Cretan Diary - Chapter 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday - No carOctober 2, 2009 SUNRISE! Once again, I arose before the sun. It rises "out the back" so I had to stand near our shed to take this photo. It looks very dull because it's obscured by the mist over the sea. Temperature is 21 degrees C. I ate Tuesday's mince from the 'fridge for breakfast, after heating it in the microwave oven. Jenny had cereal. No oven calamities today! Eleni Phoned. Could Manolis, the carpenter, come to collect a copy of the office furniture plans as he'd mislaid the one he'd taken? He arrived and left again quickly and with obvious embarrassment. I phoned the car shop to find out whether I really could collect the car today. The call diverted to someone driving a car who asked me to call back after 10am. We walked up the hill to the shop to get bread and stuff. I took back the bean slicer, which I'd bought by mistake. I chatted with Jill (the English shop assistant) while Jenny collected milk, Branston Pickle (!) and other essentials. We set off back down the hill, past the barking dogs, There was lots of mail - bills, cards and letters. Thanks, everyone! On the way down the hill I heard lots of mechanical noises. Work had restarted on a house opposite ours - about a hundred metres away. The concrete-pumping lorry had just arrived and was lowering its huge pipe. They are finishing off the patio, path and steps. Jenny made a salad lunch and we ate on the veranda. Very warm today (again). I unpacked the 1.2m satellite dish and assembled the mount onto the back of it so that I could measure the length of pole required. Phew, it's warm! I emailed Graeme Cook, the island's satellite TV expert, to ask if he would install the dish. Saturday October 3, 2009 Awoke at 6am to the sound of wind. The house is well sealed so it was a faint sound but I could hear tapping noises and went downstairs to investigate. The fly-screen cord was tapping on the living-room window so I opened the window and closed the shutters. I couldn't see anything outside so I went back to bed for an hour. I boiled eggs for breakfast and buttered some bread. As soon as we'd eaten we rushed outside to save cushions, garden furniture and cardboard that were flying around. After breakfast we took the ladders upstairs to the guest bedroom and set about the task of fitting the "Asanser" inside the wardrobe. First remove the old rail and brackets. Next I had the bright idea of simply hanging the mechanisms by a single screw. This ensured they hung vertical and supported the weight while I drilled 12 holes for each. Problem! Although my "manifesto" listed screws in box 4, a search of that box (in the shed) revealed no screws at all! So I had to go next door and scrounge two from our neighbour. While I was in the shed, the wind wrenched the outside lamp off the wall but it landed on the mat, undamaged! What luck! Unfortunately, I tripped on the mat as I picked up the lamp, dropped it, and the glass globe smashed. Back in the wardrobe feeling very hot and flustered by now. Drilling holes; screwing screws. Struggle struggle, mutter mutter, curse curse! Finished at last! Jenny tries it out. HEAVE! Yes, it works! Just as we were taking photos, the phone rang. It was Vagileea, the lady from the hardware shop near Vamos to say that her husband, Stelios, was on his way and would meet me in the square. (We are getting used to this, since we live in a house-with-no-number in a street-with-no-name.) I dragged myself up the hill. Stelios was already waiting when I reached the square. I jumped (actually heaved) myself into his van and directed him to our house. I pointed to where I thought the "somba" (wood-burning stove) should go but he shook his head and pointed at the wall where the outlet pipe would have to go. "Beton", he said. I was surprised on two counts. Firstly, because "béton" is the French word for roughly poured concrete (i.e. concrete that has been poured and left unfinished/unpolished) and, secondly, because I didn't think there was concrete in the wall at that point. But when I look at the picture of a skeletal house in Chapter 9 I can see that he's absolutely right. So after much pondering, he advised us (in Greek) that the best place for the stove would be next to the kitchen door. I was slightly disappointed because this means that the chimney pipe would go straight out of the wall, which will lose more heat than if it goes across the ceiling first. However, it IS the only sensible way and it will make cleaning the pipe much easier. Graeme Cooke replied to say that he could install my dish on Thursday 8th in the morning. I sent him more details. In the afternoon we drove to Vamos, ten minutes away. We went to the hardware store and saw Vagileea who gave us a price for installing of 310 Euros, which included the stainless steel chimney pipe. We chose a stove that costs 290 Euros. I like round numbers! We paid a 100 Euro deposit, bought a selection of screws and a mains extension lead, and left. We called at the supermarket that advertises itself as a butchers. There wasn't much choice in the freezer so I asked the girl at the till (in Greek) whether they had any lamb to cook as "Kleftico". She called her father over and he asked how much I wanted. I told him my wife knew how much but I didn't. (As you know, I speak Greek like a baby so I'm limited in what I can say by way of explanation.) Jenny told him we wanted enough for two people. He vanished into a hidden back room and reappeared with a large (those of you who are vegetarians might like to skip this bit) piece of sheep carcase which he held out and asked again "how much?" Jenny indicated a small chunk so he placed the meat on a large table hewn from a tree trunk and proceeded to lay into it with a huge cleaver. We stood back and watched in amazement. Flies buzzed around the carcase. He placed the chunks on a piece of clean-looking paper and wrapped them up. We paid and departed hastily, not wanting the meat to cook itself in the heat. The wind had dropped and the temperature was now decidedly high. (I'm glad I fitted the "asanser" in the wardrobe while the air was relatively cool!) We drove back home and put the meat in the 'fridge. Jenny read and dozed while I hammered the keys. At 5pm she started to prepare the meal of stuffed tomatoes and peppers while I went upstairs for a short nap. The meal was really nice. We finished with a glass of wine. Now, at 7:30pm it's still so warm that I have the office fan rotating at full-speed. I'm typing this and Jenny is searching for Christmas flights from the UK, in case anyone wants to visit us. It's not looking hopeful. I spent the evening going back over the first chapters, making additions, corrections and adding photos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
then remembered that we hadn't checked for mail. Jenny continued with the shopping while I turned back. The dogs barked again. As I reached the shop, my mobile phone rang. It was the car salesman who was very apologetic that my car wasn't yet ready but it would definitely be ready on Monday and we should go and collect it at noon without phoning first. Okaaaay.
