June 2010 Newsletter

Introduction
Well this is shameful! It's June and I am still completing April and May's publication. You will have to excuse us (me!)

June sees many of our friends returning to Corfu for their holidays and hopefully we will be able to catch up and enjoy a few meals together. The passage of time means that we will all have many tales to regale to one another.

As neither Tricia and I have no trips planned to the UK for the first time in two months, we should be able to keep on top of things around the house and in the garden - friends and meals out permitting!

I'm not dwelling on the intro for too long this month you will be pleased to hear so let's just get on with it!

June 2010
Tuesday, 1st June saw Tricia and I working in the garden. With every row that we plant there is now a ritual. Tricia insists that we make strenuous efforts in removing even the slightest trace of any weed. This, despite being a total pain, is essential if I am entirely honest. We suffer from a grass that has roots which spread just below the surface like wildfire. If not removed, it chokes the life out of everything. It is a real pain to remove when it takes hold. Next, a trench is made so that any rain that does fall during summer is concentrated where it is needed. Then of course comes the planting. This is then followed up by me making up an irrigation pipe with nozzles inserted at intervals corresponding to the plant intervals. This then has to be connected into the main irrigation system.

I know that this will be second nature to you experienced gardeners but we are still pretty much novices and learn as we go along. We are beginning to know what grows and what doesn't. For example, there is a type of bean called 'Un Metro' which grows up poles like a runner bean but produces beans that are up to a metre long. Hence the name. These grow well. So of course we didn't plant any this year as somebody wanted dwarf beans!

We have never had much success here with dwarf beans and this year looks as if it won't be any different! (Especially since someone applied a solution of water, Fairy liquid and garlic to one row to combat black fly. They are nearly all dead. The plants that is, not the black fly!) I wouldn't have minded too much had that somebody not have been with me when I purchased the correct chemicals and stood by as we were given strict instructions upon how to apply it! Ho hum!

We awoke at about 5.30am on Wednesday, 2nd June to an almighty clap of thunder and a minor downpour. Tricia was pleased (not!) on account of having left the washing out! This served as an early alarm call as we were getting up early anyway to go into Corfu Town.

We had arranged to take the old car into our friendly motor mechanic, Spiros. We wanted him to take a look at a couple of things for us and then run it into the vehicle testing station for its bi-annual test whilst we were wandering around Town.

We dropped the car off and then made our way to the Nomarkia to sign an authorisation for our architect (TBW) to sort out our outstanding IKA payments. We will believe it when it happens! From there we stopped off in Marks and Spencer's where I was alarmed to find that Tricia's new found enthusiasm for clothes shopping, first developed in the wilds of Lakeside and Bluewater shopping Malls, had not abated! It was a very nice summer skirt, though!

We knew that we had to occupy ourselves until at least 12pm and so we made our way to the 'Olympia' on The Liston for a couple of ouzo mezes. Very nice. We were so amazed at how quiet Town was that Tricia was compelled to take a photograph. For those of you familiar with The Olympia and its adjacent premises, you will be aware that there are tables and seats opposite on the green, beneath the trees. It was totally, and we mean totally empty at 11.45am. Amazing! Oh yes! We have the photograph to prove it!

We were picked up on our way back to collect the car by Spiros, the mechanic. He announced that the car had passed its test with flying colours and added that he would be available to look at the brakes next week!

We stopped off on the way home at Gelati's. Tricia fancied Kleftiko for dinner that night. Sure enough, Spiros assured us that it had been cooked fresh and that he would save us two for that evening. Guess where we ate that night!

I was up early on Thursday, 3rd June. I was determined to start the next cycle of strimming. The warmth and the unseasonal amount of rain that we have been experiencing meant that the grass and weeds were growing at an alarming rate. Tricia busied herself in the vegetable plot weeding the shallots, all the while dodging the stones thrown up by the strimmer! Shallots are one of our new crops here this year. We look forward to pickled shallots later in the year.

Friday, 4th June started well enough. I was up early to continue the strimming. Then things went wrong. It started to rain. I kept going until I was getting as wet from water thrown up from the strimmer as I was from the rain. Still it gave an excuse to work on the newsletter!

We cannot believe the weather this year. Those holidaying here this year must be really disappointed so far. For those of us that live here, it does have some advantages. The vegetables are looking okay and the Fire Brigade must be as pleased as punch!

That evening, I paid a visit to the kafeneion for a chat with Philipos. I had learnt that 24 Mbps broadband was available in our area. Philipos confirmed this. I cursed from not visiting more often as it is the one place that you can find out what is going on! Apart from that, Philipos make reasonable coffee! Oh yes! He also sells beer!

Saturday, 5th June started with more rain. We began to think it would never end. During the course of the day, we had a couple of thunderstorms and showers. We were worried that it might cause a problem for John and Michelle who were due to move from their house that day. As it turned out, the removal company didn't turn up until after 7pm and the weather had cleared.

Personally, I had a lot of early morning running around. Having cajoled Yiorgos to come and plaster three columns beside our garage, I had to get some marmaro and asvesti (ground up marble and lime). We also needed bread and rolls. We prefer the bread from Acharavi and so, as I was almost there when at the builder's merchant, I continued on into Acharavi. During summer, when the tourists visit, items like bread tend to sell out very early. Such is the lure of self catering in these economically difficult times.

I returned home in next to no time only to realise that I had forgotten to buy an ink cartridge for our printer. I had been in a hurry as I had an appointment to meet Costas, our neighbour and car insurance agent, at 10 am ... in the kafeneion!

With the marmaro and asvesti unloaded and Jake walked, I made my way to the kafeneion. Costas was already there. Business was completed, I was relieved of a few hundred euros and coffee was drunk. There was just time for an argument with Philipos, and villager, Babis, about the economy. Those who know us well will tell you that there are two people in the village that are always right ... Philipos and me! Babis couldn't take the strain and left as did Costas who had business elsewhere.

As far as I am concerned and I suspect that Philipos will agree with me on this, there are rules to heated discussions, particularly in kafeneions. You always part as friends or at least you are by the next morning! This means that there is an unwritten rule where arguments become a little heated. A draw is declared without saying as much! This day was a good point in question.

We had hoped to go out with John and Michelle as we were unable to make their leaving do the next day. (It's a long story involving previous arrangements. I will explain later!) It became increasingly obvious that they were going to be heavily involved in removals until late. They were due to stay with us in the apartment once their furniture had been taken. As it turned out, they settled for beans on toast there!

Tricia and I decided that we would have a cheap meal in Gelati's. It turned into a session as we were joined after dinner by Darryl and Paula and later, Dave and Sue Jordan. Not a particularly early night as it happens!

Tricia and I had a bit of a dilemma on Sunday, 6th June. We had a long standing arrangement to go out for lunch with Alan and Pauline. We had later been invited to John and Michelle's farewell dinner the same day. John and Michelle weren't fazed. They said that they would like to take Tricia and I for dinner on Monday in return for letting them stay in our apartment, since they had effectively been homeless since the sale of their house on Friday. That too was a problem as we had a long standing arrangement to go for dinner with friends, Chris and Barry, who were to arrive for their holiday that day. Are you with us so far? A phone call to Chris and Barry sorted out our eating out arrangements! We rescheduled that appointment to Tuesday 8th June.

Getting back to Sunday, 6th June, we went to lunch with Alan and Pauline at Apnoea Taverna where we had a great meal. That evening we caught up with John, Michelle and the assembled throng at Harry's Taverna in Peritheia where they had all moved onto after lunch for a drink. Their lunch, like ours had finished around 7pm! So much food and drink ... so little time!

How shall we put this delicately. It was a tiring day. It was also a late one!

Tricia and I headed off for Corfu Town during the morning of Monday, 7th June. According to the OTE website, we could now have a faster broadband connection at our location. Woo Hoo! The OTE office had moved from Skripero and so it was a much longer journey. We decided to incorporate something of a shopping trip as well.

Some things never change. Olga, the OTE rep had moved to the new location and was as overworked and under-staffed as always. She was, to put it mildly, in a 'flat spin'! She was adopting her normal strategy for dealing with customers when under stress. She shouted a lot at the customers, all the time having a telephone held to each ear!

When it became our turn to be shouted at, she clearly remembered some of our past conflicts and reduced her voice, very slightly. I told her why we had the audacity to bother her. She laughed and assured us that it was not possible to have the higher speed ADSL and that her employer's website was displaying the wrong information. Arguing was futile. We left and I vowed to contact OTE as soon as I could.

We were quite late home for lunch and only just beat John and Michelle who had finally sorted out their return journey to the UK. They were booked on the 8am ferry to Venice, the next morning.

Between us, we decided to go out for dinner to Ognistra Taverna in old Peritheia as it was nearby. We had both heard recent good reports about it. Sure enough, the short journey proved worthwhile despite having to negotiate the potholed road. We were the only people there. (Be fair, it was Monday night!) The food was excellent and, for once, there was a variation in the menu from the normal taverna fair. It was not a big menu but what they served was fresh and delicious. We will definitely return. If we have a criticism, it would be its proximity to the parking area. However at night and especially mid-week it was deserted. Highly recommended!

We returned home and said long goodbyes to John and Michelle. It was very sad. We have known them for about 4 years and they will be sorely missed, as will their entertaining! I think that Tricia will agree when I say that they are unique amongst our friends.

John and Michelle were due to leave at about 5am on Tuesday, 8th June. Tricia and I surprised them by getting up to wave goodbye. That got Michelle sobbing. We can't speak for John!

As it turned out, their ferry was late. (No surprises there!) They finally sailed past our house at 12.20pm. At a distance of about 3 or 4 kilometres, there was no hope of seeing them but that didn't stop us from standing on our veranda and waving a bed sheet like a pair of nutcases! We understood that John had cracked open a bottle of wine to toast their old house as they passed. Truly, the end of an era!

Having got up early, we didn't waste the time. I did a bit of work in the vegetable patch before an early breakfast. After walking the dogs, Tricia and I fitted a blind under the veranda roof so that eating breakfast outside would be that bit more comfortable. The early morning sun hits us full in the face!

That evening we went to Agni Bay for dinner with Chris and Barry where true to form, we were the last people to leave Taverna Nikolas.

On Wednesday, 9th June, we were due to join the ranks of the tourists and have a day out with our friends, Chris and Barry. We had arranged to pick them up in Agni and take them to parts of the island that they may not have seen before. Boukari was on the agenda as was Petriti and if time permitted, a visit to the River Taverna in Lefkimmi.

We picked Chris and Barry up as arranged and made our way south. There was the usual landmarks to point out on the way like Pontikinisi, (Mouse Island), The Kaiser's Bridge and the Achilleon. Once we arrived at the coast road in Mesonghi, progress was initially slow due to road works but that soon cleared. For those that know the road to Boukari, I think that you will agree that it is quite photogenic. We made several photo stops!

It was around midday when we arrived at the Kalami Taverna in Boukari and so we decided that a drink was in order. Ouzo was the drink of choice except for Chris who stuck with the coffee! My request for mezes was met with a question. Did we just want some appetisers or a meal. I opted for the meal. For once, I got it right!

We were amazed at the meze when it arrived. It was certainly enough for four and comprised, king prawns, gavros, kalamari and grilled octopus. To say that it tasted as good as it looked didn't do it justice. It was so good, that Tricia and I began to fear the cost, such has been some of our experiences this year! The cost for this feast? Eighteen euros between four. Superb! We will return. The location on the waters edge makes it just that little bit extra special.

We made our way to Petriti where we stopped by the harbour for a quiet beer. It was a beautiful day, not crowded and fascinating as we watched locals casting nets and catching fish whilst wading in the shallow waters. We now understand why our friends, Neal and Bev have a house nearby!

Time was getting on. I was of the opinion that Chris was particularly keen to see the River Taverna. (Made famous by Rick Stein, the celebrity chef). We set off in the general direction of Lefkimmi.

As usual, when Tricia and I visit Lefkimmi, it took us about two circuits of the town before we got our bearings! We sat at a table by the river and were approached by the daughter of the owners. The place was deserted. We only wanted a drink and a couple of plates of chips. This was not a problem but we suspected that anything more, might have been! Mum and Dad were having their 'siesta'! At least Chris got to say that she had visited the River Taverna.

In a way, it is quite nice that the owners do not appear to have tried to 'cash in' on their new (ish) found status. The taverna remains very traditional with a menu to match. Tricia and I are determined to visit it at a time when one might reasonably expect a dinner. Nothing that I have said should be taken as a critiscism It is a nice place with nice owners.

All of this gallivanting and eating out was beginning to take its toll on us! As a result we had a couple of days at home, generally taking it easy, working in the garden. Oh yes! we also gave our stomachs a bit of a rest!

On Saturday, 12th June Tricia got much of her housework done whilst I set about strimming. Having completed that we went to Darryl and Paula's shop as I had promised to countersign Darryl's passport renewal form. It seem like a good idea to buy some bits for a barbecue whilst we were there. Needless to say, we finished the day with a barbecue at home!

Our spate of eating out continued on Sunday, 13th June. We had been invited to a barbecue at Alan and Pauline's house. They have a secluded terrace to one side of their house where they had set up the barbecue and laid a table. It was a lovely place to sit with stunning views across Kalami and Agni Bay.

Strewth! What a feast! We thought it would never stop coming! The finale was barbecued Sea Bass which was done to perfection. I know that is a bit of a cliche but it really was!

Monday, 14th June was spent at home, again working in the garden and generally taking it easy.

On Tuesday, 15th June, we went for a swim in the morning at Seki Bay. It was deserted when we arrived except for some neighbours of ours. We hadn’t been there long, when another neighbour, Spiros, emerged from the sea complete with his speargun and three octopus (or is that octopuses or octopii?) that he had caught. We were then all treated to the spectacle of him cleaning and ‘tenderising’ them on the nearby rocks. It was an eventful start to the day, if not for the octopus!

That evening, Tricia and I went for dinner with some old work friends of mine, Nick and Irene. I think that I kept my promise to Tricia by not reminiscing about the 'Job' too much. To be honest, I don't miss it but occasionally I do miss some of my old colleagues. The venue for our meal was 'Vitamin's Taverna'. I am pleased to say that the food is as good as ever and there was no obvious signs of price hikes. Granted, it is not the cheapest place in the area but as Tricia and I keep saying, we are prepared to pay if the quality is good. As a bit of a bonus, the view from their terrace is outstanding making it a pleasant place to eat.

We had a special treat in store for us on Wednesday, 16th June. We had been invited to spend the day on a boat with Chris and Barry. We met up at Agios Stefanos and took a casual cruise to Kassiopi where we stopped for coffees by the harbour before resuming our cruise down the coastline to Kouloura where we stopped for lunch and a swim. It was a wonderful day out and a real treat.

On Thursday, 17th June Tricia was up at some ungodly hour! To be honest, so was I but she was actually hard at work weeding the vegetables! I busied myself on the newsletter. That morning, OTE finally got around to changing our phone connection from ISDN to PSTN. This will be cheaper for us. The downside is that we were left without an Internet connection until they got around to making changes at Patras and we also have to get a new router. Ho hum!
 
I later made a trip to Acharavi. We have discovered that we have difficulty now getting our bread because someone with a business keeps clearing the shelves! On top of this, I had to get petrol for the strimmer and some Dachus Fly traps for our olive trees.

We have one tree that produces an abundant crop every year, only to have them destroyed by this confounded pest. This year, the (Giles) empire strikes back! We have been told that the problem is caused by this tree being on its own, separate from all of the others. We will see.

That evening saw Tricia back in the garden whilst I spent a couple of hours strimming in amongst the olives.

On Friday, 18th June Tricia and I were both up early. Tricia wanted to continue weeding the vegetable garden whilst I wanted to continue work on our now well overdue newsletters.

We took a break during the morning and went for a swim at Seki Bay. It was really quiet and peaceful. A neighbour, Spiros, came down to go snorkeling with his spear-gun. He returned about an hour later. His catch was an octopus that we reckoned weighed about a kilo. Having caught it, he then had to 'tenderise' it in the time honoured fashion of first rubbing it on a rock before beating it on the same rock. Spiros reckoned that it would take about forty beatings before it was tender. The truth was that it took more like eighty!

Being that it was a very hot day I had given up all hope of further strimming until late in the evening. I suddenly remembered that England were playing Algeria in the World Cup! What a disastrous match that turned out to be! It was the worst match that Tricia and I could remember. They were lucky to get away with a 0 - 0 scoreline. So much for the hype!

On Saturday 19th June we went to Nisaki where we had arranged to pick up Nick and Irene as they were keen to see the abandoned village at Old Peritheia. We had a nice time exploring the village and finished by having a pleasant lunch at 'Gabriel's Steps Grill Room'. We had a quick visit home as Nick and Irene had never been to our house before we drove them back to Nisaki. It had been a pleasant day - for us at least!

We awoke at around 6.30am on Sunday, 20th June to an unexpected thunderstorm. It didn't take long before the power went! We were without power for around six hours. A bit worrying to say the least!

The rain eased off and before lunch we were to be found weeding the vegetable patch and staking our latest row of tomatoes. Tricia also sowed a number of seeds which, assuming that they grow, we will have to find room for. Our first rows of lettuce are now finished and this will be the first place to be repopulated.

That evening we travelled to Agni Bay to meet up with Chris and Barry for a drink before making our way down to Taverna Nikolas for their 'farewell dinner' or as we call it colloquially, 'The Last Supper'! No, Sandra it wasn't a biblical reference! We had a really great evening and met up with several old acquaintances that we hadn't seen for quite a while. Of course, with Chris's ability to strike up conversations with total strangers, we now have an even wider circle of acquaintances!

For the second time in not many more visits, we had new dishes at Taverna Nikolas. This night's offering was 'Prawns on Fire'. Contrary to it's title, there were no flames in sight! The dish was essentially grilled king prawns on a bed of spicy rice. It was very nice and also very reasonable considering what some other places charge for similar dishes. Andreas, the cook, was congratulated for his work and Periklis was also congratulated for having the nerve to stray from traditional fare. It made a pleasant change.

All to soon (around 1am actually) it was time to say farewell to Chris and Barry. We hope that it is not for longer than a year but suspect that it may be on account of them having a plethora of other countries that they wish to visit. We will keep our fingers crossed that they find the opportunity to visit next year. Yes, Chris and Barry, that is a hint! Remember, we know where you live!!

We wondered why Periklis's son, Nikolas was concerned about how his boat was moored. We awoke on Monday, 21st June to an almighty thunderstorm and torrential rain. That was why he was concerned! We felt sorry for those who had to catch flights back home and even more sorry for those tourists who would be arriving that day. As we always remind people, these downpours are what keep the island green. Oh yes! They are great for our garden but not so great for the weeds!

The power was a little sporadic during the morning but seemed to settle down by lunchtime and so I packed up Tricia's and my laptops and went down to Gelati's to use their wifi to collect our emails. I had wanted to upload the April and May newsletters but as this takes a long time, I did not want to risk the power going mid file transfer.

I telephoned OTE twice to find out what progress, if any had been made on the transfer of our ADSL connection. It appeared that the instruction to make the necessary changes at Patras had only been given that day. I managed to hide my annoyance, I think! It was a little more difficult when I was told that the new router would not arrive before Monday, 28th June. It took a lot of persuading to convince the OTE representative that it should be sent to our post office and not Skripero! I had little confidence that we would receive the essential bit of kit before the end of the month. I could see myself going and buying a router locally out of sheer frustration!

I spent that evening in the kafeneion making use of Philipos's wifi to upload the April and May newsletters. It took forever in between watching Spain v Honduras in the World Cup. Tricia had gone to bed by the time I returned home.

We awoke to even more rain on Tuesday, 22nd June. It really set the tone for the rest of the day. This really was unbelievable for June although not unprecedented. If memory serves me well, we had a very cold week in June two years ago. I think that the temperature was the most difficult thing to contend with. It was a little over 17°C when we got up and despite warming during the day, had fallen to this temperature again by 6pm. It was a far from the 34°C reached a week ago.

I commented earlier about the frustration of having to wait for the arrival of a new router to regain our Internet connection. I decided to get one locally whilst we were out shopping.

My frustration turned to anger when I connected the device only to discover that the connection appeared not to have been activated. A phone call to OTE confirmed that this was indeed the case. I was spitting feathers! I wouldn't have minded if I wasn't an existing customer. Then I recalled the anguish of having to jump through hoops to get the account set up in the first place! Spiti Karloukia was not a fun place to be in for a couple of hours!

<//Victor Meldrew mode on!>
That evening we watched the Greece v Argentina World Cup match. We managed to see it with an English commentary and with Gary Linecker and assorted pundits pontificating about the match. There was no doubt about it, the odds were stacked against Greece, who when faced with the quality of Messi and Co., could only hope to beat them by playing defensively with the hope of catching Argentina on the break.

This seemed totally beyond the aforementioned commentators and pundits who clearly were hoping to see a goal fest. As for their fawning over the bloated clown of a trainer, Maradonna, it was beyond belief. The England team demote their captain for infidelity and continue to pillory him. The Argentinian team hire a cheating, drug addict and the English media throw themselves prostrate before him. (Metaphorically speaking of course!) Unbelievable!

In the end, the critics got their way and Greece were finally beaten 0 - 2 after managing to contain Argentina for most of the match by employing the tactics that won them the European Cup. At least Greece had won a match during their World Cup campaign, more than England had managed at that stage. Whether England would follow would depend on their performance the next day.
<//Victor Meldrew mode off!>

Tricia and I were up early on Wednesday, 23rd June. Although it was overcast, it wasn't raining and so we had decided to stake our battered pepper plants and put additional ties on the tomatoes. The vegetable patch, had certainly benefited from the recent downpours. The ground was muddy to say the least!

We caught the early morning Sky TV News and weather over breakfast. We could not believe the difference in the weather between the UK and Corfu. We have had temperatures dropping to 17°C and there was the UK with predictions of 30°C! I bet that there were some really sick visitors on the island!

Still we had no Internet connection. I had gone beyond the 'spitting feathers' stage. It was now over two weeks since we asked for the changes to be made to our line and a week since that change had been made. Totally unbelievable!

For England supporters it was a better day. England finally won a match and went through to the next stage of the World Cup, albeit in second place. Second place behind the USA! Still, it could have been worse. The French team were apparently sent home in economy class!

I awoke at 6.30am on Thursday, 24th June and decided to go and prime the recently completed columns by the garage. They had been ready to prime at just about the time that the recent rains came. Hence the delay. Having completed that task, it was time for the never ending growth of weeds to get some attention. I kept going until I ran out of 'Roundup' It was a good start to the day before breakfast.

We had not long finished breakfast when our trusty builder, Yiorgos rang to say that he was on his way to fit another standpipe with two taps down by the vegetable garden. He was finished by 10am. We hoped that if we fitted a further clock set to different times to our original one and split the irrigation into two separate 'circuits' that we would achieve more efficient watering. We shall see. Still, you can never have too many outside taps!

I had been putting off getting some plants for the garden for some time. Actually, I had been putting Tricia off for some time! It was decided that we would combine a trip to the nurseries on the outskirts of Corfu Town with a visit to Lidl's.

We didn't get everything that Tricia wanted but we made a good start. All we have to do is get a period of good weather to get the plants in the garden. The trip was worthwhile from the point of view that we had some good ideas for climbing plants that are hardy. The fact that many of the usual colourful Mediterranean plants, so indicative of Greece, won't grow with us because of our altitude, is one of the things that we regret.

By the time we got back as far as Roda, we were starving. We decided to call in at the Maraki grill room for a bite to eat. We ended up with pork souvlakis in pita. It wasn't the most inspiring meal that we have had. It wasn't far off of 4pm by the time we returned home.

In case you were wondering, we were still without an Internet connection despite two more phone calls to OTE customer services and getting two conflicting stories. Those who have been reading our tales for some time will recall that OTE is the one are of Greek life that tends to frustrate us. This latest saga is not improving matters.

We were both up very early on Friday, 25th June. Tricia got some 'batch cooking' out of the way whilst I gave the columns by the garage, the second coat of primer. Following the priming I decided to do a little more strimming before breakfast.

We had just finished breakfast when my mobile rang. It was the post office at Karousades to say there was a package waiting for me. I guessed that it was a free wireless router that OTE had promised. It was three days early which was like rubbing salt into a wound as we still did not have an ADSL connection!

Tricia had a number of things to do in Acharavi and Roda, so a trip to Karousades was not much further. Sure enough, the package was our router. At least visiting a post office had reminded us that we hadn't paid the electricity bill. This was the last day that we could pay it locally. Any later and we would have to pay in Alepou. I didn't fancy a trip to Corfu Town just for that!

We picked up some compost to plant the recently purchased shrubs, palms and flowers along with another clock for the automatic irrigation. I knew what we were going to be doing later that day. We actually got a palm and a large grass planted in the dry bed before lunch.

In the evening, Tricia wanted to keep going and weeded the dry bed. I decided that as it was cooling down, I would give the columns their first coat of paint. We were both pleased with our efforts.

Yet again I was up early on Saturday, 26th June. I wanted to get the second coat of paint on the columns whilst it was cool. I managed to finish before breakfast. The next job would be the metalwork to span between the columns and the garage wall. This was going to have to wait until our trusty hardware store obtained new stock of the required steel tubing.

We did a little gardening but not much else as we were anticipating a late night. "Why?", you might ask. Simple we were going out that night for sippers at David and Eda's apartment before going on to Periklis's for dinner.

When we arrived at David and Eda's we found that David and Valerie were also there. We hadn't seen them for a year and had much to catch up on. Dinner at Taverna Nikolas was excellent. For the third time in a row, we have gone for the 'special'. This time it was lamb chops done in the oven with fresh vegetables and Greek roast potatoes. The five of the six of us who chose this were pleased that we made that choice. To put your minds at rest, the sixth member of our gang had the liver and was equally pleased!

It was a great evening and true to form, we were the last to leave except for a table of Greeks who didn't arrive until about 11pm!

We worked in the garden for most of Sunday, 27th June. We had to save ourselves for the spectacle of Germany v England in the World Cup that night. Did I say spectacle? I suppose it was ... if you were German! We cannot recall a worse performance by an English team unless you include two of their three earlier appearances in the 2010 World Cup. I won't dwell upon this any more or I will start trotting out a lot of adjectives that should never be seen in print!

Tricia made a massive onslaught on the house on Monday, 28th June in readiness for the arrival of Louise and Steve the following week. For my part, I spent the morning and evening in the garden. I had to prepare an area to take some more cucumber plants as our existing ones appear to be suffering from 'powdery mildew'. We have treated them but await to see whether our treatment is successful.

The only major problem is that we are running out of space and so I was forced to dig an area that was formerly a path at one end of the vegetable plot. I must confess that it was very hot and hard work in the full sun. Still, by the end of the day, the cucumbers were planted and the automatic watering was connected. I even managed to weed around some donated grape cuttings and install automatic watering to them.

In the afternoon, at around 4pm, I paid a visit to friends Doug and Debbie in Peritheia. I had received a plaintive cry for help in matters IT. As it happened, we now had a spare wireless router for an ISDN phone system which I had promised them as soon as OTE had sorted everything for us.Two more happy people!

On Tuesday, 29th June I managed to run the last piece of automatic watering in the vegetable garden made necessary by the donation of half a dozen more courgette plants by Philipos. Ten days ago, I thought they would never survive. Now they have flower buds coming. It's amazing how some things thrive here.

At around 11am we were visited by Alan and Pauline. They had arranged for a 'Tesco's delivery' to be brought out for us by a friend. Result! They also had some bits and pieces that they wanted storing in the basement. By the time we had had coffee and a chat, it was lunchtime and so we decided on an impromptu lunch at Gelati's. A jolly good meal it was too! (Not to mention, a long lunch!) There wasn't an awful lot achieved for the rest of the day!

On Wednesday, 30th June I had to go shopping in the morning for some bits and pieces in Acharavi and Roda. On my return, Doug and Debbie turned up to shift the pile of rocks in our driveway. It proved to be a good job well done! There were rocks that were so large that I would probably have had to resort to rolling them to get them moved. It was a testament to Doug's immense strength. Or maybe my weakness!

Anyway, the upshot of all this was that we offered Doug a couple of days work clearing the long flower beds in front of the apartment and alongside the drive. He was happy to do the work and we were happy to pay! Everyone was happy!

Conclusion
June ended with us being just that little closer to being ready for Louise and Steve's visit the following week.

It had been a sad month for us and several others following John and Michelle's final departure for the UK. We will sorely miss their humour and good company. Their entertaining was the thing that legends are made of. We are aware of some of their immediate plans around the Nuneaton area and wish them well in their endeavours. Doubtless, travel will figure in their long term plans. That is one thing that really makes Tricia and I envious as the animals make travelling together difficult if not almost impossible.

We have had the opportunity to catch up with several old friends who have visited the island for their holidays. This of course has meant that we have had to engage in the obligatory pastime of eating out! It's a tough Job, but someone has to do it!

The garden has taken up an enormous amount of our time this month but so far, it appears that we are likely to reap the benefits of our labours. Barring any major catastrophes, it looks as if it will be far more productive than it has been before. We cannot recall ever having had to strim the land so much. This has clearly been due to the warm weather accompanied by late rains.

The austerity measures here are beginning to bite and life has become quite expensive. Already, the tourist industry on this island is beginning to show signs of suffering. Some places remain unopened and Corfu Town has been quiet. Unleaded petrol is around the €1.60 mark which doesn't help matters. VAT will increase on many items to 23% on the 1st July. To think that our UK readers have been grumbling about a VAT rise to 20% and that doesn't come in for about 6 months! Oh well, we will all survive ... hopefully!

We will finish on what to us at least was a high note for June. The increased broadband speed that we have finally obtained. Things feel decidedly more 21st century ... at least where communication is concerned. Apart from the speed increase, things like Skype work so much better and Skype to landline communication is a positive joy to use. (At the moment!) Of course we are only getting around half the promised speed but from what we hear of the various suppliers in the UK, this is not uncommon. It's annoying but we will live with it!

Now if we could apply the same speed increase to the postal service, things would really be looking up!

See you all next month!

Bob & Tricia.