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Last week I found two potential new homes, but the initial euphoria turned to disillusionment within a very short space of time. OK, the first one was not for her ladyship anyway, but I gave it the full looking-at as a way of establishing a process for review. We happened to travel by a back road between our place and Douglas, as I had seen it on the map, but it appeared to be closed at one end. Accordingly, I started from the other end and we rapidly found ourselves in billionaires-ville as there were lodges with gated drives where you couldn´t even see the house. but "offers over 30million". Holy (smoked) mackerel, that is serious Hollywood style loot. Anyway, as we rounded one bend, there was a bungalow which looked quite good, so I chased it down online (hence value of others). Said bungalow had 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and a double garage, so was "too large" hence her dismissal. I progressed it based on the "you don´t have to use the rooms" philosophy. The ´photos were a hoot, with the main lounge basically having two opposed desks and lots of computers, a very modern bathroom and a very old one with a large basket of smelly-soap stuff and a bedroom with young-girly things all over just half of the bouble bed and very little else. All sort of scenarios (scenaria?) presented themselves, but my basic hunch was that it had been bought in lockdown as a business-use escape from diseased mankind, and was now being disposed of as "not wanted on rest of voyage of life". Now this place was actually in the middle of nowhere, thus was VERY unlikely to have fibre-optic communications suitable for heavy business use, also it was not on any public transport route (unusual in itself in IoM) - then there was the large farm building within 100 yards (pigs?, hens? possibly other smelly or noisy beasts?). It is actually not that far from a beautiful bay where the steam train stops (but only in summer) but that could be a blessing or a curse tourist-wise. It was thus even ruled out by me at this point, but, and chasing the detail, it turned out to have been reduced by 70k within the past few months - and had been for sale for longer at an even higher price. Obviously something amiss. Turned out to be owned by a UK company. No ´photos of garage at all. No blurb about immediate neighbourhood (actually close to a small parish hall with a too-large car-park), no info about construction, insulation, nada de nada as the spanish might say. Oh, and it was nearly 100k over our "Top Limit", so out it went. We did discover that you can find out all sorts of details from the google-style maps, also Manx websites where you can find out about the ownership and history - and how much it has sold for in the past. Useful to know for the future (and even better when you speak to someone who knows a bit more of its history). The future turned out to be a couple of days later when another bungalow came on the market. We took a drive down to Port Erin to see from the outside and it just about passed that test enough for us to book a viewing. When I say just about, that was because it was on a min-estate of similar bungalows and on the fringe of a less salubrious area. two strikes and you are almost out. Almost, but we decided we needed to see something to give us a base-line and it did fit a lot of our requirements. The owners had gone out and left the sales lady to show us around. We walked in and could have walked straight out. Obviously (badly) extended (cracks badly covered in ceiling, pipes outside walls) and floor creaking / moving slightly underfoot. Following up on a comment someone had made, I asked what the wall were made of, as I had been warned that lots of 70s era stuff was built with thin walls that wouldn´t take insulation. But then the answer of "wood-frame" came as a bigger shock (especially as the outside was covered in stone cladding). Quite a few more dodgy features, which rendered the agent´s comment about the owner "having been a builder"unnecessary. If she had said they were from Essex I would have just nodded, as I saw many places like this when we first moved down there. As the old adage goes, "we made our excuses and left", but I couldn´t resist telling her I thought that it was probably more that 100k overpriced - and she obviously agreed as she said the most recent of its type she had sold have been 200k less!! Notes for file - Location, location, location true. Overpricing is the norm. Estate agent´s blurb is still the hype it always was. Photographs never tell the real story. Good job we have somewhere to live while we continue our hunt!

Bank Holiday Monday today and roads a lot quieter than usual (even than the weekend, which is strange). Today is the last day (of 8) of the Manx GP, which seems to be some sort of a mini-TT. Only one week, more practice days than racing days and road closures in the evening for the most part. I guess it is normally pretty busy with it being in the school holidays, but no. Definitely a lot quieter and a lot less visitors. For the most part, the entrants seem to a step-down too,. Yesterday I saw an interview with a guy who was getting his entry in for next year - and he was saying that he had competed in the Southern 100 (down our way) and now wanted to go up a level and try the GP. Asked if he would consider the TT, he said "no way" - the GP was as far as his ambition went. Now as it is the execact same course for the TT and the GP, that seems to indicate a difference in level of competition (speed?). To the unskilled eye, there do seem to be more "classic" and small bike events in the GP - and certainly less laps in the "majors". As it is, the whole exercise has been in vain, as the weather has intervened almost every day - and even impacted the (undocumented) contingency periods. Today (Bank Holiday Monday) is the final day - and it has started pretty dull down her in Castletown, so what it is like on the mountain part orf the course, I hate to think. We are not alone in our weather though, as the UK has been experiencing storms and the ferries have been delayed due to high winds, seas and berthing issues at both ends of the (non-existent) sailings. As I may have mentioned before, the weather here is ever-changeable, so even on a day when racing has ended up cancelled, there have still been beautiful sunny periods (ok, sandwiched between the winds and showers). For an (as yet) unfathomable reason, the hospice where G is working as a volunteer (and which is inside the TT course) had cancelled activities last week (despite the course closures being from 1800, and even cencelled events this week - and the ones in Port Erin too (siting difficulty for staff to attend). Shades of paid staff at Cudeca methinks, as unluess they suddenly extend the GP to this week, I cannot see a justification. On the electrical front, we had a visit from the site electrician early in the week. Nice guy who proved an interesting source of information (and potential skills for the future). He was as much at a loss about the cause of the problem as I had been, but changed the switch as it was the only logical point of failure. (and, as I suspected, the switch is not actually trippable, so the mystery deepened). Good news is the microwave now works (is there a fingers-crossed emoji I should be using?) Ah, and I had my annual MOT with the nurse at the local practice. Seems my cunning plan of having tests and suchlike on a Friday (after 4 days of dieting) might have backfired, as the doctor is thinking I might not be diabetic, but pre-diabetic!! Next time I will get a blood sample on a Monday morning and let them find the excess alcohol, cheese and chocolate in my system). I guess it is good in some ways as it shows that diet is the best control. She had one caveat and that was that I was low on HDL cholesterol (oily fish) - a pretty rare event in a place famous for its kippers, but at least a very palatable solution (for me, not G, as she hates the smell).

I had forgotten how different "British" electrical systems were from continental ones - especially as some of our postings were in places were electricity was a bit of an afterthought and lucky happenstance.*1 Last week the Microwave just didn´t work. It had been working the night before, but the next morning, no. At first we thought it might be a switch that we had acccidentally turned off, but that search proved fruitless. There are a variety of flush mounted plates with fuses and or lights in the kitchen units nearby, but none that seemed to be connected to the microwave . Now it is a "plumbed-in" microwave, set at head height into the kitchen units (not a great location), so I recokoned it had to be plugged in inside one of the cupboards. Again no. No circuit breakers tripped, everything else ok, only resort to ask the site staff if the electrician could have a look. (Remembering problems when we first moved in, when nothing had been connected or plumbed in the year or so it had been the show house). Paula the assistant site manager was passing, so I called her - and she decided to have a look herself and almost immediately found a switch "hidden" in the cupboard above the unit. Felt a bit daft for not finding it myself, but no way to get up there (she balanced on work surface), so not too embarrassed. The switch also had a fuse, so she wanted to change that, but it was mounted so tightly in a corner, it couldn´t easily be prised out. Next screw off the front - again need a gynaecologist more than electrician. I gave her a spare fuse and it worked. Easy we thought. She left I tested the fuse we had taken out. It was OK. Hmmm. Almost immediately the microwave doesn´t work again. I get the steps. the switch is off. Switch it on - it works. Then it goes off. This is confusing. I obviously need a plan for tomorrow. All this has been communicated to the agent for the owner - who is more concerned about the box being out of warranty than the actual problem itself. Decide to isolate the problem by removing the microwave from the cupboard surround and putting a plug on it to test it "on the bench". I managed to extract the microwave box, but cannot free it from the fused plug as it is, as already stated, very badly situated. Eventually I pull the front of the fused box away, only to find that all the cabling, ringmain and microwave leads are attached to the front of the switch - and the cables are immovable as all firmly trapped by the wall units. Oh, and then I find that it is still almost impossible to get at the fuse even when the front is off the box. I decide go for simplicity (stupidity?) and to power the lot on and wiggle the wires to see if there is a loose connection. Well, that was good - it worked as soon as I switched it on. Wiggle, wiggle anyway, but nothing goes wrong. Now totally lost. Reinstall all and have a think. I can´t get to the fuse. The fuse that was (supposedly) changed was ok. The site lady probably didn´t manage to change the fuse either (which compicated the matter). The microwave definitely powers itself off, so there is a problem. The fault is occasional and probably somewhere in the wiring. Seems like the fused switch works like an ELCB and trips the switch rather than blowing a fuse?? The switch internals didn´t look like it had that capability, but only possible answer. There is a "simple" fix of resetting the switch when there is a problem. Unfortunately the switch is so positioned as to be unseeable and unreacahable without steps, so turning it off between uses not really viable. Stuff it. I will chase the site electrician to have a look (and wonder why we have to do this rather than the owner or agent handling it). Still, it´s easier than Brunei. *1 In Brunei I had to buy a very big stepladder in order to get to the fusebox, which was 3m (10´) up in a false ceiling in the hall cupboard. The power used to trip in most thunderstorms, a lot of which were overnight, and I had to get up this ladder in the pitch dark and reset the breakers - oh, and the ladder had to be leaning against the wall as the cupboard wasn´t wide enough to put the stepladder up! Happy expat days?

Many moons ago G and I visited friends in Kenya, and apart from all the memorable animals and places (and flights), the one thing that we took away was "Kenya Blue" - a term which entered our private lexicon as it was a bright blue paint which was absolutely everywhere. We speculated that a "paint tanker" must have run aground off the coast and that a zillion gallons of freshly mixed blue gloss paint had come onto the market at almost no cost - thus everyone used it for everything - houses, cars, bikes, doors, (graffitti), walls - absolutely anything and anywhere. Blubiquitous indeed. Well, here on the Isle of Man, there is something similar, but in this case it is silver grey - and carpet, not paint. We have started looking inside properties now, advancing from looking at estate agents ads, through checking some out on the web and even into the "give it a drive-by" to check out location and kerb appeal. The one thing that hits us is that every property has the same interior decor (actually the same as in our rented house) and everywhere has pale greyish wood effect paintwork, odd walls papered in silver grey pattern, grey furniture (so silver sofa perfect for silver surfers) and everyone has silver grey carpet. It is as if the island carpet suppliers all ran out of their usual stock, then someone ran across a couple of hundred foorball fields of silver grey carpet at a ridiculous price, so bought the whole shebang and shipped it to the IoM - whereupon it became the only carpet available here. Now don´t get me wrong, it is not unpleasant - and not tooo impractical as tradesmen are trained to take their boots off at the door, or pull on "crime scene plastic overshoes". I also have to like anything that is (basically) steel grey just on pure naming terms! So far, and knowing what to expect decor-wise, we have looked inside two. The first one in Port Erin was a very badly extended small bungalow on a small plot amongst dozens of similarly extended bungalows (viewing time about 4 minutes), then last week to (another) badly extended bungalow on a nice plot in a very nice area (but with a "hobbitt" vibe as the extension had been done piece-meal and there were lots of small rooms, doorways, cupboards and little else . The garden was ok, but the flagstones leaning against 10m of wall on one side could have covered up a bunch of problems (below the crappy condition pebble-dashing) - a bit like the set of 3 large drain covers outside the back door. You may start to see a pattern forming here - there was obviously a building boom in the seventies where they built lots of small bungalows with (maybe) two bedrooms and a bathroom - and everyone has extended - sideways, up (and even below). Nearly everything we are seeing has an added "dormer" with great accommodation upstairs and small rooms downstairs. We are into deja-vu, and not just as they are all the same, but as it is like house-hunting in Essex, where everything had been (usually badly) modified by the owner or his mates. Now there are some new bungalows - and we actually set off to have a look at one at the weekend - but when we got near (say 5 miles) there was a road closed / diversion sign. So we diverted, then ran across another diversion, then another. Eventually we drove about 20 miles in a huge circle around where we wanted to be. Then we gave up and went home - there to read in a local paper that there was a huge charity bike ride "in the north" with a double column list of road closures. Sometime you get the feeling that somewhere is not for you. (But the interior photos showed that was all silver carpet and steel grey anyway).

There is a "rookery" in the trees between our house and the park - so only about 150 yds away. Every so often, they all (at least 2 or 3 hundred) leave the nest and have a quick fly / settle / fly around the neighbourhood. Last Friday they did it and we went outside to get a better look (and a photograph) as they settled on all the local houses (ours included - one had its bum poking from the gutter as there was no space on the roof tiles). Now I say "rookery" with some trepidation, as the birds could be any of rooks, crows, hooded crows or whatever - or maybe even a mix of them all. My cub-scout knowledge says rooks flock and nest close to each other whilst crows tend to have solo nests - but who knows how things have changed in the modern era? The above is supposed to be a way of identifying them, but spotting birds with "trousers" is a bit like asking them their names. I actually think they look like a mix of crows and hoodies who have moved into a rookery - thus squatter corvids if such a thing exists

I finally managed to get the e-bike out again after "hibernating" during the TT , then not really having the enthusiasm (and using the pedalling machine as a substitute). Then I saw a young kid riding a small bike, and remembered that shoving yourself off and pedalling like mad to keep going was the "old way". I thus reckoned the best way of approaching the beast was to switch off the "aids" and ride it normally - with the provisio that I first had to understand how the gearing worked, as it is almost padel-controlled, rather than something you can watch going up and down. First bit worked ok and I was was soon trundling along in a lowish manual gear. The knees were barking a bit, but that´s the reason for the effort I guess. The problem came when I hit the slope and need to change down - but was unsuccessful. I soon discovered that the gear shit was almost manual and required a heft push - so an even-lower gear helped, then, after a couple of hundred yards, I experimented with the lowest level of "e" assistance. Again success as the pedalling required remained the same, but the "e" took care of the slope. Now I am almost whizzing, and leave G walking the back roads as I speed off like a 5-year old on his first trike. A bigger slope brought me back down to earth, but a loop-back and repeat attack with marginally more "e" worked a treat. I think I might have got the measure of the technology at last. It was still fairly early in the morning and there was limited traffic (despite it being a bank-holiday weekend here in the IoM), but I was still being caught out and pulling over to allow by any traffic coming up from behind (roads not very wide and traffic seems very fast), so took onboard requirent for a "wing mirror" of some description, so that is now on order. I don´t think I will be riding in traffic, but just being able to check on "incoming" without the instability caused by turning to look back will be a help. Now to see if the knees recover by tomorrow!

Ivy - As mentioned in the most recent post, there is an awful lot of ivy everywhere, particularly on the trees (and our back fence) Very beautiful - the verges, hedges, trees, fields and hillsides are all particularly beautiful - and the same can be said of the harbours, rocks, islets, inlets and sand of the shoreline Campervans - I reckon there are more than 20% of houses with a campervan parked on the drive. Whether people use them, rent them out or live in them and rent out the house during TT is currently unknown - but there are lots of them and they are not cheap - the nearby garage has a few for sale, nothing special, but the price for second hand ones is about £40k - a lot of money to have on the drive. Multiple cars. - more than half of the houses seem to have at least 2 cars, with 3 being very common. When you add in the campervan and the boat (lots of them too) it makes for crowded drives Nearest neighbour - in case you thought I was exaggerating Motorcycles are actually something of a rarity! OK, there are plenty about during the TT, but in general on the roads they are uncommon (and scooters are almost never seen) Nice cars - there are quite a lot of fancy sports cars (think Aston, Lambo, Ferrari, McLaren, A8 etc). I guess you can give them a real blast on the TT course (dont think there speed limits there), but otherwise they are for posing (aren’t they always?) Friendly - The people are very friendly and polite - workmen, bus drivers, shop assistants are all polite and talkative. Hello, Goodbye and Thank You are always heard. Birds - there is a lot of bird life. We have seen something new on every one of our walks (ok, we will run out at some stage, but way more variety and numbers here than we had in Spain) Public transport is excellent with everywhere seemingly well serviced by buses (and we have steam trains, trams and horse drawn trams too) Trees I had forgotten how much I like proper deciduous trees. A frugal diet of Mediterranean Stone Pine has given way to an abundance of different deciduous trees Dogs - Nearly everyone has a dog. Just about everyone we see while we are out walking has at least one dog - and a huge percentage of the people on our estate have them too. All sizes and makes, but nothing too fierce (=illegal) seen so far. Manxmen and women. A huge amount of the population are island born and bred. - and very proud of the fact. Most people have a Manx accent which is a very soft scouse to my ear. (And note that the population on the IoM is about the same as Mijas!!) Deliveries are wonderful compared with the hassle we used to have in Spain, constantly having to tell couriers of yet another parcel company how to get to our house. Here we have early morning post with Amazon parcels included. Clean and tidy - you quickly come to appreciate the almost total lack of litter. People do seem to have more of a civiv responsibility than elsewhere (and council employees dedicated to clearing chewing gum and odd detritus left b y the inconsiderate few) There is little (actually almost none) graffitti. Maybe it was the threat of “the cat” in the old days that instilled this responsibility! Banks are in abundance - with most of them being new to me (but then it is an offshore tax haven they tell me) Churches are everywhere. Not sure they are any specific denomination, but a noticeable amount of them. Not been around on many Sundays to check attendance figures. Pubs aplenty and with proper closing times during the afternoon. Local beer is very good too.Our nearest pub is the Viking (=50yds). More of a restaurant in the evening with excellent home made grub (if pricey drinks and limited wine) Road conditions are not the best - in fact the surfaces are pretty poor in my view (but I guess they concentrate their efforts on the TT course) Staff in shops are generally very helpful (like most of the people) I guess they are just more northern than southern ! Oh, and if I were to start a business here it would be renting cherry-pickers as the number of houses with scaffolding is huge, but cherry-pickers unseen .. and another thing, all outside workers wear hooded sweatshirts - and with building workers , always with the hood up under the hard hat! Lots of narrow roads and plenty of parked cars - when you give way, the other drivers always wave thanks … and the cars are never uber or bolt or whatever , they don't operate here

The Senior TT is the jewel in the whole event and normally runs over 6 laps of the course (say 230 miles), but there were so many races affected by rain that it was reduced to 4 laps this time. A guy named Davey Todd won it, which made us happy as he had become our favourite. (Also a superbike rider on the circuits, but has come up the hard way without having the family money to “buy a ride”.) Michael Dunlop won 3 races which took him past his uncle Joey in the all-time winners list. No-one got themselves killed and the only reported arrests / fines were for trespassing on the course and flying a drone over the course. There is a youtube video of a couple of bikers doing 170mph down the mountain road, then getting stopped by the police - but the police were just having a laugh as they wanted to see their T-shirts! This is a strange place. We now have the wifi and fibre-optic installed, so , in theory, have a better connection, but I was quite impressed with the Manx Telecom mobile 4G system (except for the fact they have just tried to charge me for June when I took it back on the 31st May). Jamie the freight man went to s-i-l Anne´s place to collect the suitcases which we had to leave to lighten the load on the initial flights over here, but unsure where they are now - a bit like the freight which should have reached Liverpool on the 5th June and thus may be over here any day now (especially now the TT has ended). It’s just the tools and IT bits I miss - I have settled comfortably into the jeans and sweatshirt uniform that seems to be the norm here, so do not really need the clothes! Don’t think I have mentioned before that i have bought a bike. My knees are not good enought to do the sort of walking G likes, so thought a bike might be a good option. I decided to go for an electric one which gives you options on how much assistance it will give you. First trial scared me to death when I got it in turbo-mode, which is bloody quick (well, too quick for me trying to remember how to ride a bike with dodgy knees - thus requiring a modified pedal action. I have avoided using it during the TT due to all the traffic, but intend to start going down to one or other of the bays at first light. I should probably alert the hospitals in advance.

As is preTTy obvious, the thing that you love or hate on the Isle of Man is the TT. Probably the only thing that any non-motorbiker / non-islander has heard about the island - other than “tax haven”, that is. The locals we had spoken to seemed evenly split about it, talking about going away for the fortnight in most cases, that, or the hassle it caused in relation to carrying out their nornmal lives. The key part, as we found out pretty quickly, was whether you lived on, or in, the course. As can be seen from the map, the course doesn’t actually extend into the southern third of the island, (the Southern 100 does, but that remains to be seen). and totally occupies Douglas and Ramsey (with the “mountain section“ in between them). I initially thought it went through Peel on the east coast, but the course shoots off north about 5 miles outside Peel and it’s coastal area. The doesn’t mean other areas are unaffected, as the population doubles for the fortnight and suddenly there are bikes and bikers EVERYWHERE. Mainly pairs of biker or small groups, with most riding their own bike / and always with panniers and all sorts of stuff strapped on. The main Tesco opens a special tent - not to sleep in, but to sell camping equipment of every type you can imagine. We overheard one biker say to another group “ that the shelves were all empty as there is a campsite in a local field” and guessed he was talking about the “other” Tesco in Onchan (a VERY nice area) where there happens to be a field in the middle of this area of victorian mansions and the enterprising owner fills it as a 5* camping site with more than 100 small porta-garden-sheds and personalised bike parks - deffo the Rolls Royce of camping - as we also heard another guy talking about having to find the field of a farmer that a friend had told him about! There is lots of money to be made out of the visitors and the ”pop up” stalls and fairground on Douglas front are just the most visible bit. That is apart from the actual competitors village which is also in Onchan - just above said woodshed site and which has all the pits, exhibitions, bars and entertainment you could wish for. It is all on the south side of the main road, which has the start / finish line and main stand. Nothing spreads north of the road as opposite the stands is a huge sprawling cemetery! The first mile of the course is down a narrowish minor road with a set of traffic lights at the bottom of the first slope and a double roundabout at the bottom of the second. The bikes get up to about 170mph down this suburban “lane”, even from a standing-start. 200mph is possible on the mountain section and the current lap record for the 37 1/2 miles is about 15 minutes - with an AVERAGE lap-speed of just over 135mph the latest record. And how are we faring? Well we ran into a small traffic jam last week on a day we went into Douglas, but other than that, it is just busier. Choosing the time to travel is key - and we are not bothering going anywhere other than locally and the main Tesco in Douglas. And in answer to the love it or hate it, well, we absolutely love it. We have an app with updates and watch youtube clips of the action every evening. We have started to recognise the riders, manufacturers / sponsors and names of the different sections of the course. We haven’t actually ventured onto the course as spectators yet, but I am sure that will be the next step. TT fortnight we embrace you (but will still try to avoid buying or renting on or in the course)!

The Manx TT is one of / the key event in the motorcycling calendar and the island (literally) fills up with enthusiastic competitors and spectators. Everyone we speak to has an opinion - mainly seeming to love it (and take advantage of the business opportunities) but some also hate it for the disruption. We have been told to stock-up as the supermarkets are hit by camping tourists and restocking takes some time. Stocking up is actually our stock-in-trade as it was one of the expat rules to keep at least two weeks worth of consumables in case of “problems” - so spaghetti and tins of beans are always stocked up in our larder - as is the freezer and as are wine and whisky in the bar area! We shall see just what happens. Ever since we got here, we have noticed ever-increasing amounts of “mattressing” of lamp-posts, walls, trees and such. Mostly it seems to be thick PVC bags filled with foam (I guess), but I reckon if you come off at up to 200mph, a bit of foam is not going to save you from serious injury. Yesterday I picked up a leaflet about road closures. Very comprehensive, with the exception of a map - but I guess that most Manxsters know exactly where “the cottage”, “the bungalow” and “bedstead corner” are located. All I see is that the week starting Friday 24th has road closures most days (mainly evenings), then the main weeks has major road closures throughout most of the days (and with a few days after that for contingency and de-mobilising). I have a rough idea of where the course is (Douglas across to Peel, up to Ramsey, then down to Douglas), but the actual road-routes are best identified when you are on them by the afore-mentioned “mattresses”. One potential problem they cannot prepare for is the bloody seagulls which have a habit of coming out of side roads and passageways at head height and without a care in the world (echoes of Oman where one went through the windscreen of Arthur´s “ice cream truck” and landed in the lap of the “wee boy”..) This past week we have done more walking and exploring - and seen quite a few new birds on the way - even seeing some spotted flycatchers which were one of our favourite visitors in Mijas. The local blindman (ok, blind fitting man) came to measure up and turned out to be a major source of knowledge about everything and everywhere (unsurprising as he has probably been in more than 20% of the properties on the island). We learned of a few more places to try. We also met a lady on one of our walks and she had moved here from Abu Dhabi last year - and had spent the year looking for a property. She echoed blindman’s warning about watching for dampness and flooding problems. (Should we be worried about living in “the meadows” - just hope they areńt known to the locals as the “water meadows”!) . Also went over to see our erstwhile chums at the Regency and Tim´s innocent comments about meeting for a bike-ride some day turned into me buying an e-bike the same day (good salesman and and willing dupe I reckon). Not quite got buyer’s remorse (Cannondale are definitely not cheap), more a case of worrying whether I will be able to ride it (but it is unisex, so G could be on it anyway). Delivery next week, so watch this space.

It seems to have been a year and it seems to have been only a couple of days - but the month since we left Mijas has now passed. And where are we now ? - well we have a car; we are in the rented house; we have organised the supply of power, gas, fibre-optic and TV. We have all the facilities working in the house (but desperately need something like the brilliant blinds we had in Mijas, as it is a bit exposed with low window ledges and the lights on - actually, it is a bit exposed in just daylight in the lounge and the bedrooms). We are still not quite sure who we have to talk to about issues, the owner or the lady who told us about the place, but have found the building site staff pretty friendly and useful. (Washing machine now properly plumbed and the flag poles and advertising bits taken away). No contact from any neighbours (suits us anyway), but initial contact at the localist pub (two within 100 yards) the Viking. As we passed, I saw a large black cat in the car park, so went in to say hello. Big furry, fluffy, black beast with a full tail and who liked being stroked, tickled and fussed over (lying down for a belly rub is always a good sign). Went later to check the actual pub and turns out the cat is just a visitor from nearby. The pub was closing but the landlord, Marcus, said we could get a drink and sit outside, so I ordered a pint of the only proper draft I could see on the bar - first beer i about 6 or 7 years - and it was superb (and not just from absence and abstinence, it was a really good pint). Result! We have walked the half-mile down to the town a couple of times and the harbour is really fabulous. A few working fishing boats and small pleasure boats mainly, but so tidal (6 or 8 feet I guess), that everything is stranded for long periods. The water even rises above the weir separating the harbour from the little Silverburn river and we noticed that there were dogfish in the river at high tide (that and swans, ducks, seagulls, swallows et al). It is incredibly pretty and on Saturday there is a produce market, but the crowds are small to non-existent (one half-full coach on a weekend!) Yesterday there were a few tourists (handful) on the train down from Douglas, but really quiet all in all. We have returned to Fort (St Michael´s) Island a couple of times and the scenery is beautiful - as is the bird life. There is evidence of rabbits on the island, but not seen (possibly too many dogs being walked, as most people seem to have a dog here). On Friday we saw a couple of “strangers” on the rocks and they turned out to be Oyster Catchers. Big black and white birds with a 3” bright orange bill / beak (a bit of a giveaway once you know / have looked them up). A couple of swans live there, the eider ducks are still around in groups and there are huge amounts of herring gulls (and they are BIG). Lots of hooded crows near the house and a couple of Magpies too. There seems to be a colony near the pub, but not sure whether hoodies, rooks or possibly even ravens. Yesterday we had a Whatsapp from Axel in Argentina - or rather from Axel from Argentina in Mijas, ´cos there he was standing by the metal donkey in a photo. Must be nearly twenty years since we last met and then missed each other by four weeks. The irony of it. Oh, and almost forgot / managed to see an accountant (seems we have 180 days to decide on what and where), also met the guy from Jamie’s removals which is just the other side of the airport - and he seems amenable to our requirenments for storage and access over rhe next year! (But still no firm date re shipment, ho hum).

We have decided thathe real logo for the IoM should be ivy, not the 3 legs. Ivy is absolutely everywhere, covering almost every tree and building you see. The hedgerows and verges are absolutely beatutiful (especially at this time of year), but all the beautiful trees in said hedgerows are covered in ivy. And I mean “every tree” and ”covered”. It is so ubiquitous that the locals probably don´t even see it (but I will report back on that) - I may find a new role as ivy-remover of the IoM. Back to the mundane. Source-of-all-Island-knowledge, Tim, came up with addresses for a good place for mowers and the shop that kitted he house out. That shop more to be avoided than visited, as No.1 has definitely been fitted for style rather than functionality - but then it was a show-house. The contract forbids drilling and suchlike, but there in’t a hook in the place - nor bog-roll holders, soap holders in showers, etc. probably understandable, but a real pain to try and use. The contract also stipulates having all the carpet cleaned at the end of the tenancy, but they didn't bother before we arrived, so our new vac (supplied one was too old in the battery department) had to be emptied twice on its first full charge. Obviously the viewers wandered around in muddy shoes! But I get ahead of myself. We found a cafe on the main street which suits me better than G’s preferred M&S (which is full of geriatrics and children, both behind the counter and out front). Said new caff is “the Oasis” which does a mean toasted teacake and even meaner toasted bacon buttie - and a good cuppa. Not cheap (actually, nothing here is cheap) - although, when a £5 bacon buttie at midday feeds you for the whole day, I guess it has to be classified as good value! After we had met the landlady and signed the new contract (and, more importantly, got the key) I went and paid the car insurance - which was about 80€ more than we were paying in Spain for the same car - and then we went and picked up our new steed - which is the old steed in mirror image, but RHD suits it better. Moving across was the nightmare we had expected with three trips being required, and gratefully received assistance from barman Jack in moving the huge suitcases down the stairs. Luckily the pain of the move was ameliorated by the low amount of our “extras” on the hotel bill (Realistically, we would have stayed in the hotel for 3 months if it weren’t for TT week occupancy booked years in advance). Oh, and I forgot that we found out that the island does have an 0830 rush hour, which caught us out. One advantage of having the signed contract was that I could go down to ManxTelecom and formally order the fibre-optic. As I had suspected (and complained about) the 4 day delay in booking the installation, actually resulted in a 10 day delay in the scheduled installation. Boy do they need a cross-departmental process resolution expert (eg, moi). At the move point I was aadvised to photo the meters - tricky without meter door keys, but I managed. What was even trickier was trying to get the utility people to give a shit. I had been told how bad the gas people were, but reality beggared that expectation. Apparently peole couldńt get any help from the helpdesk, so started going into the office to get results - and sitting there until they got some help. The gas company´s solution to this was to shut the office totally!! A flyer posted in the doorway suggesting you go online innstead. I tried this and the website crashed under me within 5 minutes. Definitely echoes of Spain or the uk in the 60´s! As ever in my memory, the tv licence tosswits were on the case even before we moved in, with threats of enforced visits, fines and instant death (ok, slight exaggeration). I remember this from our flat during our first expat asignment - and how I had to recoup the cost every time we went away (but you always have to lose at least one month, they dont count days on your side). All a bit annoying when no fibre to run the tv anyway. In the garage at No. 1, we found an electric (cable, ugh9- mower, cable strimmer and 8m exptension reel. Probably all cheapest available and not what I would have chosen. All this i a garage in need of sweeping (or in G´s case, mopping). The reason it is called a show house also quickly became obvious - no curtains or blinds, just heavy “festoon” style blinds which mean either dark or exposed - and I mean exposed - bum on display to world if unclothed anywhere but in top landing. Think that will need modification (-blinds, not bum). One evening, we did a quick tour of the area, but found the George pub a bit young and noisy. The really good news was that we found there is a mbile chippy that parks nearby for the second half of the week, and it even does mushy peas (good stuff, but I forgot to ask for scrapings). Oh, and horror of horrors, the washing machine wasn’t working. Actually none of the water-based devices had been plumbed-in, so G had to wait for trial wash until I had found some site plumbers to set everything up. All well until water from washer started spraying in cupboard as plumbers not up to scratch. Bucket and towel remedied that, but not tthe best start, but at least it is home. .