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Introduction
We can't believe how time is flying. Last year, October heralded the start of winter. We are hoping that this year will be better. We have a lot of work outside that needs to be done before winter sets in. It is not that we have been lazy and left this work, it is simply that it has been too hot to paint.
There will be serious limitations on what we can do this month because both Tricia and I have a separate trips to the UK planned. Granted, my trip will be a relatively short one but Tricia's is for 10 days.
When either of us is away, exercising the dogs becomes something of an imposition as it is not possible to take them both together. Because of Jake's unsurpassed skills at escapology, he has to be kept on the lead and given that he is immensely strong, it would be almost suicidal to take Bella at the same time. When you consider that they each require four walks a day, you can begin to see how this would cut into your time.
Still, let's not dwell on this but let's see how the month progressed.
October 2009
October started warm. I continued the work that I had started on the front of the house. Although my efforts at concealing some of the cracks and repainting over them have been moderately successful, I'm not convinced that this will be more than a temporary fix.
We had a visit from Yiorgos our builder whom I had asked to come and assess what I considered a small job. He had previously built three columns alongside our garage which we wanted clad in stone. We wanted them to look like the existing walls and therefore did not just want them covered in 'crazy paving'. The job required a degree of wall building skills.
I knew that things were not going too well when Yiorgos produced his tape measure and started to measure the columns. I am well versed in the ways of builders now and can recognise when somebody is trying to build up a job into something that it is not! I quickly pointed out that Yiorgos knew exactly the size of the columns without measuring them as he had built them!
He went over to our pile of plaka and started inspecting it. I realised that he thought he would get away with cladding the columns with this. I soon dispelled those ideas! Yiorgos’s response was succinct and directly to the point. "Oh, you want the stones chipped. You had better get Milios to do that." That, as they say, was that. Yiorgos left.
That night I had arranged to go out with Pete for something of a boys night out. Our adventures normally consist of a couple of beers at his local kafeneion followed by a kebab in Roda. This night was no different except for the fact that when we got to his local kafeneion it was packed with British expats! Not my favourite company! However there were a few Greek locals that made up for this and all in all, I think it fair to say that we had a good time.
Storms and high winds had been promised for Friday 2nd October and so I was up early to try and get a coat of emulsion on the repairs that I’d undertaken to the front of the house before this hit us. It was just about touch dry before the rain started.
That evening we had a tremendous storm which continued all through the night. Suffice to say, I went skidding to the ground whilst taking Jake for his last walk of the day. For once it was not his fault and so he was spared my normal line of chastisement. I did swear though! Thankfully, only my pride was dented this time.
Although the storms were somewhat distant on 3rd October, we had quite a lot of rain. I left Tricia at home and went into Acharavi and Roda to do some shopping before going on to Pete and Carol's to check out how they had connected their computer to the TV. That evening Tricia and I felt obliged to watch the Manchester United versus Sunderland football match in the hope that United might lose! Sadly, they managed to scrape a 2 - 2 draw. My last chore of the night was to try and re-tune our satellite receiver so that we could watch the Suzuka Grand Prix the following day. Mission accomplished!
Sunday, 4th October was a very grey and showery day. It was also election day in Greece and I think it's fair to say that everybody was expecting a change of government. Ultimately, they were not to be disappointed.
Tricia and I were up at 8am to watch the Suzuka Grand Prix. It was worth all the effort that I had put in the previous night although there are many gaps in my recollections about the race as I kept dropping off to sleep!
It was sunny and warm on Monday, 5th October. We had a visit from John and Michelle who wanted to collect some pallets as they were storing much of their furniture prior to their return to the UK. Tricia and I will be very sorry to see them leave the island and not just because of their excellent cooking skills! Over three or four years, they have been good friends.
Later that day I drove over to Alan and Pauline's house in Tsanzanatika. They had kindly included some architrave for us in their latest shipment from the UK. This was to go around all of our double glazed windows as the original installers had neglected to fit it. We had been unable to source any in Corfu so Alan had bought it for us in Wickes, his local building suppliers.
Installing the architrave was a job that I intended completing whilst Tricia was in the UK. This was one of many jobs that were being added to the list for completion.
Tuesday 6th October was both sunny and warm. I was due to leave for the UK on 9th October and so I started to think about things that I needed to purchase that we couldn't buy here. Tricia had already prepared a list of grocery items but my needs were far more technical!
I had decided that our computer network was totally inadequate and was in desperate need of a network access server (NAS). As with all such items, we can buy them here but a) they are invariably more expensive and b) there is a limited selection. I had already decided upon the model that we needed and so ordered it for delivery to Corinna’s house where I would be staying for much of my time in the UK.
As most of you will know the electricity supply here in Corfu is occasionally quite temperamental and consequently there are a couple of things that are absolutely essential if you don't want to either fry electronic equipment due to power surges or lose data due to power outages. Our computer equipment is protected by a number of surge protectors, voltage regulators and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The UPS has been in constant use since shortly after our arrival in Corfu seven and a half years ago. It chose this day to go ... er ... bang! It was dead. It was no more. It was an ex-UPS!
As if sensing that I was going to be leaving for the UK in a couple of days, the weather remained hot and sunny. This meant that I could continue working on the front of the house right up until when I left. There was also the matter of replacing the UPS. As luck would have it, I managed to locate one in Acharavi and it now sits purring away under my desk.
Friday, 9 October was warm and sunny in Corfu. However there were showers reported in the UK. I hoped that they were not going to be too bad for my journey from Gatwick airport to Corinna’s house in Chatteris.
This day was notable not only because I was going to the UK but also because it was our daughter Corinna's birthday and our other daughter, Louise and her husband Steve's wedding anniversary.
It had been my original intention to stay with Corinna so that she and son- in- law, Dave could go out for the evening whilst I looked after our grandchildren. As it happened, that was not to be as Corinna had been asked to look after her niece for the weekend.
For once, my flight to the UK was on time and I had no hassle with either the car hire or the onward journey to Corinna’s. It made a change.
On Saturday, 10th October I went to Peterborough to do some shopping. Our eldest granddaughter, Lauren, came with me to show me around and make sure the I didn’t get lost. I'm not entirely sure that she relished the idea of wandering around the shops with her granddad but she put a brave face on it. Giving Lauren the choice of where we ate lunch might have helped!
One of the shops I needed to visit was B&Q. Everything went well and I picked up the items I required and made my way to the checkout. This was the first occasion that I had encountered a self-service checkout anywhere. I won't elaborate other than to say that my efforts at dealing with it caused considerable amusement between staff members and Lauren. Having said that, I think they are are a good idea.
The next day I was charged with buying the ingredients for Sunday lunch and so I set off for Tesco's in March. On this occasion, I was ably assisted by our other granddaughter, Rebecca. When it came to paying for our trolley load Rebecca suggested that we used the self-service checkouts.
Full of confidence based upon the previous day's experiences at B&Q, I aimed the trolley at the nearest checkout. You cannot believe the mayhem that we managed to cause between us! At least we eventually came away with all the makings for Sunday dinner.
On Monday, 12th October I visited my doctor’s surgery. Amongst other things, I was hoping to convince them to give me my flu shot. The receptionist was a very good at her job and would not allow me to see the nurse who was administering these injections because I hadn't made a previous appointment. I tried to reason with her that the injection took seconds and as they had a nurse doing nothing but flu injections I wouldn't be an inconvenience.
The receptionist was having none of my arguments but shall we say I don't give up easily! During the course of this visit I had to have a blood sample taken and as I was walking through the door, I was greeted by the lady who was about to take my blood who enquired as to how I was. I politely told her that I would be a lot better if I could have had my flu shot whilst I was there and went on to explain the debacle that I had had with the receptionist.
She took pity on me! No sooner had she take my blood than she went next door and returned with a nurse who administered the flu shot without a second thought. I thanked them both and suggested that they should perhaps have a word with the receptionist. Those who know me will not be surprised that I could not resist telling the receptionist as I left that I had received the flu shot!
I must confess that I was quite concerned about the eventual results of my blood tests as I think it fair to say that I had not been as careful with my diet has perhaps I should have been. My concern was later proved to be justified.
As I was due to return to Corfu on 13th October I left Corinna’s that afternoon and drove to Louise and Steve's house in Hextable. To be honest that wasn't quite true as I made a slight detour to the Lakeside shopping mall and of course PC World which is nearby.
Whilst I was in Lakeside I actually learned something. Many of you will probably be aware that if you go into a foreign exchange to purchase foreign currency you can actually negotiate with them. I was not aware of this but thought I'd try it on anyway! To be fair, I didn't save a fortune but what I did save went a long way towards the Chinese meal that Louise and I ate that night! I will never accept the price that is offered at a foreign exchange again!
I left for Gatwick airport very early on Tuesday, 13th October. Unlike my previous visit my check-in and flight were uneventful although I did get my hand luggage searched yet again. On this occasion there was nothing that caused the security staff any concern once they had opened the bag I think that they thought that the couple of pounds of Cumberland sausages were plastic explosives!
I had a bit of a shopping list for my return journey and suffice to say that by the time I eventually got home I was absolutely shattered.
When I arrived home I found that Tricia was not in the house. As Bella was also absent I surmised that Tricia was out walking Bella. I put Jake on his lead and went out to meet her. As we met, Tricia warned me that there had been a cat which Jake had previously chased up a tree nearby. Knowing how Jake obsesses about things like this, and will continue to look for the intruder for days afterwards, I made sure that I kept him on a short lead. Our walk was completed without any untoward event.
What I hadn't realised was that when Jake had chased this cat earlier in the day he had sent Tricia crashing headlong into a tree. The result was that she had some really nasty cuts and gouges to her left leg. She had finally joined the club to which I thought that I was the sole member! If there was an upside to her accident it was that it had occurred on the day of my return and not the day of my departure. Had it occurred on the day of my departure, I don't think Jake would have had a walk for several days!
Well there I was, back home in God’s country. I had actually rescheduled my trip to the UK for a very special occasion. We had been invited to our friends Colin and Susan’s wedding on the 14th October.
As if knowing that it was Colin and Susan’s wedding day, the weather was fantastic on 14th October.
The wedding ceremony was held at Kassiopi Town Hall and was altogether a much more relaxed ceremony than even those Registry Office weddings that we have attended in the UK. The short ceremony was interpreted into English throughout so that everyone, not least of all Colin and Susan, knew what was going on.
There was an amusing moment when Colin and Susan had to promise to bring their children up properly. I think that many of us were expecting Susan to push her daughter Sara forward and announce that here was one she had made earlier!
The location was stunning and I am sure that they will have countless wonderful photographs to remind them of their day.
From the town hall, the happy couple made their way to the beautiful Kouloura harbour where they boarded Yiannis’s boat to be taken to the reception at Taverna Nikolas in Agni Bay. I hope that the few photographs that we have included in this month’s newsletter do justice to the day. The Reception was really nice . The food and the wine never stopped appearing!
Colin and Susan originally wanted to be married in the local church in Loustri but although the priest was willing, the church hierarchy would not allow it. They were not to be thwarted though. The priest attended the reception and performed a blessing there.
This was a wonderful day and Tricia and I felt privileged to have been there.
After my exploits in the UK followed by Colin and Susan’s wedding the day after my return, I was exhausted. Consequently I didn’t do much for a day or two. However, this all stopped on the 16th October when I was to be spurred into action!
I had noticed a damp smell in the boiler room and put it down to our log pile not being as dry as perhaps we had first thought. Then I had occasion to go into the basement and was horrified to find a lot of water on the floor. Fortunately it had not done any damage but the source was not immediately evident. It was equally evident that this was not fresh water and so I started to work my way around all of the waste pipes. (They all run through the basement.)
It didn't take me long to find. The source was a small rodding eye which had somehow come adrift from the main pipe. Upon inspection I discovered that it had never been stuck in. Bloody typical! A little more inspection revealed that the pipe had become blocked at a bend. I was thankful that at least the problem was not caused by the waste from the toilets.
I tried to clear it with the only pipe cleaner that I possess but it was not long enough nor man enough for the job. I hastily drove to the Robertos’s hardware store in an attempt to find something more suitable. There was nothing that would manually clear the pipes. However, they did have some proprietary drain cleaner - sulphuric acid to you me! I have used this before with disastrous results as it actually melted some joints in our old house back in the UK! I wasn't particularly keen to use it again but as the saying goes, needs must!
When it actually came to using the drain cleaner I began to have second thoughts and decided to telephone our trusty builder Yiorgos to see if he had something that we could manually clear the pipe with. Unfortunately he had not but offered to come and see if he could render any assistance. I happily accepted his offer and he was at our house within 10 minutes.
He took one look at the joint which had not been properly fixed and the cursed the plumber. I was dispatched to one of the local shops in Peritheia and told to buy several packets of ‘Tub.O.Flo’. Yes, that really is the product's name. Clearly, Yiorgos was not keen on using the sulphuric acid either.
I returned home with several packets of this proprietary drain cleaner and found that Yiorgos had already secured the joint to the pipe. We retired to the kitchen where we had Tricia's largest saucepan full of boiling water. The packets of drain cleaner were emptied down plug holes in both the kitchen and our utility room. This was rapidly followed by the boiling water. Sure enough, it did the trick.
We returned to the basement and found that the blockage had indeed been cleared. Yiorgos was clearly on a roll because he decided that we should also use the sulphuric acid. I wasn't too sure about this but in the end agreed with him.
Now it may be a long time since I had any chemistry lessons but I do know the different results that are obtained if you add sulphuric acid to water as opposed to adding water to sulphuric acid. It seems that Yiorgos must have missed that lesson! Before I could stop him, he started to pour the acid down the plug hole. It was only milliseconds before the deluge of acid met the contents of the trap. It was like an erupting volcano!
Yiorgos moved faster than I had ever seen him move before! In fact I think he moved faster than any Greek I have seen before! Thankfully he was not hurt and we hastily turned the tap on which prevented any further damage. The pipe was well and truly clear.
I would not be giving away any secrets if I was to say that Yiorgos has upset more than his fair share of the locals at some time or other. In truth, he has upset me on more than one occasion but this was not the first time that he had helped Tricia and I out when we really needed help. We seem to share a relationship that revolves around one or other of us helping the other out.
Surprisingly, this doesn't always cost us money! We can only assume that he has made a considerable killing with some of the work that he is undertaken for us and probably hopes to get more! Whatever others may think, Tricia and I considered both Yiorgos and his wife, Eleni, good friends. If I had to criticise him for anything it would be that he is sometimes too generous for his own good. We are convinced that some of the gifts of chickens and eggs that we have received from them have probably left them short.
Following the previous day's debacle in our basement we still had quite a lot of water to soak up. I paid a visit to a couple of timber yards and scrounged as many sacks of sawdust as I could fit in the boot of the car. It wasn't scientific but did the job.
I managed to fit collecting the sawdust in with a trip to Corfu town. I had run out of a product called Thermoblock which I had been using on the outside walls of the house. I also took the opportunity to pick up a number of box files to store the vast collection of papers that we have relating to the house not to mention all the receipts which it is essential to retain here to satisfy the tax office.
This is only something of an aside but we cannot believe that we have been unable to locate anywhere that sells filing cabinets. We don't want anything sexy, merely the sort that I used to use at work with four drawers and made out of steel. I guess that we should have realised that these are not commonplace here as every official building that we go into, banks or accountants and the like, all have massive shelves of box files. We have tried and tried to locate a filing cabinet but I've given up. Hence the purchase of box files.
There were storms during the early morning of Sunday, 18th October. Fortunately, they stopped before lunch. We were quite concerned as we had arranged to go for lunch with John and Michelle. Our choice of venue was Three Brothers Taverna in Kassiopi followed by a few drinks at the kafeneion by the village square.
I guess we should also mention the fact that Jenson Button won both the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Formula One championship against all odds. For those interested in Formula One racing, it was an extremely exciting event.
We again had early morning storms on Monday, 19th October. We didn't leave the house but I managed to get a little bit of work done up in the loft.
Tuesday, 20th October was overcast but there were some really nice sunny spells particularly during the afternoon. We had been invited to Doug and Debbie's house to join them for Doug's 50th birthday party that afternoon and thankfully the rain held off. We didn't stay late as Tricia still had to finish her preparations for her trip to the UK the following day. I think that 'panic' was an appropriate word to use!
It goes without saying that we were up early on Wednesday, 21st October. The weather was dry and in fact when Tricia and I arrived at Corfu airport the sun was shining. The flight took off on time and she had a really good flight. For the first time ever her luggage came off the plane first!
I took the detour on my way home and called in to Alan and Pauline’s house where Alan was working like a Trojan to get it finished. Things were progressing well and needless to say I managed to take the opportunity of picking Alan's brains over a couple of minor decorating problems that I had.
I returned home and did some filling of the outside walls of the house. Remember my regime of walking the dogs eight times a day had now started!
That evening I watched the Chelsea versus Athletico Madrid Champion’s League match which Chelsea won 4 - 0. That was more like it!
I woke the next day to heavy showers. That put paid to any work that I had planned outside. I had to pay our phone bill and whilst I was out I took the opportunity to purchase some acrylic with which to fix the architraves around the windows.
On my way home I called in on Dave and Alex’s house as Dave had not been feeling too well at Doug's birthday party. Since we had last seen Dave I discovered that he had been stung by a wasp during the previous day. Where, for most people, this is generally an unpleasant and painful occurrence, it is a more serious matter for Dave as he tends to go into anaphylactic shock when stung. Although he had been stung the day before, his hand and wrist were extremely swollen. To my knowledge this was not the first time that this has occurred during the year. We cannot work out why, but bees and wasps seem seriously attracted to Dave. Scary!
That afternoon I had a visit from Doug and Debbie as I had arranged to try and sort their computer out for them. With that mission accomplished I made a start on fixing the architraves to our windows.
During the evening we had really heavy rain accompanied by a thunderstorm. This continued throughout the night and to say that our dog Bella was unimpressed with the thunder is an understatement!
When I woke on Friday, 23rd October it was still pouring and just to add to the unpleasantness we had extremely high winds. Walking the dogs was definitely not a pleasant pastime. I continued my work indoors in between walking the dogs.
The thunderstorms returned and were quite spectacular. Perhaps not surprisingly both dogs and Adonis, our cat, slept nearly all day. Bella was quite distressed and it was even difficult getting her to eat let alone go out.
By Saturday, 24th October we had had almost continuous torrential rain for three days. It was as bad as I have ever seen here. On one occasion I looked out of the front door and noticed that the drain from the road appeared blocked. There was nothing for it but to go and clear it as the overflow was cascading down towards the garage. I thought that I was dressed properly for the job but I still managed to get soaked!
What with one thing and another it was nearly 11am before I managed to finish walking the dogs for the first of their day’s walks.
We had a minor power outage for about half an hour and I began to wonder what else could go wrong! Fortunately with the power resumed I was able to continue my work indoors and if I say so myself, I was quite pleased with my progress even though it was a little slow.
For the first time in years I forgot that the clocks went back on Sunday, 25th October. This wasn't really a problem for me but I don't think Tricia fully appreciated being woken up when I telephoned her. Okay, so it was only 8:30 am on a Sunday in the UK!
The weather started to improve from 26th October and by the end of the month was really quite nice. It may have been cooler but it was definitely sunny and that gives anyone a lift.
On Monday, 26th October I had a surprise visit from Yiorgos, our local blacksmith. It wasn’t a total surprise as I had asked him to make a gate for the bottom of the steps from our veranda. Tricia and I had discussed doing this for a while. It is designed to be a second line of defence should we leave the top gate open which would be all the invitation that Jake would need to go off and terrorise the neighbours!
Although I had told Yiorgos that it must be fitted before Tricia’s return, I never really expected it to happen. It was a pleasant surprise and I must confess to being quite pleased with the gate.
Saturday, 31st October was nice and sunny. I went to collect Tricia from the airport and although I was there before her flight was scheduled to land, I nearly missed it! As I was driving into the car park, I saw the flash of an orange tailplane out of the corner of my eye. It had to be Tricia's EasyJet flight.
Sure enough, I had only been in the arrivals lounge for a couple of minutes when I saw Tricia walk up to the carousel. I think she was first off the plane. Those of you familiar with Corfu airport will be aware that you can no longer go into the arrivals lounge and meet your visitors as we used to. However, I stood right at the entrance and Tricia spotted me. She came over so I could take her hand luggage and we began to chat. Again, it was only by chance that I happen to look at the carousel. Her suitcase was the first one up - again! I won't say that Tricia sprinted to collect her suitcase but let's just say that she was quite sprightly!
Tricia later confided in me that the same thing had happened at Gatwick upon her arrival in the UK. However on that occasion she was too slow and her suitcase had vanished back into the bowels of the luggage handler’s den!
As Tricia had had an early start she was starving hungry and so we stopped off on the way home at the Meraki grill room for lunch. We spent the time exchanging notes about her trip and my efforts at home in the DIY department.
We returned home and of course our first job after getting Tricia and her luggage indoors was to walk the dogs! Oh, the joy of returning to a mere four walks a day!
Conclusion
If my calculations are correct, Tricia and I had been apart for almost half of the month. I'm pleased to say that Tricia clearly enjoyed her stay with her dad, sister and daughter Louise. The only downside of her trip was that she had not been able to see Corinna and our grandchildren.
For my part, I was pleased with my efforts at DIY. I had managed to finish the cornicing in the kitchen and had fitted architrave to all of our windows. Well actually that's not quite correct as Tricia had not been back long before she said, "Aren't you going to do the apothike window?" I couldn't believe that I had forgotten to do this window especially as I was in and out of the apothike every day - if only to get food out of the freezer!
I know that we are always being told that exercise is good for us but you cannot believe how relieved I was to getting back to the regime of just four dog walks a day. On second thoughts, I guess that you can believe it as I seem to have been harping on about it throughout the entire newsletter!
Next month, we have Tricia's birthday to look forward to and I'm hoping that we can do something special for it. It's a good excuse for a decent meal out. The only problem will be trying to find somewhere decent to eat!
Finally, again I want to thank those who queried why we were late publishing this newsletter. It is reassuring to know that it gets read in some far flung parts of the Empire!
I'm going to leave it there as I now have to get myself psyched up to getting stuck into November's newsletter!
See you all next month!
Bob & Tricia.
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