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Introduction
We start this month's newsletter hot on the heels of last month's which was predictably late.
This is a month that is generally very hot and also very busy on account of the number of tourists from Italy and mainland Greece. Much of Athens closes for the month meaning that if you need something that has to come in from Athens, the chances are that you will be waiting until September.
We still have a few more days of Corinna, Dave and our grandchildren's holiday left and doubtless they will try and cram as much in before having to return to the UK. Their return will be all the more poignant owing to Dave's Mum's funeral.
As far as we are aware, we have no friends visiting the island and so we will be at something of a loss given that the last two months have been quite hectic.
I hope that everyone managed to wade their way through all the photographs last month. That is what comes of having so many 'guest' photographers contributing their efforts. We had to wade through over 300 images before arriving at those that survived the cut.
I think that is all of the preamble that I can come up with and so I had better get on with recording the month's occurrences.
August 2009
The month started where the last left off. The 1st August was very hot and sunny. Corinna, Dave and the children were on the rundown towards the end of their holiday.
In the evening, Corinna, Dave and the children headed off for Corfu Town. They wanted to buy souvenirs and the like. Given the temperature, evening was probably the best time to go there. They ended their evening by returning to Peritheia for dinner at Gelati's.
Tricia and I decided to make the most of the free evening and went for dinner at the Eucalyptus Taverna in Agios Stefanos. It was only whilst we were there that we discovered that the rest of the family had decided to eat at Gelati's. We decided to meet up with them after we had finished our meal, assuming that they were still at Gelati's.
Our meal was terrific. This taverna is a firm favourite. It is a great shame that it is not open during the winter. We would definitely use it for those 'special' meals.
Having finished our meals, Tricia and I made our way to Gelati's. Sure enough, the family were still there. They were just working their way through the free ice creams from Spiros. Tricia and I ordered drinks and were promptly offered free ice creams! I hasten to add that we declined. To have a free ice cream when we hadn't eaten there would have been a case of taking the ... er ...mickey!
Everyone appeared to have had a good time in town, particularly Ryan who had acquired a ukulele with which he was serenading the rest of Spiros' customers!
It was exceptionally hot on Sunday, 2nd August. We decided to spend a day on the beach at Acharavi. A spot in front of Apnoea Taverna meant that we were convenient for drinks! We had lunch there and as much as Tricia and I like the place, we found it expensive, so much so that I had words with Yiannis about it. It wasn't as though we had 'pushed the boat out'!
Despite the prices, we had a nice day with the family. Tricia and I weren't sure but we could not ever remember swimming at Acharavi before. It's a nice beach and considering that we were in August and it was a Sunday, it wasn't overcrowded. In our opinion it is safe for children but not that shallow as to make you exhausted before you get to swimming depth. Recommended!
Monday, 3rd August was another hot day with temperatures in the mid 30°C range. We stayed at home whilst the kids had a good time in their paddling pool.
I guess the highlight of the day came at around 11am when Tricia was taking the coffees out onto the veranda. As she passed through the french doors, she caught her elbow sending coffee everywhere. Skilfully, she managed to save mine. What a star! Anyway, more excitement was to follow.
In an unusual display of helpfulness, I went and collected the mop and bucket from other side of the veranda gate and helpfully started mopping away. What had I forgotten? Firstly I had forgotten to shut the gate and secondly I had forgotten that Jake and Bella were also on the veranda. Jake, never slow to miss an opportunity, was away!
The realisation was instant. I launched myself at Jake and even managed to catch his tail. By this time, Jake was in full flight and I had no chance of holding him. He flew down the steps and launched himself into Vangellis' garden. Poor Max, Vangellis' dog was mortified and ran as hard as he could, yelping all the way. Fortunately, Jake was actually more interested firstly in the cats and secondly in making his escape. He made for the side entrance in a bid to head off up the road. Big mistake!
I realised his intentions and launched myself after him because, for once, my brain was ahead of Jake's. Vangellis had locked his gate. Gotcha!
What I have neglected to mention is that during all of this, Bella had thought it a good idea to follow Jake but had come face to face with ... me! I had to leave her to her own devices in my bid to retrieve Jake but apparently, she made amends for her initial escape bid and came back to Tricia on the stern command, ‘COME!’ just as Jake would have done - not!
It was all over in a minute or two but it felt like hours! My heart was pounding. I am sure that Jake thinks that he is going to kill me one way or the other!.
That night, Tricia and I had the children for dinner (not literally you must understand!) whilst Dave and Corinna went out for the evening. Like all kids when their parents aren't there, they behaved impeccably. They helped Tricia prepare dinner, eat everything and played cards with us afterwards. (By the way Dave, Lauren says that you have got the rules to 'Go Fish!' wrong!)
Tuesday, 4th August continued to be very hot. It was the family's last day with us. Corinna and Dave had decided that they wanted to clear the apartment up before they left and so the kids had to wait until the afternoon before they got the chance of their last swim in Corfu for the year.
That afternoon, we all went down to Avlaki beach. Compared to the sea at Acharavi the previous Sunday, the water was freezing! It didn't seem to bother Dave and the kids though. Sorry, but Tricia and I aren't that hardy!
That evening we all went down to Gelati's for dinner. We pushed the boat out and Spiros did us proud. It was made all the better for Tricia and I as Dave and Corinna dealt with the bill! It was a nice end to their holiday.
Wednesday, 5th August was very much an anti-climax for Tricia and I. I had ordered a taxi for 8.30am to help with the transfer of the family to the airport. It arrived five minutes early and before we knew it, the bags were on board, closely followed by Tricia and Corinna. It fell to me to take Dave and the kids!
The journey was uneventful and it seemed like no time at all before we were saying, "Goodbye". Another holiday over.
Tricia and I made a couple of stops on our way home. The first was at the Volkswagen dealer to see if the parts for our car repairs had arrived. They had and they were stacked up with our car's registration number on them. How unusually efficient in Greece!
Our next stop was at LIdl's to replenish stocks. As we came out of the shop, the heavens opened! The weather forecast had promised rain in the afternoon. I looked at my watch. It was 12.10pm. How accurate was that?
Our shopping excursion made us late home. We had planned to have lunch with John and Michelle and had to warn them that we were running late. They weren't concerned and so we ended up having a late lunch at 'Harry's Taverna' in Peritheia. It had been literally years, since we had eaten there. The choice wasn't enormous but what we had was very good. We will not leave it as long again before returning. So as to share our business around the village, we headed across the road to Gelati's for coffee and a couple of Metaxas!
God! It was quiet when we returned home!
The following few days continued to be as hot and sunny as it had been up until that little downpour on the 5th.
On the 7th August, we had a little shopping that needed doing in Sidari. This was fortunate as we also fancied a fish and chip lunch. Yes we know that it's a little sad but there are the occasional things that I need to get out of my system, and fish and chips happens to be one of them!
Our usual haunt for fish and chips in Roda had moved premises to Sidari and so we thought that we would give them a try. We knew roughly where they were situated as Pete and Carol had briefed us. We knew that it wasn't far from 'Churchill's' where we used to get our fish and chips. We didn't realise how near. Why would you open a fish and chip restaurant near to an already well established one which is clearly successful? It beats us. Unfortunately, we never got to ask the question because the fryers weren’t up to temperature and that was at 1.15pm. Churchill's was buzzing.
Parking nearby is a question of watching out for the rare police patrols. Would you believe it? They were floating around Sidari that afternoon! We decided to give Sidari a miss and head back homeward.
Tricia and I debated what we were going to do for lunch all the way back as far as Roda when we recalled that John and Michelle had mentioned the new grill room there. We decided to give it a try.
We can report that 'The Meraki' grill room is just that - a grill room. The selection was simple but freshly cooked whilst you waited and was very tasty. We only wanted a light lunch and so a couple of gyros and chips with a bottle of retsina and a Sprite fitted the bill. The cost of this handsome snack was staggering - Under €10! Great value!
We returned home with the knowledge that there was yet another quality place for a snack. To be honest, I wouldn't mind trying a full-blown meal there. If we had a criticism, it was that the seating area outside needed shade. There were only two tables which weren't in full sun. I have since learnt that this is due to be remedied in the near future and a steel framework has already been erected.
To be honest, I didn't do much over the next few days apart from a little work in the loft and on the computer. It goes without saying that Tricia did all that was necessary to stop me from starving and to keep the house from falling down around our ears!
On the 14th August, I was stopped outside the house by our neighbour Paniotis who handed me a plastic bucket. It was full of figs with each layer separated by a layer of fig leaves. Joy! These were from his garden and we know them to be really good. There followed several meals of chicken breasts stuffed with figs and wrapped in very thin bacon! Then, of course, there were the puddings of figs baked in the oven with honey and Madeira! My mouth waters at the thought!
We know that figs are expensive in the UK as they are difficult to transport and don't keep well, but as a treat, they are highly recommended. Of course, we wouldn't recommend overdosing on them unless you are always within reach of a loo! They grow like weeds in Greece as we are sure that many of you will know but this year they seem to have suffered in the same way as our garden. Paniotis has lost nearly all of his and is beside himself.
I finished the morning by calling in on John and Michelle who had offered me a load of bricks and old roof tiles. You can never have too much building material can you?
The 15th August was hot and sunny. To be truthful, I didn't see much of it as I spent much of the day on the newsletter and editing out the images. I had a few hundred to deal with!
Oh yes! We watched Chelsea beat Hull 2 - 1. (Just!)
That evening we went to Dave and Alex's for a barbecue. It was a great evening with many guests that we had either not met before or if we had, only briefly. It was another one of their excellent barbecues, made even more impressive by the fact that they had only remembered that day that it was Maria and Paniotis's name day which is one of the biggest public holidays here. This meant that everywhere was shut and that they were faced with a major problem in finding fresh meat! Fortunately, they managed to work a few miracles and came up with the goods! To say that it was a late night was an understatement and we were far from the last to leave at around 4am!
Thank God for Sundays! We at least had time to recover!
The car was booked in for body repairs on the 17th August and so Tricia and I set off to get to the garage in Corfu Town by about 9.30am. We had arranged a courtesy car as they reckoned that they would need the car for two or three days and so we were anxious not to be late. It wouldn't have mattered as we were kept waiting for an hour and a half!
This wouldn't have worried us normally but the circumstances around the delay were infuriating. Well, that is a little unfair as the circumstances were actually quite serious. It transpired that one of the mechanics had been scalded whilst working on a car and had been rushed to hospital by the service manager and another mechanic. What had they used as transport? You've guessed it - the courtesy car.
Given the circumstances, you are now thinking that I am a heartless b*****d but what infuriated me was that nobody told me the reason for the delay. The only way I found out in the end was to march up to the owner of the dealership and complain. Only then did the true reason for the delay come out. I ask you! What is the problem in telling the truth? At least the VW Lupo that we were loaned was not a bad car!
On Tuesday 18th August we went for lunch at our friends, Colin and Sue's house in Kentroma. To be precise it is their newly renovated house. We had last visited this house when it was in mid renovation and having heard Colin and Sue's plans for it then, it was nice to see how it had progressed. What can we say? The house has been really sympathetically restored and is beautiful. Not only that but lunch was amazing too! To add to our enjoyment, we were also formally invited to their wedding in October. This will be our second wedding this year and one that we are looking forward to. We didn't get home until gone 7pm!
The 19th August was a very hot sunny day. Having said that, you will probably wonder why I decided to start digging away the embankment to the right of our garage. Tricia wasn't so daft. She had a go at preserving roasted peppers. At least she had the air conditioning to freshen her up!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! Digging away at the embankment. I had always thought that it looked a bit scruffy, even by Greek standards and thought that this would benefit from being cut back and retained by a low wall. Maybe it will become a little secluded garden area. Who knows?
I shifted a fair amount of rubble and other leftovers from the house and garage builds but to be truthful, I hardly made a dent in the mound. Tricia was interested to find out what my latest crackpot scheme was and promptly gave me her opinion! Sun, heat and madness were included in the first few sentences! I think it fair to say that owing to disagreements on aesthetics will mean that this is going to be a very long drawn out project! Put simply, what started out as a bit of a simple project is now in danger of becoming a major project including wrought iron gates and arches! I fear that my simple tidying operation may never see the light of day! Ho hum! At least it provided some ballast to infill one of the flowerbeds!
Those that have been keeping up will recall our occasional passion for fish and chips. We actually got around to eating a fish and chip supper at 'Maggie's Place' in Roda. We had heard of this restaurant several years ago but being biased against the typical tourist place that caters for the British holiday maker we had always given it a miss. What a mistake to have made!
I am not saying that we would eat there on a weekly basis but we certainly will return. The place is very clean and tidy and more to the point, the food was excellent! The proprietor, Maggie was very hospitable, as were the rest of the staff and owing to it being relatively quiet, was able to spend some time with us. We left thinking that we should return before the end of the season to check out their Sunday Roast. It's not often that you will hear us praising an establishment that caters primarily for the British market but we would recommend it. That is not to say that there were not Greek influenced dishes on offer. That might be interesting!
Early on Sunday 20th August, we received a phone call from Yiorgos, our builder. I was summoned to his house as his wife Eleni apparently had something for us. I did as I was bid and called around after walking the dogs. I was presented with a fresh chicken that had been running around a couple of hours previously. It certainly wasn't going to be doing any more running around as it had been plucked and gutted! Despite my protestations that they needed it more than us, they insisted that I take it. We can't help feeling that gifts like that mean so much.
Monday, 21st August saw us off to Corfu Town to collect our car. Much to our amazement, the repairs were first class and the car looked like new. It had even been washed and valeted. A friend has since commented that he didn't think there was anybody on the island capable of repairing bodywork to such a high standard. The same thought had crossed our mind!
Saturday, 22nd August was very hot. I had to go shopping otherwise the dogs would starve!
After Tricia and I had had our mid-morning coffee I set about cleaning the rugs with our pressure washer. That was one way to pass an hour or so!
I think that is fair to say that both Tricia and I have been very disappointed with our vegetable plot this year. To be blunt, it has been a disaster. We are not alone because several of our neighbours have commented upon how badly their gardens have done this year. The general consensus is that it is due to the very long wet winter which stopped us sowing as early as we should have. Personally, Tricia and I think that much has to do with the quality of our soil and we have seriously considered spending €150 or so on organic compost. We will have to see how we feel when the time comes.
The really big news of the day were the very serious fires that have broken out on mainland Greece. We knew that they were considered very serious when the British media started reporting stories about the fires. As if the fires were not bad enough, they have broken out in areas of particular historical interest such as at Marathon.
The hot weather continued throughout Sunday, 23rd August, as did the fires on the mainland. They were clearly very serious.
The Fulham vs Chelsea football match was televised on one of the Nova channels and so Tricia and I managed to see Chelsea win 0 - 2 thereby maintaining their unbeaten record this year.
The hot and sunny weather continued throughout Monday, 24 August. Tricia and I went into town early to visit Lidl's supermarket. We had learned that they had some small drawer units for sale, identical to one that I have in our office. Those of you who have visited and have dared to stick your heads in my office will realise just how essential this extra storage would be. I am pleased to report that we got there before they sold out!
Bearing in mind our passion for Chelsea football club, some of you may be surprised to hear that we actually watched the Liverpool vs Aston Villa match that night. We should point out that we consider Liverpool to be Chelsea's bogey team and rather fancied watching them lose! We were not disappointed as they lost 1-3 at home! Joy!
Tuesday, 25th August was as hot and sunny as the previous days. The fires on the mainland thankfully appeared to be out or at least under control.
I chose this day to pressure wash the veranda and the side steps to the house. I had been promising Tricia that I would get round to doing it one day and had run out of excuses! Somewhat foolishly, I did it whilst stripped to the waist and yes, you guessed right, I suffered sunburn. Thankfully it wasn't bad and by the next day was nothing more than slightly irritating. The upside was that Tricia declared that the veranda looked much better. Far be it from me to disagree.
That evening Tricia and I decided that we would take the unusual step of going for a drink in the kafeneio. This was particularly unusual as we decided to take Bella with us.
We had not realised that an acquaintance of ours, Steve, had chosen that night to also visit the kafeneio. He had his guitar with him and was soon joined by several of his friends who were visiting, all of whom were all of a musical bent! There was guitar players, a harmonica player, a selection of singers and to top it all, a tea chest bass. We hadn't seen one of those since the days of skiffle!
Apart from us there was a table of Greeks who were clearly enjoying the evening.
After a short while, the men in the party of Greeks left the kafeneio to return later with a large selection of cakes. It transpired that they had originally gone out for pizza! It didn't matter as none of their families seemed concerned. In fact, knowing the Greek sweet tooth, they probably preferred the cakes! In true Greek fashion, a selection of cakes were handed to Tricia and I.
Philipos was in his element and in between serving customers could be found taking numerous photographs, some of which he has been good enough to allow us to include in this newsletter.
Philipos’s camera did cause us some problems with Bella. To be more accurate it was the flashgun that caused the problems. Some of you will know that Bella was a gun dog that didn't like guns! As a result, she doesn't like thunder or the lightning that precedes it. Similarly, she associates the flash from a camera or flashgun with thunder and lightning and is terrified.
Philipos was convinced that he could cure her and despite our protestations stood in front of her continually firing off his flash gun. Suffice to say it didn't work! Apart from that it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Wednesday, 26th August was hot and sunny. It was also our 42nd wedding anniversary. Crikey! Do I know how to treat Tricia!
We started the day with a full English breakfast at the Orpheus bar in Acharavi. This venue was chosen upon the recommendation of several of our English friends here. When we arrived the place was empty except for one young lady mopping the floor. She assured us that breakfast was on and so two large English breakfasts were the order of the day!
We could not fault the food which was excellent and very reasonable. Unlike many other places the price included your tea or coffee, toast, marmalade and orange juice. You will be surprised at how many people get caught out by the places offering ridiculously cheap English breakfasts and then find that they have to pay extra for the tea or coffee, toast and marmalade and orange juice.
As we have said the food was good value and very nice. However, on the down side we have to say that the location is not the best and I think that Tricia came up with an adequate description of the atmosphere. Joyless!
Before I get accused of being the world's greatest tightwad I should point out that we went out to dinner that evening to the Eucalyptus Taverna in Agios Stefanos! Our meals were superb as was the wine. No! It wasn't the house plonk. We actually lashed out on a decent bottle!
In between at least two notable meals, Tricia convinced me to celebrate our anniversary in style. I pressure washed three more rugs.
The hot sunny weather continued. On Friday, 28th August Tricia and I could both be found working in the garden. Tricia had been threatening to clear a lot of weed infested flowerpots. With the weeds removed the compost found its way into a flower bed that we are attempting to make. Apart from the gardening we did little else during the day.
We may not have done much during the day but we certainly did during the evening! There was another ‘musical evening’ at the kafeneion. It was attended by many Greeks and British, not to mention the odd smattering of other nationalities!
It was a memorable night which went on well into the early hours of the next morning. It was a particularly memorable evening for Phillipos, the kafeneion owner as he could be heard complaining that he was so busy, he could not watch the event. Not only that, but he ran out of beer! We are indebted to Phllipos for some of his photos.
Over the months gone by we have accumulated a number of used books, mostly donated by John and Michelle. Despite having passed several on we were beginning to accumulate many books that, although worth reading, were not likely to be read again by us. As a result, on Saturday, 29th August, I was tasked with taking several bags into Acharavi for the charity stall.
On a more exciting note we would just like to remind everybody that Chelsea beat Burnley 3 - 0 that day!
Sunday, 30th August was hot but we paid for it in the evening with a horrendous thunderstorm. It had been predicted and fortunately I hadn’t watered the garden. It had been such a long time since we have had a good thunderstorm and, to be honest, we were quite pleased although I don't suppose that visitors to the island were! It goes without saying that Bella was terrified.
This brings us to the end of the month. After the previous day's storms the weather had reverted to being hot and sunny.
The month ended with a celebration back in the UK. It was Tricia's dad's 86th birthday. Although we couldn't be there with him we understand that, with Tricia's sister Sandra, they went out for a nice dinner.
Now Tricia, being the elder sister, could be excused if she showed signs of being forgetful but neither of us can work out how Sandra forgot to give her dad his birthday present! We don’t know whether alcohol was involved or not!! We hasten to add that he did get it eventually!
Conclusion
In our introduction to this newsletter, we commented about how busy August in Corfu can be. We know that there will be many people on the island who will, for reasons of their own, disagree when we say how relatively quiet the island has been this month.
We can only assume that they have interests that we do not. The roads have been remarkably empty and on the number of occasions that we have driven into Corfu town, we have been amazed at how few transfer coaches there have been.
Dare we suggest, that as well as the number of tourists reducing, there has been a marked shift in the nationality of visitors to the island. There have been a great many more vehicles displaying number plates from eastern European countries, many of which are new members of the European Union.
Many of the people involved in tourism whom we have spoken to complain bitterly that many of the visitors are ‘eating in’ more often than visiting tavernas. Others have commented that those visitors who arrive in their own cars are also bringing much of their own food.
Tricia, in particular, has heard comments to the effect that why would people on holiday wish to 'eat in' rather than go out for meals. We can't help feeling that such people are delusional and just haven't grasped the fact that so many people are finding times hard.
In the same way, if many of the people involved in tourism on this island don't wake up to the same facts of life, they are going to find that those tourists that would have come here will go elsewhere. In fairness, some places appear to have realised at last that getting 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing. As a result, a few mini price wars have broken out amongst some of the eating places. Bring it on!
That's enough ranting for this month. I guess that all remains is to wish all our readers the best and apologise for yet another late publication!
September 2009 - Introduction
I guess that by now you have all realised that you haven't read August's newsletter yet! Thank you for reminding me of that, Corinna. As it happens, I have actually written it but just haven't got round to publishing on account of the fact that we have been quite busy.
We anticipate that the weather will become a little cooler this month and that this will allow us to get on with some outside work which we would not otherwise be able to do because of the heat. We seem to have miles of railings that require painting and there are many cracks in the external plaster that need a little attention. The latter are not as bad as they have been in the past but do look a little unsightly if you get close to them. To put it bluntly, they annoy us!
We cannot reasonably anticipate external decoration beyond the end of October and as both Tricia and I have separate short visits to the UK planned in October, we really don't have that much time.
On top of this, we have a reasonable log pile which has been drying off all summer. We would like to get this all moved into our downstairs apothike (storeroom) before the bad weather hits. It's not that we use the log fire a lot but sometimes it makes a nice supplement to the central heating.
I think that we had better get on with September's newsletter before I depress myself thinking of all the jobs that need to be done this month!
September 2009 Newsletter
September’s weather started as August’s had finished. It was very hot and sunny.
We had decided that the first outside job to be done was painting the railings. We needed to make some headway with this because we could only work early and late on account of the heat. If you have tried using Hammerite paint on warm metal railings you will know what I mean!
Before I could start painting it was necessary to clean up the railings with a wire brush. It was only then that I realised just how much work was going to be involved. They seem to go on for ever! The painting started during the evening of Wednesday, 2nd September. It seemed to go on … and on … and on! Things were not helped by the fact that the nights are drawing in and the sun has been rising that much later. We have also been seeing the first signs of morning dew.
If you have read our August offering, you will recall the 'musical evenings' that we had down at the kafeneion. Unfortunately, both Tricia and I had forgotten to take our cameras for those events. However, Philipos had said that he was happy for us to include some of his photographs in a newsletter. This at least gave me an excuse to visit the kafeneion on Thursday, 3 September.
In the introduction to this newsletter I mentioned that Tricia and I wanted to sort out our woodpile. Friday, 4th September saw us loading up your barrows full of logs and moving them to the apothike where we stacked them in something resembling a neat pile! It took all morning and I'm not exaggerating when I say that we certainly needed a siesta that afternoon!
The external painting continued until Sunday, 6th September when an almighty thunderstorm broke at six o'clock in the morning. This put paid to any hopes of painting that day. However the day wasn't totally wasted because Tricia and I took ourselves off to the Eucalyptus Taverna in Agios Stefanos for a nice lunch!
We had to go into Corfu town for some shopping on Monday, 7th September but upon our return I was able to spend some time weeding our strawberry bed as the storm the night before had loosened the soil considerably.
I'm pretty sure that we have mentioned this before, but our vegetable garden has been a real disappointment this year and so we are determined that before the really heavy rains come we will completely weed it, rotovate it and apply a heavy dressing of organic fertiliser. This day's effort was a modest start.
With all the painting that had been going on, I continually looked for excuses to stop work! On Wednesday, 9th September one such opportunity presented itself! Our friends, John and Michelle rang and suggested that we could all go out for lunch together. They were very keen to try the Eucalyptus Taverna as they have not been there for a long time. We didn't argue!
The meal was okay. I can't put it any stronger than that as it was not the best that we have had there. The weather was fine and the company was great but Tricia and I just felt that the meal lacked a certain something. It won't stop us going back there though!
After our meal, John and Michelle suggested that we returned to their house for couple of drinks. As the old saying goes, "What a mistake to make!" It turned into something of a session. I will say no more!
Thursday, 10th September was a little cooler but it was still sunny. The painting continued with a brief break whilst I went off to our local seed merchant to buy some sacks of organic fertiliser. As I've previously mentioned we intend going to town on the vegetable plot! I could only get eight sacks of the fertiliser in the back of the old car. I knew that another trip was going to be required to get the remainder.
As soon as the sun was low enough my painting duties continued in the evening.
By 12th September the weather was beginning to show signs of changing. Rain had been promised and so my outside painting came to a halt. Instead, Tricia and I turned our attention to the vegetable plot and the kitchen garden. That took care of the day. In the evening we went to our friends, Reg and Sarah's house for a barbecue.
It was a lovely evening with many old friends there. Those who know Sarah will not be surprised when we say that the food was outstanding. Dave, who slaved over the barbecue all evening, produced some exceptional food as well. The rain held off until the early hours of the next morning. Tricia and I decided to leave at that point as we felt that the dogs would need exercising by then!
The previous night's showers continued into Sunday, 13th September. Suffice to say after the late-night or should I say early morning, we were quite pleased for the excuse not to do any work.
Monday, 14th September was a very sad day. Tricia and I were on our way to Acharavi to do a little shopping when we noticed a 'death notice' attached to a telegraph pole. On checking it, we discovered that one of the ladies in the village, Vasiliki, had died. She was a very nice lady, the mother of friends of ours and the reports of her death, although not unexpected, were felt with much sadness throughout the village. Her funeral was scheduled for later that day.
Vasiliki's funeral was extremely well attended. She will be greatly missed in the village. After the funeral and subsequent burial many of the mourners attended the village kafeneion as is traditional.
That evening, Tricia and I, together with friends Dave and Alex, went to the Meraki grill room for dinner. There had clearly been something going on before our arrival and everybody there seemed unusually sullen. It came as no surprise to us when we all got entirely the wrong order! By that time we were all so hungry we couldn't care less!
With the continuing cooler weather my painting duties continued through the morning of 15th September whilst Tricia slaved on indoors! I guess that the best thing that occurred that day was that Chelsea beat Porto in the Champions League, 1 - 0.
I took a chance with the painting on 16th September but it became clear that we were going to get some rain that day. Fortunately, I stopped in time to allow the paint to become touch dry before the rain finally hit.
At about 1am on Thursday, 17th September the power went. I was woken by the sound of the uninterruptible power supply beeping. This signalled the commencement of the longest power outage that we have had here for many months. It went on until 1.15pm.
Although I have commented on the temperatures becoming cooler it was still quite warm and so we had to make an effort not to open any of the freezers. We did however use the fridges. You may be wondering why I mention this. The answer is a simple. I'm not quite sure what Tricia was doing in the larger of our fridges, but there was an almighty crash! I went to investigate and found a very perplexed Tricia staring at one of the shelves from the door which was lying in pieces on the floor! That got me out of the house - if only to buy some superglue! It didn’t work by the way!
Around about this time of year Tricia gets into some kind of panic because of my impending birthday on the 20th. As a result, on 18th September Tricia and I were to be found wandering around Corfu Town in search of that elusive present - you know, the thing that I never knew I wanted!
I must confess that we were unsuccessful in our search but we did manage to fit in a very nice ouzo meze whilst sitting on the Liston at the Olympia. We also managed to fit in a visit to Lidl’s and the market where we brought some nice mackerel. These were barbecued later that evening.
The 19th September was hot and sunny. We did little all day as we had invited some friends to join us at the Eucalyptus Taverna in Agios Stefanos for dinner that night. This was to be my birthday dinner on account that I reasoned that it would continue into 20th September which of course was my birthday!
This assumption proved to be correct. After the relatively lacklustre dinner, we returned to our house where we continue the festivities until around 5am. I can't speak for everybody else but I enjoyed myself! Whilst I think of it, can I say, “Thank you” to all of you who sent me birthday cards. They were greatly appreciated.
You would think that after our late night/early morning, that we would not be fit for much on Monday, 21st September. You would be wrong as I undertook a monster rail painting session that day!
Our son David contacted us on Tuesday, 22nd September to say that he was going to visit us. He was due to arrive on Sunday, 27th September for a very short stay. Did we say short stay? He had to return to the UK on Wednesday, 30th September so he would only have two complete days here. Such stamina!
The good weather continued until Thursday, 24th September when we had some showers which stopped our outside decorating. However, despite a grey start on 25th September, I got up as soon as it was light and got another section of railing painted. I also managed to do some filling of cracks on the front of the house before we started to get a few rain showers. These put paid to the outside work that day. Fortunately it wasn't cold and my earlier painting was unharmed by the showers.
The showers continued into the next day. This was not such a problem as Tricia and I went off to get some last-minute shopping before David's arrival. We had planned to go out in the evening to Maggie's bistro in Roda for dinner but did not want to stay late as Chelsea were away to Wigan and was being televised at 10pm that night.
We managed to get home in time to see the match but wished we hadn't! Not only did Chelsea play like a bunch of amateurs but the goalkeeper Petr Cech managed to get himself sent off thereby incurring a ban.
We collected David from Corfu airport on Sunday, 27th September. His flight was an hour late but fortunately we had checked its departure time on the Internet so at least we didn't have to hang around for him. I think it's fair to say that David was both knackered and starving when he arrived! We couldn't do much about his tiredness but we stopped at the Meraki grill room for lunch on the way home. By the time that Tricia had made Sunday dinner that night, I think that David’s hunger was well taken care of.
We understand that the weather had been good in the UK and it certainly seemed as if David had brought it with him! That is not to say that David saw much of it during his first full day here as he caught up his lost sleep for much of it. We had dinner out at Gelati's that night. As always the quality was consistent and the price is excellent.
As Tuesday, 29th September was David's last day with us we wanted to take him out for a nice meal. The problem was, that even the places that we had considered nice up until now had let us down recently. After much head scratching, we decided that we would visit Taverna Agni in Agni Bay. This was to be our first visit this year and we hoped that we were not taking a chance.
We should have known better! The food was superb and the service the best that we have received in a long while. David's comment said it all. The meal was West End quality. The only downside was that it was West End prices as well! We didn't care as the food was that outstanding. Tricia and I were really pleased. Not only had we managed to find somewhere that met with David's approval but it was good to see that at least Taverna Agni standards had not dropped.
We took David to Corfu airport for his return flight which was scheduled to leave around noon on 30th September. The incoming EasyJet flight was on time which bode well for David. Having left him at the departure gate we were surprised to receive a text message from him. One of his favourite people (not), Jeffrey Archer was apparently on the same flight!
Conclusion
September has been a month of highs and lows. The lowest point was the death of Vasiliki on the 14th. The high point was David's surprise visit, albeit a short one.
We have seen rain showers for the first time in a long while which has meant that the grass has started to grow which will ultimately need cutting before winter sets in. The upside to a little rain along with the continuing warm weather is that wildflowers are now again in bloom which really brightens the place up. Our land is awash with cyclamen.
We are hoping that we do not get a repeat of last year's weather when winter set in at the end of October. We have so much work to do outside that is dependent upon the weather. The fact that both Tricia and I will be making separate trips to the UK during October will not help. Fortunately, my visit is a short one, as always.
Well that's it for this month. I'm sorry that you've got two months of newsletters to catch up on but we really have been quite busy.
Have fun!
Bob and Tricia
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