Droushia/Drouseia Dits: Another Visit to the Bank...

We had one of our early morning visits to the Alpha Bank in Polis this morning. We seem to have made life difficult for ourselves by having had a bank account for some years. We started out by opening a bank account in the main branch which was then located in Makarios Avenue, Paphos and put my Dad down as a signatory on it so that he could administer it for us when we were in England. Then that branch moved and Dad found it easier to nip across to Kissonerga and use the branch there, then when we had some money to invest we opened a deposit account there because if we were staying with Mum and Dad it was easy to get to. Now that we live near Polis where there is an Alpha Bank we like to do our business there. Branches here do not like you to move your accounts lock stock and barrel to a new location - they like you to leave your money with them and so every time we go to Polis they have to phone either the main branch or the Kissonerga branch depending upon which account we are dealing with.

Every time there is something which relates to the account in the main branch we are asked the question "Why is there a third signatory on your account?" and we explain that it was there temporarily so that Dad could administer it in our absence and every time they say "we will get it removed" and then we just know that when we go back we are asked the question "Why is there a third signatory on your account?" We are, however, more hopeful that Elena from the Polis Branch has got this sorted this time - fingers crossed!!!

We have also appeased the Bank Manager from Kissonerga (George) by leaving one of our deposit accounts with him rather than moving the money and opening up a new account in Polis because we thought he might have an apoplectic fit about branches stealing customers!! We didn't really care - we just wanted to consolidate our accounts and make it easier to administer. Elena remained calm throughout and dealt with the paperwork efficiently. She asked us if we lived in Droushia and it transpires that she does too - in fact she lives in the first house on the right on top of the hill after you have driven past Evgenious Hills - the house we look at all the time and wonder who lives there - now we know!!! Furthermore she has invited us to go in for coffee if we are passing and she is not at work - somehow I can't imagine that ever happening when I went to the HSBC bank in Middle Street Yeovil.

I managed to make it back to Sheila's for art a little later than normal but having missed a week I was keen to 'get back on the horse' as it were and now that my other painting has been framed need to get its companion finished although I can't see that happening any time soon because the more confident I get with the use of the pastels the more detail I want to put into the picture. The leaves on this one are a lot more difficult because they have a definite texture to them and this time the picture has shadows on it which I am finding quite difficult to reproduce. As always I have my mentor Sheila with her gentle encouragement to keep me going! I was a little worried as there was no singing emanating from Klaus as he worked in the kitchen - I almost panicked that there would be no scrummy lunch but should not have troubled myself as once again I was treated to a gastronomic delight - this week in the form of a pasta dish with mushrooms. Now I love mushrooms but those of you who know John will know that these are a banned substance in our household (it's the spores!!!) so I rarely get the chance to eat them.

My Greek had been postponed this week until Wednesday - I can't say I was too disappointed as I haven't slept too well the last few nights and was feeling tired and a bit woolly headed so I said goodbye to Klaus and Sheila and walked back home through the village. The local fig trees are just about ready and John had been over into the field next door and picked some fresh so that we could offer them to Barry, Lynne and Joseph who are coming up from Paphos tomorrow for an afternoon barbeque - I can't believe it is a year since they were here last so it is going to be interesting to see what they think of all the changes that we have made chez nous in the intervening period. It is interesting how you see your home very differently when you see it through someone else's eyes and furthermore they often come up with ideas that you haven't even thought of!

I was knackered by early evening and provided little or no company for John as I just had to take time out and check my eyelids for pinholes - which he captured for posterity - still now I know what everyone else feels like when I am constantly snapping away!!!