Cretan Diary - Chapter 34

The MDF shelves in our shed had become so wet that they are now like soggy cardboard. I needed to replace them.

So I asked Christos to accompany me to Kaleeves to help me find the timber yard. It's next to the National Highway on a side road. But there's no longer an exit there from the highway.

Christos asked for directions at the nearest garage and we found the place easily. A young girl greeted us. Her poodle's name is "levkee", which means "white" (female).

The proprietor recognised Christos as a fellow army recruit from 35 years ago! They exchanged heart attack symptoms while a worker cut the plywood for me.

Christos and I squeezed into the car with the wood between us. (I'm glad it's an automatic - I couldn't have changed gear!)

I returned Christos to his house then drove home. It was almost 1pm and Jenny had made some chicken soup.

The wood that I bought is Brazilian plywood. I've stood it in the shed for now. I plan to buy some white primer to paint it before I screw it to the brackets.

The plywood cost 35 Euros - that's 20 Euros less than I was quoted at the nearest timber yard in Kseerosterni, not far from here.

It's still hot outside at 4pm but a cool 17 degrees in the house. I have tested the air conditioning units again. They do work as heat exchangers and can provide a welcome but intermittent blast of warm air. I've suggested to Jenny that she switch on the bedroom unit an hour before bedtime. They don't seem to use a massive amount of power so I'm going to see if the downstairs unit will "take the chill off the air". My legs were aching as I sat here watching a recorded TV programme last night. I really don't like the temperature to be less than 18 degrees C.

Saturday 21st - The Christmas Bazaar

November 21st, 2009

We awoke early to a clear blue sky, ate breakfast and drove to the little "electrical" shop in Plaka to buy paint. The road was closed while some men cut down trees so we had to return to our village then set out again and go via another route instead. (As is often the case, there were no warning signs that the road was closed!)

We managed to find the correct paint, with the help of the shopkeeper who spoke only a little English. The conversation was in a mixture of Greek and English and she told us stories about some unusual photographs she had of overloaded vehicles.

We drove home and I set to work painting the shelves and my clothing.

The old washing machine came in handy!

I drank a can of beer then continued to paint. Lucky it's only the undercoat!

A Christmas Bazaar was being held in the restaurant above our local shop and also an arts and crafts fair at a local artist's house. We walked to the latter first.

We had tea and cake in the garden. It was like a hot English summer's day. It certainly didn't seem like only four weeks before Christmas!

We left the craft fair and walked back to the Christmas Bazaar above the shop. The place was crowded but we found seats next to our neighbours and chatted with them. We each had a turkey tortilla wrap then I left Jenny holding a glass of wine and returned home to do more painting.

On the way down our notoriously steep road, I came across two men fitting street lamps to electricity poles. One of them is in our garden!

This was unexpected and, to be honest, neither we nor our neighbours are very happy about it. We manage well with torches or headlamps and it's nice to be able to see the stars without light pollution. I think some bulbs will "fail" fairly soon.

Jenny cooked fish and chips for evening dinner, then we watched TV. Well, Jenny watched a DVD* while I watched "The X Factor" via my "Slingplayer" connection with my UK Freeview tuner. Ain't technology wonderful?

*No, she didn't stare at a disc - she shoved it into my Apple Mac iBook and watched the screen (and giggled a lot).

Sunday 22nd - Breakfast at the Temple

November 22nd, 2009

We arose early as it was another "oreya mera" (lovely day) like yesterday. However, it was very damp outside. As the sun rose, I slapped a coat of gloss paint on my shelves and left them out to dry.

As has become our custom for Sunday, we drove to Georgioupolis and had breakfast at the "Naos" Cafe, No, that's not a mistype of "Neon". The word "Naos" in Greek means "Temple". The family help us with our Greek and today we learned the word for "circle", which is pronounced "strogeelos". Another word for circle is "Keeklos", but they told us that nobody used that.

Feeling replete, we walked three meters across the narrow street to "Sinatra's Bar" where the regular table-top sale was being held. This one was the "Christmas Special" and there was bric-a-brac, jewellery, cakes and English food (such as pickled onions, mince pies and salad cream) on sale. I bought a 6-socket "Schuko" strip for one Euro. A bargain!

We drove to Irakleon for the fun of it, turned around in the airport car park, and headed back.

Just outside the city, we parked at a restaurant overlooking the sea because Jenny had seen some sailing boats competing in a race.

You can see Irakleon in the background.

Jenny, outside the restaurant, taking photos of the boats.

We had drinks (and I ate vine leaves stuffed with rice) while watching the boats. Two young boys, from the family seated behind us, tormented a group of feral cats on the cliff by throwing bread at them. One poor kitten was so hungry that it ate a piece of bread. I said nothing; my Greek isn't good enough to tell off children for being cruel. I know only "meen", which means "don't".

We drove back and called at Allan Tazzyman's gallery to buy some very special Christmas cards. We arrived home in time to put my painted shelves inside the shed to keep dry. I hope to apply the final coat of paint tomorrow, then screw them to the brackets on the shed wall.

Monday 23rd - Jenny Helps Out

November 23rd, 2009

When I awoke, Jenny was just about to leave. She had arranged to take Christos to the hospital at Xaniá for his regular check-up because Eleni was busy.

I was left to make my own breakfast.

I had wrecked egg on dry bread with some bits hacked off a tomato, and partly-cooked bacon.

(Bacon is supposed to cook itself in its own fat, yes? Well this piece just sat there in the frying pan and smoked. I think maybe I should have grilled it.)

I did a bit of Greek revision and "Skyped" Eleni to ask the verb "to fix" (as in "to mend"). Apparently the locals say "fteeakso" for "I fix". This word is not in any of our dictionaries. It reminds me of "fiasco". I must try to remember "f tea axe oh".  

Over the road, the cement lorry and pumping lorry had arrived and were about to begin. As you might imagine, there was a lot of noise.

Chris, our neighbour, had given us the number of her accountant in Xaniá so, while Jenny was out, I phoned him and made an appointment to visit him on Thursday. Then I heaved my aching bones up the hill to the shop and bought bread. While I was there, at around 11am, the postman arrived (in an ordinary car) and dropped off the mail. It included a strange postcard from our friend, on Cyprus, and two pairs of 3D spectacles, which I'd ordered via eBay in order to watch "The Queen in 3D", recorded from Channel 4.

I went outside and finished painting the shelves. The Sky is mostly overcast today so it's cool but pleasant.

Jenny arrived home about noon and made sandwiches. Then we both trudged* back to the shop to buy more food. By now it was cool enough for us to wear fleeces.

On the way home we made a detour in order to make a closer inspection of the new house. The wooden shuttering looks very crude and cement has splattered everywhere.

By 6pm we were both hungry and Jenny made a quick dinner from pre-cooked chicken, potato and broccoli. It was 16 degrees C. inside so I switched on the air conditioning, set to an optimistic 26 degrees. The room temperature has risen to 17 degrees but I think that's mostly due to the cooker.

Jenny got an email reply from her question to Wendy, our absentee neighbour in England. She has determined, from the previous owner, that the old Bosch washing machine is in perfect working order and simply needs a door catch to replace the broken one.

I have ordered a new catch here: http://www.espares.co.uk

Should you need to order anything, there, please use my "Recommend a friend" code: OMU72FXW

It will get me a £5 voucher and I think it earns you a discount, too!

Tuesday 24th - Jenny Goes Shopping

November 24th, 2009

Jenny had arranged to visit a large store on the outsirts of Xaniá, with her new English friend, Maria. That left me with the car so I headed to the wood warehouse at Kalives (kal-EE-vess) to buy a piece of 2" x 1" planed deal so that I could mount a curtain rail in the office.

When I reached Kalives, the road passing through it was closed so I turned left, joined the National Highway in the direction of Xaniá and left at the next exit, turning back towards Kalives. Eventually I reached the IN-KA supermarket where I turned right towards the bridge and left as I reached it. The warehouse seemed deserted, apart from the dirty "poodle" named "Lefkee" (meaning "white") who was anything but white.

I shouted "YEIA SAS!" then bent to stroke the dog. As I was bidding it farewell, having decided that nobody was about, a voice behind me said "yeia".

It was the guy who normally did all the work, while the others sat around smoking, drinking and chatting. I read in Greek from my pre-prepared crib-sheet "I need two pieces of wood, please," and handed him my sketch. He gave a grunt and showed me a selection of timber. I pointed to the most suitable and he took it over to a saw bench and cut off the two lengths that I needed. Actually, I needed a single piece 2.5 metres long, but that would have been tricky to carry in my car, so I actually asked for two pieces of half that length. I asked him what I owed and he said "Theeo evra". I gave him five Euros and told him to keep the change. He gave me a smile that could best be described as "gummy with black stumps". I feel sorry for the local people generally who wreck their teeth by smoking and can't afford dental care. I wish I had billions of pounds so I could help them. But I haven't.

I chatted with the nice, helpful worker for a minute about the roadworks (within my admittedly limited capabilities) but he spoke in a toothless version of the local dielect and I had to guess at what he was telling me. I think he was advising me to drive back through the town but keeping to the coast road. I did so and, despite one narrow miss, and delays in a street only wide enough for a single (narrow) vehicle, got to the other side without a problem.

I set to work putting primer on the pieces of wood and on my hands, trousers and shoes. Jenny arrived home shortly after I'd finished.

At 2:30 p.m., the builder arrived, just 30 minutes late. His son cut a channel around our bedroom wall for sinking the TV cables, while he made a list of other jobs requiring his attention.

Suddenly, the power went off and the UPS bleeped as it took over powering the computers. It was an unusual time of day for a power cut. Usually it goes off around 8:10 am, just after we've cooked breakfast. The builder and I went upstairs and his son looked at the wall rather guiltily. "That cable shouldn't be there!" he announced. He inspected the damage and decided that it was safe to turn the power back on. We went outside to the meter box and flipped the circuit-breaker switch. Then we went into the kitchen and flipped the RCB switch in there. The power returned and the builder said he'd fix the damaged cable when he returns tomorrow.

The workmen across the road turned up and spent an hour, with hammers, removing the wooden shuttering. The house foundations are now lying naked, ready for the next building phase.

Wednesday 25th - Another Walk

November 25th 2009

We had arranged to go on an organised "scenic walk" so, as soon as we'd had breakfast, Jenny packed the picnic and I finished off replying to emails then shut down my computer system. I unlocked the castors and moved the computer desk and drawer unit backwards to leave room for the builders to get ladders in.

I switched off the power to the bedroom because the damaged cable had been sizzling and the light flashed alternately bright and dim. We left a note in the bedroom and put the door key outside in a pre-arranged place for the builders to find. (The builder and his son are friends of Eleni so we trust them implicitly.)

We drove to the specified village square, which was to be the start of our walk. On the way out of the village we passed some olive pickers who were beating a poor defenceless tree with long sticks.

We were a motley crew, prepared for any sort of weather. The forecast was "cloudy, 16 degrees, with a 10% chance of rain at 2pm". The actual temperature was around 19 degrees when we set off.

After a few kilometers we were heading up a track towards the mountains and some forbidding-looking clouds!

Eventually, we reached our destination. This was a plaque commemorating the first meeting, between officials of both countries in 1895, to discuss the departure of the Turks from Crete. They left a few years later, after considerable bloodshed.

Before we headed back, the old fogeys couldn't resist a bit of rock-climbing to get a view of the nearby coast.

Back at the village (with sore feet) we had drinks at the cafeineeo then went our separate ways.

The builders had already started work by the time we arrived home. The damaged cable was repaired and the TV cables had been threaded through "spiral" tubing and set into the channel with cement.

In the office, the lengths of wood were screwed to the wall, ready for the curtain rail (or maybe just hooks).

The venetian blind was installed, to keep the rising sun out of my eyes.

Thursday 26th - The Accountant

November 26th 2009

We had been given the details of an accountant in Xaniá and I wanted to "sign up" as soon as possible, in case there was anything we needed to know in advance of the tax submission next year. Jenny was reluctant, saying that it could wait. Anyway, I made an appointment and we drove to Xaniá to meet him. His office was not far from the market.

Outside the market building, a conical steel framework had been erected and a Christmas tree constructed around it.

Two men in a "bucket" were stringing lights around it.

George turned out to be a very nice and helpful man. He asked us questions, looked at our documents, then sighed and told us that we'd already incurred a 50 Euro fine for failing to declare our transfer of cash for buying the house!

After that, we did a bit of "window shopping" then had lunch at "The Red Bicycle" café. We ordered the "house special", which was a "crepe" with pork, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese. It might have been goat's cheese. It had a rather strong flavour and I didn't like it. Next time, we'll try something different.

My office "curtain" reduces the cold draughts and makes my computer corner much cosier.