This morning we met the solicitor. Nice chap, excellent English, and in typical lawyer-ese, proceded to tell us several 'worst case' scenarios that might apply to the house we want to buy. For instance: that the upper two storeys might never have had planning permission, so might need to be pulled down. He did say that a more likely scenario was that planning permission was applied for, and perhaps obtained: however as the deeds mention buildings that aren't registered, he suspected that either they had never officially been inspected and completed, or perhaps the builder had deviated from the plans and so couldn't get a completion certificate.
He then went on to say that of course it's Cyprus, and hardly anybody does anything by the book. He said that most people build extra parts to their homes without permission, or draw up official plans and then build something different. But people don't buy and sell frequently like they do in the UK; he inherited his home from his parents, and will pass it on to his children, and yes, he too has built extra parts which aren't legalised. However, he said that if he ever did have to sell, he would get retrospective permission and a final document before putting it on the market. If we go ahead and buy, and find later that there's a problem, it may be impossible to prove that we didn't put the building up ourselves.
So, he told us that what he needs is the certificate of completion. He also needs to speak to the vendor's solicitor, or the vendor himself if he doesn't have a solicitor. But he doesn't want to deal with the estate agent, who will have mixed motives.
After that, we went to speak to the estate agent, who seemed rather frazzled. She did produce some plans for the house showing the top two storeys, and said that the vendor had 'found' his planning permission, which he had previously said was lost. She said that he admits he's made a few minor alterations to what was planned, including covering over a verandah but she didn't think it was a problem. We looked at the plans carefully, and there seemed to be more differences than that, although as we've only seen the house twice (and didn't take any measurements) it's hard to tell exactly. We think the verandah hasn't just been covered over, it's been included as part of an extension to make a dining room. We also think there's another balcony been built (the utility area outside the kitchen) that's not shown on the plans, and - possibly more worrying still - an interior wall removed which includes a load-bearing support. Cyprus houses aren't built of bricks, but of concrete pillars and steel posts, so it's not quite like the UK.
The agent insisted it's not a big deal. She said that yes, the vendor could apply for inspection and certificate, but he'd have to remove all the structures that aren't in the plans to do so - which would be quite a major undertaking, and rather a nuisance too as we like what he's done. She said that as we want to turn the building back into one house, putting internal stairs between the ground floor and middle floor, we'd have to employ an architect to do that and apply for planning permission anyway - and so it would be better to get him to draw up plans for the house as it is now, plus what we want changed, and go from there. That does make sense: there's no point getting rid of the improvements, having that made official, then applying for them and re-doing them. Equally it would be a bit silly for the vendor to employ an architect to make plans for the house as it is now, and us to employ one separately to make plans for the change we want.
But what to do? That's the problem. We chatted with a British friend who's a civil engineer and understands house structures. He said the missing pillar may not be a problem, since some supporting structures in Cyprus aren't necessary - they're just there as corners of rooms. Or it may be vital, in which case it should certainly be put back. He also said it's possible that the plans we've seen aren't the latest ones; we should go to the town planning office and ask to see the most recent ones, to see if they match what we've seen or how the house is now. We should also take an architect to the house, to look at the structure, to discuss what we want, and to find out what would work and what wouldn't.
Richard also chatted with another friend who's in the building trade, who said he knows an excellent architect who might be prepared to work for us and help sort out this problem.
It does sound as if it's not as bad as the worst-case scenario, but it's still more complicated than we had hoped. No surprises, really; we know several people who have bought houses or flats here, and none of them have had a totally straightforward purchase. It's a bit strange in a country where there's almost no violent crime or burglary, that so many people think nothing of cheating on their taxes, changing houses without plans, and generally ignoring or deceiving large agencies such as insurance companies!
We do still want to go ahead on this house. Lots of people are praying, and it does seem exactly right for us. I don't like not knowing what path is ahead, or even what step we should take next, but am trying to be confident that it's all in God's hands.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Caveat Emptor...
I thought the house buying was all going a bit fast. I still think it's the right house for us, but I wasn't happy about signing contracts and paying more than the initial deposit so quickly. Particularly when contracts on our UK house haven't yet been exchanged. I also had a sort of gut feeling that perhaps it was going to be more complicated than we had thought, or even that the vendors were trying to hide something...
On Friday the estate agent told Richard that it wasn't quite as straightforward as they had thought: there were minor 'problems' which weren't really difficult, but as the owners wanted to leave before we'd finished paying for it, she thought a solicitor should be used to draw up the contract. She said they had solicitors they could recommend, and told him the fee - which seemed a bit steep.
Today we talked about it, and I didn't feel at all comfortable about using a lawyer recommended by the estate agent. So Richard said he'd phone the guy recommended by a friend of ours who's in the house business. The guy quoted the same fee (OK, so it wasn't unreasonable) and said that a solicitor was really only needed when there were complications. He wanted to know if there was anything at all dubious about the deeds. We had gathered that there were two minor problems: (1) the carports didn't have planning permission and (2) the hairdresser salon which is part of the downstairs flat wasn't legally registered.
However, as they're taking out all the equipment from the hairdresser's and we're going to turn it into a bedroom, we didn't think that one mattered. We plan to take down one of the carports to make a little garden, and if the other one had to come down too, that wouldn't have worried us. We don't have a carport here and it's never been a problem.
So Richard went to see the agent, and while there phoned the solicitor, so he could talk in Greek to the agent and find out exactly what the problems were. It seems that they're rather more serious than we had realised: if he understood rightly, the upstairs house (ie the top two storeys) may not ever have had planning permission, as they're apparently not mentioned on the deeds at all. Since the deeds are in Greek, we had no idea...
The agent then said that if we'd used their recommended lawyer it could have been pushed through quickly, but using a different one means they'll have to employ an architect to sort it out, and that will slow it all down. Well, that's fine by us. I'm just glad we didn't go ahead and sign contracts and hand over more money without checking first.
Looking online, I found this very helpful site. According to this (and others - I checked several) the reservation fee (which we paid about ten days ago) ensures that the house is taken off the market, while we have 28 days to get a solicitor to do legal searches - as they would in the UK. We had been told by the agent, and a few other people, that it's not normal to use a solicitor at all in Cyprus - estate agents are legally qualified and can usually draw up the contracts themselves. But it sounds as if it's a good thing to use one even if they're not necessary - and in our case, it sounds as though it probably is best.
So tomorrow we'll meet the lawyer, and find out his advice, and ask him to go ahead with the searches and whatever else is necessary. We just hope it turns out to be straightforward to get permission after the event (something which, we gather, happens fairly often out here).
On Friday the estate agent told Richard that it wasn't quite as straightforward as they had thought: there were minor 'problems' which weren't really difficult, but as the owners wanted to leave before we'd finished paying for it, she thought a solicitor should be used to draw up the contract. She said they had solicitors they could recommend, and told him the fee - which seemed a bit steep.
Today we talked about it, and I didn't feel at all comfortable about using a lawyer recommended by the estate agent. So Richard said he'd phone the guy recommended by a friend of ours who's in the house business. The guy quoted the same fee (OK, so it wasn't unreasonable) and said that a solicitor was really only needed when there were complications. He wanted to know if there was anything at all dubious about the deeds. We had gathered that there were two minor problems: (1) the carports didn't have planning permission and (2) the hairdresser salon which is part of the downstairs flat wasn't legally registered.
However, as they're taking out all the equipment from the hairdresser's and we're going to turn it into a bedroom, we didn't think that one mattered. We plan to take down one of the carports to make a little garden, and if the other one had to come down too, that wouldn't have worried us. We don't have a carport here and it's never been a problem.
So Richard went to see the agent, and while there phoned the solicitor, so he could talk in Greek to the agent and find out exactly what the problems were. It seems that they're rather more serious than we had realised: if he understood rightly, the upstairs house (ie the top two storeys) may not ever have had planning permission, as they're apparently not mentioned on the deeds at all. Since the deeds are in Greek, we had no idea...
The agent then said that if we'd used their recommended lawyer it could have been pushed through quickly, but using a different one means they'll have to employ an architect to sort it out, and that will slow it all down. Well, that's fine by us. I'm just glad we didn't go ahead and sign contracts and hand over more money without checking first.
Looking online, I found this very helpful site. According to this (and others - I checked several) the reservation fee (which we paid about ten days ago) ensures that the house is taken off the market, while we have 28 days to get a solicitor to do legal searches - as they would in the UK. We had been told by the agent, and a few other people, that it's not normal to use a solicitor at all in Cyprus - estate agents are legally qualified and can usually draw up the contracts themselves. But it sounds as if it's a good thing to use one even if they're not necessary - and in our case, it sounds as though it probably is best.
So tomorrow we'll meet the lawyer, and find out his advice, and ask him to go ahead with the searches and whatever else is necessary. We just hope it turns out to be straightforward to get permission after the event (something which, we gather, happens fairly often out here).
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Tennis
Until about a week ago, so a local friend told us, Cypriots had little interest in tennis. In fact, although they love watching sports, they insist they're just a small island, and nobody could expect them to have brilliant sports players. They cheer for Greece (the island almost erupted with joy when Greece won the European football cup a couple of years ago) but expect nothing of themselves.
Until now.
Marcos Baghdatis, an unseeded Cypriot tennis player, has beaten top international players in the Australian open, and has reached the final - to be played tomorrow evening (Australian time - ie tomorrow morning Cyprus time).
Suddenly, we're told, everybody wants to 'own' Baghdatis. If he wins, he'll be hailed as a national hero. Even if he doesn't, he's still made history by reaching the final and beating all those top seeds.
I guess we'll know if he's won by the noise level tomorrow mid-morning... if he wins, there will probably be cars everywhere, driving around honking horns and waving flags.
Until now.
Marcos Baghdatis, an unseeded Cypriot tennis player, has beaten top international players in the Australian open, and has reached the final - to be played tomorrow evening (Australian time - ie tomorrow morning Cyprus time).
Suddenly, we're told, everybody wants to 'own' Baghdatis. If he wins, he'll be hailed as a national hero. Even if he doesn't, he's still made history by reaching the final and beating all those top seeds.
I guess we'll know if he's won by the noise level tomorrow mid-morning... if he wins, there will probably be cars everywhere, driving around honking horns and waving flags.
Friday, January 27, 2006
House-buying in Cyprus...
It worries me when things happen fast!
We only saw the house we're planning to buy for the first time 10 days ago. I wrote about our initial thoughts in general here. I posted some photos after we'd seen it a second time here. The family selling it said they didn't want to move immediately: they're having somewhere built which will take a few more months, so they would quite like to rent it from us for a while after we've bought it. We said fine, so long as we can move by the start of June, that's OK. We're in no hurry to move, after all. The estate agent said she'd draw up the contract ensuring that if they stayed longer than June, they would have to pay a huge rent (which would be held back from the house payment until they actually moved) so we wouldn't have a problem.
Fine. Plenty of time to get used to the idea, plenty of time to figure out how to pack, and what we need to buy (curtains etc) before moving. The sale of our house in the UK should go through within the next month or so. We went ahead and paid the initial deposit - ensuring nobody else can buy the house - and didn't expect to do anything more for a few weeks. At least until the sale of our UK house has been completed.
Yesterday the estate agent arranged another meeting, for this morning.
She said that the vendors have decided that it's likely to take more than three months for their new house to be completed (no surprises there...), so they've found somewhere else to rent. They want to move out at the end of February.
Moreoever, she said they need a 'first stage' payment by early next week. I don't know what would have happened if we had not been able to pay this - but as it happens, we had exactly the right amount of money in a sterling savings account in the UK, from an inheritance we received just over a year ago.
The only problem is that it generally takes 21 days for money to clear when we pay a sterling cheque into our Cyprus bank account, and the agent said we really need to make this first payment by next Tuesday.
Gulp.
Someone online had told me about the site xe.com which allows currency transfers to happen immediately, but we hadn't registered with them yet, and Cyprus pounds isn't one of their main currencies. The agent recommended a company called Foreign Currency Direct who have apparently done transfers for people moving from the UK to Cyprus before, and who have an office here. So that seemed like a simpler approach. As if to confirm it, a friend who works as accountant at a different organisation just happened to have a brochure about this company, and said he had heard good things about them. They have a sort of contract system: apparently they put the necessary money into our Cyprus account on Monday, and we then have to transfer the sterling equivalent by next Tuesday to their account.
So Richard arranged the transfer here, and we used The Abbey's online banking system to pay the necessary sterling amount into the Foreign Currency Direct UK account. That should arrive on Tuesday, all being well, since we did it before 5.30pm UK time.
Of course, all we've done so far is transfer money from the UK to Cyprus - with a rather poor exchange rate, unfortunately, but it hasn't been good for a while now. More than we've ever transferred before, but if it goes smoothly we might use this method again in future as it's a lot quicker than paying a cheque into the bank, and (apparently) a slightly better exchange rate than the bank gives too.
So on Tuesday we need to write a Cyprus cheque to the estate agent, for this 'first stage' payment, when we'll sign the contract. That commits us to the house, just two weeks after we first saw it.
Moreover, although we've accepted the offer on our UK house, and the mortgage funding has been agreed in principle to the buyer, the contracts haven't yet been drawn up. While the hope is certainly for completion within a month, nothing is yet guaranteed.
It's Cyprus, so there will be a 'grace period' if necessary... we're not expected to make our final payment until mid-March, and if it's a few weeks more, then apparently it doesn't matter. We just hope and pray that all goes smoothly with both sales. I do believe this is the house God wants us to buy; everything has slotted into place perfectly, even down to our having exactly the right amount of money for the first stage payment already available. But I'm not very good with big changes, and any step of faith is a little scary when one starts out on it...
We only saw the house we're planning to buy for the first time 10 days ago. I wrote about our initial thoughts in general here. I posted some photos after we'd seen it a second time here. The family selling it said they didn't want to move immediately: they're having somewhere built which will take a few more months, so they would quite like to rent it from us for a while after we've bought it. We said fine, so long as we can move by the start of June, that's OK. We're in no hurry to move, after all. The estate agent said she'd draw up the contract ensuring that if they stayed longer than June, they would have to pay a huge rent (which would be held back from the house payment until they actually moved) so we wouldn't have a problem.
Fine. Plenty of time to get used to the idea, plenty of time to figure out how to pack, and what we need to buy (curtains etc) before moving. The sale of our house in the UK should go through within the next month or so. We went ahead and paid the initial deposit - ensuring nobody else can buy the house - and didn't expect to do anything more for a few weeks. At least until the sale of our UK house has been completed.
Yesterday the estate agent arranged another meeting, for this morning.
She said that the vendors have decided that it's likely to take more than three months for their new house to be completed (no surprises there...), so they've found somewhere else to rent. They want to move out at the end of February.
Moreoever, she said they need a 'first stage' payment by early next week. I don't know what would have happened if we had not been able to pay this - but as it happens, we had exactly the right amount of money in a sterling savings account in the UK, from an inheritance we received just over a year ago.
The only problem is that it generally takes 21 days for money to clear when we pay a sterling cheque into our Cyprus bank account, and the agent said we really need to make this first payment by next Tuesday.
Gulp.
Someone online had told me about the site xe.com which allows currency transfers to happen immediately, but we hadn't registered with them yet, and Cyprus pounds isn't one of their main currencies. The agent recommended a company called Foreign Currency Direct who have apparently done transfers for people moving from the UK to Cyprus before, and who have an office here. So that seemed like a simpler approach. As if to confirm it, a friend who works as accountant at a different organisation just happened to have a brochure about this company, and said he had heard good things about them. They have a sort of contract system: apparently they put the necessary money into our Cyprus account on Monday, and we then have to transfer the sterling equivalent by next Tuesday to their account.
So Richard arranged the transfer here, and we used The Abbey's online banking system to pay the necessary sterling amount into the Foreign Currency Direct UK account. That should arrive on Tuesday, all being well, since we did it before 5.30pm UK time.
Of course, all we've done so far is transfer money from the UK to Cyprus - with a rather poor exchange rate, unfortunately, but it hasn't been good for a while now. More than we've ever transferred before, but if it goes smoothly we might use this method again in future as it's a lot quicker than paying a cheque into the bank, and (apparently) a slightly better exchange rate than the bank gives too.
So on Tuesday we need to write a Cyprus cheque to the estate agent, for this 'first stage' payment, when we'll sign the contract. That commits us to the house, just two weeks after we first saw it.
Moreover, although we've accepted the offer on our UK house, and the mortgage funding has been agreed in principle to the buyer, the contracts haven't yet been drawn up. While the hope is certainly for completion within a month, nothing is yet guaranteed.
It's Cyprus, so there will be a 'grace period' if necessary... we're not expected to make our final payment until mid-March, and if it's a few weeks more, then apparently it doesn't matter. We just hope and pray that all goes smoothly with both sales. I do believe this is the house God wants us to buy; everything has slotted into place perfectly, even down to our having exactly the right amount of money for the first stage payment already available. But I'm not very good with big changes, and any step of faith is a little scary when one starts out on it...
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Mosquitoes in Cyprus
We've never known anything like it.
Usually in April and October we do get some mosquitoes, particularly if we leave the windows open around dusk. They're annoying when they buzz around our heads at night, but we run electronic killer things, and there only ever seem to be two or three at a time.
But in the summer it's too hot for mozzies, and in the winter too cold. Or so we thought...
This winter, we've had a vast number. Particularly since the New Year. I thought it was because the grass/weeds were so long in the back garden, but I cut most of them a week or so back... and there are more than ever. Today I saw four on the bathroom cupboard mid-morning. I killed about six when I had my shower earlier, and Tim killed another three or four. I've probably caught at least ten in the kitchen today.
What's more, my face is covered in bites. They don't itch - we seem to have developed a local immunity to the effects, so they no longer swell or cause any other problems - but they look awful. Tim has quite a few too.
We don't know where they're coming from, or how they're getting in the house. A few come in the bathroom window, which we leave open for the cats, but not the number we've seen recently. Yet we're barely opening the other windows at all - just a few seconds twice a day to open or shut the shutters.
The electronic smelly plug-in gadget probably helps (I found ten dead mozzies on the sofa in our room this morning) but I don't think it can keep up.
The weather has been damp and cold, but is predicted to be sunnier and a little warmer in the next few days. We could be absolutely plagued by the time spring arrives...
Usually in April and October we do get some mosquitoes, particularly if we leave the windows open around dusk. They're annoying when they buzz around our heads at night, but we run electronic killer things, and there only ever seem to be two or three at a time.
But in the summer it's too hot for mozzies, and in the winter too cold. Or so we thought...
This winter, we've had a vast number. Particularly since the New Year. I thought it was because the grass/weeds were so long in the back garden, but I cut most of them a week or so back... and there are more than ever. Today I saw four on the bathroom cupboard mid-morning. I killed about six when I had my shower earlier, and Tim killed another three or four. I've probably caught at least ten in the kitchen today.
What's more, my face is covered in bites. They don't itch - we seem to have developed a local immunity to the effects, so they no longer swell or cause any other problems - but they look awful. Tim has quite a few too.
We don't know where they're coming from, or how they're getting in the house. A few come in the bathroom window, which we leave open for the cats, but not the number we've seen recently. Yet we're barely opening the other windows at all - just a few seconds twice a day to open or shut the shutters.
The electronic smelly plug-in gadget probably helps (I found ten dead mozzies on the sofa in our room this morning) but I don't think it can keep up.
The weather has been damp and cold, but is predicted to be sunnier and a little warmer in the next few days. We could be absolutely plagued by the time spring arrives...
Monday, January 23, 2006
Cold and Grey
The weather, currently, is miserable. The sky has been grey all day, the house has felt chilly, and none of us feel like doing anything much. Rain is predicted for most of the week. Yes, we need it. No, we don't like it. Or if it must rain, I prefer it either overnight, or in a great downpour followed by sunshine. Not this ongoing dampness where we never seem to feel really warm. Except when waking up in the morning, and then we have to get up into the cold bedrooms and even colder bathroom...
Today I packed and sent a parcel to Daniel. He phoned on Friday, shortly before leaving Germany for a week of pre-ship safety training. It was lovely to hear from him, difficult to say goodbye. He was waiting for a washing-machine to finish...
He asked if I could send him another pair of his 'long shorts' and another pair of thin cotton trousers. He's realised that in going around parts of the Gulf and then India and on to the Far East, he'll be in summer climates for the next year or so. He took a fair number of clothes for winter, remembering how chilly he got in South Africa in August, and that limited his weight for cooler-weather wear.
He also asked if I could send him the clarinet part for some music he's been playing. Somehow he managed to take the piano part with him (which he doesn't need) and forget the clarinet part! He did say that if it was too expensive, I shouldn't bother. But he also asked if I could do it as soon as possible, since the next container leaves Germany on Feb 1st on its way to the Doulos. All mail has to go to the OM centre in Germany, where it's forwarded either by air freight (if under 300g weight) or by container, for heavier parcels. We're warned that the containers aren't sent out very often, so it can take up to six months for packages to arrive.
I thought I might send the shorts on their own, so that if they arrived too late for this container they could be sent via air freight and arrive a few weeks later. Unfortunately, when I put them in a jiffy bag, they weighed over 300g. Not much over, but I expect they're very exact about what they will and won't send by air. Did I mention we bought some electronic kitchen scales a couple of weeks ago? Our old analogue kitchen scales had almost broken, and were never really very accurate. These scales weigh in 2g increments and tell us the temperature of the room too!
So I found a larger jiffy bag, and put in the music, the shorts and the trousers. That came to about 800g. I checked the Cyprus air mail costs, and realised that anything over 500g and under 1kg costs the same amount to send to Germany (£8 - which is about $15US) so I thought I might as well fill it up a bit. Alas, I couldn't enclose one of the 200g bars of Christmas chocolate he left behind or the cost would have shot up even higher. However I made a CD with all the photos of the house we're going to buy (God willing) and some pictures of the cats. That took the weight to nearly 900g, so the last thing I added was a selection of herbal tea-bags. He took quite a few with him in his luggage, but they're very light and he may not be able to buy any easily.
I stopped at 930g. Electronic scales are very useful, but I didn't know how well they'd match the scales at the Post Office. Thankfully the parcel was under the 1kg mark so I sent it off this morning. I hope it arrives in time.
Even after walking as fast as I could to the Post Office, wearing a sweatshirt, a warm sweater AND my winter jacket, I still felt chilled. By the time I'd walked home again I was a little warmer but when I took off my jacket I put on my fleece immediately. Then sat in front of an electric halogen heater.
Nearly time to go and make a hot water bottle...
Today I packed and sent a parcel to Daniel. He phoned on Friday, shortly before leaving Germany for a week of pre-ship safety training. It was lovely to hear from him, difficult to say goodbye. He was waiting for a washing-machine to finish...
He asked if I could send him another pair of his 'long shorts' and another pair of thin cotton trousers. He's realised that in going around parts of the Gulf and then India and on to the Far East, he'll be in summer climates for the next year or so. He took a fair number of clothes for winter, remembering how chilly he got in South Africa in August, and that limited his weight for cooler-weather wear.
He also asked if I could send him the clarinet part for some music he's been playing. Somehow he managed to take the piano part with him (which he doesn't need) and forget the clarinet part! He did say that if it was too expensive, I shouldn't bother. But he also asked if I could do it as soon as possible, since the next container leaves Germany on Feb 1st on its way to the Doulos. All mail has to go to the OM centre in Germany, where it's forwarded either by air freight (if under 300g weight) or by container, for heavier parcels. We're warned that the containers aren't sent out very often, so it can take up to six months for packages to arrive.
I thought I might send the shorts on their own, so that if they arrived too late for this container they could be sent via air freight and arrive a few weeks later. Unfortunately, when I put them in a jiffy bag, they weighed over 300g. Not much over, but I expect they're very exact about what they will and won't send by air. Did I mention we bought some electronic kitchen scales a couple of weeks ago? Our old analogue kitchen scales had almost broken, and were never really very accurate. These scales weigh in 2g increments and tell us the temperature of the room too!
So I found a larger jiffy bag, and put in the music, the shorts and the trousers. That came to about 800g. I checked the Cyprus air mail costs, and realised that anything over 500g and under 1kg costs the same amount to send to Germany (£8 - which is about $15US) so I thought I might as well fill it up a bit. Alas, I couldn't enclose one of the 200g bars of Christmas chocolate he left behind or the cost would have shot up even higher. However I made a CD with all the photos of the house we're going to buy (God willing) and some pictures of the cats. That took the weight to nearly 900g, so the last thing I added was a selection of herbal tea-bags. He took quite a few with him in his luggage, but they're very light and he may not be able to buy any easily.
I stopped at 930g. Electronic scales are very useful, but I didn't know how well they'd match the scales at the Post Office. Thankfully the parcel was under the 1kg mark so I sent it off this morning. I hope it arrives in time.
Even after walking as fast as I could to the Post Office, wearing a sweatshirt, a warm sweater AND my winter jacket, I still felt chilled. By the time I'd walked home again I was a little warmer but when I took off my jacket I put on my fleece immediately. Then sat in front of an electric halogen heater.
Nearly time to go and make a hot water bottle...
This is Cyprus...!
Culture shock is a strange beast.
It starts with the 'vacation' period. Someone moving to a new country is immediately interested in obvious differences: how the houses look, what the shops are like, whether cars drive on the other side of the road, how people dress. Some people are truly fascinated, some feel a bit superior, some find much to like or dislike, some are just confused ... but the main feature of the first two or three months in a new country is the awareness of how different it is from one's home culture. Combined, sometimes, with a horrible homesickness for those missing family and friends.
This usually moves into a period of feeling negative about the new culture. Those who are homesick can feel this particularly strongly, but there's almost inevitably a period of another three to six months when newcomers to a country are more aware of the things they don't like about it than the things they do. They know what they miss most, and that lack is uppermost in their minds. When we had been in Cyprus for three months, I'd got mostly used to missing relatives and friends back in Birmingham. But I felt quite negative about the state of the house we were renting, about the church we were attending, about the lack of libraries, the coldness of winter without central heating, the cost of imported items in the supermarkets... so many things. I knew it was right for us to be here, but I certainly didn't feel like I needed to LIKE it!
So for up to a year, there's one form or another of culture shock. We have to learn to change our expectations, or daily routines, our lives. Many of us need to grieve for what we've lost before we can come to accept what we've gained.
After that, slowly comes - for most - of seeing the good things about the new culture. For me, by our second year here, I found there were many things I appreciated: picking fresh oranges adn lemons from our trees; safety for children when out and about, and for anyone walking home late at night; friendly (and very cheap) plumbers and other maintenance men; local clean beaches; no need to worry about locking the house up thoroughly.
But no country is by nature superior to any other. They all have pros and cons, and the final stage of culture adjustment comes with that acceptance: differences are part of life, and are mostly neutral. We find we understand better how local people think, we can love them while acknowledging their differences, and smile at the quirks of the culture as we smile at our own, while being happy to live there.
I say all this as a prelude to a photo of something that never fails to amuse me. I don't want to be accused of being racist, or disliking living here, or laughing at another culture. Cyprus is now part of who I am, and along with the locals I can shrug and smile about its oddities, while not wanting to live anywhere else. 'This is Cyprus...!' is what they say when we query something strange (why DO drivers ignore pedestrian crossing lights, but happily stop in the middle of the street for someone walking across at another place?)
This picture is of a packet of biscuits ('cookies' in the USA, at least roughly so) produced locally. Eager to live up to European standards they now include little pull-strip things to make it easy to open them. They've also spotted that on packets of English biscuits, there's a place that says: 'OPEN' with an arrow. But somehow, they haven't realised that there should be a connection:
(Clicking the photo will show a bigger version. If your screen doesn't show it clearly, 'OPEN' with the arrow is at the right-hand edge of the picture. The blue tear-strip is at the other end of the packet...)
It starts with the 'vacation' period. Someone moving to a new country is immediately interested in obvious differences: how the houses look, what the shops are like, whether cars drive on the other side of the road, how people dress. Some people are truly fascinated, some feel a bit superior, some find much to like or dislike, some are just confused ... but the main feature of the first two or three months in a new country is the awareness of how different it is from one's home culture. Combined, sometimes, with a horrible homesickness for those missing family and friends.
This usually moves into a period of feeling negative about the new culture. Those who are homesick can feel this particularly strongly, but there's almost inevitably a period of another three to six months when newcomers to a country are more aware of the things they don't like about it than the things they do. They know what they miss most, and that lack is uppermost in their minds. When we had been in Cyprus for three months, I'd got mostly used to missing relatives and friends back in Birmingham. But I felt quite negative about the state of the house we were renting, about the church we were attending, about the lack of libraries, the coldness of winter without central heating, the cost of imported items in the supermarkets... so many things. I knew it was right for us to be here, but I certainly didn't feel like I needed to LIKE it!
So for up to a year, there's one form or another of culture shock. We have to learn to change our expectations, or daily routines, our lives. Many of us need to grieve for what we've lost before we can come to accept what we've gained.
After that, slowly comes - for most - of seeing the good things about the new culture. For me, by our second year here, I found there were many things I appreciated: picking fresh oranges adn lemons from our trees; safety for children when out and about, and for anyone walking home late at night; friendly (and very cheap) plumbers and other maintenance men; local clean beaches; no need to worry about locking the house up thoroughly.
But no country is by nature superior to any other. They all have pros and cons, and the final stage of culture adjustment comes with that acceptance: differences are part of life, and are mostly neutral. We find we understand better how local people think, we can love them while acknowledging their differences, and smile at the quirks of the culture as we smile at our own, while being happy to live there.
I say all this as a prelude to a photo of something that never fails to amuse me. I don't want to be accused of being racist, or disliking living here, or laughing at another culture. Cyprus is now part of who I am, and along with the locals I can shrug and smile about its oddities, while not wanting to live anywhere else. 'This is Cyprus...!' is what they say when we query something strange (why DO drivers ignore pedestrian crossing lights, but happily stop in the middle of the street for someone walking across at another place?)
This picture is of a packet of biscuits ('cookies' in the USA, at least roughly so) produced locally. Eager to live up to European standards they now include little pull-strip things to make it easy to open them. They've also spotted that on packets of English biscuits, there's a place that says: 'OPEN' with an arrow. But somehow, they haven't realised that there should be a connection:
(Clicking the photo will show a bigger version. If your screen doesn't show it clearly, 'OPEN' with the arrow is at the right-hand edge of the picture. The blue tear-strip is at the other end of the packet...)
Friday, January 20, 2006
House pictures
We had the formal appointment with the estate agent this morning. We paid our deposit. We got a receipt, and a photocopy of the title deeds of the house we're hoping to buy. The agent now needs our passport details so they can apply for us to become official residents of Cyprus (I'm not sure why, but apparently that makes things easier) and they will draw up the contract for us to sign. We're still considering whether to appoint a separate solictor (lawyer) - apparently that's quite uncommon here as the estate agent has the legal expertise to do all that's necessary. We're also thinking about whether to pay for a survey: again this is not usually done here, since any problems with houses tend to be obvious!
Here are a few photos of the house which we took yesterday... it'll be rather different when our things are in it.
This is the main kitchen, on the middle floor of the house. Lovely dark wood units, a built-in oven, plenty of cupboards (only half of them are showing) and there's currently a dishwasher.. of course the family will take that with them, but it means there will be the space and plumbing for us to have one!
The door just to the left of the photo is to an outside veranda which is a utility area. Lots of houses here have separate utility rooms, but this is the first we've seen where it's outside, albeit covered. Seems like a good idea to keep laundry away from the kitchen, although I'm not sure how we'll manage with only two short clothes lines. The washing machine fits under the sink unit.
This is the downstairs kitchen/dining room. We'll probably use this mainly for guests, and for parties. When cooking for a lot of people (eg at Christmas) it will be great to have two fridges and two ovens available!
This is the main living room on the middle floor. Very grand with Cypriot style furniture - it will look quite different with ours! It's a good size and pleasantly warm as there's even central heating, fired by huge gas cylinders. We won't have a dining table in the living room as there's a separate lounge area next to the kitchen, which we'll make into a dining room. At the other end of the living room (where I stood to take the photo) there's a smaller storage room which could be used as an extra bedroom, but which we all think would make a very nice study for me. And an extra guestroom if needed, since we have a sofa-bed in the study here.
This is the downstairs living room, a bit smaller than upstairs but otherwise very similar. We'll have this as another living room - we may put the piano there so it doesn't have to be taken upstairs! It will be a useful room when Tim wants friends over, or as an extra space for guests.
This is one of the downstairs bedrooms, the biggest one, which we'll probably turn into a 'music studio' for Tim (and Dan when he returns). He's been wanting a dedicated music room for some time. There's another bedroom downstairs, and also a similar sized room that's been used for a hairdresser - but when the equipment's gone it will make a second guest room.
This is one of the upstairs bedrooms, probably the one that Tim will have. Much smaller than the room he has here, but it has fitted wardrobes (closets) so without his various musical items, and without the need for a wardrobe and chest-of-drawers, he should have plenty of space.
This is the master bedroom, which also has fitted wardrobes - as do all the bedrooms. So we'll have this room.
One of those windows is actually a door which leads out onto a reasonable sized veranda, overlooking the Salt Lake and much of Larnaka. From there we could access the roof, should we need to.
Here are a few photos of the house which we took yesterday... it'll be rather different when our things are in it.
This is the main kitchen, on the middle floor of the house. Lovely dark wood units, a built-in oven, plenty of cupboards (only half of them are showing) and there's currently a dishwasher.. of course the family will take that with them, but it means there will be the space and plumbing for us to have one!
The door just to the left of the photo is to an outside veranda which is a utility area. Lots of houses here have separate utility rooms, but this is the first we've seen where it's outside, albeit covered. Seems like a good idea to keep laundry away from the kitchen, although I'm not sure how we'll manage with only two short clothes lines. The washing machine fits under the sink unit.
This is the downstairs kitchen/dining room. We'll probably use this mainly for guests, and for parties. When cooking for a lot of people (eg at Christmas) it will be great to have two fridges and two ovens available!
This is the main living room on the middle floor. Very grand with Cypriot style furniture - it will look quite different with ours! It's a good size and pleasantly warm as there's even central heating, fired by huge gas cylinders. We won't have a dining table in the living room as there's a separate lounge area next to the kitchen, which we'll make into a dining room. At the other end of the living room (where I stood to take the photo) there's a smaller storage room which could be used as an extra bedroom, but which we all think would make a very nice study for me. And an extra guestroom if needed, since we have a sofa-bed in the study here.
This is the downstairs living room, a bit smaller than upstairs but otherwise very similar. We'll have this as another living room - we may put the piano there so it doesn't have to be taken upstairs! It will be a useful room when Tim wants friends over, or as an extra space for guests.
This is one of the downstairs bedrooms, the biggest one, which we'll probably turn into a 'music studio' for Tim (and Dan when he returns). He's been wanting a dedicated music room for some time. There's another bedroom downstairs, and also a similar sized room that's been used for a hairdresser - but when the equipment's gone it will make a second guest room.
This is one of the upstairs bedrooms, probably the one that Tim will have. Much smaller than the room he has here, but it has fitted wardrobes (closets) so without his various musical items, and without the need for a wardrobe and chest-of-drawers, he should have plenty of space.
This is the master bedroom, which also has fitted wardrobes - as do all the bedrooms. So we'll have this room.
One of those windows is actually a door which leads out onto a reasonable sized veranda, overlooking the Salt Lake and much of Larnaka. From there we could access the roof, should we need to.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Red Sky...
We went to see the house again. We took lots of photos, and made some measurements. We talked with the owner... and we didn't find any problems at all. So tomorrow we'll go and meet the owner again, more formally, at the estate agent's office. Apparently people don't generally use lawyers here to buy and sell houses, the contracts are drawn up by the estate agent. We hope it will be in English as well as in Greek. So far it all seems very friendly and easy... we'll see what happens tomorrow. If we go ahead and pay the deposit, and ask for a contract to be drawn up, then I'll go ahead and post some of the photos.
Meanwhile, on the way home, we saw a gorgeous sunset, which is pretty unusual here:
Meanwhile, on the way home, we saw a gorgeous sunset, which is pretty unusual here:
Is this the right house??
We've been thinking about buying a house here for over a year now. In pondering, praying, thinking, talking, we've come up with several important needs and wants. Knowing there was no great hurry, we thought we could be choosy, perhaps broadening our criteria if time became more urgent.
1. The price had to be what we could afford. Rather obvious, perhaps, but we don't want a mortgage. We thought our UK house would fetch about £240,000 (sterling) - and by the time we had paid various fees, both there and here, we thought we'd have a maximum of £180,000 (Cyprus pounds) for a house here. Less, if it needed significant repairs or other work.
2. The timing had to be right. After the sale of our UK house, but not too long afterwards so we don't have to continue paying too much rent here, when we're no longer receiving any there.
3. We needed it reasonably close to where we are now. Richard would like to be able to continue to walk to work, and Tim wants to continue to walk to the church three or four times a week for various activities, and the music school where he learns singing and music theory. We looked a maps, and discussed various locations, and drew ourselves a circle about a kilometre and a half away from the site of the church. Preferably no more than 1km away, we felt.
4. We wanted two bathrooms. Or at least one bathroom and a 'cloakroom' (toilet and hand-basin). The single biggest disadvantage of the house we've been renting is that there is only one bathroom. We're quite used to asking each other, 'Anyone want the loo before I have my shower?'- but when there are visitors, it can be quite awkward queueing up...
5. Ideally we wanted four bedrooms, but realised that in practice three would be acceptable, since Dan's away for the next two years, and we no longer have as many visitors as we used to. On the other hand, we did really want a downstairs room that could be used as a music studio, and to store Richard's PA equipment. Oh, and I do love having a study, even though it becomes a guest room when we have visitors.
6. We wanted a little outside space - not a huge garden, like we have here, but enough to plant a few fruit trees. We wanted a fairly 'green' and quiet street, for the sake of the cats as well as ourselves. And somewhere off the street to park the car, but not necessarily a garage. We have a garage here, but it's full of boxes and other people's long-term storage stuff. We just park in the driveway.
Those were the main 'needs', and what we told the estate agents we've talked to. Since nobody puts up 'for sale' signs here we couldn't simply wander around possible areas and see what was for sale. We had to go through the official channels.
We didn't properly start looking until last Autumn. And although we've read lots of estate agents' magazines, and browsed hundreds of online descriptions, we've only actually looked at six. And it's the third one we saw on Tuesday this week which we think may be the right one... later today we're going back to have a more thorough look, to talk with the owner and agent a bit more, to make some measurements, and to take some photos.
No, it didn't leap out and grab us immediately. No, it's not a particularly attractive house on the outside, although it's very nice inside. But:
We had an offer on our Birmingham house last week, and although it was for less than we hoped we went ahead and accepted it. We thought that might make it more difficult to find a house here... yet this house is priced at only £140,000. Well within our limits.
It has a downstairs bathroom, a middle-floor cloakroom, and an upstairs bathroom. It has three bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs, and an extra room that's been used as a hairdresser's. It has a little outside space including two car-ports, and it's in a lovely quiet area.
When I measured on the map this morning, it's exactly one kilometre from the church. A little more when taking into account the twists and turns of the streets, but well within walking distance of the church, even in summer. What's more, it's closer to Tim's music school, closer to Richard's favourite computer shop, closer to the Thrift Store, and my favourite gardening shop, and about the same distance from our PO box.
In addition, we were wondering what to do with the extra two beds we brought out from the UK, and the extra set of crockery, and all the other bits and pieces that are still sitting in boxes, in the garage or on top of our wardrobes. Having two living rooms, two kitchens and five bedrooms, they would all be needed...
All in all, it seems as if this house is a total answer to prayer. Not just meeting our minimum needs, but just about everything we could possibly have wanted in a house. So unless any huge disadvantage crops up this afternoon, we'll probably go ahead and put down a deposit of £1000, which apparently is the first step towards buying in Cyprus.
Scary....
1. The price had to be what we could afford. Rather obvious, perhaps, but we don't want a mortgage. We thought our UK house would fetch about £240,000 (sterling) - and by the time we had paid various fees, both there and here, we thought we'd have a maximum of £180,000 (Cyprus pounds) for a house here. Less, if it needed significant repairs or other work.
2. The timing had to be right. After the sale of our UK house, but not too long afterwards so we don't have to continue paying too much rent here, when we're no longer receiving any there.
3. We needed it reasonably close to where we are now. Richard would like to be able to continue to walk to work, and Tim wants to continue to walk to the church three or four times a week for various activities, and the music school where he learns singing and music theory. We looked a maps, and discussed various locations, and drew ourselves a circle about a kilometre and a half away from the site of the church. Preferably no more than 1km away, we felt.
4. We wanted two bathrooms. Or at least one bathroom and a 'cloakroom' (toilet and hand-basin). The single biggest disadvantage of the house we've been renting is that there is only one bathroom. We're quite used to asking each other, 'Anyone want the loo before I have my shower?'- but when there are visitors, it can be quite awkward queueing up...
5. Ideally we wanted four bedrooms, but realised that in practice three would be acceptable, since Dan's away for the next two years, and we no longer have as many visitors as we used to. On the other hand, we did really want a downstairs room that could be used as a music studio, and to store Richard's PA equipment. Oh, and I do love having a study, even though it becomes a guest room when we have visitors.
6. We wanted a little outside space - not a huge garden, like we have here, but enough to plant a few fruit trees. We wanted a fairly 'green' and quiet street, for the sake of the cats as well as ourselves. And somewhere off the street to park the car, but not necessarily a garage. We have a garage here, but it's full of boxes and other people's long-term storage stuff. We just park in the driveway.
Those were the main 'needs', and what we told the estate agents we've talked to. Since nobody puts up 'for sale' signs here we couldn't simply wander around possible areas and see what was for sale. We had to go through the official channels.
We didn't properly start looking until last Autumn. And although we've read lots of estate agents' magazines, and browsed hundreds of online descriptions, we've only actually looked at six. And it's the third one we saw on Tuesday this week which we think may be the right one... later today we're going back to have a more thorough look, to talk with the owner and agent a bit more, to make some measurements, and to take some photos.
No, it didn't leap out and grab us immediately. No, it's not a particularly attractive house on the outside, although it's very nice inside. But:
We had an offer on our Birmingham house last week, and although it was for less than we hoped we went ahead and accepted it. We thought that might make it more difficult to find a house here... yet this house is priced at only £140,000. Well within our limits.
It has a downstairs bathroom, a middle-floor cloakroom, and an upstairs bathroom. It has three bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs, and an extra room that's been used as a hairdresser's. It has a little outside space including two car-ports, and it's in a lovely quiet area.
When I measured on the map this morning, it's exactly one kilometre from the church. A little more when taking into account the twists and turns of the streets, but well within walking distance of the church, even in summer. What's more, it's closer to Tim's music school, closer to Richard's favourite computer shop, closer to the Thrift Store, and my favourite gardening shop, and about the same distance from our PO box.
In addition, we were wondering what to do with the extra two beds we brought out from the UK, and the extra set of crockery, and all the other bits and pieces that are still sitting in boxes, in the garage or on top of our wardrobes. Having two living rooms, two kitchens and five bedrooms, they would all be needed...
All in all, it seems as if this house is a total answer to prayer. Not just meeting our minimum needs, but just about everything we could possibly have wanted in a house. So unless any huge disadvantage crops up this afternoon, we'll probably go ahead and put down a deposit of £1000, which apparently is the first step towards buying in Cyprus.
Scary....
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Gardening
I've neglected the garden recently. It must be five weeks since I had the lawnmower out last, and I haven't done much weeding either. Of course we were busy with Christmas, then getting Daniel ready to leave, then last week when I thought about the garden again, the weather was grey and miserable and I felt much the same inside.
The thought of moving house - perhaps - in the next few months didn't exactly help, either. We probably won't be here to enjoy the garden in the summer. And if this house is going to be redeveloped, or a block of flats built where I have my 'lawn', where's the point in keeping it tidy?
However we've been getting a LOT of mosquitoes in the house. We don't notice the biting - we seem to have developed a local immunity - but they're immensely irritting in the middle of the night, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ around our ears. I suddenly remembered our landlady telling us that mosquitoes breed in long weeds, particularly when the weather's been damp.
Just to convince myself how necessary the job was, I took a few photos:
Yup, weeds everywhere. The last one shows nettles, about 15cm high. Some of the garden does have grass in between the weeds, but it was hard to see. So this afternoon I got out the trusty old electric lawnmower, and set to work. It was quite hard going with the weeds being so long - and some of them very tough - and also rather damp despite the sun being on them all morning. But I did about an hour and a half's mowing, and maybe twenty minutes of weeding, sweeping and raking. I suppose I covered about two-thirds of the 'lawn' area, including the side pieces, and it does look better. Somewhat:
The weeds at the far end are going to take significant work, and there's at least another half-hour's mowing that needs to be done. I also need to do some weeding in the front garden, which is looking very overgrown.
It's strange. I do like growing plants, and I love having them around, inside or out. I really enjoy the fruit trees and I like the appearance of a house with bougainvillea or geraniums, or whatever. Making a 'lawn' of sorts is somewhat satisfying, and I always find it thrilling when the browns of summer turn to luscious green. I don't even mind doing a bit of weeding from time to time. When I get into good habits, and when the weather's mild and sunny, it's quite a good way of relaxing.
And yet... sometimes gardening feels like such a chore. Perhaps because I'm the only one in the family who's at all interested in it, or the only one who notices when it needs doing! Tim often helps with using the lawnmower and Richard does a bit of pruning now and again, and Dan used to be great at sweeping up leaves. But I always feel they're doing these things for my sake, and I'm not sure I care enough about it for the job to be worthwhile. When the boys were younger, they and their friends spent a lot of time outside so it was worth keeping it at least somewhat tidy. But we don't really go outside very often, these days. In the winter it's far too cold to sit still outside, in the summer it's too hot. And in the all-too-short April and October when it's 'just right' we usually forget.
So I'm not sorry that we're considering buying a house with almost no outside space. My only concern is the cats, who do like spending time outside (but don't care how long the weeds are).
The thought of moving house - perhaps - in the next few months didn't exactly help, either. We probably won't be here to enjoy the garden in the summer. And if this house is going to be redeveloped, or a block of flats built where I have my 'lawn', where's the point in keeping it tidy?
However we've been getting a LOT of mosquitoes in the house. We don't notice the biting - we seem to have developed a local immunity - but they're immensely irritting in the middle of the night, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ around our ears. I suddenly remembered our landlady telling us that mosquitoes breed in long weeds, particularly when the weather's been damp.
Just to convince myself how necessary the job was, I took a few photos:
Yup, weeds everywhere. The last one shows nettles, about 15cm high. Some of the garden does have grass in between the weeds, but it was hard to see. So this afternoon I got out the trusty old electric lawnmower, and set to work. It was quite hard going with the weeds being so long - and some of them very tough - and also rather damp despite the sun being on them all morning. But I did about an hour and a half's mowing, and maybe twenty minutes of weeding, sweeping and raking. I suppose I covered about two-thirds of the 'lawn' area, including the side pieces, and it does look better. Somewhat:
The weeds at the far end are going to take significant work, and there's at least another half-hour's mowing that needs to be done. I also need to do some weeding in the front garden, which is looking very overgrown.
It's strange. I do like growing plants, and I love having them around, inside or out. I really enjoy the fruit trees and I like the appearance of a house with bougainvillea or geraniums, or whatever. Making a 'lawn' of sorts is somewhat satisfying, and I always find it thrilling when the browns of summer turn to luscious green. I don't even mind doing a bit of weeding from time to time. When I get into good habits, and when the weather's mild and sunny, it's quite a good way of relaxing.
And yet... sometimes gardening feels like such a chore. Perhaps because I'm the only one in the family who's at all interested in it, or the only one who notices when it needs doing! Tim often helps with using the lawnmower and Richard does a bit of pruning now and again, and Dan used to be great at sweeping up leaves. But I always feel they're doing these things for my sake, and I'm not sure I care enough about it for the job to be worthwhile. When the boys were younger, they and their friends spent a lot of time outside so it was worth keeping it at least somewhat tidy. But we don't really go outside very often, these days. In the winter it's far too cold to sit still outside, in the summer it's too hot. And in the all-too-short April and October when it's 'just right' we usually forget.
So I'm not sorry that we're considering buying a house with almost no outside space. My only concern is the cats, who do like spending time outside (but don't care how long the weeds are).
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
A little more house-hunting
I picked up some brochures from estate agents a few weeks ago. Most of them didn't have much that suited our rather specific requirements, but a couple looked hopeful. Richard rang one of them but they said all the properties that interested us had been sold already. They took our details, and then phoned back to ask a lengthy set of questions so they could look out for suitable houses. Then they didn't get back to us.
I looked at the web-site for another of them, last week, and sent in some queries about some houses that looked possible. I had a reply about one of them this morning, but not the others. So Richard phoned and asked roughly where seven of the houses were. One of them had already been sold and four of them were too far away for our needs, since we want to be within about a mile of the churches we attend (ours is over the road from Tim's). But, the agent said, two of them were reasonably close, and they had another which wasn't yet completely built, which might suit us.
We made an appointment to look at them this afternoon. The first house was pretty close to where we live now. However it was in a rather cheerless street with almost no trees, and looked as if it needed a fair amount of work. The kitchen was lovely, and the bedrooms were quite big - the house was advertised as having three bedrooms and an office, but the 'office' was huge and could easily make a fourth bedroom. There was also a roof garden, something I wasn't too keen on, although it had an interesting view over much of Larnaka, and would have made a good place for a grapevine.
The second house wasn't just unfinished, it didn't even have walls yet. Still, it was in a nice location about ten minutes' walk from where we live now, and Richard and Tim enjoyed looking at the plans. The agent said that it would probably be complete by the summer, but from the experience of various friends who have bought new properties locally, that probably means the end of the year. Also it wasn't very big. They measure houses by floor areas here: the first one apparently had a total covered area of just over 200square metres, but this unbuilt one would be about 160 square metres. We don't want a huge place, but on the other hand when we looked before at a house that was 170 square metres it felt a bit cramped.
The third house was the furthest away, but we all liked it the best of the three. It says it's 200 square metres with three bedrooms, but in fact it's two complete properties, and those details apply to the top two storeys. Downstairs is a separate flat with another two bedrooms, and a small room that's been used as a hairdressers' as well as a big kitchen and living room. So there's lots of potential there, and many different possible ways of using it. While Daniel's away, we only need two bedrooms for ourselves and a spare for guests. A family of guests could use the whole of the ground floor and be more independent. When he comes back in a couple of years, we could either use the ground floor for all guests, or he could live downstairs if he prefers. Tim could set up a music studio downstairs, we could have parties downstairs... and when we're feeling elderly and not wanting to go up stairs all the time, we could live downstairs and rent out the top two storeys to provide some income.
Our only concern was that it would be too far away to walk to the church, particularly in summer. So this evening Richard and I set out to see if we could find it. It took about 45 minutes to get to the right street (we didn't have an address, and half the roads aren't labelled on the map anyway) but eventually he found it. Then we walked directly to the church, and it took us about 15 minutes. So for Tim, it would be about ten minutes. It's nearer than we are currently to the music school where he goes for singing and theory lessons, it's probably ten minutes walk from Richard's office, and we even found a small supermarket that's quite close.
So it has a lot of advantages. It more than meets the requirements we agreed on, and the price is excellent. There's almost no garden (although there are two car ports: one could perhaps be removed) but it's a pretty quiet area, so not too dangerous for the cats. It's rather a box-like house, but that does mean they've used the space to the full. The inside is definitely nicer than the outside.
I have quite a good feeling about this house, though it didn't exactly leap out and grab any of us. I think we'll phone the agent tomorrow and say that we're definitely interested. We don't actually know what the process is for buying a house in Cyprus: we won't need a mortgage, but presumably we'll need some kind of survey done. We know we'll have to pay quite a signfiicant amount for transfer of title deeds. But whether it's the right house? We don't know. I think we'll just have to hope and pray that if it isn't right, we'll find somewhere that does grab us before we've committed to it, or that someone else will buy it first. It's such a good deal, I'm surprised that hasn't happened already.
I looked at the web-site for another of them, last week, and sent in some queries about some houses that looked possible. I had a reply about one of them this morning, but not the others. So Richard phoned and asked roughly where seven of the houses were. One of them had already been sold and four of them were too far away for our needs, since we want to be within about a mile of the churches we attend (ours is over the road from Tim's). But, the agent said, two of them were reasonably close, and they had another which wasn't yet completely built, which might suit us.
We made an appointment to look at them this afternoon. The first house was pretty close to where we live now. However it was in a rather cheerless street with almost no trees, and looked as if it needed a fair amount of work. The kitchen was lovely, and the bedrooms were quite big - the house was advertised as having three bedrooms and an office, but the 'office' was huge and could easily make a fourth bedroom. There was also a roof garden, something I wasn't too keen on, although it had an interesting view over much of Larnaka, and would have made a good place for a grapevine.
The second house wasn't just unfinished, it didn't even have walls yet. Still, it was in a nice location about ten minutes' walk from where we live now, and Richard and Tim enjoyed looking at the plans. The agent said that it would probably be complete by the summer, but from the experience of various friends who have bought new properties locally, that probably means the end of the year. Also it wasn't very big. They measure houses by floor areas here: the first one apparently had a total covered area of just over 200square metres, but this unbuilt one would be about 160 square metres. We don't want a huge place, but on the other hand when we looked before at a house that was 170 square metres it felt a bit cramped.
The third house was the furthest away, but we all liked it the best of the three. It says it's 200 square metres with three bedrooms, but in fact it's two complete properties, and those details apply to the top two storeys. Downstairs is a separate flat with another two bedrooms, and a small room that's been used as a hairdressers' as well as a big kitchen and living room. So there's lots of potential there, and many different possible ways of using it. While Daniel's away, we only need two bedrooms for ourselves and a spare for guests. A family of guests could use the whole of the ground floor and be more independent. When he comes back in a couple of years, we could either use the ground floor for all guests, or he could live downstairs if he prefers. Tim could set up a music studio downstairs, we could have parties downstairs... and when we're feeling elderly and not wanting to go up stairs all the time, we could live downstairs and rent out the top two storeys to provide some income.
Our only concern was that it would be too far away to walk to the church, particularly in summer. So this evening Richard and I set out to see if we could find it. It took about 45 minutes to get to the right street (we didn't have an address, and half the roads aren't labelled on the map anyway) but eventually he found it. Then we walked directly to the church, and it took us about 15 minutes. So for Tim, it would be about ten minutes. It's nearer than we are currently to the music school where he goes for singing and theory lessons, it's probably ten minutes walk from Richard's office, and we even found a small supermarket that's quite close.
So it has a lot of advantages. It more than meets the requirements we agreed on, and the price is excellent. There's almost no garden (although there are two car ports: one could perhaps be removed) but it's a pretty quiet area, so not too dangerous for the cats. It's rather a box-like house, but that does mean they've used the space to the full. The inside is definitely nicer than the outside.
I have quite a good feeling about this house, though it didn't exactly leap out and grab any of us. I think we'll phone the agent tomorrow and say that we're definitely interested. We don't actually know what the process is for buying a house in Cyprus: we won't need a mortgage, but presumably we'll need some kind of survey done. We know we'll have to pay quite a signfiicant amount for transfer of title deeds. But whether it's the right house? We don't know. I think we'll just have to hope and pray that if it isn't right, we'll find somewhere that does grab us before we've committed to it, or that someone else will buy it first. It's such a good deal, I'm surprised that hasn't happened already.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Weekend
So, the week has gone by, and we're getting used to life without Daniel. I've somewhat tidied his room, sorted the clothes he didn't take with him, and put away some juggling stuff he left around the house. We've heard from him a few times and it sounds as if he's having a good, if busy time. He - and about forty others - will be joining the Doulos in a couple of weeks.
We've had to rethink the family menu a bit, since we no longer need to have vegetarian options. To my surprise our supermarket bill was about a third its usual cost on Friday... I don't think this is entirely due to Daniel being away, though. It's partly because we still have a lot of food in the freezer and elsewhere left over from Christmas. Not that I shop madly to stock up for a month (as some people do when the supermarkets are going to be closed for a couple of day) but we did fill the cupboards and make sure there was extra food in case of unexpected visitors.
It's been a cold week, too, and that tends to reduce my enthusiasm for almost anything. Today I'm wearing a sweatshirt, a sweater AND a fleece and the kerosene heater's been on all day. At night we're using hot water bottles, and the cats are sleeping on our beds for extra warmth. Winter, like summer, is a time to be tolerated - and thankfully it doesn't usually last as long as the summer. The sun has come out a few times this week, although on Tuesday we had about 7cm of rain in 24 hours, which is quite a bit. I hope that helped the reservoirs.
Tim's regular activities have started up again after the Christmas break (which ends on Jan 9th here, since Epiphany, Jan 6th, is a public holiday here). So he has a piano lesson, a singing lesson, a music theory lesson, an aural lesson, playing guitar at a church student group, a 'Christianity Explored' course at his church, and the inter-church youth group. It doesn't seem very much after last year's hectic schedule, and nearly everything is timed conveniently, unlike some of the things Daniel was going to. Last night he invited some of the youth group over to watch 'The Importance of being Earnest'- only two came, but I think they had a good time.
This week it's supposed to be dryer and sunnier, although not much warmer. I need to cut the 'grass' at some point since it's very overgrown, and I have a mountain of laundry. I only did two loads this week as it's very difficult to get things dry when the weather is wet. Tim needs to get stuck into his home education coursework, too. He was quite tired this week and overslept a lot, and didn't have much enthusiasm at all. He hopes to finish by the summer, if at all possible, so ideally he should do at least a couple of hours of study each weekday.
We've had to rethink the family menu a bit, since we no longer need to have vegetarian options. To my surprise our supermarket bill was about a third its usual cost on Friday... I don't think this is entirely due to Daniel being away, though. It's partly because we still have a lot of food in the freezer and elsewhere left over from Christmas. Not that I shop madly to stock up for a month (as some people do when the supermarkets are going to be closed for a couple of day) but we did fill the cupboards and make sure there was extra food in case of unexpected visitors.
It's been a cold week, too, and that tends to reduce my enthusiasm for almost anything. Today I'm wearing a sweatshirt, a sweater AND a fleece and the kerosene heater's been on all day. At night we're using hot water bottles, and the cats are sleeping on our beds for extra warmth. Winter, like summer, is a time to be tolerated - and thankfully it doesn't usually last as long as the summer. The sun has come out a few times this week, although on Tuesday we had about 7cm of rain in 24 hours, which is quite a bit. I hope that helped the reservoirs.
Tim's regular activities have started up again after the Christmas break (which ends on Jan 9th here, since Epiphany, Jan 6th, is a public holiday here). So he has a piano lesson, a singing lesson, a music theory lesson, an aural lesson, playing guitar at a church student group, a 'Christianity Explored' course at his church, and the inter-church youth group. It doesn't seem very much after last year's hectic schedule, and nearly everything is timed conveniently, unlike some of the things Daniel was going to. Last night he invited some of the youth group over to watch 'The Importance of being Earnest'- only two came, but I think they had a good time.
This week it's supposed to be dryer and sunnier, although not much warmer. I need to cut the 'grass' at some point since it's very overgrown, and I have a mountain of laundry. I only did two loads this week as it's very difficult to get things dry when the weather is wet. Tim needs to get stuck into his home education coursework, too. He was quite tired this week and overslept a lot, and didn't have much enthusiasm at all. He hopes to finish by the summer, if at all possible, so ideally he should do at least a couple of hours of study each weekday.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
No sunshine!
The sunshine has gone from Larnaka. And no, that's not me being poetically morose about Daniel having departed yesterday. I mean it literally. There was about an hour of sunshine after I got up this morning, then the sky turned grey and cloudy, and has been that way ever since. At lunchtime it started pouring with rain. Much needed, since we had a very dry Autumn, and December was mostly quite mild.
But it looks like this weather's here to stay. For the next week we're predicted to have rain showers off and on, and temps no more than 15C. Funny how 15 [um, that's 59F, for anyone reading from the USA!] seems quite warm when it's sunny and springlike, and accompanied by a gentle breeze, but when the sky's grey and there's a biting wind, it feels extremely cold.
So I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt and fleece, the kerosene heater is running, we ate soup for lunch- and I still feel chilly. At times like this it would be rather nice to have somewhere with lower ceilings and better-fitting windows, preferably double-glazed!
I thought I might cut the grass this afternoon as it's looking long and untidy. But I guess not...
But it looks like this weather's here to stay. For the next week we're predicted to have rain showers off and on, and temps no more than 15C. Funny how 15 [um, that's 59F, for anyone reading from the USA!] seems quite warm when it's sunny and springlike, and accompanied by a gentle breeze, but when the sky's grey and there's a biting wind, it feels extremely cold.
So I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt and fleece, the kerosene heater is running, we ate soup for lunch- and I still feel chilly. At times like this it would be rather nice to have somewhere with lower ceilings and better-fitting windows, preferably double-glazed!
I thought I might cut the grass this afternoon as it's looking long and untidy. But I guess not...
Monday, January 09, 2006
Safe arrival for Dan (so far...)
I am SO thankful for mobile phones. Not that I have one myself, but everyone else in the family does. They are excellent for brief, inexpensive communication (and in Cyprus they really are very inexpensive!)
Dan's sent four text messages to Richard's phone to let us know that all is well. He arrived at Frankfurt airport after a bit of a delay and managed to buy a ticket to the town he's staying in. It was a two-hour journey, with a change at Heidelburg. Unfortunately the first train was late, so by the time he reached Heidelburg, the connection had left. He got on the train he was told to board, and only discovered half an hour later that it was the wrong one! So he got off, found a train map, and managed to get himself back on the correct train. All this from someone who's hardly ever been on a train in his life (he's been on aeroplanes more frequently than on trains!) and who doesn't know much German at all despite valiant attempts to learn some in the past fortnight.
Anyway, he's now at the hostel where the conference is to be held, was in time for some food, and - we hope - will have a good night's sleep. Anyone wanting to keep up with Dan's travels can read his blog; he'll probably be able to update it himself while in Germany, although when he joins the Doulos (in just under four weeks) he'll have to rely on emailing me with his blog entries as there's no web access on board.
Dan's sent four text messages to Richard's phone to let us know that all is well. He arrived at Frankfurt airport after a bit of a delay and managed to buy a ticket to the town he's staying in. It was a two-hour journey, with a change at Heidelburg. Unfortunately the first train was late, so by the time he reached Heidelburg, the connection had left. He got on the train he was told to board, and only discovered half an hour later that it was the wrong one! So he got off, found a train map, and managed to get himself back on the correct train. All this from someone who's hardly ever been on a train in his life (he's been on aeroplanes more frequently than on trains!) and who doesn't know much German at all despite valiant attempts to learn some in the past fortnight.
Anyway, he's now at the hostel where the conference is to be held, was in time for some food, and - we hope - will have a good night's sleep. Anyone wanting to keep up with Dan's travels can read his blog; he'll probably be able to update it himself while in Germany, although when he joins the Doulos (in just under four weeks) he'll have to rely on emailing me with his blog entries as there's no web access on board.
Farewell Daniel...
So... this morning we took Daniel to the airport. A pretty sociable time of day, really, given the number of night-flights that happen from Larnaka. We got to the check-in queue about 8.45am, for a flight at about quarter to eleven...
His luggage was rather overweight on our bathroom scales when he finally finished packing last night, but didn't register nearly so much at the airport. We think the case wasn't fully on the conveyer belt... whatever the reason, his bag (which we thought was nearly 5kg overweight) was checked in easily. Not that they tend to quibble on Cyprus Air about a few kilos. Dan's backpack (his hand luggage) was about 12kg but they didn't weigh that, or query its size.
It's not been an easy week, counting down to today. Dan's said goodbye to dozens of people, some of whom he might never see again if they leave Cyprus before he returns. He didn't finish tidying and organising his room, but I can do that in the next few weeks, a little at a time. Sophia, his cat, has been quite disturbed all week, but when the rest of us got back from the airport this morning she was asleep on our bed and seemed reasonably content. She was all right when he went away for two months last summer, other than being a bit more attention-seeking than usual.
But two years is a lot longer than two months, and I'm not sure it's quite hit home to any of us just yet. I've been tearful most of the week, particularly yesterday and first thing this morning, but now feel almost numb. Life has to go on, of course, but - as I always suspected - the 'letting go' phase of parenthood is unquestionably the most difficult so far.
His luggage was rather overweight on our bathroom scales when he finally finished packing last night, but didn't register nearly so much at the airport. We think the case wasn't fully on the conveyer belt... whatever the reason, his bag (which we thought was nearly 5kg overweight) was checked in easily. Not that they tend to quibble on Cyprus Air about a few kilos. Dan's backpack (his hand luggage) was about 12kg but they didn't weigh that, or query its size.
It's not been an easy week, counting down to today. Dan's said goodbye to dozens of people, some of whom he might never see again if they leave Cyprus before he returns. He didn't finish tidying and organising his room, but I can do that in the next few weeks, a little at a time. Sophia, his cat, has been quite disturbed all week, but when the rest of us got back from the airport this morning she was asleep on our bed and seemed reasonably content. She was all right when he went away for two months last summer, other than being a bit more attention-seeking than usual.
But two years is a lot longer than two months, and I'm not sure it's quite hit home to any of us just yet. I've been tearful most of the week, particularly yesterday and first thing this morning, but now feel almost numb. Life has to go on, of course, but - as I always suspected - the 'letting go' phase of parenthood is unquestionably the most difficult so far.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Eating out
We don't eat out very often. Perhaps half a dozen times in a year; usually for birthdays or anniversaries, or if guests offer to treat us to a meal. On the whole we prefer home-cooked food, and of course it's a great deal less expensive to eat at home.
But it's Daniel's last week before leaving for the Doulos, so I suggested a meal out for the family one evening this week. Wednesday was the day that worked best, Aztekas his restaurant of choice.
The restaurant is about ten minutes'drive away, along the Dhekelia Road, and serves Mexican style food. Not actually highly spicy, but very good - and the best thing, from Dan's point of view, is that most of the main menu options are available with either beef, chicken, or vegetables. Not many restaurants in Cyprus have extensive vegetarian options, but Aztekas does a full range. We've been there about five or six times now and have always enjoyed it.
Tim ordered his usual favourite (fajitas, although he chose chicken rather than beef for a change) since it's one of the few things not served with rice and beans. I had chimichangas (with chicken), Richard had quesadillas (with beef), and Dan chose burritos (with vegetables). We decided not to have any starters, since from previous experience we knew they would fill us up considerably.
After our main courses, which were excellent, we just had room for desssert. Richard and Dan had banana chimichangas, Tim had an apple chimichanga, and I had mixed ice cream. All excellent!
We didn't order many drinks: just a sprite, a pineapple juice, and a couple of litres of water. In Cyprus one generally has to pay for bottled water - unlike in the UK they don't serve jugs of fresh water for nothing. But it's not a huge problem since prices generally are rather better than those in the UK. One minor quibble about Aztekas is that waitresses tend to rush to the table to fill up water glasses as soon as they look half empty. It can be annoying. But perhaps they want something to do: we arrived about 6.30pm deliberately, since Cypriots tend to eat later... and smoke heavily. Our one main complaint about restaurants here is that they're not non-smoking - most of them don't even have non-smoking areas. But if we leave by about 8.30pm we don't have to suffer from other people's cigarettes.
We didn't have coffee or any other hot drinks after our meals. Coffee keeps us awake if we drink it past the early afternoon. But we knew from previous visits that we were likely to be given margharitas on the house at the end of our meal - and indeed, they appeared with our bill:
They're mildly alcoholic, but not sufficiently so that it worried any of us. They also contain strawberries, and a great deal of sugar!
The bill came to about £37 in all, which is quite a lot compared to other restaurants in Cyprus (and sounds a huge amount in American dollars as it's not far off $80!) but for a good two-course meal for four people, I don't think it's unreasonable. Tips aren't necessarily expected here, but are probably appreciated anyway so we just rounded it up to the £40.
But it's Daniel's last week before leaving for the Doulos, so I suggested a meal out for the family one evening this week. Wednesday was the day that worked best, Aztekas his restaurant of choice.
The restaurant is about ten minutes'drive away, along the Dhekelia Road, and serves Mexican style food. Not actually highly spicy, but very good - and the best thing, from Dan's point of view, is that most of the main menu options are available with either beef, chicken, or vegetables. Not many restaurants in Cyprus have extensive vegetarian options, but Aztekas does a full range. We've been there about five or six times now and have always enjoyed it.
Tim ordered his usual favourite (fajitas, although he chose chicken rather than beef for a change) since it's one of the few things not served with rice and beans. I had chimichangas (with chicken), Richard had quesadillas (with beef), and Dan chose burritos (with vegetables). We decided not to have any starters, since from previous experience we knew they would fill us up considerably.
After our main courses, which were excellent, we just had room for desssert. Richard and Dan had banana chimichangas, Tim had an apple chimichanga, and I had mixed ice cream. All excellent!
We didn't order many drinks: just a sprite, a pineapple juice, and a couple of litres of water. In Cyprus one generally has to pay for bottled water - unlike in the UK they don't serve jugs of fresh water for nothing. But it's not a huge problem since prices generally are rather better than those in the UK. One minor quibble about Aztekas is that waitresses tend to rush to the table to fill up water glasses as soon as they look half empty. It can be annoying. But perhaps they want something to do: we arrived about 6.30pm deliberately, since Cypriots tend to eat later... and smoke heavily. Our one main complaint about restaurants here is that they're not non-smoking - most of them don't even have non-smoking areas. But if we leave by about 8.30pm we don't have to suffer from other people's cigarettes.
We didn't have coffee or any other hot drinks after our meals. Coffee keeps us awake if we drink it past the early afternoon. But we knew from previous visits that we were likely to be given margharitas on the house at the end of our meal - and indeed, they appeared with our bill:
They're mildly alcoholic, but not sufficiently so that it worried any of us. They also contain strawberries, and a great deal of sugar!
The bill came to about £37 in all, which is quite a lot compared to other restaurants in Cyprus (and sounds a huge amount in American dollars as it's not far off $80!) but for a good two-course meal for four people, I don't think it's unreasonable. Tips aren't necessarily expected here, but are probably appreciated anyway so we just rounded it up to the £40.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Dressing for the cold
Cyprus is known as a warm country, in general. It's certainly very warm in the Summer, and in Spring and Autumn (short though they both are) it's gorgeous - rather like the UK Summer.
Even in Winter it's not cold on a global scale, although our house feels very chilly. The weather site tells me the weather's up to about 18C [65F] during the daytime at present, down to about 8C [47F] overnight. That means we do have to light the fire in the evenings, and wear fleeces as well as sweaters, but it's not REALLY cold. Even if sometimes it feels that way.
However... on Monday Dan flies to Frankfurt (in Germany) and then has to take a train to a town not far away, for a conference prior to joining the Doulos. We looked up the Frankfurt temperatures, and they REALLY sound cold. Maximum of 1C for the next ten days, with snow showers, and down to -5C overnight. Brrrrrrrr. Chillier than Birmingham in the UK (where we come from) where the forecast is for rain and 'only' -1C overnight minimum.
Never mind! In October when we were in the UK we bought Dan a warm jacket from Primark, and also found a selection of warm gloves, some of which go back to our time in Colorado Springs in the USA (which was even colder than Frankfurt). And just before Christmas his friends at Antidote Theatre gave him some farewell presents, including a very warm hat thing. Actually it was meant to be a permanent reminder of the dog in Little Man's Best Friend but it's exactly the kind of thing Dan was hoping to buy anyway.
So, with a mug of warm herbal tea, he dressed up last night in the warm clothes he's going to wear to travel to Germany:
.. in the background, notice his room which he's decluttering and organising prior to going away. He's got rid of at least four large bin-liners of stuff so far...
Even in Winter it's not cold on a global scale, although our house feels very chilly. The weather site tells me the weather's up to about 18C [65F] during the daytime at present, down to about 8C [47F] overnight. That means we do have to light the fire in the evenings, and wear fleeces as well as sweaters, but it's not REALLY cold. Even if sometimes it feels that way.
However... on Monday Dan flies to Frankfurt (in Germany) and then has to take a train to a town not far away, for a conference prior to joining the Doulos. We looked up the Frankfurt temperatures, and they REALLY sound cold. Maximum of 1C for the next ten days, with snow showers, and down to -5C overnight. Brrrrrrrr. Chillier than Birmingham in the UK (where we come from) where the forecast is for rain and 'only' -1C overnight minimum.
Never mind! In October when we were in the UK we bought Dan a warm jacket from Primark, and also found a selection of warm gloves, some of which go back to our time in Colorado Springs in the USA (which was even colder than Frankfurt). And just before Christmas his friends at Antidote Theatre gave him some farewell presents, including a very warm hat thing. Actually it was meant to be a permanent reminder of the dog in Little Man's Best Friend but it's exactly the kind of thing Dan was hoping to buy anyway.
So, with a mug of warm herbal tea, he dressed up last night in the warm clothes he's going to wear to travel to Germany:
.. in the background, notice his room which he's decluttering and organising prior to going away. He's got rid of at least four large bin-liners of stuff so far...
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Lemon meringue pie, relaxed home education style
At lunchtime today (after, incidentally, making my best breadmaker loaf so far...) I asked Dan what he'd like to eat tonight.
After much thought, he said, 'Lemon meringue pie'.
Or, to be accurate, he said: 'Lemon mer-ing-gyou pie' since that's how I thought the word was pronounced when I was little, having read it when I was about six.
Sure, I said, but he'd need to cook it. He wants to learn to cook this week, but like any home educator he's not going to learn step by step, starting with simple things. Nope, he was going for something he wanted to achieve. The fact that he didn't know how to make pastry, or cornflour sauce, or meringue, was quite irrelevant.
So we found my recipe folder, and he got stuck in. I haven't made pastry by hand for a long time (I use the food processor) but Dan said he probably wouldn't have access to one on the Doulos, so I showed him how to rub fat into flour and do the thing properly. He's very thorough. It took rather longer than it would have done if I'd made it, but it was ready just after we'd finished our first course, and it looked absolutely stunning! I said I'd take a photo, so I did:
Then Dan said it would be better to take one without the flash, as the colours would be better. So Tim decided to experiment, and took several pictures on various settings. Then he went to get his tripod, so he could hold it more steadily. And we sat around the table waiting in anticipation for this wonderful-looking lemon meringue pie, while Tim took photo after photo...
Eventually he took one which looked as he wanted it to. And yes, it did have better colours than my initial one taken in automatic mode with flash, but since we only wanted the pictures to post on blogs I don't think I'd have bothered to take more than one.
Never mind, it's all useful education since now Tim understand the camera better, and my computer is host to about fifteen photos of a pie.
Eventually we got to eat it, and it was extremely good. A bit runny to serve (but perhaps the lemons from our trees are juicier than average-sized shop ones) but otherwise perfect.
After much thought, he said, 'Lemon meringue pie'.
Or, to be accurate, he said: 'Lemon mer-ing-gyou pie' since that's how I thought the word was pronounced when I was little, having read it when I was about six.
Sure, I said, but he'd need to cook it. He wants to learn to cook this week, but like any home educator he's not going to learn step by step, starting with simple things. Nope, he was going for something he wanted to achieve. The fact that he didn't know how to make pastry, or cornflour sauce, or meringue, was quite irrelevant.
So we found my recipe folder, and he got stuck in. I haven't made pastry by hand for a long time (I use the food processor) but Dan said he probably wouldn't have access to one on the Doulos, so I showed him how to rub fat into flour and do the thing properly. He's very thorough. It took rather longer than it would have done if I'd made it, but it was ready just after we'd finished our first course, and it looked absolutely stunning! I said I'd take a photo, so I did:
Then Dan said it would be better to take one without the flash, as the colours would be better. So Tim decided to experiment, and took several pictures on various settings. Then he went to get his tripod, so he could hold it more steadily. And we sat around the table waiting in anticipation for this wonderful-looking lemon meringue pie, while Tim took photo after photo...
Eventually he took one which looked as he wanted it to. And yes, it did have better colours than my initial one taken in automatic mode with flash, but since we only wanted the pictures to post on blogs I don't think I'd have bothered to take more than one.
Never mind, it's all useful education since now Tim understand the camera better, and my computer is host to about fifteen photos of a pie.
Eventually we got to eat it, and it was extremely good. A bit runny to serve (but perhaps the lemons from our trees are juicier than average-sized shop ones) but otherwise perfect.
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