The Grand Electric Car Saga

UK, August 2015

Dave is fascinated by Electric cars - not hybrids, but 100% electric.  There is no infrastructure in Greece yet, and we have no money to spare from building materials, so we're not going to get one any time soon, but Dave trawls the internet for write-ups, videos and reviews of all the latest developments. 

We are major fans of Mr Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla Motors which are world leaders in electric vehicles and sustainable technology.  Alas, even the humblest Tesla is so far out of our range it might as well be one of Mr Musk's SpaceX rockets.  We lust over the newly released Tesla Powerwall battery system that sold out 18 months ahead on the day it was launched.  We talk, think and dream electric cars.  You get the picture?

Dave had identified the Nissan Leaf as the best of the electric superminis currently available and we were hoping to see one while in the UK.  So I knew immediately what it was when he shouted, 'Come and see this' from the end of my Mum's path in Salisbury. 

So we all three stood around admiring it, and then the lady owner came out of her house and told us how much she liked it and then drove off while we stood awestruck at its silent glide down the road.

But the saga didn't end there.  We arrived at Blackpool station and took the first taxi in the rank, a black cab, but as we pulled out, I saw a Leaf join the taxi queue.  Ooh, a chance to ride in one.  I asked the hotel for the firm with electric cars and had several long chats with the girl on the line, who couldn't guarantee one of their 14 electrics would be available at any particular time.

The morning of the wedding was one of those bitty times when no-one really knows what's going on and everyone hangs around waiting for everyone else, so we didn't get a chance to play with the taxis.  Our opportunity arrived unexpectedly after the wedding.  As the person with the taxi number, I called a cab for the bride and they said it would be electric, so I said, 'Have you got two?' and they had.  So we sent off the bride and got in the next one.

The driver was marvelous.  We asked him to take twice as long to get back to the hotel as usual, and he toured us round Blackpool's back streets, answering all Dave's questions and showing off the features, including the truly awesome acceleration.  Phew, what fun!

Wedding

Saturday 22 August 2015

Dave's daughter, Clare's Wedding.  We arrived (by train, such a blessing, compared to motorway driving) in Blackpool, on Friday afternoon and settled into the hotel. 

 Next morning, still on Greek time, we explored 7am Blackpool, and rather liked it

 Then the proud father of the bride got all togged up ...

 and a group of principal males decided to take in a pub and casino on the way to the wedding: Dave, Rob, John (the groom), Justin (best man) and Rob (bride's mother's husband).  As I wasn't involved in any of the bride primping, I thought I'd tag along and make sure they all made it to the Registry on time.  As the only one with a bag, I was also entrusted with the wedding music CD and the rings!

 Out of the pub and the casino - Reservoir Wedding Guests on the way to the venue

Much later that night, the first dance.  (I offered to take the ceremony photos on the bride's camera, so I don't have any of my own).  Lovely frock!

UK trip

Weds 19 Aug 2015

Using the new Easyjet to Preveza on a Wednesday service, we were in Salisbury by the early evening, and next day we went for a rainy walk along the river into the city with my Mum.

All by myself ...

10 - 15 August 2015

A day on my own, then a few days, and then a full week on my own, and bales itching to be put in the wall. 

 My first solo bale-splitting - into five 20cm bricks, to stuff up the left side of the window in the South West corner, by the front door:

 Which started out as an open structure with a large plywood box frame for the window.

  Some time later: straw stuffed up the left side, along the bottom under the plywood, and one full bale put up on top - Dave was here for that, but even so, it was an effort.

 From the outside, the ladder frame that will be the edge of the front door entryway - holding the split bale blocks in place.

 But as this corner is a very peculiar twisted-diamond shape it requires a lot of loose straw stuffing (around the bale blocks), so I had to put some vertical laths in this bit of wall (to the left of the front door from the inside).  Straw can be shoved in tight against this structure.

 From the outside - pics above and below - the front door area as the blocks and loose straw go in.  I had to stop here because the front door lintel will rest on the ladder frame, and I didn't want to pack it out with straw before the woodwork is done.

And, my ultimate triumph: another nearly-full bale on top of the window - installed entirely by me!  Not easily, either.  It involved a rope over a high beam and a lot of pushing and pulling, and loads of straw pieces and dust sticking to my sweat all over.  Required a cold shower immediately on completion - but very pleased with myself  ;-)

Sailing Interlude

4 & 5 August 2015

Our friend, Lesley, had accepted a skippering job and asked for a couple of days refresher with Dave, so, hey ho, we just had to go out sailing and swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday ...

Our Barn

Mon 3 Aug 2015

Here's a long-overdue shot of the living room.  The 'Cathedral' window seems to have come out right by happy accident: in August the roof overhang doesn't let any direct sunshine into the room - but it will as the year gets cooler.  We are enjoying its emptiness.  As soon as we get more bales we'll lose half this space again.

However, the bales are not going to come in August.  We tried to get them last week, but now it is too late.  We are out in the boat for two days, then Dave is away next week, and the week after we are in the UK, so if the bales came at the end of this week we'd have a mad struggle to get them inside under cover very quickly in these roasting temperatures.  Better to wait until September and take our time.

Heatwave Blues

28, 29, 30 July

A final flurry of activity in the month as the temperatures ramp up to 40 degrees.  Dave was up at 7am filling and firing up the mixer and then fixing another ladder frame for the edge of the door, while I used the mortar he made to set a base frame for the other side of the door.  The area round the door is one of those Gant charts where certain things have to be done in the right order before we can progress with putting bales around the SW window frame:

Both frames in, but we were left with nearly a full barrow of mix, so time to finish the long-delayed plastering inside the SE window.  First the last two panels over the scaffolding above the right side of the window ...

 

 ... then we moved the scaffolding round and finished the East wall panels (almost finished, cos the last bucket ran out before the bald patches were done, but it was 10.30 am and the sweat was running into my eyes so that I couldn't see to plaster any more and anyway, Dave wasn't willing to make mixes in 40-plus temperatures).  

All this activity took three days, starting early and finishing before 11 when we just wanted to sit in the cool of the music room with a fan and lots of water.  Somewhere among all this we finally managed to order the second load of bales - another 80, we reckon, to finish.  Due next week.  The Greek crisis has pushed the euro down, so our sterling buys more now than it has done in 10 years.

Continuing the mad dogs and English people theme, we went to the post office by bike at lunchtime on the 31st, and had to have several beers to recover once we got there.

Performances

Mid July

In between disappearing for weeks at a time, Dave has got together with a new band, called SoundWave, and is back playing lead guitar.  Some of the numbers are not quite rocky enough for him, but at least he gets out to gigs.  A little too much some weeks.  They've been playing a regular Monday night gig at a local hotel - nobody gets paid, but there are beers and experience to be gained.

 Here's the hotel, with two girls holidaying from Belarus who were dancing so exuberantly that my camera couldn't keep up!

Then on Thursday 23rd we held a small comedy and music show in the village up the hill, Palaiokatuna, and I was to perform in a short sketch and the final song - first public performance since the pretty dreadful Snow White in 2009.

 Waiting in the wings, ready to go on ...

 In action in the sketch, with Tree and Arran.

 The final song, having successfully managed my two lines in tune and loud enough - phew, the relief!  Tree, me, Jackie, Arran, Andy & Maggie.

 The next day, a rare visit to the beach to check out a bar that wanted live music ...

 ... and to attend a clarinet, guitar and voice recital by my singing teacher, Rosa and her visiting friend, Ed.

And a week later, the same venue, Dave playing a blistering Blues riff with the rest of SoundWave: John on drums, Panos on bass and Pete on rhythm guitar.

Doing a bit ...

July to 20th

Dave was away sailing for the first week of July, and due to go away again after a week's rest, so we didn't have high expectations for getting on with anything.  But then on Wednesday 8th, Dave said, 'I've got to get something done.' and leaped into action.  I thought I'd better help, so we put a coat of water-based varnish on the window box in the SouthWest diagonal.  A small job that we hadn't managed to get round to till now.

After that, we completed the final triangle of base frame up to the right-hand side of the front door (looking from the outside), which will support the ladder frame that runs up the edge of the door, and the bales in the wall behind it.  

 

Then Dave built the ladder upright to go at the south end of the diagonal, to hold the bales in place where they will eventually join with the cob south wall.

We constructed this frame out of the last long pieces of green-treated 5x7 (they were last because you had to be mad or desperate to try to build with them - Dave likened the frame to a DNA spiral, but forced it into shape).  Obviously, we needed more wood, so off to Lefkas to the woodyard, having checked they would take payment by credit card, since Greece was in the throes of the bailout crisis and no-one had any cash (including us).  And then it was the end of the week, and Dave was away again.

 

I didn't get very much done in my empty week, except that I wire brushed the front doorstep stones, and they came up very nicely.  I was going to grout them, but realised that this was our next centre of operations and there would be a lot of plaster and straw lashed around before long, so best to save the grout for after all that.

Dave barely gone for a day, and Oedi-puss settles down happily on his end of the sofa!

June in a Nutshell

Here we are at the end of June and we have no progress at all on the house to report.

On 3rd June I nipped off to the UK on the new EasyJet Wednesday flight from Preveza to make a surprise appearance at my brothers Big Fat Gay Wedding.  Lots of fun and wonderful to see all the family for a few days.

Back on the Sunday, then straight off in the boat on Monday morning.  We had friends arriving at Corfu on Thursday, and wanted to take the trip gently.

 Tuesday night in Lakka, on Paxos.  A wonderful bay, and nice little town, if rather popular.  First chance to get in the water this year, though.  

 Corfu town on Thursday - Charlie and Sasha collected, baggage stowed, and out on the town

 All at sea later that week

Trying out my underwater camera - it seems to work okay in the water, and again after I got out, so that's good. (Did you spot the fish?)

After all that excitement we slept for a few days, and did the washing; dealt with boring things like tax returns and chasing down the paperwork that goes with them; slept some more, tidied the house up - nearly two weeks absence leaves a lot of dust and wildlife to re-home; and that was June.  Dave has gone skippering, and has more charters next month, so progress is unlikely to be made for a while ...