Catching up

The last couple of mornings I haven't felt so good - my hiatal hernia is playing up a bit so I need to try and work out what it is that is causing the aggravation.  I had thought I had narrowed it down to fried fish and the acidity of orange juice so have avoided them but it must be something else - thank god for Protein Pump Inhibitors I say!

So John went off to meet Rob for a coffee in the village and I stayed behind and got the sewing machine out to try and repair the corners of Argy and Lakis's garden brolly which had started to break, along with a bloody great bend in the metal upright caused when the wind took it over.  John had hammered out the bend sufficiently for the brolly to continue to function and I was just sorting the cover so that it could do its job for a little while longer.  Once I had done it I walked down to meet John in the village as we had been contacted by Jurgen and Elvira to see if we could meet up before they go home tomorrow.  It was a hotter walk than I had anticipated but I managed to try and keep to the shade and managed to nip in to see Philippos's new enterprise - he has taken the old weaving museum and turned it into a traditional craft shop and I have to say it looks amazing.

We had arranged to meet at the Watermill in Steni as it was a new venue for Jurgen and Elvira who are still doing their homework in relation to a potential move to the island.  You cannot accuse them of not trying to glean as much information as possible but we are not sure that their dream is either available or achievable but we give them as much information and assistance as we can based on our own experiences.  I feel for Elvira on these occasions.  She is lovely but has limited English which combined with my 'O' level German from 40-odd years ago amounts to not much by way of conversation!  We had a lot of talk about insulation and green energy today so probably not that interesting anyway!

We called into Polis on our way home.  I had found a couple of packets of mum's old hearing aid batteries that I wanted to drop off at C&A Apartments for Nitsa's husband Chris and then John wanted to call into the car parts shop and get some prices from Andreas for Richard's works van.  Andreas had two great cars parked outside - I don't know which one I prefered - the ancient Mini Cooper or the modern BMW.  My first car was an ancient red and black Mini (ordinary not Cooper) with a starting button on the floor, long bent gear change with no synchro in first and a choke that you used to have to keep open with a wooden clothes peg and I loved it.  It was upgraded to a more modern mustard coloured version when I first left home and then I swapped it for my Dad's red and black Ford Capri when he got given a company vehicle and Mum had my mini.

John was ecstatic this evening when I managed to find the Sheffield United friendly match being played in Portugal on our TV system - who knew?  I don't think we have delved into the depths of the menu system quite that far before but he had an hour and a half of uninterrupted viewing (I doubt anyone else was bothered about this game so the stream was perfect).  I joined him with one of my favourite tipples - a Banana Bread Beer and yes, it does taste of Banana!!!