Well, finally, the new Bulgarian builders started work this morning. We were promised they wouldn't start before 08.30 (which they didn't) but they did arrive to offload materials at 06.45. Daisy, our trainee guard dog, was on the alert and we never did get back to sleep. The sound of angle grinders is reverberating around the house, the animals are not happy but I suppose we are content that the work has finally started. It will apparently take a fortnight to complete, and then the decorators will have to return to sort out the interior AGAIN.
We hope and pray that this will resolve the damp and mould issue for good. When I think of the thousands of euros that must have been spent (why engage a structural engineer and not follow his advice?) trying to do the job more cheaply. By the time this has finished, it will have cost three times as much. We are glad it is not our money.
At the moment we are busy planning so that Ann can fly to the north of Scotland to visit her sister - hopefully sooner rather than later. Becoming bogged down in details, we thought it would be better to engage a travel agent. I contacted a well-known travel agent in Paphos (one which had been highly recommended by friends and acquaintances) and a very detailed email arrived with Ann's travel options. My initial thoughts were "How much?" and my subsequent thoughts were identical.
As she does not know how long she will stay, a return ticket is out of the question. And so, I investigated the options. A single ticket from Paphos to Gatwick can be had for as little as £46. Another single ticket from Gatwick to Inverness costs a little more. Ann can stay with a friend near Gatwick, and her single flight to Inverness takes off at a friendly early afternoon time. The return journey will cost a little more (it always seems more expensive to fly to Cyprus) but can be arranged at a time to suit Ann. The options suggested by the travel agent were nudging £700. Hmm!
Spring seems to have sprung here, and it is mild and quite sunny. The poor old UK has been through a nightmare week, and the floods when all the snow melts will make matters even worse. It all manages to be quite minor when you compare it to the government's handling of the negotiations to leave the EU. The opposition has shot itself in the foot by doing an abrupt u-turn on the customs union in what I believe is a naked power grab for office (and to hell with the country just so long as the door to No 10 Downing Street can be wedged open).
The British High Commissioner has been travelling around the island urging British expats to apply for permanent residence after five years here. In our sixth year this was already on our list of things to do, and as soon as my new passport arrives it will be off again to Immigration to sort that out. In any event we don't plan to live anywhere else. I cannot imagine snow and ice, and Brexit. Brr!
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