CHRISTINE & JOHN not urgent but please contact us by phone or e mail re message from Gary.

Only 24 days to Christmas, where has the time gone? Today was one of those days...The air/con in the bedroom would only blow cold so we spent the morning waiting for an engineer to call. We were to be his 1st customer of the day, ha, likely story. They eventually arrived at 12.30 after Jim had marched down to the shop but they had it fixed within 5 minutes.

Then drove to Lefkosa to see the lovely Sabiha for a chat. Next stop, Ermatas to pay for our floor tiles then onto the hospital for our test results. Same procedure as last time. Jim hovered over the door handle and when it opened he was in like a shot much to everyone's surprise. For the 45 minutes that he was in there all that happened was the staff arguing amongst themselves with the subject being our results. When Jim emerged with one of the staff we were ushered to another room, a lot more shouting and back down the corridor only to be told that the results had been sent to the police in Girne. We doubted this but still don't have the vocabulary to argue, so, back to Girne police station who politely told us the hospital were talking rubbish. Back to the hospital only this time to be told results had been sent to immigration in Lefkosa. Along to immigration and ... you've guessed it. No results but, 'Do not to worry'. Now we're not the worrying kind and have been very patient but it turns out that from 18th October this year (the date we had our tests) all results will be sent to immigration but immigration are unaware of this. A dispute between government offices. The interior minister will make a decision on Monday as to who will deal with this issue and we have to phone in the afternoon for instructions. Complete and utter chaos, What a day.

Temperature sitting at 12°C at 6.50am this morning, Jim went to play golf with Rev, he had a good game, thinks he is in with a chance on the Captains Day competition on Sunday if he plays as well. I went to the hairdressers for the 1st time over here, prices not any different than the UK but it was a UK salon which I visited. Heard horror stories about the products the local stylists use and I didn't fancy having a blow dry by someone with a fag hanging out of his/her mouth.

Took a drive over to Lapta to see what was happening with Colin & Linda's plot, not a lot really, the builders are busy finishing the Carob site then it's our site then Lapta.

A nice 14°C to start off the day and breakfast on the balcony this morning. Then off into town, it seemed quite natural but also quite funny sitting in the middle of the high street drinking coffee and watching the world go by. Then who should walk by but Brenda & Tom, they were off to make enquiries about a satellite dish for their TV so we had our usual blether then separated.

Did a little shopping and visited Karakum but it was pretty quiet there too. Back home to watch the Newcastle match we were joined by Tom & Brenda who still can't get a decent TV reception, 2 weeks I think before they get their dish. Had a couple of beers and a good laugh.

Captains day competition at the golf course today and afterwords, food, drink and prizes. I wonder if Jim'll win anything today??!! The sun was out this morning but now it's overcast. Whilst Jim's away it gives me chance to mop all the floors and do a big clean then prepare dinner, mushrooms in a creamy white wine sauce followed by spag bog. Then a sit down with a nice cup of tea.

Not much happened today, went to the tax office to get forms for a Cypriot driving licence then went to see Mehmet at the Manolya to get his help in translating and to also phone immigration in Lefkosa with regards to our medical results, they told us to phone back next Monday. Michele had her 2nd Turkish lesson in the afternoon, the idea is that she will then pass on her new found language skills to me.

Today was a long day and this entry is not for the faint hearted. I played golf in the morning with Rev and whilst there I spoke with Hasan, a Cypriot Doctor who plays golf, I told him about the missing test results and asked if he could have a word with someone. He later told me that he had spoken with the Health Secretary and our results were indeed at immigration.

First we went to the tax office with the relevant paperwork and the 136 Million TL (£50) each for a 5 year driving licence only to be told that we need residency status before we could apply. We visited the police to have this statement checked out and told them that our test results were somewhere in the twilight zone and as such we could not progress any further with our residency application until they appeared. Transpires that we can only drive on a UK driving licence for the duration of the 3 month visa you get when you enter the country initially. They told me that I may have a problem if stopped by the police.

With this in mind we set off for immigration in Lefkosa to track down our results.Some locals who were waiting asked if I came from Siberia as I had my shorts on and they were all wrapped up in winter clothing, well it is 18°C. Anyway, started at the immigration desk then we were ushered through to archives who after a while told us our results had been sent today to the calisma (employment department) elsewhere in Lefkosa, we drove there but could not get parked anywhere near, found parking about a 20 minute walk away. As we expected they asked us ''What Results?'' they knew nothing about it. So it was back to immigration.

We are well recognised now by the staff at immigration, nearly on 1st name terms, but even we could not believe their next story which, was, that whilst we were on our way to the calisma the results were on their way back to immigration, by this time their noses were really staring to get long then came the best part, someone from the Health Secretary's department came round about 30 minutes ago and took them back the to the Health Secretary. Good job Michele was sitting down as she would have fallen onto the floor laughing. We knew that getting angry would not be of any help so we smiled, told them diplomatically that we getting p*s*ed Off and asked for directions to the health secretary's office again another 20 minute drive away. They asked if we knew where the Prime Minister lived to which we replied that if we did, it would be his door we'd be knocking on.

At the Health Secretary's office they were very pleasant but again we could see the hint of Pinocchio noses. We explained what had happened and they told us -----wait for it---- that the results have just gone back to immigration. ''Look at their noses'' I yell to Michele and she giggles, We show our disappointment and she says, "Please, wait until tomorrow and everything should be resolved". Fair enough, who do we contact tomorrow then?, we asked, another cracker came out ''I don't know'' she said with a smile. We all laughed out loud. She then gave us her direct phone number and told us to contact her. We await with baited breath.

Well, here we go again, on the search for the holy grail, or, in our case the medical results. Phoned the Health Secretary and wow! what a surprise, the results are definitely, guess where?.. yes, immigration, deja vu? At this point all sense of reason goes from your head and for a while you become speechless, well in our case at least a couple of hours, we just sat in our own little dreamworlds. Later in the day whilst trying to work out, what to do next, Hasan, my doctor friend phoned telling me that we should to go to immigration on Monday with our passports where I will meet a friend of a friend. ''Umm, wonder if we should wear a yellow carnation in our button holes Shell''. ''Don't be silly Jim, today you just carry a rolled up news paper under your left arm''. So, as we have no strategy left, we're going to give this a try.

The rest of the day was spent packing our suitcases and looking for a different country to retire to, No only kidding, the good thing about doing lots of research before coming here was that we knew that the government departments were not, well lets just say, not the same as the UK and hopefully our experiences will be of help to others who make the same move.

What a cracking start to the day. Went into town as we had business with 2 banks, managed to get ticket No3 at HSBC and No36 at Turkish bank. We completed our transaction at HSBC and ran down to the second bank to find that No35 was just being called. We got there by the skin of our teeth. Normally it's at least a 2 hour plus wait but today we did both in 20 minutes. This surely is the new World record. No queues at the water payment office either, things were going so well we were tempted to ask if they had our medical results but didn't want to tempt fate.

On to our site to meet Burak but he was still in Lefkosa so we met Ahmed, another site Manager/Engineer who we were able to discuss our concerns with. The ceiling had been pointed out to him and he was in the throws of redoing it. Am so pleased we bought from this builder.

On to the Pegasos for some chicken liver pate and sausage rolls then back to the appartment to study.

This evening we dined at Alesta's with Tom, Brenda and Richard & Leslie, another Scottish couple but who now live in Yorkshire and have bought near us in Ozanköy.

Heavy rain this morning so off to the supermarket for a shop and the weekly paper. Jim was reading an article about a local woman finding unsavoury things in her bread rolls which she'd recently purchased. Ugh, disgusting, but it didn't put Jim off eating his fruit pastry. I took one bite of mine and offered the rest to Jim, his eyes lit up and he took a bite and promptly spat it out. Opening up the pastry we saw that all the fruit had gone mouldy. Back to the supermarket and a word with the manager who said they shouldn't have been on display as they were over two days old. He asked Jim to take anything from the bakery including the huge gateaux but Jim refused (was'nt feeling too well at the thought of what he'd just eaten) So we got our money back.

Went to pick up John and Christine from the airport, good job Jim had taken his clubs out of the boot as they had brought everything but the kitchen sink back with them. A nice drive home and a chance to catch up. We don't know where these two weeks have gone.

December 13th and we're sitting on the balcony lapping up the sunshine. Headed towards immigration in Lefkosa this morning, almost there when we received a call from Jim's doctor friend. The good news was that all departments have agreed that immigration will hold test results and the not so good news was "As it's a new procedure, would we wait till Thursday before we go to collect them?" so we haeaded back home, a visit to the site to check on a few things then a lazy day at home .

John and Christine came round with some goodies they kindly brought us from the UK including a DVD which means we can now watch some decent movies at home in the evening. Thanks guys .

Played golf today with Rev, good game and better still, Richard came along with a bag of balls for me, 52 in total and will cost me about a tenner and a couple of beers.

Well, here we go in search of the medical results again, visited the police in Girne, told them what my friend Hasan had told us they then made a phone call, we, as best we could tried to listen in, they were talking with immigration in Lefkosa and our names were mentioned. We were then told ''please wait for 10 minutes, would you like coffee?'' Whilst sitting we noticed a sign on the door : Please dress smartly otherwise applications will not be processed: good job I was not wearing my 'see you' Jimmy hat' and flip flops. About 30 minutes later immigration phoned them back, must have said that indeed they not only had our medical results but that they were also ok as they then requested from each of us, 1 x 1,500,000 million TL stamp, 4 passport pictures, passport and copy of passport, rental agreement for where we are now staying, bank book to prove we're not vagrants & parents names and their address's in the UK. We then signed declarations and were told to visit immigration in 20 days to conclude the procedures. Well at least we are now moving in the right direction.

A visit to our friend Mehmet just to say hello and have a chat. We like speaking with him, he tells us all about Cyprus culture and the little things you should know about living here but of course are never told. I'll talk about these on a later, laaazy day. Onto Colin and Linda's new build in Lapta, to see what progress there has been.

Although the temperatures are not as low as we are used to in Scotland it does feel cold at night in the flat after the sun has gone to bed. The houses over here are not built to contain heat but to keep cool, marble floors, open plan etc. The air con is a big help but you feel cold when you move around the house, as such we travelled south again to buy an electric blanket and a hot water bottle for Michele. She didn't even have one in Scotland, not even whilst in our first married quarter and I clearly remember having to scrape the ice off the INSIDE of the windows. I will just continue with my porridge to keep my insides warm and of course a wee nip now and again. We now await the outcome of Europe's decision on EURO entry talks for Turkey which will be announced tomorrow.

A nice quiet day, we were going to go swimming in the sea as yesterday had been glorious but today was cooler. Bought a couple of DVD's to watch and just lazed around.

Golf for Jim this morning whilst I stay home and study. Turkish lesson tomorrow and I haven't done much this week.

Jim returned from the golf not one of his better days, went round with a guy from Bulgaria who did not speak English, but somehow they managed to converse.

Tom Reeve phoned and invited us out for lunch, it was Brenda's 21st (?) so we went to the Courtyard for a Sunday roast then off to their rented villa for coffee,cake and a wee nip or two.

Early rise this morning, neighbours Brian and Jan are going back to the UK for a month and we took them to the airport.

Tom and I have decided to put coving in our houses before the painting gets done so we spent most of the morning visiting builders merchants trying to find some but the only success was obtaining a phone number of someone who has a factory with plaster moulds but who does not speak English. We will try and contact him later in the week if one of my Cypriot friends is available to speak for us

A visit to the south today, visited all the big shops, Debenhams and the like mostly for some jumpers and things for Jim but didn't find any he liked. We then discovered another large hypermarket whilst taking a different route home, no, we were not lost. We preferred this Alphamega supermarket to the Orphinides which we normally use down south, even found double cream here. The weather here was about 18°C but when we returned home it was cooler and damp.

When we got home we had a note from the postman saying that we had 2 parcels to collect from the post office, now feeling a little excited because Mark told me to expect something from him but have to wait till tomorrow as the P.O is now closed.

First thing on the agenda was to visit the Post office to collect our parcels which were full of goodies from Mark,a colleague and chum of mine from my working days at the hospital. Mark, you're wonderful xx. Then off to pay our electric Bill, 55 million TL (£20.54) A visit to Lefkosa was next on the cards to a clothes shop we had been told about, we found jumpers and jeans for Jim there and at reasonable prices too, the attendant followed us everywhere, you try something on, wrong size, she found the right size, see something you like but maybe want it a little different, she will find it for you, decide on something she will take it to the till and another girl appears to chaperone you. The only other place were you would get this type of personal service would be if you were an oil Sheik in Harrods. I found a cardigan that I liked and the girl says 'try it on here for size' I took off my coat and stripped down to my bra, now one wouldn't do that in the middle of M&S would one?

We then headed back to Girne, had lunch at the Pegasos and also bought some logs (compressed olives) from Veli for our fire jut in case we need a roarer over Xmas. We also visited Bell Foods for the 1st time, frozen food shop which stocks most things and also beer and wine slightly cheaper than the supermarket.

Torrential rains made us rethink our day. We had to visit places and friends today but the heavy rains soon put a stop to that. We called in at Kubilay's and the local garage to wish them all a Merry Christmas before going onto the Pegasos, Veli, the owner put on free drinks and a lunch for all the golfers, regulars and their partners today so we drove along expecting the place to be empty (didn't think anyone would venture out in the rain) only to discover it was 3 deep to get to the bar. We under estimated the attraction to a free buffet and drinks. Fought our way to the bar to wish Veli a Merry Christmas, had one drink and left. As we were feeling a little peckish we popped in next door for a burger.

Onto the site to give some goodies to the builders and a stop off at Lemar supermarket. Could hardly get into the store, rather than walk in the rain, drivers had actually drove up on the pavement and parked at the entrance leaving little room for anyone to enter. Changed our mind about going on site. The rain had turned the plots to deep mud banks. Back home to prepare for tomorrow.

Customary site inspection followed by another Turkish lesson today, did you know that the Turks answered their phones saying 'Alo' because these letters (A.L.O) were the initials of Alexander Graham Bell's girlfriend? Bet you didn't.

Still food & drink left over from Christmas day so we asked Tom and Brenda to come help us out. They duly arrived around 6pm and we all tucked in. Fortunately we were able to get a connection with MSM and T & B were able to chat and see their families back home.

Our plan for today was to take photo's of a couple of houses to e-mail them to friends back in the UK but whilst sitting in the car at Karakum waiting for Jim to do a quick house check, the phone rang. 'Alo Michele, it's Sabiha, I'm here, on site', so on with my wellies and a coffee with Sabiha. She explained she was waiting for Lee and Sally the owners of No 1 to show, as we chatted, along came Burak and Ahmet followed by Tom and Brenda then Lee and Sally. Now we have met 5 of our neighbours. Some two hours later!!, we took a walk around town and the harbour, stopped for coffee and a sandwich in the street cafe opposite HSBC and was complimented on my use of the Turkish language.

Back home to find we had received a beautiful calendar depicting Dunfermline, no note inside so we're unsure who mailed it to us, but, Thank you, who ever you are.

Early start for Jim today, he's going Greek side to play golf with his Turkish Cypriot friends whilst I meet up with Jess and Tess in the Pegasos to practise our Turkish with the help of our host, Veli.