(Having a bit of a rant-come-grumble, a rumble perhaps, but at least there are some nice Symi photos from Neil to brighten things up.) Well, I’m having great fun here on a Monday afternoon trying to set up the new laptop with Microsoft Office. I am typing away on the ‘old’ machine while having an online chat with a virtual person on the new one. It’s no wonder people go for pirate products these days, Microsoft thinks it knows you and actually it hasn’t got a clue.

I’m mainly rabbiting about the way the new laptop has a ‘thing’ that says ‘Office’ and, when you click it, it tells you that you haven’t got Office (which I kind of realised thanks) and would you like to buy it? So you think, ‘Well, yes I should really,’ and so you look at the amount they want, grumble a bit and then see that it comes with online storage and a few other things to lessen the blow and at least you know that you’re going to get the real deal and will get support if needed….

And talking of support I just had to break off to move over to the other machine to reply to an answer. You see, when my know-it-all machine takes me to where I can buy Office, it believes that because I am in Greece (which I assume it knows from my IP address, or from the built in camera which is being used to spy on me perhaps) that I can read Greek, fluently. So, I don’t want to download and pay for Office only to find out the it’s all in Greek. I’m not that clever!

Anyway, as I’ve been chatting to you, Christina B. up there in virtual land has been helping me out and we managed to deduce that I can put Office into English though I have to download it all in Greek, through the Greek pages, as IT knows what’s best for me. And then we figured out that although I signed up for a Microsoft account the other day it’s already lost me and I had to reset my password again, which is actually the second time I’ve had to do that since I was forced to sign up with them – I do hate the way they are taking over my life –and I knew I had the correct password because I wrote it in a secure place and left it right there next to my machine where I wouldn’t lose it.

The upshot is, 45 minutes later, that I am about to pay €69.00 for the basics I need to be able to write on a laptop, I am sorely tempted to find a pirate version of it as that €69.00 is only going to be for one year and then they will automatically rebill me next February, so I still haven’t pressed that button yet. In fact, I might just leave it hanging there…

No, I went and pressed the button in the end and now I’m waiting for it to do something. And while I am waiting I’ll finish this post then go and put my feet up while it downloads. But no, there’s a catch. ‘We have received you order and it may take 4-6 hours to process and charge… Once completed we will send you an email with the download information.’ And I assume you will be sending this to the inbox of Outlook that I don’t actually have on the computer yet as you’ve not sent it to me ‘cos I only just bought it…? Luckily I have this machine still running though I myself am running out of patience.

Monday morning, grey sky, more rain, inside and out, woken early by the rain on the roof, and then the alarm cat going off at six, but hey! It’s Monday and the start of a whole new week.

The final week of packing before the big week of moving, carrying everything across the village to the new house; due to get the keys next Monday, and have already started planning what’s to go where, though all that will probably change once we start moving things in.

Finally managed to order a fridge freezer. I did have a look around in the harbour on Saturday, but in the end went for a place in Thessaloniki that delivers. We tried twice to order something only to find out that neither version was in stock. The helpful people from the company then sent an email politely pointing out that items with a whacking great green tick next to them are the ones that are available, so found an Indisit in silver which is the same size and layout as our current antique. That’s going to fit nicely with the new colour scheme for the new kitchen, silver and red.

Neil was admiring a red salad bowl on Saturday, and I saw some carpets that will go well in the hall, and some new saucepans (at €26.00 and €29.00 each) that we could do with. Well, a new house sounds like a good excuse for a bit of shopping…  Once we’ve got the bills and things tied down and can see what’s left over, and once the monthly tax bill has been paid. Honestly, no wonder so many businesses are going under, it’s nothing but tax bills this winter and we don’t even have a business anymore. This one dates back to 2013 apparently and only came through a few weeks ago.

But we’ll not get started on that. It’s Monday, there is the whole week ahead, we have Harry’s name day tomorrow so will be going to church in the morning with him and then we are taking him and his brother (and mother) out to dinner in the evening. Which reminds me, must call in and tell Noufris at Georgio’s, and ask him to get some chops in. We can do that on the way back from tap tonight.

That’s the plan. Right, now back to some more packing and mopping up.

It’s getting harder to reach my desk, the front room is filling up with boxes and bags and stacks of things. And to think, when we moved here 12 years ago all we had were two rucksacks and a laptop.

But today, Saturday, has dawned as a lovely day. Calm after yesterday’s daftly big winds, sunny after recent cloud and dry after recent downpours. I am not sure what the forecast is, I’ll have a look later, but today is a day for being out and about and going for a long walk.

Which is why I think I am staying home, packing, sorting things out, taking rubbish to the bins and doing all that kind of malarkey. Ah well, it needs to be done. And today was also a lie in which is why this post isn’t as early as it usually is and why it’s a bit shorter than usual. It’s nearly nine and I am still on my first hot water and lemon drink, not even started the coffee yet let alone anything practical.

So, with nothing else much to report, I’ll leave you with a couple of Neil’s photos, wish you a pleasant weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday.

I have been out and about taking photos in the rain recently though yesterday was remarkably dry, though cold. So, lots of photos to come over the next few days, and possibly some non-blog days, particularly in the week of 16th, which is the week we are planning to move house.

The contract is signed, we’re secure for the next three years, with a proviso that we have six months’ notice should the property be sold. And a very nice property it is too. I won’t put up photos, I know you are interested to see the inside but we only took a couple to remind ourselves of the layout so we can plan what is going to go where; and we are not in the house yet so it doesn’t look ready. But there are some details I can share with you, I guess.

We have a fairly large courtyard that has steps leading up to two flat roofs, not that I will be going near them very often, only one has railings around it and there is a huge drop at the front of the house, and one on the side. And the other side is a pretty decent drop from the courtyard wall, the fourth side would be into the neighbour’s courtyard, though they are also slightly down a hill, so we don’t really attach to anyone – not in the traditional way.

The property is really two properties joined together by a common, open porch, and on one side we will have our office and guest rooms, and on the other our main living area. This is made up of a nice saloni which looks towards the harbour – there are a couple of shots on yesterday’s blog. There are windows on two sides here, good for summer. The bedroom is, like in the current house, in the middle of the property with a moussandra above. This comes part way across the sitting room as well. This room also has a window, handy for the summer and at a height where the cats can’t leap in.

The kitchen is large and fitted, though we may have to rethink where the cooker goes; there’s a nice extractor fan, standard size, sitting over a 45 cm gap, which is a bit slim line for a cooker. But that’s a consideration for another day. The bathroom is off the kitchen, which means it’s an inside bathroom. You’d be surprised (or not) how many are still outside on Symi, some are even across the street from the houses they serve.

That’s a basic rundown. Currently, the landlord is making a good job of removing everything bar the fixtures and he even told us he would have someone in to clean the place first. Our current house is slowly stacking up with boxes, so much so that I now need to move my desk and rearrange the front room so that I can carry on doing what I do while making more room for more boxes. I’ve had a word with Habib and he is going to organise us some strong guys to carry the heavy stuff when we are ready, and some very kind folk have already volunteered to help us on the day.

So, I’d best get on and get back to more packing.

Yesterday we signed the contract for the new house. Today I can give you a shot or two of what will be our new view. A week on Monday we can collect the keys, take the inventory and start moving things across.

On the way back we stopped off for a few supplies at one of the village supermarkets (see photo) and it’s a question of ‘What shall we have for lunch today?’ As you’ll see, supplies have become a bit scarce. But not to fear! The Blue Star came through in the morning and, all being well and calm, should have come back last night. (I will be able to give more accurate details once we move as we’ll be able to see and hear it arrive and depart from the comfort of the living room.) So, Thursday morning will probably see a scrum at the vegetable department, so might give that a wide berth.

But it’s also good news for empty boxes, and we still need a heap more, with only about 60% of the house packed up. The more we pack the less we can use, obviously, so the house will probably stay mainly as it is until only a few days before we actually start moving things. Then it will be open season.

Meanwhile, the nights and mornings have ben wet, everything is feeling damp and it’s also cold; standard February weather here. I’ve not been able to get out for much ‘jalking’ at my preferred time of day, but have been trying to get out for your more standard kind of walking in the afternoon. Neil’s not been 100%, having had a bad tummy, but is on the mend now.

So, off into Thursday, with plenty to do and plenty to look forward to.