The Best Souvenir!

When we get home from a family holiday we occasionally have an appliance crisis on the first week back. It happens so often that is almost like a family tradition. The day after our first visit to France, when George was just a tot, the washing machine packed in. It had to be replaced when we were completely broke after our first trip abroad.

A few years ago, the dishwasher gave up the ghost during the first few days back from somewhere.

This year has been no exception. Our TV died. We've had a pretty good run with this television. The Man of the Place and I bought it together during my first trip to the UK at Easter in 1992. We were buying things for our first home together. We needed things like bunk beds for the boys, a television, chest of drawers and a dining room table and chairs. To cut corners, we bought some of these things second hand. The television was one of the second hand items we purchased.

This TV hasn't fizzled, or behaved badly in all that time but the day after we returned from Greece, it made a crackling noise and went black. It was terminal and not worth fixing. We did the decent thing and took it out into the garden to shoot it.
Sadly the only thing we have in the house is an air gun that wasn't forceful enough to crack the glass on the front of the TV. George and Henry got to pretty close range with the pellet gun and the pellets just ricocheted off into the tall grass. They ended up throwing bricks at the screen. Effective but not nearly as fun as shooting the TV Elvis style.

We moved the "spare" television from George's room into the front room and have wired all the DVD players and things up to it. We only really need one TV anyway.

Today, The Man of the Place installed his souvenir from Skiathos in the garden. He claims it is the best souvenir he has ever purchased.

Please note that the price says 32 Euros but we got it for 30! Good price!! I'm afraid we won't be able to use the hammock too often because of rain but we're planning ahead for global warming.

If one is relaxing in the hammock, you just can't be seen until you're right up on the hammock.

This is the view from the path on the side of the house. See? Henry is completely obscured.

One or both of those pine trees were marked for destruction. They're not very good looking and block a lot of sunshine. When Henry saw the hammock for sale in one of the shops in Skiathos Town, he knew that this item was going to be the thing that saves the trees! The trees, as ugly as they can be, are perfect hammock distance apart.
View from the window.

The Man of the Place is having a well deserved snooze!