Communication
Monday January 9th 2023
Unfortunately when I tried the sink in the bathroom last night, no hot water came out! The kitchen sink and shower do spurt out hot water. I suspect something has been turned off and needs turning on after yesterdays work. There is a removable panel on the bathroom wall, I had a Philips screwdriver and behind the panel are a load of valves, presumably for each tap in the house. I put the panel back, it’s too complicated and best left alone! But it’s a clever idea and a central place to be able to do this is handy in the case of a leak, which could help stem the problem quickly if the taps were labelled and easily accessible. Of course it might mean a bit more pipe work. I have sent the landlord a message. I am counting this as my third bad thing, so that’s out of the way now!
Last night I had a lovely surprise as one of my friends in the UK rang me and we had a good chat. We haven’t had a call since before Christmas, and it was great to catch up on their news.
Today is litter picking day, there is not much I have seen, but annoyingly someone has thrown a double mattress out of their house and it’s now lying on the side of the mountain. However when I got to it, it wasn’t far up from the road. and there was a convenient concrete wall, I could jump on and toss the pesky mattress onto the road. I then had to drag it to the nearest dumpster, which was uphill. Anyway it was a bit of an effort, but it’s will just have to wait now until the rubbish men cart it away.
By the Medical Centre, there was the first of many people that I met on my travels today . The lady who lives by the steps to Hora, who always comments on my litter picking was visiting the centre and I said hello. By her house later on, her husband was there and said hello to me also. On my way down the road, I have decided that while I do my litter picking I should really admire the scenery as well as pick the litter up.. It is truly beautiful here, and I ought to make sure I enjoy the views as well as enjoying cleaning the place up.
Halfway down a car passed me and I thought, oh that’s one of my friends and I waved. The car stopped just in front of me. The driver wore sunglasses like my friend does. But when this person got out, it was clearly not my friend. This person knows the other car and I think this might happen a lot. We introduced ourselves, but met later. See below. The next thing to divulge, well I am amazed this hasn’t happened before. A message from someone in the UK who wants me to walk their friends dog. I am sure this person should know I am here, but I told them and we had a laugh about it. I showed them some photos and it was another nice conversation.
Another thing I have been thinking about is the number of people I know and see here now. Because there aren’t any tourists, everyone you see lives here. I don’t know everyone’s names, but a lot of people I see driving, on motorbikes, in shops and so on, I actually recognise them and know what they do here. Of course there are some people in the outlying small villages that don’t come in often, so maybe I would not recognise them. But I really feel connected. Hopefully when the tourists arrive, I will still see these people. As I walked down the road, I could see little wisps of smoke from the bonfires, they use to clear the land at this time of year.
Photo Interlude - Garden decoration I saw today.
When I got to Livadi, Grans still wasn’t open, so I went into the cafe that a lot of the older locals go into. I ordered two of my favourite pies, so if I am stuck in the house tomorrow lunchtime I will have something to eat. But I will have to be good and not eat it today. I started the next Chapter of my Greek course, which started with the words Open, Closed and When. If I had remembered these words, they would have been useful, as I could have impressed the delivery guy who works for Grans, who I bumped into in a supermarket. He called me Mr Paul, as he does, I wished him the Good Year and we shook hands, Greek Style. He had been in Athens, found it really noisy, as I will when I go back whenever that is. Grans opens a week today. ( I could have asked him that in Greek) I had my reusable cup with me in case they were today.
Photo Interlude - I believe this is a stock plant, it certainly smelt nice.
After this, I started walking home, but on the ground was something small and black. It was a wallet. As it turned out, the person who, I met on the road, who has a car like my friends, was next to me. She took a card out of the wallet and said she would sort it, she knew the owner. I left her calling out his name, in an effort to find him! The ton bag, full of rubbish, that I left by a dumpster the other day has gone, that’s impressive. There is a truck by the dumpster, it has been there several days, with an axle stand under one wheel. It will be interesting to see if it goes away, or has been left there..
The Christmas decorations are still up here, and I have been told they should come down tomorrow, but I don’t think it’s quite as organised as the UK Twelfth night. On the way back, I went up the path. The clover is looking a bit parched, it will appreciate the rain tomorrow. Half way up I met another of my friends, they were putting their rubbish out. Amazingly they get the Athens M and S to deliver to them. My friend is quite happy to order anything I want that can be delivered. Which is very kind.
My friends on Sifnos fancy a Bouganvillea shrub growing outside their balcony. I took a couple of cuttings off the one outside the pharmacy yesterday, they were nice green wood. Unfortunately I don’t have any hormone rooting powder, so I am unsure if they will take.
Photo Interlude - Loose hen by side of road
Finally, when I went into Markela’s shop, her husband was there, another Good Year then. I told him about my Christmas, he said Markela was coming back today on the ferry. I mentioned my new words I am trying to learn. I also explained the girl coming to my door, he thinks he knows who she is. He said if he sees her, he will explain my ignorance. I have also fed the stray cats, both of whose appeared.
So today, has been a lot of communication, with English and Greek people, using my voice and the internet. This afternoon, I have a call with friends in the UK and also on Sifnos. That’s why I titled todays blog Communication.
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