Got up really early this morning because we had been told there was going to be a power cut from 9 till 4 so that some work could be done to the high voltage supply. Wanted to be sure I got a shower and breakfast before that happened. Water pressure here is boosted by an electric pump and if there is a power cut, the water pressure drops right off.
Anyway after that I headed into Kyrenia to the tax office to check we were all OK with our rental tax money for the last couple of years. It’s a hell hole of a place. ..not enough parking and always madly busy. There’s no online filing of anything here so you have to go in person. And things like car tax are all in there too. It’s a madhouse.
I found a really nice guy on the property rental tax desk and he looked up our record and said there were no assessments outstanding! Hooray! Oh but wait…. You haven’t had a rental since October? No. But you haven’t made a declaration. You should have done that. Apparently you are meant to tell them if you’ve finished for the year. I’ve only been doing this 19 years and never heard this one. OK though I will do it now. But if you do it now I will have to give you a small punishment… I really tried not to grin but I’m not sure I was successful. There was a pause…. If you go to the police and get your entry and exit dates document and also an electric bill for October through now and if I can see you weren’t renting, then I will excuse you this time.
So I now have to go and get these two things and he will look at the electric bill and compare it to when I was in Cyprus and if there are high periods when I wasn’t in the country he will say we were renting. But, there won’t be any so it will be OK. Tedious but OK. Going to the police to get the immigration document is interesting. You first have to buy something like 28p worth of postage stamps which is how you pay for the document. I’ll go on Wednesday and get that done.
Came back calling at Starling supermarket for a few things I need for Pamela’s dinner on Wednesday night. I am making a curried lentil soup as the first course. The generator was keeping the lights on, so I knew the power cut had started.
Came home and hung the pool pergola curtains. They look nice. Had them cleaned in the autumn. Then I detached the “elephant trunk” water diverter that re-routes the winter rain coming down one of the drainpipes onto our bedroom balcony. Put that away till November. Washed all the outside tables which were dusty from the winter rain.
After lunch I went for a walk way up the ravine track to see the progress on two houses being built up there. They’ve come on a bit but not much progress. They are a long way from us so I was just being nosey.
My last job today was to fix a pottery decorative string of pebbles and mermaids that I’d bought in Sarasota when we were there with Danny. Its gone on the front of the pergola facing the pool. I like it!
The power cut went on till about 530. The longest I’ve experienced ever. I was getting the candles out by the end just in case. Thank heavens it’s all back now and my chicken is roasting away.