Nice to be on holiday and not jobbing

September already, where does the time go?? Reg on the left here has been and gone, the first of our autumn string of guests. The weather was good for him and we spent most of the time messing about on various beaches. That was of course with the exception of the two mornings following the two wild nights out we had with Reg 'til 4am.

We ate out a few times, had a couple of BBQs and generally had a good time.

We did manage to find him a job as he likes to help out. Sadly it was the dirtiest, filthiest of tasks cleaning out the apotheki with me. It was a right mess in there but now we can see the floor and it is in an orderly fashion. We now know exactly whats in there and where it is. There is a right heap of stuff to burn tho' but this will have to wait 'til October when we are permitted to have outside fires again. No outside fires allowed here between May and September due to the risks to the olive groves.

We have a week to do a few small jobs before my son Tom arrives with his girlfriend Caz. They are coming out on one of those anti social night flights which gets in at 0500hrs but I'm sure we'll all get over it. Another fun filled week with more wild nights out...watch this space.

We've had a bit of exercise today out on the pushbikes over to Arillas to the sea, got off to a good start with a puncture on my bike and also on the spare (Regs bike) so I had to fix one before we could go. It was lovely ride, hot sunny and warm sea. We are out tonight with some friends, some family of friends and some holiday makers we met on our last wild night out with Reg. Hopefully we will be home a bit before 4am but you never can tell.

Oh just remembered a small task, I have put a new light outside at the back so we can see when it's dark and 4am - always useful I hear you say. We did have a light but it was above the door, which attracted every type of insect you did not want near you or in the house. So we left it off to keep the little blighters away from the door. The new light is away from the door, so they can fly around it to their hearts content with hassling us or trying to get into the house (we hope.)

Not much else to excite you with now so will sign off and go and get myself organised for tonight.

Almost time for a rest!!

Now then hommes and hommesses (a bit of French to kick off this week.) Back in the hot seat again after Mrs D stepped in last week for her take on the DIY, damn good it was too!!

With my stint in the unmentionable (bathroom, sorry said it) now over I have managed to escape outside to sit on the decking with the old feet up. Well not quite as I managed to engage Mrs D in some concrete mixing duties whilst we concreted the area to the side of the decking prior to fitting some proper steps. The old ones, carefully constructed by Mrs D (see blog Feb 5th 2009) are now past their best and have been demolished. I fell down them once and tripped up them a couple of times but without too much injury.

Concreting done, Mrs D on painting the unmentionable above, I am left with knocking up some wooden steps and a bit of rendering then Reg will be here on Friday!! Wow is it September already, so much for our break over on the mainland. Oh well hopefully there will be another year.

Regs' arrival signals the start of a stream of visitors through September and into October. This means we get a rest and chance to play host and show folks around this lovely island. We have a few chores lined up for some of our guests, nothing too strenuous though.

Time wise we have almost done a year out here, give or take a few weeks break in the UK. We have thoroughly enjoyed it and love the very easy lifestyle out here. At first it took a bit of getting used to the culture, the shopping and the way things are done out here. The house has changed so much in the last twelve months and yet there is still so much we want to do to make it better. It feels more comfortable and like a home now than it did last November. Of course the unmentionable is the shining star in the place but the old one and separate toilet were not good at all. Mrs D has been very patient with my swearing, throwing of implements and other such antics when things were not going so good. I don't think this happened too often.

Next few weeks, in between guests we are going to get out and about a bit more. Deservedly so say I, after the weeks and weeks of bathroom entrapment!! There is still so much to see and do here as we have only scratched the surface.

We still manage to do early doors at the local in Sidari - this is a ritual just like at home in England, you've just got to do it!! They don't serve any Tims here but the old Mythos grows on you over time.

The veg garden continues to flourish with cucumbers, toms and beetroot all on their way. Another feather in Mrs D's cap of many tasks!

Talking of which, Id best sign off now and see how the painting of the boiler cupboard in the unmentionable is getting on. Mrs D and paint and varnish brushes on the loose really should carry government health warnings....bye y'all for now and see some of you soon.

The shower is now in the building........

I thought it was about time y'all got the female view point so while 'himself' puts the finishing touches to our re-built bathroom and before we open our chilled champagne, here are a few words. There's no doubt about it, the renovation of the bathroom has been a mammoth task. The grandiose array of laboring tasks assigned to me is worthy of note: get me a bucket of water; sweep/mop this floor; can I have an orange & lemonade drink; hold this door open for me; can you get me a new bag of cement please; hold this piece of wood while I saw it; stand on the end of this tile while I use the angle-grinder on it; you can paint this ceiling now; is it lunch-time yet ? ........... to name but a small few. Actually it has been very hard work, obviously exacerbated by the heat - sweat has quite literally dripped from our faces onto the floor - but I realise I cant expect any sympathy on that front! The tiling was a much harder job than I had expected but I did have a go. As to the grouting, well I was going to have a go at that but I was told, and I quote, "Well you can have a go but the job has to be done properly" In other words, just stick to your laboring duties - so I did. The only remaining job, apart from getting a new shower curtain, is for the boiler to be boxed in for tidiness and I dont think that will present much of a challenge to Mr 'No job too big'. Anyway I think that the bathroom is now just a wonderful room and I plan to move in there - I just hope Mr D thinks it has all been worth it - and I refer here to the swearing, the sweating, the bruised body parts, the aching back, the stiff joints, the eyes & lungs full dust and cement powder etc etc. He was certainly enthusiastic about actually being able to take a shower in the house last night so something was right. We may keep the outdoor one in place just for fun and to remind us of desperate remedies.

The next blog will not mention the bathroom (!) but there are photos and a video attached here so you can do a before/after comparison. This chapter of the house re-vamp is now closed ...........

Lazy, sunny, summer days - I wish!!

Saturday today, sunny, 34dgs in the shade and I am having a rest from bathroom chores. Mrs D is up to a spot of painting in, yes you guessed it - the bathroom. I will be glad when it is done and we can have a well earned rest. It gets a bit tedious looking out at the sunshine everyday (sorry.)

Apart from the bathroom whats happened this week......we went to see a Jacko tribute artist last Sunday - he was very good at it too...apparently he won stars in their eyes on UK TV. He does a slot here in Sidari twice weekly and turns up in a big black limo. It was quite funny because the same night there was an array of tribute artists within ten yards of each other; there was a Freddie Mercury, a Robbie Williams, a Meatloaf and an Abba....such choice. Wednesday eve we went to see some local guys doing rock covers in a bar we frequent called 1 for the road. It is run by a Greek guy who calls himself Napoleon (Nappy locally) and he runs a very good bar. There is always good music, free drinks in various colours, a grand little spot. Last night we went out with friends to see a comedian who was a little on the Bernard Manning side.....don't think we'll be rushing back to see him again. Tomorrow eve there is a beach party with live rock music happening over in St Stephanos beach, we thought we'd give it a try.

So you see we do have a little bit of playtime.....The bathroom this week has not gone without incident with 2 tap problems on Monday and plasterboard adhesive everywhere on Tuesday when we attempted to mix it. Mrs D learned some new choice words - not funny - I was seething. We hope to be tiling tomorrow so our make shift shower in the bathroom will be out of action.....but we have rigged up a temporary one - in the garden. A bit public, but it does the job. Problem is as it is usually evening when you shower & you have to leg it from the shower to the house and try and beat the mozzies!! If you don't move quickly you get bitten to buggery tripping across the garden. All good fun and makes for a good tale.

Well 4 weeks today our autumn visitors start to arrive and it looks like September and October will be like June was. Two rounds in September, one September/October and then another in October. Times flying, we will be making our way back to the UK before we know it at this rate.

We did promise ourselves a bit of a break over on the mainland after the bathrooms done, we will see how times looking. We fancy going over to Ioannia and camping and looking at the Vikos Gorge - which according the Guinness book of records is the deepest in the world!! Its about 60 miles from Igoumenitsa which is the mainland port we would sail too from Corfu.

With the gentle waft of paint fumes now blowing over I'd best go and see if Mrs D has keeled over in the heat - been struggling a bit the last few days....will keep you posted.

Y'all keep in touch now . . . . D & L

What a job . . . . .

G'day bloggers (if there is anyone following this!) Well, the tiling when we eventually get to it should be easy compared to the prep work so far. On Thursday I think I won the sweating for Corfu 2009 contest after mixing boatloads of concrete to fill the massive chasm left by the bath! Mrs D now adept at mixing the right proportions of sand gravel and cement was also dripping wet but sorry we were not allowed to enter her for the wet T shirt contest or take photos... Oh well, we have just about finished preparing the floor. The plaster boards came today, the tiles are here, all the adhesives are here too we just need the new taps, floor drains and a new bog then we are off. No, no not off to the bog.... off to a flying start with the tiling!! When this is done the rest of the house will look a little behind the times . . . oh no, more jobs and so it goes on.

Lets get this out of the way - it's almost 10 o'clock at night here and its 31dgs in the house. Mrs D is flagging with the heat (I mean she's tired not taken up a new occupation with her new building knowledge) I must admit it does get a bit much on a night sometime. We see from the BBC website that the met office are now back pedalling and are back on blaming the Azores High again for your awful wash out of a summer again! We do hope you get a little bit of sunshine.

So what news from Kopsocheilades . . . .hmmmm we went to a local festival last Sunday evening. We arrived around 6ish, nothing doing apart from 16 whole lambs all rotating on spits over coals. So we went for a beer, went back lots of chairs had appeared the lambs were doing nicely but still no people. We went back for another beer like you do and went back around 10 o'clock and half the island was crammed into the field, with beer flowing, souvlaki BBQing and lambs getting dizzy by now, all was in full swing. A good time was had by all especially the Greeks as they love to get up and do some traditional dancing. All ages and genders, no street cred issues, it is lovely to see it. Mrs D suggest we join in next time, depends on the beer amounts I think!!

What else, we now have in addition to several Elvis' in Sidari a Freddie Mercury, spitting image must have modelled himself on him and also a Jacko!! We will give them a try and report back. The veg patch continues to grow with the toms doing best closely followed by some sort of lettuce - rocket thing and trailing behind are the beets. We discovered today we had been nurturing some weeds (not carrots) so Mrs D dug them out. Didn't look much like the carrots I used to see on Bugs Bunny . . . ah well all good fun. Oh on the way back from the festival we picked up a dog - could have had something to do with the bag of lamb we bought, see him above..he stayed a while then we had to lock him out as he did not want to go or wanted more lamb not quite sure which!!

I had better get off now and see if Mrs D is OK as she was last seen sat by the back door fly screen trying to cool off and mopping herself down.......more later D&L

The Bathroom Job (not the Italian one)

With tapping fingers now on overtime mode a few bits on the bathroom overhaul. As you may or may not remember (as there has been so much drivel written here since we started) the toilet was very small and if you were over five feet five tall your knees were up round your chin somewhere. The bathroom was interesting in as much as when you showered you banged your head on the water heater (five feet five theory again) and the tiles in both rooms were hideous see pix above. The bottom 2 are the original bathroom and toilet the top 2 are where we are now.

We decided to make them one room, another wall demolition job. Once the wall was down the five feet five theory was gone - in the toilet at least. So what to do next, move the water heater to remove the other five feet five theory. So far so good. With walls down, heater moved what next. As the walls have gone this now left a nice hole in the ceiling where the walls used to be so it was new ceiling time - yipee!! More dust filth and sh*te coming down from the loft and yes it certainly came down.

With the new ceiling now up Mrs D who is now an accomplished demolition expert on both tiles and walls is now painting the new ceiling. We did the ceiling yesterday - Saturday and it was so hot even in the house that we were dripping sweat off all day. It was fairly intense heat yesterday and our little sun trap at the side of the house - not that we need one - was 43 degrees! Today for the painting task there is a bit of a breeze making it easier for the painting department to paint and I get some time off today to wear my finger tips out on this keyboard. I am not complaining though.

We have ordered a new window, fly screen and shutters for the now bigger bathroom window which will be here on Thursday and we have to block off what was the bog door this week. Once we have done this we can then start thinking about tiles.

Don't be thinking we are grafting here all the time we are still managing to cycle down to the sea for a swim every other day, have the odd beer with friends and get out to Acharavi once week to sit and have a coffee and get a few supplies in.

Sorry but the weather here is excellent up in the high thirties most days. We have been watching the UK weather on the net and hearing the tales of woe on the radio. It really is another washout of a summer for you guys, it is dreadful.

Mrs D's veg plot is doing OK with Toms, Beets and Lettuces all looking good. I continue to do battle with the bamboo which grows faster than I can cut it down - think I will get a panda. Hmmmm could be an island attraction, will have to sort the bog out first tho'.

Well its sign off time now, hope everyone's OK and please keep in touch via e-mail, this blog and also now on Skype - we do have the technology. Will keep you posted on our antics.......

There and back again - sadly not a hobbits tale . . .

All this talk of hobbits and tales whats it all about then? Well we have been back to the UK to sort out a tenancy problem! We had just got settled back in here and then we got some news which sadly meant we just had to go back. Reg was here so we had to wait 'til his jolly was over - we couldn't just hoof him out!

We managed to get ourselves on a budget flight home with easyjet, middle of the night jobby. We had a taxi waiting for us in Manchester and we arrived back in Middelton in the small hours. For some bizarre reason (lucky on our part) we left unsettled and wet weather in Corfu and enjoyed sunny gentle days in England.

We had little over a week to sort out the problem, catch up on some folks and get the bike taxed, tested and insured as were going back to Corfu on it. It also gave us some time for a pork pie, fish and chips and a Timmy Taylors fix!! (There were some benefits from the visit.)

The diary was as usual chocker going here there and everywhere but it is always good to catch up with everyone and enjoy a pint of Tims. With problems resolved and in capable hands, bike ready and ferries booked off we set again this time on two wheels. The forecast was good along some of our route - particularly the UK section - Corfu was still under cloud and rain so e-mails from over there were telling us and away we went.

We left home on Thursday down the A1 then onto the world famous giant car park of London the M25, which sadly was living up to its name. Even on the bike we could not get thro' as everyone was out of their cars with the doors open - most inconsiderate. We took to the lanes and by some small miracle ended up on the Dartford bridge past all the mess.

We stopped off with Marian again at the splendid little Dover link hotel she runs in Winchelsesa and had a couple of good nights there - avoided Kwikfit Hastings after bad taste they left last time. We were on the 0800hrs Saturday ferry to Dunkirk, forcing down as usual a last full English for a while. The crossing as good and Mrs D once again hung onto her breakfast.

We rode down through France on the toll motorways - a great way to eat the miles across France and had a night in Verdun again as we liked the place and the site so much last time. It was then up early for the long haul to the Tirol across Germany. Unfortunately the roads in Germany were not like the French ones. Heavily congested and very slow although we did get the odd stretch where we could tailgate the Germans for a change as we were on the bike (like they do to us when we are in a full car!!) The weather was also changing and it was becoming cloudy and showery.

We arrived in Reutte in the Austrian Tirol early evening after a long ride and several numb bum stops. A lovely site nestled among the mountains. We were on a rest day the following day so that we could regain feeling in our bums as it was a 360 mile haul that day.

Weather now wet and cloudy and so that we had to walk into town and buy a couple of brollies so we could have a walk during the day - all part of the adventure you know. Mrs D now happy as we could walk into town and back again instead of the bike.

Later that day three English guys and a girl on bikes camped next to us and we ended up having a few beers with them at a bar in town. It was an entertaining few hours hearing their travelling tales. They went off every year for three weeks somewhere across Europe. Usually with a bit a of a tale to tell.

Next day it was early start as it was Alps crossing day. Fern Pass, Innsbruck, Brenner Pass, Dolomites down through Cortina to Venice for a night before the ferry. The Alps crossing was damp and grey for the most until we started to drop down from Cortina where it got drier, sunnier and hotter. By the time we arrived at the camp site we were dry and far too warm.

The camp site was very busy and the mozzies were the worst we have ever had. They were at us as soon as we had got off the bike. We were bitten to death. With this in mind it was a beer some food and into the tent to get away from the little t***s!!

Its ferry day again, its July and it was chocker. When we booked there were no air craft type seats left so we had to book to kip on the deck. This usually means find a piece of carpet somewhere on the ship and get down with your sleeping bag and your rolly mat. Not the case this time - too many people had already nobbled the best bits of carpet so we had to kip under the stars out on deck. Which wasn't too bad 'til the disco cracked up which was underneath us. It was good fun singing along to the better stuff whilst looking up at the stars from your cozy bag. It didn't matter it was very warm and a still crossing - always good, particularly for Mrs D of the sea sickness. However no sea sickness was had, but a reasonable nights sleep was.

We finally docked in Corfu at 1330hrs and after a very quick shop we arrived home at about 1430hrs. Now we have the bike here, the car and several pushbikes we have to start thinking about how we get all these back to the UK. A nice problem to have I suppose but hopefully a way off from now so we will put that on a back burner and think about - The Bathroom Job!! - more later. Y'all keep in touch now.......