To Cut a Long Story Short
Page 1
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
Photo: The Sunset As Seen By Stavros Most Days
The continuing ‘adventures’ of Stavros Allanopolis living his life with his wife Valerie, in The Mani Region of South Western mainland Greece.
The ‘adventures’ of December 2010 – December 2013
By
STAVROS ALLANOPOLIS
International Best Selling Author
© STUART ALLAN 2007 - 2014
AUTHOR’S NOTES
About The Kindle Book Format
This book was originally designed to be produced as a paperback with photos inserted. The Kindle Book formatting sometimes changes the layout because every reader adjusts their point size of print to suit. Often, in the Kindle Book format, not each page appears as originally written.
Please allow for the ‘gaps’ as they occur!
Warning!
If you have already read ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ and / or ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ written by Stavros Allanopolis, please be aware that some pieces from those books are repeated in this book. They contain the original ‘background and positioning’ information for any reader who has not read about the ‘adventures’ of Stavros Allanopolis, and how he moved from the United Kingdom and went to live permanently in Greece.
This book is mostly in chronological order (December 2010 until December 2013) but instead of labelling each chapter by month (that would look like a ‘blog’!) most chapters are about the overall subject; the happening (‘adventure’) and the consequence etc. and the cost! So, for those readers who have already read ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ and / or ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ the Author suggests you skip the PROLOGUE and the pages that describe how the ‘Dream’ house became known as Meerkat Manor as you will have already read about it.
Start at the chapter headed:
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
.... January 2011 And The ‘Dream Life’ Still Goes On In Greece
___________________________________________________
TO CONTINUE ….
…. For First Time Readers, “Hello And Welcome To My World”
Photo: The Author Stavros Allanopolis – a.k.a. Stuart Allan
PROLOGUE ….
…. December 2013
If you have not read about Stavros Allanopolis before, Stavros Allanopolis is the pseudonym of Stuart Allan. This is the third book that he has written about the ‘adventures’ that he and his wife Valerie have experienced living their lives in The Mani Region which is situated in the South Western mainland of Greece. In April 2008 they moved from the United Kingdom to live permanently in Greece.
They moved to Agios Nikolaos; a small fishing village situated on the Peloponnese Peninsula, South Western mainland Greece. The region is called The Mani.
Since they arrived in Greece, Stuart has written two books under the pseudonym of Stavros Allanopolis. The books record the ‘adventures’ experienced in moving to live permanently in Greece. All the ‘highs’ and the ‘lows’ and recorded in vivid and sometimes hilarious detail, and accompanied by his colour photographs.
The first book is titled ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ (Available from Amazon at the Kindle Book Store at Amazon. Click on Stavros Allanopolis). It tells the story of a move, ‘lock, stock and barrel’ from the United Kingdom to Greece. Along with his wife Valerie, and their two cats Owen and Minstrel, he decided to move to Agios Nikolaos, a rather remote fishing village in the heart of The Mani region on the Peloponnese Peninsula in South Western mainland Greece.
It charts their ‘adventure’ from the moment they made their fateful decision in 2006 to leave the UK, to compiling an ‘Exit the UK’ plan, their quest to buy a house in Greece, the move from the United Kingdom in April 2008, and the following 20 months living permanently in Greece. It contains full details of all the ‘highs’ and the ‘lows,’ the laughter and the tears, and is illustrated with his own photos that capture the images of some of the more interesting events; Up close and personal … ‘warts and all!’
The second book, ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ (Available from Amazon at the Kindle Book Store. Click on Stavros Allanopolis), tells the story of how Stavros came to get a full time job; ‘Watching’. He describes it like this, “Imagine that you are seated in a peaceful and secluded spot under an Olive tree. Imagine that you are sitting in the shade and out of the burning sun as it shines down to ripen the Olives. You have a glass of Ouzo in your hand, and as you slowly sip it you are looking up and ‘Watching’ them growing above you. If you are able to imagine this location then you too will understand what it is like to be ‘Watching The Olives Grow,’ but if not, then the pages of the book will help you”.
In the book, Stavros tells you that it is a hard job, but somebody has to do it, and, as you will read, he works harder at it than most. He takes his job very seriously! When he is not ‘watching’ he is usually dealing with a variety problems and issues, and tending the garden.
It was whilst Stavros was completing the final chapter of ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ in December 2010 that it occurred to him that the ‘story’ so far, would be just that; so far. He felt it was going to be an on-going ‘adventure’ living in The Mani region. At that time, he decided not to write any more
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. He Changed His Mind!
This book is about the continuing ‘adventures’ and ‘mishaps’ and is designed to ‘cut the long story short’ and just to give you enough detail for you to understand the happenings and the consequences. during the period December 2010 and until December 2013 living in Agios Nikolaos. How did Stuart become Stavros?
Well, his youngest daughter Lucy bestowed the name upon her Dad when she ‘Greek-ised’ his name on the mail she sent. Her mail was addressed not to Stuart Allan but to Stavros Allanopolis, and since that day everybody in the village has called him ‘Stavros’. So much easier; so Greek!
(REPRISE TO 2008 FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION)
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. We Called Our House Meerkat Manor
In June 2006, Stuart and Valerie decided to move to Greece and take their two cats, Owen and Minstrel, with them. It was life-changing decision! During the planning stage, the 2007 Global Recession started, and nobody could foresee the havoc that the Global Recession would wreak on businesses, and personal finances alike. However, oblivious to the future financial risks and problems, they followed through with their ‘Exit The UK’ plan, and in April 2008 they moved to Greece. They were heading into the unknown. Were they truly brave, or foolish? Only time would tell!
The first two books contained dozens of stories in full detail, and they were accompanied by countless photographs. You can read all about how they found their house in Stavros’ first book ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ but this is an abridged description of the house.
Made of locally quarried stone, it is built in the traditional style of the Mani Region, including a mini Mani Tower attached to one side of the main construction.
Photo: Stone House In Traditional Mani Region Style
Set in 650 square metres of ground in the middle of an olive grove, it also has a low stone wall built all the way around the plot.
Stavros wrote that when they moved, they brought some framed photographs of Elephants with them from the UK and two wooden Giraffes and some stone Meerkats. One of their favourite animals, the Meerkat is third only to their love of African Elephants and Giraffes. Stavros bought 30 of them with them! The Meerkats are made of concrete but look like the real animal.
Along the top of the wall he built several stone ‘clusters’ to house the Meerkats, and he sited them in small ‘family’ g
roups posed within the stone ‘clusters.’
Photo: Stone Meerkats And ‘Silhouette’ Sign
They also have a wind and smoke vane in the shape of a Meerkat attached to the top of our chimney stack.
Photo: Meerkat Smoke Vane On Chimney Stack
No surprise then that Stavros and Valerie named their house Meerkat Manor!
Photo: House Name Plaque – Meerkat Manor - In Greek Letters
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. The 2010 Olive Harvest Was A Disaster!
Since early December 2009, Stavros Allanopolis had spent 12 months hard at work ‘Watching The Olives Grow’. He had worked hard every single day ‘Watching’ from his terrace. He constantly reminded people,
“It’s a hard job but someone has to do it.”
Mind you, whilst it was a full time job, he did manage to do other things. Being a male, he can multi-task; looking around the olive groves; sipping ouzo; reading books; writing books; gardening.
However, he was very conscientious because on the 1st of the month, every month for 12 months, he took a photo of the olives that he was watching. He saw it as a permanent record to prove that he was actually doing his job, and that he was good at!
He took a photo of the same tree and the same cluster of olives as they grew right before his eyes. He took the photos at different times of the day; from dawn to dusk and under a full moon.
He ‘Watched’ to see their development and in anticipation that they would grow in volume, become plump in order to yield a big harvest of olives for pressing into oil.
By the end of the summer of 2010, they were beginning to look good. There were plenty of olives on each tree, and he predicted a yield of around 50 litres of oil. His ‘Watching’ was paying dividends!
He was very hopeful, and worked hard at his job.
Photo: The ‘Watched’ Olive Cluster
Seemingly he had hoped in vain. The harvest was a disaster! The 14 trees produced only 12 litres of oil instead of the predicted 50 litres when the trees were examined in the late summer.
Without enough water, the olives had shrivelled up and become quite small and dry. This was bad. If that wasn’t bad enough, during November there were strong winds which blew a lot of olives off the branches. This was not good at all. Things were going from bad to worse for Stavros.
What olives there were left on the trees were picked and pressed, producing only the sad 12 litres. Soon after, the trees were then pruned and the cuttings were burned.
A few days later it rained. Too late to save Stavros!
Not surprisingly, Stavros was sacked by Valerie (his wife and ‘employer’ for dereliction of duty. It seems the olives had not had enough rain in September. Olives need rain late on in their growing cycle in order to plump them up. The fatter they are the more oil they will yield when pressed. Valerie determined that Stavros should have seen this whilst ‘Watching’ and watered them by hand instead of just ‘Watching’ them.
After the rain came the sunshine and the grass began to grow and the sheep returned to graze in the grove once more.
Photo: Sheep Grazing In The Olive Grove
Being sacked was not the end of the bad news for Stavros. The poor result of the harvest would mean that instead of selling oil surplus to production, Stavros would have to buy olive oil for the year ahead. December 2010 had been an expensive month in more ways than one!
ALREADY KNOW STAVROS? START HERE!
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. January 2011 And The ‘Dream’ Life Still Goes On In Greece
Photo: The Harbour At Agios Nikolaos
Looking back, Stavros and Valerie recognised life could have been easier in the first three years of living in Agios Nikolaos.
It is now January 2011 and 33 months since Stuart and Valerie arrived to live permanently in Agios Nikolaos. 33 months since the locals renamed Stuart as Stavros (because some could not pronounce the ‘Stu’ in Stuart), and Valerie as Balerie (because there is no ‘V’ in the Greek alphabet but there is a ‘B’) . Because they had been visiting the village so many times during the period 2006 – 2007, they were known to and accepted by the locals. They arrived and immediately were accepted into the community as ‘locals’ and as Stavros says,
“In tackling the problems that we experienced in the early days, we met so many locals and experienced so much warmth and their generosity as they helped us find solutions and solve the problems.”
However as they both say,
“You have to be brave. Greek life is different!”
As a background, it is worth noting that during the 3 year period that this book covers, Stavros and Valerie had to cope with almost 12,000 Euros of unbudgeted expenditure living In Meerkat Manor!
2011 was just around the corner; A new year. Who knew what new opportunities would present themselves? But, first things first, there was the second book to be finished and sent for publication.
Stavros got to work completing ‘Watching The Olives Grow’ and getting it ready for publication. Writing the final chapters was a painful reminder of just what had happened the previous month.
Valerie sacked Stavros! She maintained that as the harvest was so poor he must not have been his job properly.
Eventually, the book was finished and sent for publishing.
Whilst writing the last few words, Stavros made two decisions:
1) No more ‘Watching’
2) No more writing!
It was time to focus on the future; the year to come. It was time to tackle the long list of jobs that had to be done.
Stavros had a list pinned on the back of the cupboard door and 17 ‘to do’ items were listed.
Where to start?
The list was extremely task-orientated, including, gardening, irrigation systems to be installed, painting the railings, painting the doors, filling cracks in the walls and applying sealants to the edges of tiles on doorsteps and window sills.
Stavros remembered the first Greek expression he learned:
“Siga, siga. Isos. Avrio.” (Phonetic Greek)
English translation is, “Slowly, slowly. Maybe tomorrow!”
He remembers this expression most days as he watches the sun go down.
He thinks to himself, or shares his thoughts out aloud with Valerie,
“Yes, I didn’t get everything done today, but there is always tomorrow.”
Another expression he cherishes is ….
…. ‘life is too short to drink cheap wine!’
Where it came from and its’ significance he isn’t sure, but it is very true!
Photo: Good Wine At Sunset …. Tomorrow Will Wait For Stavros!
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. Sales Of ‘It Started With An Ouzo’ Start To Take Off
Writing the book was not about making money, rather it was just about covering the production costs (substantial!). Stavros had 100 paperback books printed. The books were printed in England and shipped to two locations. Some were delivered to his Brother Bill in England and the balance was delivered to Meerkat Manor.
Stavros sent an E-mail to everybody in his address book inviting them to buy a copy. Orders started flooding in! Bill mailed copies within the UK and Stavros sold and delivered locally, and managed the despatch of the International orders; Mexico, East and West Coast America, Italy and France.
At that time, there was a lunch once per month organised by Stavros’ friends Karin and Steffan; called ‘For Body and Mind’. The lunch was intended to meet others to have lunch (Body) and to ‘catch up’ etc. Each month, a speaker was asked to speak before the lunch. Subjects were wide and diverse (Mind).
Stavros was invited to speak at the February lunch to introduce his book and talk about how he came to write it and also a précis of the contents.
The Lunch was a sell out; a huge success. Stavros sold a lot of books (signed of course!), and he also raffled a copy with the proceeds going to the Charity that Karin and Steff
an support; Fadderfriends.
Fadderfriends is an informal, politically and religiously independent organisation, the purpose of which is to support children in need, particularly in Orphanages in South Africa and Albania.
Photo: Fadderfriends Poppy Logo Branding
Also once per month is a Bazaar where anybody can rent a stall to sell ‘stuff’. The stall rentals go to Fadderfriends. Goods on sale range from fresh food, cakes, clothes and general items (unwanted ‘stuff’’), not to mention Stavros having a stall to sell his book! Mind you, he did also take the opportunity to scrutinise the contents of Meerkat Manor and he sold any items that he found were not being used or wanted anymore. Regardless of value, he tended to sell everything for 1 Euro each. His cast offs became something wanted by others for a very small sum.
The Greeks are not good at Recycling. At various locations around the villages are industrial-sized wheelie bins; green or silver for Household Waste and General Rubbish, and Blue for items designated for Recycling. Great idea, but in reality a mix of everything is put in all bins regardless of designation! However, within the local area there does exist a different form of Recycling.
It works like this. If you have something that you no longer need, including electrical items, instead of putting it the wheelie bins, you put it down beside the bins. Then, anyone passing by can see it and if they want it then they take it. They have a need for it, they do not have to pay for it and it isn’t wasted. This approach / system works well, particularly for those who have little or no money but do have needs.
Items seen by the side of the bins include: Clothes, Kettles, Cookers, Fridges, Freezers, Mattresses, Toilets and Wash Basins, Furniture and Wood for burning.
TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT ….
…. Stavros Decided To Help Organise A Walk For Charity