What's in a Name?

I said goodbye today to Despoina, who runs one of the local DIY stores that we've frequented for the past 14 years. She and her hubby Nikos have been good to us during our time here. There was the occasion once when we were without electricity when a trip rod blew on one of the poles down the valley (to the sound of a huge BANG!), only affecting the three houses up here and consequently probably not getting noticed by the electricity company.

Back then I had no idea who to call and my Greek would not have been good enough to carry on a telephone conversation about such an issue. I couldn't use the phone anyway, because it's a cordless and there was no electricity. Plus, my mobile phone was on charge. So I called in on Despoina in her store and she said, "Leave it to me. I'll get the technicians up there."

The whole story of that day is related in chapter 26 of Tzatziki For You to Say, but the long and the short of it was that, a couple of hours later a pickup bearing the ΑΔΜΗΕ logo screeched to a halt outside our front gate and two fellas jumped out screaming "Where's the FIRE?!" They fixed the problem, that's the main thing. And all thanks to Despoina.

Another time the pump which sends water to our holding tank at the top of the hill above the house burnt out and we only became aware of the fact when the water stopped coming out of our taps a couple of days later. Once more Despoina and Nikos stepped into the breach while we tried to source a new pump. Nikos filled a big square tank which he put on the flatbed of his substantially sized pickup and drove it up to the holding tank and syphoned it in, giving us enough water to get us through until the new pump was fitted and working.

The only thing about Despoina is that she will insist on calling my wife Irini, although her name is Maria (but known to our British friends and family as Yvonne. It's complicated. Don't ask). I've lost count of the number of times this has happened. My wife rarely accompanies me when I drop in for a few fittings or something, but, every time I leave, Despoina will politely ask me to give her best wishes to Irini. Not that long ago we did both drop by together. I introduced my wife and politely made light of the fact that she's actually Maria and not Irini. Despoina was all profuse apologies, and we assured her that it wasn't a problem but, since we were both there together, we thought we may as well set her straight.

So, I decided to let it go when yesterday, after we'd exchanged all the usual "Good health, long life, all the best" and the rest, Despoina added, as a parting shot, "And do give my best to Irini, won't you."

•

And so to the reason why I was saying farewell to our local DIY proprietor. If you haven't gathered already, we're upping sticks and moving house after 14 years on this most peaceful, green and secluded Rhodean hillside. The house we've been living in is on the market and we decided that it was time to put the capital we'd put aside when we sold our house in the UK to use. We're going to Crete, to a quiet, peaceful, secluded hillside there, with a view of the sea. Sound familiar?

The only problem is, I still have to find a name for my new Cretan blog. I shall, of course, keep RFR live on line for the foreseeable future, because there are people who consult it for all the info it carries about Rhodes and things to do here. But I'll leave a link to the new blog in the last post here, and I hope that if you've enjoyed all my drivel this past decade or so, you may want to carry on reading about what will befall us in our new home.

TTFN, talk soon!