Tuesday 17th October 2017

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Apart from the Sahara dust blocking the sun, it was a lovely day and so we decided to take Ellie to Stone Bay. Of course now September is over dogs can go on the beaches any time of day. 
 In the afternoon Mal and I set to on the garden, clearing all the leaves and also clearing all my pots. I’ll have to re-plant them when I have time. It was really warm for October and we had the french doors open all day.
 
Owing to a very sad event, my diary will be suspended for a while.

Thought for the Day – “You seriously have no idea what people are dealing with in their personal life so just be nice, it’s that simple.”

Monday 16th October 2017

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Demelza  day. Yes, I was feeling tired but I had already been away three Mondays and I miss it! It was lovely to see ‘the girls’ and Petro of course. Lauren (manager) was in instead of Jack. She is very organised and we had a list of things to do. Just as well as there were so few customers in the morning but at least it livened up in the afternoon.

Lauren’s fiance came in and brought their new puppy with him, he is a Shiba Inu.  He had just had his jabs and was very tired! After a few cuddles and licks he just fell asleep on Lauren’s lap.

Mal had a very busy day as well.. He was teaching his teachers online and also the College called to see if he would go in on Mondays after half term! Not the best day of the week but they are desperate so he said he would. Just when he said he wouldn’t do it any more. He hates the thought of the kids being let down.

 
 I must finish unpacking sometime!

Thought for the Day – “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” ~ Elizabeth Andrew

Sunday 15th October 2017

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Mal was sorting out computer things for Torin and so Torin and I took the dogs out for a walk in the woods. It was surprisingly warm but real autumny colours.

 We did a bit of shopping on the way back, mostly bones and things for the dogs. Mal and I then drove back to Kent and went to collect Ellie. She was happy to see us, it has been a long time. Lou said they walked her with Roddy (their dog) and they were running together along the sea front. She called them and Roddy went back and Ellie saw another Golden Retriever and followed the couple who were with it. Lou continued calling and the couple stopped. Ellie just sat down next to them and totally ignored Lou. She said she thinks she must be deaf….no she isn’t. Rustle a packet of crisps behind her and she will hear that! She has a little bit of a stubborn streak.  
 
She was so pleased to be home even though I know she is spoilt when she stays with Lou and Rhys.
 
Then our first lot of unpacking!
 
We feel so much happier now, no more being ripped off which was happening more and more frequently. At least in the UK we have protection. We still can’t believe the bank not telling us there was an additional 3% tax on our money transfer and also the additional £1,000 the land registry dreamt up and those two issues were in the last couple of weeks. It is going on all the time, even in the supermarket where the lack of change will always be in their favour. I always just stood there with my hand out asking for all my change and the receipt. Enough really was enough.
 
We wanted to live modestly in a small house that would fit in with the village. Now there are huge ugly buildings everywhere and as we looked to the left and right of us towards the Med, where there once was mountains, which over the years we watched them hacking away,two unfinished housing estates with houses rotting and more unsuspecting buyers losing their life savings. This is to say nothing of the growing Merit empire creeping along the coast line where we were told no one could ever build, Money speaks so loudly in north Cyprus. The view from the other side of the house is still stunning but I guess it won’t be long before they are cutting away a lot of those mountains. That has already started with Malatya Muhtar, her house overlooks the whole village and is so high up. And while I am on that subject Muhtars are not allowed to collect money for stamping a form…perhaps we should have asked for our 20tl back. I really objected to still being treated as a yabanci after 15 years.
 
We had the best days and those have gone. We lived the dream which many people never achieve, they just talk about it. We did it!
 
Thought for the Day – “Anyone who takes the time to be kind is beautiful.” ~ Richelle E Goodrich
 

Saturday 14th October 2017

Görüşürüz

We hope that Soner and his family will have as many happy times as we have here.

Time to move on.

We were up at 4.00am for our early morning flight. It seemed a little odd to think we wouldn’t be coming back to the house even though Sonner has told us we must visit next time we visit north Cyprus but there are so many other places we want to go to and also enjoy more of England.(From one lsland to another)

Cases in the car and off we went. Kenny told us to hoot when we went past. I did better than that and held my hand on the hooter from the bottom of our drive, all along the road!! Well, a lot of people have been waking us up in the middle of the night with noise. The funny thing was (David told me) that our nosy Russian neighbour Sergay put all his lights on and went running down the drive to see what the noise was. It must be the rebel in me. I even think one of the speed cameras may have flashed me on the way to the airport. That would be the first time in 15 years.

Torin was picking us up at Stansted and it was total chaos, traffic backed up, cars being impounded and nowhere to stop a car unless you pay a fortune (£10 at the front). We found Torin eventually and he has flu and his 40 minute journey took him nearly two hours as parts of the A1 had been closed down. Great! Poor Torin.

Torin really wasn’t well and we were so tired we all went to bed at 9!

Thought for the Day – “If you want to bring happiness to the world, go home and love your family.” ~ Mother Teresa

Friday 13th October 2017

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The last sunrise I will watch come over the mountain.

The final day of clearing our home. Again we have so much for Margaretha, I fear she has little room left in her house. 

We have an early flight in the morning and so decided we would go and have a relaxing lunch when the bulk of the work was done. But first we had to go and say goodbye to the best neighbours we have ever had. They have been absolute gems. David and Kenny of course. I don’t know what we would have done without them.

 
The best place for a relaxed lunch, with classical music in the background and not far to drive, lovely, Green Heights. The cats wanted to share our lunch. If you go there and order the ice cream, it is huge, they give you some of every flavour they have!
 
The lunch was really good too. 
 

Back home and a little later Azmi came round to see that everything was OK and we also said he could have the building books we had. Well, there were still 4 boxes of books that if nothing else Margaretha would have. Anyway, he took all the boxes as he had some Russian friends whose children wanted English books to improve their language. He also tried the rowing machine but decided it was better for a woman! We then said our farewells and we thanked him so much for selling our house.

Our last visitor was Margaretha and bless her she took all the rest of our things for the charity for the dogs at Gazimağusa. I don’t think she will have any room left in her house until she sorts everything out.

The last bit of cleaning and weighing our cases (both dead on 30kg with a lot more in our hand luggage!) Early to bed. 6 mozzies in the bedroom along with the sand flies…….I don’t think I will miss them.

Thought for the Day– “If there’s even a slight chance at getting something that will make you happy, risk it. Life’s too short and happiness is too rare.” ~ A R Lucas 

Thursday 12th October 2017

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I can’t believe how many people have contacted me in the recent couple of weeks asking how they sell. So many ex pats are leaving it seems. The agent we used was Azant who are on the main road in Alsancak (http://azantrealestates.com/). I have no connection with them beyond the fact that Azmi and Anthony really tried hard to sell our property and also to guide us through the final stages through to completion.. They cared and that means a lot in my book. 

We went to bed so late that we were still just wandering around not really dressed for the day, bed unmade when the gate bell went and it was our buyers to see how everything worked. We went through everything with them including Soner is going to clean the pool himself, so Mal showed him how They really are such a lovely couple that we are leaving a lot behind for them that isn’t in the deal. Mal also gave him his guitar. 

I am really happy that they love the house so much, as much as we always have. 

They also made a point of telling us that they are “proper” Turkish Cypriots, their families have always lived here and that they are not Turks that have been brought over!

We asked David and Kenny to go out for a meal with us, anywhere they wanted to go, on us because they have been such brilliant neighbours. They chose Kamares so that is where we went today for lunch.

It’s a little sad saying goodbye to them as they have been the best neighbours we have ever had. I am sure we will meet again, to start with tomorrow I have to go and say goodbye to the dogs!

David gave us a useful piece of information when asking if we would ever come back here. If we had made a profit (we didn’t) then when eventually the tax office sorts it out you would be liable for 61/2 % tax next time you arrive on the island!!!

We are now nearly at the end of packing up/sorting out 15 years of “stuff”.

Thought for the Day – “Life goes by in the blink of an eye. Be sure to appreciate the many moments with family and friends that make your life complete.”

Wednesday 11th October 2017

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So our belongings to be shipped are all packed. I realised last night my hair dryer and steam iron are both in there! So I am managing with a tiny travel iron and the air! 

Another morning of clearing and cleaning. The unfortunate thing is when we get back to the UK, we will be buying somewhere and moving out of the rather expensive rented place we’re living in. Another move. This time Demelza will benefit from our next sort out. I can’t even think of that yet. One step at a time. 

I am a great believer in Karma and someone who has crossed my path today will be dealt with, I am sure of that. 

We were told the shippers may come tomorrow……erm no, we were told today. Then it maybe next week. No, we leave on Saturday! I think they got the message in the end and so we waited in for them.

The last time they said between 4.30 – 5.30 and that was when they arrived.

The minute our nosy Russian neighbour saw the van, he came running up to ask us what we were doing. I spoke to him previously and didn’t tell him we had sold. In fact he is the reason David and Kenny keep their gate locked. He told Mal that he was going to buy our house this Christmas…he has told us that for the last three years!

 The shippers were two really nice guys but they couldn’t get the van up the drive, so I lent them the hire car and they ferried it up and down in that as a lot of it was very heavy. Mal gave them a tip and they were really pleased.

It was a real sense of relief when our boxes had gone. 

Margaretha got in touch with us and said she wanted to take us out for a farewell dinner and came and collected us. We had no idea where we were going, a magical mystery tour! Not far at all, just straight down from our house, one of the hotels we can see from our terrace, Merit Royal. What a lovely surprise. We had intended going there but hadn’t got round to it.

The food there is so good and the wines so good too. The desserts are just crazy, so many (so full of calories!) Margaretha does make me laugh because she said “Now we do as the Turkish do”. Go and choose your dessert first as they only make two of each kind, then just leave it on the table until you have eaten the rest of your food!

We had such a lovely evening and everything is included in an eat all you can, I think Mal did! We were the last people to leave about midnight, after Mal had sampled a few of their whiskies! The food was excellent, the service was not, I hate to say it but the waiters were running around after the Turkish but thought the 3 of us were Brits so we had to keep asking for more wine and to clear our plates, not quite the 5 star service it used to be.

Thank you Margaretha after the stressful couple of weeks we have had, it was a perfect night out. 

Thought for the Day – “Instead of ‘Have a nice day’, I think I’ll start saying ‘have the day you deserve’. You know, let Karma sort things out.”