of rooms. There was nothing for it but to say, “No”, and come home.

Got home to find two emails – one from Ruth and one from Jane (1). Ruth said:

Photos taken today  in Bolton Jane came up to run a 5k Masters race. I went to cheer her on then invited her to lunch.We had a lovely afternoon before she caught the train back down south !

I must admit, I remember Ruth as being a better cook than that. It doesn’t look as if Jane (2) ate much.

Jane (1) said:

Hi John
Hope all arrangements for sale and packing up your home and possessions have gone smoothly? Moving is a trauma – I have done it very few times because I hate the disruption. When do you return to Sifnos?

I had a wonderful time in New York – shopped and bought shoes, handbag, dresses, running gear etc. Went to see La Traviata at the Met, ate in the revolving restaurant in Time Sq and took the boat round Manhattan et etc. It was a lovely interlude from the demands of life. I also got my iPad and am rapidly learning all its benefits. It’s absolutely beautiful. I am sending you this message from it so you have my personal email. Would you you use this from now on when sending me your blog etc.

Work is going to be demanding given how many cases we have on the go. It seems we’re likely to get the new govt’s support but I will be working v intensively to protect IPCC’s budget during the spending review/ cuts. So I am glad we have our next hol booked – 3 weeks in Peru in Aug. David is in Singapore and I hope he’ll be home next weekend. He is then due to go to Ireland again so I don’t think we’ll get much time together over the next month.

Hope all well for you and Pauline and enjoy your return to Sifnos. Sent from my iPad.

Jane’s email address is: jane@janemail.force9.co.uk (You could have a gale of a time with that, couldn’t you?)

21st June, 2010

Still tired this morning. I could never have been a travelling salesman for all sorts of reasons. I couldn’t face any more packing up this morning.

Started to pack up the Study this afternoon. Where to begin. Two desktop computers and a laptop, a mono laser, colour inkjet, a label printer, more speakers than you’d need at a pop concert, two computer chairs, two stuffed filing cabinets, book on books on books, every salary slip and tax return we’ve ever received since 1972. Most signicant Birthday, Christmas, Anniversary cards over thirty years. Two, huge boxes of photographs, dozens of assorted IT leads that I thought might be helpful at some stage.

22nd June, 2010

Heard this morning that our buyers’ buyers have not received their final mortgage offer yet. They’ve had it in principle and it is said to be ‘in the post’. At the moment, this doesn’t threaten our dates but, even if it does, we have signed our side of the contract and will return to Greece, leaving our buyers to get on with it in their own time.

23rd June, 2010

Just as England scored their one, lucky goal, we received a phone call to confirm that our buyers’ buyers had received their mortgage confirmation and that we were all-systems-go for June 30th. Pauline rang our solicitor to give him the news only to be told he had ‘gone home ill’. When Pauline pointed out that it was a bit of a coincidence with England playing, his secretary laughed. I don’t know what the professions are coming to these days! We have one day’s packing left and then we can relax and enjoy the house for its last six days.

What did you think of England? It was better but not that much better to make one convinced they can beat Germany on Sunday. Rooney still wasn’t really there. Gerrard was still quiet as was Lampard. Defoe’s goal was fairly flukey.

24th June, 2010

We packed the last boxes today. We are hoping to persuade our wonderful neighbours to store our widescreen tv and stand but, apart from that, we are ready.

I enjoyed watching Italy go out this afternoon. Slovakia were delightful.

I did something wrong today. It is probably because I don’t understand the principles of Facebook. I needed a rest from packing and idly logged in to Facebook. I thought that I might actually fill out my Profile page. When it came to ‘Relationship Status’, I put ‘Married’. Within minutes I go two sarcastic contacts from Jill Wilson saying “Married – and your point is?” and from my friend, Martin, who just said he had thought Pauline & I were just good friends. I then listed my interests as “Travelling, Cooking, Wines, Reading, Writing”. Shortly afterwards Ruth wrote to me and said I had put Reading the place when I must have meant reading. I’m beginning to think I’m on a different planet.

25th June, 2010

I have set today as the last, serious day of packing. I have had enough and I want to watch Portugal – Brazil this afternoon happy in the knowledge that we have finished. Can’t wait to get back to Greece, to swimming in the sea and tending my vegetable patch.

Not a good match. The Chile – Spain match looked better at first but ambled to a predictable conclusion.

26th June, 2010

If you ever wanted to know why the Liberal Democrats haven’t enjoyed power for almost a century, you only have to look at that liar and hypocrite, Clegg. No one in their right minds who believed the Lib Dems when they denounced the idea of a VAT rise could possibly vote for them again. No one who followed their policy of greater European integration could ever believe that they are allied to Hague’s withdraw from Europe policy. The are crooks and swindlers and must be removed immediately. There should be action in the streets. Unfortunately, I will be in Greece. Let me know when it’s over.

Great cartoon in The Times today about expecting the aging population to stay in work rather than draw pension. I remember,  when they couldn’t afford more teachers, the Thatcher government discovered an ‘expert’ who asserted that bigger classes were better for learning. Now they can’t afford to pay out on the Ponzi scheme bigger even than Madoff, they discover that working longer is better for you.

Fantastic leader article in The Times once again about the currupt meddling of Prince Charles. I couldn’t have written better myself.

13th June, 2010

Had two emails from Lizzie Dripping today:

John
R u ok ,no e mail this weekend ?
I am off to Istanbul in the am for a week
Hope all is ok with you and Pauline and house sales
Miss your Sunday message and hope all is well
Coalition Crew will be wreaking havoc on public services when I get back already lost 1.5m from admin via david and nick

The other thing is what do you think about academies and the coalition approach to schools
I have to be a trustee on co op academy for the council ,just starting this sept.
Best wishes Liz

She always writes in this sophisticated style.

14th June, 2010

Spoke to Ruth and we agreed to meet on Tuesday. I am running out of days so this will be our last meeting of the Summer. Ruth’s just come back from a holiday in YORKSHIRE and given me some photos:

Spent the day packing up and cataloguing our pictures.

15th June, 2010

Meeting Ruth this morning in Sainsburys in Huddersfield. She is going on to have lunch with a friend. It is a glorious morning. Ruth looked beautiful. We had our picture taken together but Ruth is so slim and made me look so fat that I couldn’t include it.

Badly presented I know, this is a catalogue of most of the paintings on our walls that are now being taken down and wrapped. The house was beginning to resemble an art gallery and we will have to rethink it if we buy an apartment.

16th June, 2010

It is pleasing to read articles in The Times today and The Sunday Times last week saying that Greek island house prices have hardly been touched by the recession. To add to this, the Greek government have just announced a new law making it harder to build on islands like ours and, thus, adding to the upward price pressure. Read the whole article here:  

We have been negotiating with a building developer in Surrey over a 3-bedroomed, gated apartment. It is a little larger than we wanted and, although we have got them down by £45,000.00, it is still £10,000.00 over what we want to pay. I don’t think we will get them there. At least, not until we are out of the country. I think the double dip recession is a near certainty now the Lib Dems are sleeping with the Conservatives. House prices will come down some more and interest rates will rise. There’s no rush.  

17th June, 2010

The estate agents for Rosemount Point is a company called Gascoigne Pees. We had deliberately tried an aggressive offer by going in at 20% under the asking price for a brand new build. Gascoigne Pees just as aggressively tried to con us in to thinking this would never be accepted. At one point, we even heard an office colleague whispering to the negotiator to see if they could get us up a bit. We said point blank that we wouldn’t budge and left it in their court. Eventually, they phoned back to say that, if we could just go up by two or three thousand, they thought the builders, Banner Homes,  would crack and accept.

18th June, 2010

 The phone went and Gascoigne Pees said they had done really well and got the builders, Banner Homes, to agree to our ridiculously low price. However, they said we were in danger of losing this ‘absolute bargain’ because another couple were going to view it this afternoon. In order to block them and secure it, they said we would need to put down a holding deposit immediately. They were shocked to hear we weren’t prepared to. For one thing, I didn’t believe their phantom new viewer nor do I put deposits down until I’ve made up my mind. We left them to sell it to their phantoms.
I watched but, literally, could not believe the England performance. Rooney, in particular, was abjectly awful. Why has there been all this adulation of Capello? How is it possible to take eleven talented players and blend them in to a pub team? That really does take talent! 

19th June, 2010

Against my better judgement, Pauline advertised a string of items that we didn’t want in the Huddersfield Evening Examiner. These items included two double beds that had never been used. The adverts were put in a week ago but only appeared today and I had forgotten. I soon regretted it. The phone never stopped ringing – Has the ladders gone yet? What model is your Karcher Pressure Washer? – What model? What model? It’s a pressure washer that you use on the car and I only want £20.00 for it. I’ll give you £20.00 to take it away. I don’t know what model it is! The worst was the beds. We had not thought that the University landlords would kill for new beds. Everybody wanted them. Eventually, we sold one to a lady who was setting her trainee hairdresser daughter up in her first house on virtually no money. Because she was so nice and we felt sorry for her, we gave her the second bed free plus two bedside cabinets. We felt so much better after that.

And then, can you believe it, Gascoigne Pees phoned to tell us that their phantom buyers were not in a position to purchase (although they were desperate to do so) and asked if we would still be interested because the builders could meet us tomorrow morning. We are not opposed to doing things properly so we will drive down early tomorrow morning to meet the builders’ representative at 9.30 tomorrow morning but, if I see that duplicitous git from Gascoigne Pees, I’ll punch him in the mouth (just as a deposit).

 6th June, 2010

Received an email from Jane (1) today:

Hope you’re enjoying being “home” and that house sale goes smoothly.

We’ve been v busy since the election and my strategy seems to have worked – no cuts in this year’s budget – but who knows what the spending review will bring. I am having to cope with the recruitment freeze which will begin to impact soon.

So I am glad to be off on Tues for a few days in New York with my friend Sheila. David is off to Singapore so can’t come with us. We’re flying BA – managed to avoid the strike – and staying at the Waldorf Astoria which I love. Plan to run in central park, drink cocktails in Grand Central, shop on 5th Ave and go to the Met and MOMA.

And I have ordered an iPad which will arrive for when I’m back – did think about getting it there but don’t want to waste time in apple when there’s so much to pack into 5 days! Will let you know when I am set up as I’ll probably use my personal email then as I can access it on the move. I haven’t previously bothered as my blackberry is connected to my work system.  Let us know how the house sale goes and when you are returning to Sifnos.

7th June, 2010 

We have been away from our Greek home a week already. It is still very muggy here but there are signs of rain arriving. The forecast on Sifnos is for a cloudless week with temperatures fluctuating around 27 – 28⁰C. In Huddersfield, we are expecting a grey, wet week at 16⁰C.Our buyers have had their mortgage offer confirmed. It is on its way to our solicitor. We have already signed the contracts. We expect them to sign towards the end of this week. We have said that exchange of contracts must take place on Wednesday, June 30th because we are flying back to Greece on Thursday, July 1st. We have booked the tickets. We have found a removal and storage company locally. Our next door neighbour will store one or two delicate items – TV, Computers, etc.

Wonderful story in Ta Nea (The News) newspaper this morning. It featured yet another workers’ protest and this photograph:The protest was about tax rises and pension cuts and the banner says: We Resist! Unfortunately, the protest was broken up early because rain began to fall in Syndagma Square and their resistance was broken.

8th June, 2010

We have been emptying draws and deciding what is worth keeping, what will we see ourselves wearing again and what must be discarded. Fifty shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt mostly at £40.00 a time. I must have bought double that number over the years. I was one of the early on-line customers in the late 1980s and they gave me great pleasure over the years but what use are they now? One hundred and fifty ties bought from all over Europe. Hanging on a dozen tie hangers, they represented my first dilemma of the morning. In the past twelve months, I’ve worn a tie twice. Most will have to go. Five pairs of unworn Oxford black all leather shoes. I wear casual shoes now almost all the time but I can’t bring myself to throw these out. Pauline is throwing out more shoes from her collection than I have worn in my whole career.

Arranged today with BT for our telephone and broadband connections to be cut on the day we go. Done the same with Sky. I’ve arranged our travel so that we will see all the ‘Last 16’ matches before we leave on June 30th in cluding England (winners of group C) against Serbia (runners up of group D) and we will be well settled in our Greek house before the Quarter Finals when we will probably be playing France. Very strange experience today that almost invoked one of my nightmares. For years I have occasionally had a dream in which I find myself on the operating table of a hospital where a surgeon is about to perform brain surgery on me. As I look at the scalpel, I begin to recognise the surgeon. Didn’t I use to teach you? I enquire with mounting anxiety. The surgeon’s face contorts with a sickly grin and I know at once that he is an ex-pupil of mine. That is when I wake up.

Today, I needed help with a large amount of money coming my way on the day before I leave for Greece. We will not be needing it for some time and I need help and advice in how to deal with it quickly. Pauline and I have done Private Banking for many years without really using its full potential. Now I needed it and I took out the contact details of our Private Banking Manager – one Richard Baines. Now that name rings a bell. I’m sure you are one step ahead of me and realise already he really is an ex-pupil of mine. I was his Housemaster. He was a very nice lad but not terribly bright. I’m going to be trusting most of my money to him until October. When will I wake up?

9th June, 2010

We’ve only been in this house for ten years as opposed to twenty in the previous one but it is amazing what we have accumulated. We have ordered a skip. This morning we found some very old photos in a drawer. This is me in the bath of our first house – circa 1978:

Our solicitor confirmed our sale and our completion date today so the sale is as good as complete. Opened savings account at Barclays and spoke to a financial advisor at Lloyds/TSB. The intention is to split the house proceeds between four institutions we can only jointly hold £100,000.00 in any one of them safely. The money won’t arrive until we are at the airport so our bank manager has to have accounts to put it in.

10th June, 2010

Today has been a defining day. We booked the Removal firm to take our goods to store. We were able to do this because our buyers agreed our choice of Exchange of Contracts date and Completion date. There is little now that can go wrong. (Famous last words!) The Removal Firm will visit us tomorrow with boxes and bubble wrap so that we can start the process of packing up. They will come in on the day and finish it for us.

We went over to Oldham to take Pauline’s Mum out for lunch. Pauline’s Mum had tomato soup followed by fish and chips as she always does. Pauline and I had salmon fish cakes on a bed of rocket salad which was delightful. Pauline then had strips of beef filet in a cream sauce which was excellently done and I had chicken breast wrapped in Parma Ham and Mozarella cheese which was clumsily done and a disappointment. We drank sparkling water and didn’t have a sweet. The bill came to £60.00 which Pauline’s Mum thought was disgraceful.

Another photo from that stash we found in a drawer. It says on the back in Mum’s hand: Sutton on Sea, July-August 1952 – John 1yr 4mnths.

In the foreground is me (I still wear that shirt.) and next to me I assume is Bob. I realised when I blew the photo up that it was Dad in the background playing a game with a girl who could only be Ruth. The only thing that slightly puzzles me is that, if the dates are correct, the oldest I could be was 1 yr 5 mnths and that would make Bob 7 months old. He seems well developed for 7 months. Any views?

11th June, 2010

A friend from school came over to say goodbye. Margaret was the school’s SENCO which, for the uninitiated, is the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. Pauline was her line manager and they got on well. We used the meeting as an excuse to have cream cakes with our coffee. Margaret brought a wonderful bunch of flowers. At lunchtime, we said goodbye with a real sense that we were going our separate ways and may never meet again. At that very moment, I find the concept almost unbearable but it soon passes. We move on.

In the afternoon, our removal firm brought twenty five boxes for us to start packing. We went out to Staples and bought 120 m of bubblewrap to do the job professionally.

12th June, 2010

A busy day today. Off early to Sainsburys then back to read the paper and get jobs done before the football matches start. Today I am going to document all the pictures we have hanging, take them down and wrap them with bubblewrap. We have about thirty or so. They are each about 1m x 1.5m and cost somewhere between £150.00 – £200.00 each. We have collected them over the past thirty years. We have already taken some to Greece but we hope to find space on the walls of a new apartment for most. The picture catalogue will follow next week.

30^th May, 2010

Terribly hot as we close up the shutters and walk down the road to the harbour to catch the ferry. 33°C feels incredible at mid day when you are carrying bags. Unusually, we had left the car in the garage and were flying to UK. Sweating profusely in the cafe, we order cold drinks and wait for the ferry’s hooter. When it comes, we walk smartly down the last 500m  to the jetty and Speedrunner IV. We hadn’t booked economy or even First Class. We had booked VIP Class which meant that we got leather reclining seats, smoked glass windows, our own waiter and complimentary drinks. We paid €150.00 instead of €100.00. The ferry was so packed it was worth it.

The ferry left at 17.45 and by 21.00 we were pulling in to the harbour. We walked across to the Metro station and caught a train for about €6.00 to takes to Syndagma via Omonia.

We had seats and the twenty minutes of the journey was spent looking for a branch of Leroy Merlin. I spotted one between Neo Faliro and Moscato stations and made a note. Unfortunately, by the time we had got checked in at the hotel, the restaurant had closed. We were so tired after the hot travelling, we drank a beer from our mini-bar with some salted nuts and then showered before falling asleep.

31^st May, 2010

8.00 am – Fantastic late buffet breakfast this morning: fresh orange juice, fresh fruit salad, bacon and eggs, croissants, wonderful fresh coffee. We won’t need to eat again until tonight. After breakfast, we return to our room to read the Sunday papers and check our email. Around 10.00 am we ask the hotel to call us a taxi and we go to the Leroy Merlin shop we had spotted on our way here.

How this shop gets any business? Even the Hotel concierge or the taxi driver had never heard of it. A French shop in Greece? Unbelievable. However, when we did find it, what a find. We will never be subject to the tyrany of the little island shops again. This place was one up on a huge B&Q. The tiles we were offered by the Sifnos tiler for the kitchen (only 4 sq. mtrs.) and the outside patio (200 sq. mtrs.) were in the €40.00+ region per sq. mtr. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the tiles alone would have cost over €8000.00. They weren’t even the tiles we really wanted but just what was available. The choice at Leroy Merlin was enormous and the price was less than half. The kitchen tiles were €9.50 per sq. mtr and the patio tiles were €15.00 per sq. mtr. This fantastic saving will pay for delivery and laying.

The employees of  Leroy Merlin are expected to speak French and English as well as Greek on a shop worker’s pay. The man in charge of the tile area was clearly in deep pain as he wrestled with his English but he was determined to do it. It made us feel ashamed. He took us under his wing and called for the best English speaker to accompany us as we went out in to the garden area where it was 20% discount just for one day. We bought a wonderful patio dining table and four arm chairs for €750.00. We were taken to the check out to pay for our goods and arrange delivery. A Greek-Australian was chosen to deal with us and take us through the process in that weird mangling of the English language that Australians use.

The temperature was a painfully hot 34°C as we moved out of one airconditioned superstore into another airconditioned superstore. This time is was the electrical giant, Kotsovolos which is owned by Dixons. We were after airconditioning. We chose and paid for our airconditioning, hailed a taxi and raced back to our hotel for a cup of tea and the Sunday Times.

1^st  June, 2010

8.00 am – Fantastic late buffet breakfast this morning: fresh orange juice, fresh fruit salad, bacon and eggs, croissants, wonderful fresh coffee. We won’t need  to eat again until tonight. (Notice the similarity with yesterday?) We are on Ermou Street in Athens. It is their Oxford Street and is within a hundred metres of Syndagma (Constitution) Square and the Parliament building. Pauline has been out shopping in Oxford Street while I stay in and write this. After all the walking yesterday, my legs won’t work this morning. We spent the day chilling out.

One nice discovery was a small, family run taverna in a back street. We had courgette slices  fried in batter along with garlic sauce as a starter. We followed that with roast pork and potatoes as a main course. After that, we felt stuffed but the family sent over a huge slice of watermelon as a sweet. We did our best, paid the bill of €35.00 and staggered back to the hotel for coffee.

2nd June, 2010

This morning we woke at 7.00 am, put the Greek news on to find that a transport strike has been called for tomorrow. Thank goodness we are flying today. Tomorrow there will be no buses, trams, taxis, planes, etc.. How lucky we have been. We have a shower and sing.

8.00 am – Fantastic late buffet breakfast this morning: fresh orange juice, fresh fruit salad, bacon and eggs, croissants, wonderful fresh coffee. We won’t need  to eat again until tonight. (See why I like this hotel?)

9.30 am – We set off for the airport. We will be in Manchester by 3.15 pm. We will be met by a taxi and taken home.

Good flight delayed about twenty minutes. Taxi driver picked us up in his Jag. and whisked us off to our (almost ex) home where we were met by our neighbours. The house still looked lovely which made Pauline regret selling it. She’ll get over it. We had no car so ordered a pizza and watched the news about the multiple shooting in Cumbria.

3rd June, 2010

This morning we woke at 5.00 am. It is 7.00 am in Greece and it will take us time to adjust. By 6.00 am we had had tea (no bread for toast) found the documents our solicitor wants relating to the house and still had three and a half hours to go until our car hire firm picked us up. Enterprise Car Hire arrived before 10.00 am and took us to their offices across town. After providing more examples of proof of identity than we needed to enter of leave the country and providing six signatures, we drove off in a new Vauxhall Meriva ‘Design’ MPV. It’s a bit like a wobbly box on wheels.  It has a 1.4 ltr engine which is like pushing a mule through treacle and it has manual transmission. I had cramp in my clutch leg before we’d driven the four miles home.

It is brand new but they told us for each small scratch we put in the painwork they would charge us £600.00. We immmediately switched the car on to our own policy which cost us a nominal sum and has no excess. We then drove to Sainsburys. What a joy. I bought English asparagus, a huge bag of mussels and some Jersey Royal potatoes. I can’t wait for dinner tonight!

4th June, 2010

Put on a suit and tie this morning for the first time in twelve months. It felt very strange but quite pleasant. Of course, I would choose the hottest day for a long time in England to do it. Went out to meet our Estate Agents and to put a face to the voice of those people we had been speaking to on the phone for weeks. The only thing we did learn was that our buyers had requested a ‘Buyers Survey’ but had only received a ‘Valuation Survey’.   They were not prepared to hold the process up for this but still wanted it doing. The surveyor is coming round on Monday. In spite of this, our buyers expect to have their mortgage offer confirmed over the weekend. Then we went on to our solicitor’s offices. He seemed confident that the whole process would take less than three weeks. That is exactly what we wanted to hear.

Although it could still all go wrong, I am beginning to look at flights back to Athens for the last week of June.

5th June, 2010

A warm and sultry day. We had torrential rain for half an hour last night and everywhere looks so verdantly beautiful, that we are walking round saying, “Why are we leaving here?” We are only saying it half seriously but that half has a point.

24^th May, 2010

Went into the village to buy the Sunday papers. It was absolutely crawling with tourists. We couldn’t understand why. They were mainly Greek tourists because they were in cars, causing mayhem. At that moment, Stavros walked by and told us that these people had come from Crete for two days. They were going back today on the new service from the Cretan-based shipping firm, Anek Lines, on Kriti 1. The picture below shows Kriti 1 in the harbour as cars queue to board. This is about as big a ship as our harbour will cope with. It isn’t a normal inter-island boat. It is the sort that we normally catch to sail down the Adriatic between Italy and Greece. Still, if it keeps coming to Sifnos, we might use it to visit Crete. We promise not to spoil Ruth’s holiday there in September though.

25^th May, 2010

Warm and sunny today but not too hot. Reading the Sunday papers (still) while listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 from the internet via wireless speakers in the lounge. It still feels incredibly decadent. After tea and toast in the lounge between 7.00 – 9.00 am with the radio speakers behind us, the Television News on mute in front of us and the Sunday papers in our hands we can indulge in this rich orgy of news media. It is absolute heaven. The Sundays – Times and Telegraph cost about €10.00 (£8.60)beween them. Today the new Times & Sunday Times sites are launched which will charge £2.00 per week for access but give more news coverage than before. They are free for the first month so we can try them. You can be sure we will be doing.

At 10.00 am we move outside on to the patio with our coffee and papers for another hour and then we drive up to Apollonia to arrange for our local Elinoil garage to order a new tyre for us. They say it will only take two days. Fantastic! Home for a lunch of salad, ham and blue cheese and then something we should have done long ago. We measure up the kitchen for tiles. When we go to Athens, we will order them and have them delivered to the island while we are away. We take photographs and measurements so we are sure of our colours and dimensions.

26^th May, 2010

We are just building up to the first heatwave of the season.  It has been 26°C today; predicted to be 29°C tomorrow, 33°C over the weekend and rising by Monday. We leave temporarily on Monday so it will be a hot couple of days in Athens.

27^th May, 2010

Before embracing the day outside, I had to address the problem of my internet contract. I have bought a dongle through which I can get reasonably quick (2-4 Mbps) broadband feed. I pay €30.00 per month for 5Gb of use. This is perfectly adequate even for an addict like me. Unfortunately, I have to do business through Germanos run by Eleni who speaks very little English. When I go on the web, I can do my business – monitoring usage, paying bill, etc – online. However, everything is in Greek and, although I pride myself on being able to read quite a bit of Greek, contract and technical language is important and difficult. Fortunately, Google have a fantastic translate-on-the-fly for webpages. Unfortunately, as with all translation software, it often makes absolute howlers.Today, I had to concede defeat and phone OTEnet to ask how to proceed. The operator immediately sorted me out in perfect English which he apologised for the poor quality of.

Seriously hot today. We spent the morning planting out lettuce ‘plugs’ that I had grown from seed and making sure that the automatic watering systems will work well while we are away. I have four timers each on an external tap with a hosepipe attached. Two have sprinkler systems attached to completely cover the vegetable patch and two control leaky pipe systems that drip around the bushes and trees.

After octopus salad for lunch, we spent an hour or so measuring the patio which goes all around our house so that we can buy tiles from Athens when we go.

It is about 200²m so the tiles alone will cost at least €4000.00. Still, it’s got to be done.

28^th May, 2010

Our Internet company sent us a bill but we didn’t receive it. We went to the Post Office to ask why. They said that they didn’t know who we were so they sent it back. I could pay on the internet but it will take them another month to sort that out. Everything takes so long here. Now I have had to drive up to Germanos shop to pay the bill manually – Can you believe it? Manually!

Co-incidence can be a wonderful thing at times. Sometimes not. I never cease to be surprised. I commented before that Pauline and I are inveterate planners, particularly when we are travelling. We have planned out trip back to England:

• Speedrunner – Sifnos to Piraeus (Monday 31st at 14.10)
• Tube to Athens – Ermou St, Hotel Electra
• Tube to Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (Wednesday 11.30 am)
• Fly Easyjet to Manchester (Wednesday 1.45 pm)
• Land Manchester 15.00 and met by taxi
• Picked up by Enterprise Car Rental (9.30 am Thursday)

All sorted – well, actually, no. Suddenly, as I say to Eleni at Germanos that we are leaving on Monday, she says that all Greek sea men are going on strike on Monday. We tear down to the Booking Office of Aegean Thesaurus and manage to change our tickets for the day before – Sunday – although we have to pay €50.00 more and go VIP. I joke with the girl that we will be VIPs for the day. She looks at me blankly and takes my money.

We rush home again and phone the Electra Hotel to book a third night on the Sunday. Because of the strike, I want another night at £180.00 and because of the strike, the tourists are deserting Athens in droves so I get my room easily. However, this is another example of how Greece bites you on the bum when you think you have everything sorted.

29^th May, 2010

Incredibly hot today. We spent it preparing for our departure. After that, we went out for dinner and drank too much wine – well it is the weekend.

16^th May, 2010

Received an email from our school. It’s not ours of course. We haven’t set foot in it for well over a year. In a few weeks time it will cease to exist. It is combining with a neighbouring school and reopening as an Academy on a new site. Well, that was the intention. All the remaining staff who weren’t lucky enough to be offered redundancy were officially given notice of termination of their contracts and had to apply for jobs in the Academy. Typically, of course, Oldham made a mess of it. First, the new building company hadn’t managed to acquire the site and the plan was/is to reopen in September on the split sites of the old schools for a couple of years. Next, the new Academy Head who had been appointed from Bradford resigned in disgust at the Authority’s organisation. The Authority, trying to deflect criticism, sacked the developer’s managing team. A new Head was appointed. A new managing team was appointed. A number of staff from both schools got new jobs elsewhere. A number were appointed to posts in the Academy. Suddenly, we hear that the funding may be withdrawn. It has already been frozen by the new Government.

The email we received told us of the stress and uproar amongst the staff and obvious uncertainty. Thank goodness we squeezed under the door when we did. I sent them photos illustrating our current state of stress and discomfort: me in the Greek Study and Pauline in the Greek Lounge.

17^th May, 2010

With two weeks until we leave the island, we are trying to do as much preparation work as we can. Pauline has been researching car hire because ours will be in our Greek garage. We will need one for about a month. I have been dealing with the Estate Agent and the solicitor. The couple have been back to the house and have agreed to buy most of the furniture and all the white goods. The solicitor contacts twice a day now about something. All this office work made us so jaded that we went out for a drive to a bay nearby:

18^th May, 2010

We want some more air conditioning. Stavros put a couple of units in for us – one in the lounge and one in our bedroom. Stavros is not really in favour of air conditioning. He thinks it is anti-environmental and a drain on the island’s electricity generation. Of course, he is completely bonkers in the head and everyone else around him is using air conditioning. Little George, Stavros ‘nephew, came back from a twelve month stint in the navy raving about the fact that he slept right through the night because the rooms had air conditioning. Stavros still won’t accept it. He thinks it is not only anti-environmental but unhealthy. Coming out of cold into hot and back is bound to bring on colds, etc.. As I say, he is completely bonkers in the head and we have sent for the electrician, Frangiskus, to advise us. In the meantime, we go on line to the Kotsovolos (owned by Dixons) site to look at prices. Our lounge and kitchen room is about 75-80 sq metrs. Our air conditioning unit is woefully small because that is what Stavros initially ordained before we understood the implications. We can buy what we need for €600-700.00 with free delivery. We then went up to our local branch of ‘Comet’ in Apollonia. The electrical shop is managed by Flora. The picture below shows Flora outside ‘Comet’ having just arranged her display of washing machines.

You can see Pauline likes ‘Comet’ or she did until she saw the prices of air conditioning units were 40% higher than on-line.

19^th May, 2010

We were in the Supermarket in Apollonia today and, suddenly, there was the most almighty explosion. I scare easily and dived for cover behind the sacks of flour. The girl on the till shrieked. Pauline pulled me up and explained that it was thunder. The weather forecast had been threatening this for days but hadn’t delivered. Our garden is watered by two sprinklers on timers four times a day and by two lots of leaky pipe. A downpour would be wonderful. As Pauline dusted the flour off my clothes, she led me reassuringly out to the car where huge drops of rain were falling. We were almost giddy with delight – me because I had survived the near-death experience and Pauline because, at last, the car would get washed and the gardens would be watered. We drove down from the metropolis to the port but suddenly realised as we did that the rain had stopped and been replaced by the normal strong sun. When we arrived home, we found our garden hadn’t received a single drop. Luckily, the sprinklers soon came on.

We feel rather overwhelmed by the amount of ground that we’ve got surrounding the house. It would take a lifetime to cultivate it. At the moment, we have just cleared a patch at the back of the house. Stavros has already planted a number of trees. The photograph below shows a pomegranate on the left and golden conifer on the right. Through the gap you may be able to see rows of:

Radishes
Lettuces
Rocket
Garlic
Shallots
Red and Brown skinned Onions
Carrots
French Beans
Broad Beans

Further down the garden, under the Lemon Trees, we have three different types of Potato, more Salad Leaves and Courgettes. I am having great fun growing them under these more challenging circumstances. I’m also growing Sage and Basil seedlings. It remains to be seen whether they will survive with just automatic watering while we are away for a month.

20^th May, 2010

We went down to the port ostensibly to have coffee in the cafe but really to chat to people to get information. We ask about cheap places in Athens to buy building materials. Christos, immediately directs us to the equivalent of B&Q. The French company, Leroy Merlin have begun to invade Greece.

21^st May, 2010

Friday today. The week has gone amazingly quickly. I only finished the Sunday papers a couple of days ago. These are the pressures of retirement. It’s a white knuckle ride. You just have to go with it.

We will have been on the island for five weeks on Monday. To celebrate, we went to the petrol station to fill up. Greece has gone from having the cheapest to the most expensive petrol in the European Union. To fill our car from almost empty cost us €70.00 today. That is £60.00. In Britain it would have cost us £50.00. The compensation is that it is only the second fill up in five weeks whereas we would do it weekly in UK. The other compensation was that we met ‘Famous’ at the Elinoil filling station. It is a family run place and we always go there. They sometimes hand wash our car. Everybody gets involved – two sisters, one husband and young son. The son, Apostolos, who looks a cheeky twelve year old is actually coming up to sixteen. There is a video of him on the internet playing folk music on the balalaika and singing. He has no interest in school but is passionate about filling cars up with petrol, checking tyre pressures and tinkering with engines. He does that while the women spray and clean the paintwork, vacuum and polish the interior. Husband, has jet black tusky hair and a huge, Greek moustache, helps with the final polishing. His other task is to take the small, oil tanker down to the docks to service the posh yachts that come in to moor for a day or two.

As for ‘Famous’? We met him/her sitting under an upturned fruit crate looking colourful and beautiful. After handing over two €50.00 notes for my petrol and receiving my change, I asked naively, ‘What is it? ‘Famous’, said Apostolos’ Mother. As I looked puzzled, she added, ‘Scottish’. Pauline, who is much quicker than me, said,’ Is it a grouse?’ Apostolos gave us a witheringly pained look and just nodded. I bent down to look and Apostolos unhooked a make-shift door he had created on the end of the wooden slatted fruit crate. The beautiful bird wandered out and came straight towards me talking all the time. The bird nuzzled against my hand and Apostolos smiled.

He thought his Grouse would know an Englishman when he saw one. After all, that’s where the whisky comes from. I hadn’t the heart to put him right. The bird was popped back into its crate-home and Apostolos flashed me a smile of pride as I said, ‘Goodbye’. It is moments like this that make the price of petrol irrelevant.

22^nd May, 2010

While you lot are barbecuing yourselves rigid in the unseasonally warm late May weather, we are sheltering from enormous spots of rain. They last five minutes and then the sun comes out. I spoke to Ruth last night by Skype and, when she worked out how to switch her video cam on, I found her drinking red wine in the garden. It was 7.30 at night (UK) – 9.30 pm in Greece- and already pitch black here. To cap the week, we tested our tyres this morning and found we had a nail in one. We pumped it up and drove it down to the local garage whre they yanked it out a stuck a plastic plug with adhesive in. I looked askance and pointed out that I would have to drive across Europe on that. ‘No problem’, the mechanic said and charged me €6.00.

As soon as we got home, I went on the AA website where it said:

Punctures in the tread area of the car tyre can often be repaired if the tyre’s not been driven in a flat condition for any significant distance.

Strict rules for car tyre repair – what can be repaired and how repairs should be carried out – are laid down in a British Standard (BS AU159).

One of the most important requirements of this standard is that the car tyre must be removed from the wheel to check for any internal damage which if not spotted could later result in sudden failure of the tyre.

Externally applied plugs and liquid sealants can’t be considered permanent repairs.

Before we fly to England, we will look for a supplier who can send a new tyre from Athens at great expense so that we can have it fitted when we return.

9th May, 2010 

Glorious day in spite of the results. Got up early and we gardened for three hours or so. Lunch was salad with garlic mayonnaise and griddled pork strips all washed down with a glass or two of Italian white wine. Delicious! We ate this outside under the cover of the pergola. Sunday in Kamares is quite a busy time because weekenders from Athens go back on the ferry. We watched the activity as we had our lunch.

After lunch I had a snooze as I pretended to watch the Motor Racing just waking in time to see Hamilton crashing out on his penultimate lap. In that time, Pauline made marmalade.

Then I had to watch the football while Pauline made king prawn risotto for our evening meal. It really is a hard life. After dinner, the sultry evening led us outside under a ceiling of stars. We had our coffee under the stars listening to the owls.

10^th May, 2010

Set out for the great metropolis this morning. I have to have my blood coagulation tested and the medical testing centre (The Baker and a chair) is up in the capital city – Apollonia. Below are two photographs of the busy hub of Apollonia:

The second shows men sitting on the wall waiting for the 9.30 am bus and the fish vans plying their morning trade. It used to be local fishermen selling last night’s catch. Nowadays, it is ex-fishermen selling fish they have brought in from Athens and which was probably primarily sourced from the fish farms of Igoumenitsa on the Peloponnese.  There is little fish to be caught around Sifnos these days.  The first picture is of Lakis coffee and sweet things shop. That is what the sign says. It has remained in this traditional style with the vine topped pergola and the metal sliding doors since the first day we arrived on Sifnos in July 1985. Could you take the pressure of surviving in this bustling city jungle?

11^th May, 2010

The weather is getting hotter here. Yesterday it was 28⁰C, today 29⁰C and tomorrow is forecast 30⁰C. Cruel, I know, but someone has to live through it. Went out early to get the result of my blood test and pay my €16.00 then home to read the Sunday papers. It is Tuesday, I know but I got these yesterday and will have to make them last all week. The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph cost me £10.00. You have to get your money’s worth. When I’ve finished reading them, they will be turned into fuel for the log burning stove with my latest contraption.

Will the weather ever be cold enough to allow me to burn them? April – October is not looking promising. Mind you, neither is Nick Clegg.!

The house sale is with solicitors now. We have sent a pricelist of house contents for sale – almost everything because we want a fresh start. The buyers are going round to look at it on Saturday. We will fly back to UK as soon as the solicitor advises. We have told him we will try to do a month – three weeks before the sale and a week afterwards. We will hire a car for a month and look for an unfurnished apartment for six months which will probably take us to the end of the year. We would hope to have found somewhere to buy by Christmas.

12^th May, 2010

The temperature continues to climb and I’m not talking about the Lib-Con stitch up. Wasn’t it nauseating to see Cameron & Clegg kissing on the Downing Street steps? The 30⁰C prediction was achieved. It was just too warm for gardening. Anyway, we had an email from our solicitor saying we have 6-8 weeks until completion date so we booked flights home. I had 65,000 air miles points through our Private Nat. West account and it took 63,000 of them for our flights from Athens to Manchester on June 2nd. We will leave the island on May 31st and spend two nights in Athens shopping. Having our car in our garage in Greece, we will have to hire one when we get to Manchester. We will need it for about a month. Anybody got a spare car for the month of June?

What are your feelings about ‘Danish Blue’? I remember Dad used to eat it with crackers and a bottle of red diamond pale ale for his supper in the Front Room with Mum after we had been sent to bed. I thought, eating Danish Blue was a sign of manhood. I longed to try it. When I did, I was nearly sick but I didn’t give up. For years now I have been celebrating my manhood with Danish Blue. (Well, I have occasionally cheated and bought Gorgonzola or Dolcelatte.) As a sign of the times on Sifnos, we can now buy Danish Blue in our supermarket. Today we had it for lunch with a green salad and it was wonderful.

After lunch, we went out for a drive to Chrysopigi. It is a beautiful little bay with a church built out on a promontory. Tonight, this church will be the centre of celebrations for the island faithful and then tomorrow will be a general holiday on the island. In the background of this photograph is the island of Kimolos. If you ask Sifniots what they think of Kimolos, the will say they have never heard of it and, almost certainly, few will have actually set foot on it. And yet, you can see it’s so close.

13^th May, 2010

An unbearable hot and humid day today. It feels like something will explode it is that close. We only went out today down to the harbour travel agency – Aegean Thesaurus (pronounced Agin Thesoorus) – to book our ferry tickets back to Athens.

We will leave the island on Monday, May 31st to go to Piraeus and Athens on the Speed Runner, a fast catamaran service that will get us there in just over three hours. We will go to the Electra Hotel and spend two nights. While there we will shop for garden furniture and outdoor floor tiles to have sent back to the island while we are away. On Tuesday afternoon, we will get the tube to Athens Airport and fly to Manchester.

Managed to watch England thrash Sri Lanka tonight. It was really enjoyable.

14^th May, 2010

Hot, sticky and uncomfortable today. Rain is forecast for tomorrow. For the second morning running we have gone into the lounge and heard noises in the log burning stove. On closer inspection, a gorgeous little bird with a bright yellow breast was pecking at the glass door and asking to be let out. Yesterday we panicked and went through all sorts of preparations – rubber gloves on, black plastic sacks in hand, etc, before we dared to open the door and Pauline grabbed it and released it chirpingly to freedom. Today we nonchalantly opened the windows and allowed it to fly straight out. I don’t think it was the same bird but, if it happens tomorrow, I will be interrogating it.

It is ironic that we leave the island in a fortnight for up to a month and our garden is growing so well. Lettuces, radishes, broadbeans, dwarf beans, carrots, onions, garlic and courgettes are all doing well. I’ve been up to the hardware store to buy another hosepipe and a timer to fit to the tap so that the garden will be watered six times per day for ten minutes each time. Now the potatoes are growing and the lettuces need planting out, I’m off to buy yet another timer.

15^th May, 2010

Although I don’t feel it much, it can be rather isolating and insulating living on a Greek island. In fact, the medical implications of that are too frightening to think about often. As someone in the cafe said the other day, We feel justified in not paying taxes and cheating the Government in every way because here we live on the edge. There is no hospital and only a couple of junior doctors. If you are seriously ill in the winter, you could have to wait three days for a ferry to Athens and, when it comes, it will take five or six hours. A heart attack means you die. If you can afford €1000.00 you might get there on time by helicopter if one is available but often it isn’t. Our compensation for our isolation is not ignore Athens.

Information & Communication Technology is changing things. This week I received emails from Ruth:

WAtching KP  in Twenty 20 Brill.! Election What Election.   Do not like the Sun newspaper but love the front page today …….I like our little chats on Skype.love to you both x 

and fron Jane (1):

Hi John – good to hear all well with you. The house sale sounds promising – hope it progresses well.

It’s been a fascinating weekend as you’ll have seen if you’ve been following BBC News 24. I remember 1974 as it was the 1st time I voted – I was at  university and had to go back to Repton. Easier now to manage my life as I vote by post.

Of course then we had to rely on the newspapers with limited updates from D Dimbleby – some things don’t change. Events like this emphasise the value – and downsides – of constant “news” since there is so much interest but so little to report. Somehow I find myself glued to it even though it was clear nothing was going to happen quickly. 2 of my friends are among the senior civil servants working with the party leaders to see if they can make a deal and they’re not optimistic.

Glad we went to Athens in March not May  we had several drinks in Syntagma Sq. Hopefully the volcano won’t prevent us going to New York in early June – but BA cabin crew may. We are going for a few luxurious days in the Waldorf, to go to opera at the Met, art at MOMA and shop on 5th Ave. I also plan to run in Central Park. So hopefully we’ll be able to go BA or get an alternative flight.

Have a wonderful time in your Sifnos house and hope you sell Meltham.

Jane

All other emails will be gratefully received. Poor old Portsmouth. They tried so hard.

2^nd May, 2010

Gloriously hot and sunny day today with a slight breeze. We spent it gardening in the morning and watching football in the afternoon. All across the valley in front of us we could hear cultivators chugging through Spring-warmed soil as islanders plant out their tomato, cucumber and melon plants. It gets very hot as you garden here and we take plenty of coffee and water breaks. With no real rain for two months already, the soil is bone dry. It is also covered with dying wild flowers. In order to clear them and fork over the soil, it is necessary to wet it first. I put the sprinkler system on for half an hour prior to working on the area. We are some of the very few people who can afford to do that here. Most people pay for metered water. We have our own, limitless supply. Another couple of days work and we will be sowing and planting.

We are continuing to work on our diet and it seems so much easier here. I am only drinking wine at weekends. Salads and cold, white wine are the order of the day. Today it is oktopothi salata or octopus salad. This is a piece of octopus boiled for half an hour, allowed to go cold and then chunky sliced with oil and vinegar. It tastes like fishy pork. It is wonderful. It is accompanied by olives from our own trees cured by Pauline over the winter.

Pity about the football. Bit of an anti-climax!

3^rd May, 2010

A day that started warm and became hottish at 26⁰C made gardening hard. By 11.00 am, after two hours of solid work, we were shattered. We drank a litre of water and then took a phone call from our estate agent. The second viewer decided there were just too many steps up to the house for their 84 year Mother who lives with them. The first viewer will present their mortgage credentials on Friday. They are also interested in buying some or all of our furniture & white goods. This is exactly what we want. We want a clean start in a new apartment with new furniture. There is nothing worse than old people trying to cram old and treasured furniture into new and smaller surroundings. Our pictures and our bed will go with us. We started immediately to do an inventory of the house contents.

It was such a lovely day and so hot that, after lunch we went for a drive to Faros, a small fishing village on the other side of the island. Went for a drive – it only takes 20 minutes if you drive slowly. We walked on the shoreline for a while and took some photos:

4^th  May, 2010

We decided to be sociable today and went down into the port village to have coffee at Cafe Stavros (which is owned by Stavros but rented out) run by Kristos. Kristos is just 30 years old. He was 5 when we first went to Sifnos. He recently got married to Eleni who owns and runs the Germanos outlet that sold us our Broadband dongle. Kristos has bought land to build a house.

The photographs above show the busy, Kamares High Street and Moshka’s white, delivery pantechnikon parked outside the ‘supermarket’. The photographs below were taken from inside Cafe Stavros looking to the roadside and the ‘supermarket’s blue doors and high-tec display areas and Stavros Travel Agency all below Hotel Stavros. You may be beginning to understand that Stavros has some influence here.

This afternoon Pauline has slow-cooked the shoulder of lamb on a bed of Apostoli’s onions and garlic mixed with thyme and rosemary from our garden and a bottle of red wine. Served with Dauphinoise potatoes, it was magical. Some of the left over lamb will be wrapped in phyllo pastry with slivers of feta cheese and baked in the oven. I can’t wait.

5^th  May, 2010

A day of total strike paralysis in Athens was marked by complete indifference on the island. Not only did they not strike but they were largely unaware of the rioting in Athens, of the attempt to storm the Parliament buildings and of the fire bombing of the Marfin Bank and the death of three bank workers. They were unaware because television journalists were on strike and there was little news on Greek television. Fortunately, we were able to watch the BBC news.

The mainstay of the Greek economy is tourism. Who knows what effect these scenes will have on the industry. Anyway, to more important things. I’m watching City v Spurs tonight.

6^th  May, 2010

An uncomfortably hot and humid day – 28⁰C at early afternoon – is not a day to do gardening. What did we choose to do – gardening. We have never been here in May before and we have been amazed that an area we cleared last September/October is now completely covered in wild flowers. They are wilting badly under the hot sun and lack of rain but even the dead material has to be cleared. We have been working away at it for a few days now and had enough clear ground to sow broadbeans, French beans, carrots, lettuces and radishes.

We have onion sets and seed potatoes to put in so more ground to clear and peppers and tomatoes in a week or so.

Stayed up just late enough to here the Election Exit Poll on Radio 4’s Election Night programme. It might be ten o’clock in UK but it is Midnight in Greece. As I fall in to bed, I excitedly tell Pauline the potential result. She tells me to shut up.

7^th  May, 2010

Soon after 7.00 am we are up to find that the BBC TV service has a full election results and analysis still going. With a cup of breakfast tea we sit and watch the results coming in. It is only 5.30 am in UK and everyone looks vaguely tired and jaded. We sit transfixed by the results until 3.00 pm only breaking off to griddle some chicken to have with salad for lunch. I am so glad we brought a bigger, wide screen television with us. We no longer have to strain for all the tickertape information going across the screen with the election coverage

8^th  May, 2010

A very hot but humid day today. At least 28C in the afternoon. We went to the seaside resort of Platy Gialos which is thronging with holiday makers in the Summer. Now it is deserted. It still has the sign welcoming us and the sunbed is waiting.

It was nice to get an email from Liz:

Hope you are all ok and safe despite the riots and the happenings in Greece
Looks like a revolution looming
Will the finance collapse affect you there ?
Hope you enjoy the elections from your sunny spot
Lv and best wishes to you and Pauline x Liz

Boulis, seen below herding his sheep down past our house for milking. He will die in the field with his sheep – probably aged 108.

We are not at all worried about the value of our property in Greece. We have had it valued at more than double what it cost to build already and a new law coming in about building on beautiful islands like ours means that people will need so much land to build a simple house, few people will be able to do it. The idea is to prevent density and over building.We have already had two people express interest in our house but a year or two will put considerable premium on it.

25^th April, 2010

Yesterday I was able to watch Manchester United beat Spurs quite comfortably in the end and then watch Arsenal get a poor draw. Today, after doing a bit of gardening to keep my body completely toned, I have watched  Liverpool win and Chelsea smash Stoke in to the floor.

Before we can do any gardening, we have to clear the carpet of wild flowers covering everything. It is so profuse it is quite daunting. I was hacking away at weeds and roots today when Pauline told me to stop because she could smell Rocket. As we moved the mound of wild flowers, there was my Wild Rocket bed from last year still growing on happily. All I have to do is water it.

26^th April, 2010

Up early this morning and off out to the shops. First we went to the Post Office to buy one stamp for a letter to England. It was packed. Our friend, Manolis, was in there. We had to stand in line for twenty minutes, watch the Postman record the sale of one 75 Cent stamp with pencil on paper before we could set off to the Farmakia. Our friend, Flora, is now working in the Farmakia dispensing drugs so we wanted to say Hello. Stavros has some apartments/bungalows/gites in Apollonia and we parked in his car park. When we went back to the car, he was there and suggested we went for coffee. Outside the Cafenion we sat in brilliant sunshine and drank coffees and chatted. A man who runs a hotel in Kamares came up to say Hello and I greeted him as my new neighbour. Stavros had told us he had bought land near us to build a home for him and his wife. He told us that they will start to build soon. This man is known on Sifnos as ‘His Mother’ because when you go to the restaurant attached to his Hotel and ask what he has that day, he always prefaces his answer with, “Well, today my Mother has made…..”

After coffee, we went down to see if English newspapers had started to arrive since the air flights embargo has been lifted. The answer was typically Greek – “Maybe tomorrow.” We proceeded on to a shop called Germanos. It sells mobile phones and mobile internet dongles. When we got there, we were immediately confronted one of those really frustratingly Greek red tape requirements. In order to buy a broadband dongle a citizen needs to provide four things: Name, Address, Identity Card Number or Passport Number, Tax Number.  We had the first three items with us but hadn’t anticipated needing our tax number. We received one when we were building the house but don’t know where it is. We drive home to search our computers and paper files. Eventually, I give up and phone Stavros. He rings me back in five minutes with the number and we drive straight back up to the shop with an hour to spare before it closes for lunch. The shop has closed early and won’t be open until 6.30 pm. And so Greek life proceeds – frustratingly slowly!

27^th April, 2010

The weather has turned windy and there is a chill in the wind. We have turned the under-floor heating up a notch in the evenings. We have not heard from Germanos about the internet dongle and there are no newspapers because of the transport strike in Athens. In fact, there are no new anything – no fresh vegetables, milk, etc. – because there are no ferries and no transport lorries. We are hunkered down in our house watching satellite television of demonstrations in Athens shouting We demand jobs for life. and Let Greece default on their debt. Let the Banks fail. They got us in to this mess. Don’t take it out on the poor, working people. The whole thing looks hopeless. We get a phone call from our Estate Agents with our buyers’ final bid. They leave us to decide. The decision is easy but emotionally difficult.

28^th April, 2010

We believe that there is still potential and appetite in Greece to default on their debt and trigger a run on the banks. We have £10,000.00 in the National Bank of Greece earning next to nothing in interest and decide it is safer to have it out and with us than in the Bank. When we go to withdraw it, we are met with lots of smiles and then we are asked to go to another till where we are asked for:

Our passport number
Our tax number
Our address in England
Our address in Greece
Out telephone number in Greece
My Father’s first name
Pauline’s Father’s first name

We have been banking with the National Bank of Greece for more than ten years and have put around £200,000.00 through our account. We have provided all the above information before and I am annoyed at being asked for it again. I get the impression that it is conditional upon our obtaining our money. I complain vociferously at every question. When they ask for my Father’s name, I say that he has been dead for fifty years. I offer my shoes size and the colour of my underpants. They don’t seem impressed. We fill out all the forms in triplicate but haven’t got our tax number with us. We have to go home for it – a fifteen minute drive – to collect the papers. We get up to go and, as we reach the door, the bank clerk says, Don’t you want your £10,000.00? We have misunderstood completely. We could have the money anyway. They were just updating their records. When the bank looks as beautiful as it does below, you can’t stay mad at it for long.

We move on to Germanos who have forgotten to call us to say that the dongle contract was ready. They help me set it up even though everything is in English and I could do it quicker than they could. We do it with my laptop on the wall outside the shop. The irony is that she runs a mobile phone shop but can’t get reception inside the shop. She has to go outside. This is Greece in a nutshell.

We take it home. I immediately try it in our laptop in the lounge, on the dining room table, in the study. In all of these places, the speed is so poor. I can’t even download all my emails. I am totally despondent. Pauline suggests taking it outside. Immediately, I get a good connection with excellent speed. We listen to Radio 4’s World at One (at three o’clock). Unfortunately, the weather has decided to blow a gale. I take it inside again and walk round the house trying it in every room. Joy of joys – the back bedroom provides perfect reception and internet speed. I am going to see a lot of this room. Using Skype, Pauline phones her Mum and talks for twenty minutes for 25p. The reception is perfect. We are using 3G Cosmote. We then phone our estate agent to accept our buyers offer. We are instantly homeless. We will bank the money and rent until we find somewhere to buy. We spend an hour looking through rental apartments and their costs. There are so many, it is impossible to choose. The first ferry for three days brings in The Sunday Times and the Monday Times. My cup is running over.

29th April, 2010

The Estate Agents email us to say that they have informed potential buyers that we are willing to accept their offer but that the house will remain on the market subject to their proof of financial probity. The weather is still rather cool and very windy. We did a little gardening but our heart wasn’t in it. We sit and plan what we need:

• Contact our solicitor
• Look for an empty apartment to rent while we find somewhere we want to live.
• Possibly look for storage firm for our furniture.
• Do an inventory of what is to be packed and what we don’t want to take with us.
• Look for flights home – maybe end of May/early June – to stay for a month or so.
• Look for cheap car rental for a month. Look for investment accounts for the money.

The apartments we were interested in in Surrey have all gone now but we will have to renew our search when we drive home (what home?) from Greece in October. We spend hours on the internet looking for apartments in Surrey & Kent. There are so many but most of them are poor quality developments. We are downsizing but we want quality. Particularly, we want quality of environment – a gated community, preferably, and near restaurants and a Health Club with a pool. We don’t want much: a good sized kitchen, a large lounge, two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one with power shower), secure parking. There may well come a time when we don’t want to drive to Greece and we will need to leave our car securely for long periods.

30th April, 2010

Would you believe it? We go a year without a single viewing. We knock a small amount off the price and we get an offer from our first customer. After haggling them substantially up, we accept and, two days later, someone else wants to view it. Our neighbour, Jean, emails us today to tell us that she is showing a couple round tomorrow morning. We hope this might spark a bidding competition. The property is still on the market (just) and anything could happen. Labour could retain power!

1st May, 2010

Everything is closed today but, as this merges so quietly in to strikes and other closures, who will notice the difference. It is getting a bit politically insensitive here to be a man who has retired at the age of 59 when new austerity measures are changing Greek retirement age from 53 to 67. Oh to be young again!

Lovely lunch outside today. Chicken salad with white wine. This bottle of delightful Pinot Grigio with a delicate, lemon tang was bought in an Italian supermarket and cost £1.27. If you bought it in Sainsburys they would scream ‘Half Price – only £4.99!’.