The old is nearly out...

Digging through the hedge.

Rob Sweeting on his mini digger.

 Well the old year is rapidly coming to an end but at least on a fairly high note for us this year.  Geoff has made another great come back health wise and will hopefully soon be going out again.  He is still forgetful and at times confused but the pills seem to be taking affect once again.  He is talking of coming back to Greece next year again "for one last time" but we will wait and see on that score.  As things are at the moment we are returning to Lefkas as planned on the 10th January but we are planning on Sandra returning about six weeks later just to see how he is coping and to get make sure he's looking after himself adequately.

All the deadly green slippery algae removed.

 I have been digging holes across the lawn of our old house to try and discover the cause of a drainage problem from the road down the side shared by us and the farm next door.  The drain turned out to be full of roots for about sixteen feet which has now been replaced and the huge lake in the road now clears fine.  It has been a problem for many a year but now we can look forward to not having to drive through all the mud when the weather is wet, as it usually is especially at this time of year.

Sanny get another hairdo.

Many people has asked us about the mammoth flooding our area has once again been suffering from.  It has not affected us although York and Selby areas have had it very bad.  Our flood just over two years ago was caused by a freak set of circumstances so hopefully it will be many, many years before we get it again.

 Last night we were on baby sitting duties for Jess and Lissa, this meant that Hairdressing had to be on the agenda again, it's a good job that I don't have long hair any more of otherwise people might start to think I gone transsexual!

What a picture!

Geoff's (bottom right) school picture.

WWII in modern Pakistan (then India) Geoff left with horse.

Geoff has been given a picture from an old paper this week of his school photo I'm guessing from about 1930 so I've mad it as good as I can get it with the limited tools at my disposal and put it on his electronic picture frame with his other old pictures which I scanned in years ago.  He sits and watches them revolve around for hours occasionally saying things like "look there's old so and so who we went to school with".  Now I know I look old and sometimes act old and at time I certainly feel old but he thirty odd years in front of me, so NO Geoff, I didn't go to school with them!

After he saw that picture he dug one out of the back of his wallet from his days out in India with the army and his beloved horses it was a little thing about the size of a match box and he's had it in his wallet ever since it was taken.  Anyway I gave it the same treatment (Geoff is on the left) but the quality of the original is very poor so I can't get it much better than this.

All that remains is for me to wish all our family, friends and anyone else who reads my weekly drivel, a very happy and healthy 2016.  May things only get better for everyone.

'T'is the season....

 The photo's this week are all taken in Lefkas just before we left.  It amazes me how much more the Greeks are getting "westernised" with regards to Christmas.  When we first retired and went out there it was very much just another religious celebration and in second place by a long long way to Easter.  Now, some eight years later, the gap between them is much smaller although Easter is still the primary festival in Greece.  The plethora of decorations and lights about this year is hugely more than we have seen previously.

Last Thursday we set off on our first leg to getting back to the UK for Christmas by driving to Athens and staying in  Peri's Hotel near the airport.  In effect this pays for itself as they look after the car for the month we are away at no extra charge.  Airport parking would cost us something in the region of €150 for the period we are away so it's a bit of a "no brainer".

The Easyjet flight the next day was uneventful apart from being sat next to a guy who smelt of pee and had very severe halitosis, I don't think we have ever been so pleased to get off an aeroplane in our lives.  At Manchester we had arranged to pick up an hire car and thought it would just be a case, having done all the paperwork on-line, of showing the license and picking up the keys.  No it took us 3/4 of an hour and then when we got into the car park the car wasn't there.  Another 15 or 20 minutes and we had another (upgraded) car.

Unfortunately, when we got back to good old Yorkshire we found Sandra's dad was full of flu and not in good health at all.  We have had him to the doctors since and he's now improving but we think our current way of life may be in for some radical changes sooner rather than later.

Sandra and I would like to wish everyone who reads our musings, a very happy Christmas and a fantastic New Year and all of 2016 in fact.

Last blog for a short while (at least)...

Some of the olive pickers.

More talk than work I think!

Brian and Vicky very kindly invited us to their house warming over the weekend but of course there was an ulterior motive: Olive picking.

There were a great many people there so although Sandra helped with the "harvest" I just stood around and talked, bit of a man-woman roll reversal really!  I may end up paying dearly for that remark but hey ho.

More quake damage pictures.

Road not to be trusted.

A tight squeeze.

Anyway their new house looks great and I understand that they have got twenty five litres of oil from the weekends endeavours so success on both counts.  Thanks very much for inviting us Brian & Vicky, sorry we couldn't stay until the end but we were told it was a great evening.

This is the last time I will mention the earthquakes as they are now tailing away nicely.  Having said that we have had about thirty five tremors in the last two days according to the seismic web site, the largest of these being 3.6, so they are still about.

Debbie and Jeremy took the quake photos I have attached to the blog this week while they were travelling about the south of the island.  I'm sure you'll agree the damage is not minor by any standards.  Thanks for the pictures guys.

There will not be any blog next week as we will be travelling to Athens in order to fly back to the UK next Friday to be with our family over the Christmas season.  Sandra and I would like therefore to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a fantastic new year now.  Just in case the access to the internet in rural Yorkshire is as dire as it sometimes can be when we get home.