WALKING WOUNDED

Just to set the record straight, I have managed to recover my original Hotmail Account, which is a big relief because I have addresses and important information going back 15 or so years. However, it took four weeks and a great deal of effort on my part and the part of my brother who bravely filled in forms which I had dismissed as spoofs since they requested so much identification and credit card details (which I left blank and the form did not work, but which my brother left blank and seemed to work for him!) I wrote lots of big howlers to Microsoft in any box which appeared at the bottom of any page lamenting bitterly about the fate of hapless Hotmail victims and eventually at the end of August, my ID form was accepted. Hallelujah! The danger is that with all the Emails arriving daily which are either filed or deleted and the increasing passage of time, you have no accurate memory of Emails you received 2-3 weeks before everything collapsed. Happily, my brother remembered an Email he had sent to me and managed to retrieve it on his phone, and after this, we were in with a chance.

In the meantime, I opened a new hotmail account and a G-mail account and directed all the Emails from the Hotmails to my Gmail so that I will have a better chance of recovery next time around. All I have to do is take my own advice and keep a little hand written address book of everyone's Email addresses and try to keep it up to date. No wonder, I no longer have time to go to work every day! I will not burden anyone with the frustration of trying to open a Paypal account which is currently keeping me well exercised.

While all this has been going on, Croziers have been in the wars. A nice afternoon treat at water park a few weeks back triggered a fall on slippery paving which ended up in a swollen and brightly coloured ankle and foot. This has still not returned to normal. Leaning over the oven to put a tray away last week found me clutching at my back as something “pinged” and I have been simultaneously hobbling and limping for days now. Bother, bother, bother. Then, K tripped on lethal Cretan steps yesterday and bashed his knee – so both of us are bandaged up and look like wounded soldiers. This has caused great consternation/entertainment for all of our vocal neighbours! The focal point of their day is watching us climb into the car each morning and try to manoeuvre it around the door steps, railings, steep ledges and other miscellaneous hazards of the tiny square outside Kosta and Angelliki's cafeneon.

 Everybody at the cafeneon looks forward to their comic break, sitting in the shade of the mulberry tree and looking up from their tiny coffee cups to shout in chorus as we struggle backwards and forwards ... “ELLA, ELLA, ELLA”. (Come on, come on, come on!) A few dogs start barking and pigeons depart to other window sills in the noisy enclosed space. To be honest, we both find it off-putting, keep stalling the engine and look more incompetent every day. Such fun!!!  K is fast approaching a 'Skaz Moss' moment - Croziers around the globe will know what this means!

Anyway, enough of the grumps. We have had a nice few days getting out and about and the weather is producing some lovely cool September evenings which make it really pleasant to sit and watch the sun go down with stunning fire-burnished skies and the blue moon rise, huge and luminous over the mountain tops. Friday evening, we went to Georgopoli for the CIC (Cretan International Community) Extraordinary General Meeting which was called because we had lost two important Board members who had had to return to Holland and the UK respectively as a result of health problems. A new President and Vice President were voted in unanimously by 30 plus members in attendance and we are confident that the good fellowship, excursions and fund raising ideas will continue to flourish. On Saturday, we had promised some Austrians with a young son, who visit our village every summer, that we would take the kayak down to the harbour and they had a fun morning exploring round and about. The sea was a little choppy but they managed to capsize only once!

On Sunday, I met up with a car load travelling to the Anglican Church by driving for 20 mins to a mustering point and getting a lift another 45 minutes to Kefala, where the little English Church meets. It was lovely to get there, but is quite a mammoth journey to accomplish more than once a month encompassing a long trip along the highway, and over a mountain or two in a complicated route which looks different every time I do it.

Today, we had the CIC coffee morning at Camping Elizabeth and the sun shone, although we noticed quite a few dark clouds over the mountains signifying that the weather is now on the change.  It was a good opportunity to pass on another water melon which haven't quite come to the end of their season ...!

At 5 o'clock a Pool Party.  We were invited down the road by a new friend who has a lovely house and pool a short walk along the track towards Panormo. As her brother owns the house next door (also with its own pool) and we saw how lovely the two villas were inside, I wondered whether the brother's house was ever available for rental and guess what? It is. We will get details of its website, if anyone is interested in staying in a lovely villa with all mod cons only 7 minute walk away from us.

Enough for tonight, the wounded soldiers need to get some sleep! Kali-nichta!