Cars in my eyes #1

In the days before sat nav, directions used to be given by pub names ie turn left at the Kings Head then second right after the Queens Arms. My dad was such a person. To him an ideal day out was to drive out one way to a pub and then back by another. You never went there and back by the same route. And of course you always had to go to a pub where he would be recognised and given his fair due. Quite how he got to be recognised in the first place was never clear but I was very young in the days of those outings. A man of his standing required a certain level of due. Publicans were well aware of that fact then, when people knew their place.

1960

 As a manager of a suburban high street bank he couldn't afford to run a car on his salary, bank pay not being what it is today. I'm pretty sure this car had been borrowed, as it seems much too flashy for him to have owned. Looks like a Ford Zodiac and dig the white wall tyres! I remember our first family car as being square, black and sensible not like this one at all. The motif on the rear of the photo says '1960 Worthing', which would make me 14 and my brother, Paul, 7. As you can see I was quite fashion conscious from an early age. Bouffant skirts, wide belts and pumps being all the rage in those days. In fact, we all look very smart so perhaps we were off to some special occasion but all this has been lost in the mist of time.

Out of Date

Best Before ?

It's close coming up to February which is known in Greece as 'fence-post burning month'. This relates to the shortage of firewood after a long and arduous winter. Fortunately we still have plenty of firewood but I use it as an annual opportunity to clear out the kitchen cupboards of foodstuffs which have sat there overlong.

Following my exploits with the out of date irish whiskies we had sardines on toast for lunch yesterday going back to 2006.

Last night, as I had quite a lot of cooking apples in hand, I thought I would whip up a quick pud of baked apples. I found a jar of mincemeat in the cupboard that has actually been here longer than I have, which I used to stuff the apples. As you can see the best before date is Nov 2005 (for those hard of sight). I think this is a personal best!

We haven't eaten the apples yet as it was a bit late by the time they were cooked, so here's hoping!

Fur and Feathers

Stavros

We were a bit worried that the appearance of a cat on the premises might frighten all the birds away. However our foster friend Stavros is sufficiently laid back that the birds don't seem to feel pressured at all. As soon as the rain stops there they are pecking amongst the grass and hopping in and out of the foliage on the trees. I have a wonderful view from the kitchen window and keep the binoculars handy to keep an eye on who is about.

The other day I had the pleasure of spotting what I think was a song thrush. It was only visible for a few minutes but it looked just like the song thrushes in England. I was able to get a photo of another new visitor who was very round and plump with a black cap, white collar and pink chest. I can recognise robins, sparrows, tits, finches, wagtails, wrens, red starts as well as blackbirds, magpies and crows but I don't know the name of this bird.

New Visitor

Birthday

A card I had today told me that AGE is not a word to be frightened of, but CARDIGAN, SLIPPERS and ZIMMER are! So I took off my cardigan and slippers and put on my purple hoodie.

For a celebration nightcap, instead of coco, I retrieved from the cupboard a box we had been given for Christmas some time ago. Inside were two Irish coffees that you put in the microwave. Unfortunately when I looked at the use by date it was 2009 so they didn't turn out very well but at least I have two nice glasses.

Down but not out

Before

Hurrah, yesterday Ray chainsawed the last remaining branch on the big tree we are pruning above the wall we are finishing. It was a difficult one to do as it was growing vertically but had more growth on one side than the other, the side we didn't want it to fall. We just had a short time before we needed to leave for Sunday lunch with friends. Half way through and it just didn't want to fall, bit more and a bit more cutting but it still needed a bit of persuasion with a rope to fall the right way. Fortunately we just managed to get it done in time, quick bath and off for lunch. Super meal and great company not to mention fiendish plans for the summer ahead to do with boats.

During

Today Ray has been cutting up all the leaves and small branches in the 'chobbler' to spread as mulch and I have been burning the rest on the bonfire keeping only pieces big enough for the wood pile. It only takes a short while to cut the tree down and then ages and ages of work to dispose of the canopy. When you see it on the ground it's always amazing how it holds up there! Bonfire finished just in time before the rain started this evening, best thing for really putting out a bonfire.

After

Enter Aunty Biotic; stage right

I should have got them when I was doing the weekly shop last Friday but I just never thought of it and Ray thought we had some in the medicine box but when the need came to take them, there they weren't. So I had to dash down to the chemist first thing Monday morning and we both started taking them straight away.

I know you don't take anti-biotics for a cold but Ray's had gone to his chest and I remembered the dear old haematologist way back at Carlisle Infirmary, who wore socks and sandals whatever season, who told me due to my condition (neutropenia, which means my penias are all neutroed, ha ha, but seriously my white blood corpusles are all lounging about in my bone marrow like lazy teenagers instead of out there fighting infections) any time I got a sore throat I should take them. This is not so easy in England as by the time you get a doctor's appointment you are either dead or better. Here, you can just go down to the chemist and buy them over the counter. Even if they are on strike, although they won't give you a receipt, you just have to go back for it the next day, if you want it!

So I would like to report that I am feeling better but I can't, but at least I'm not feeling worse and Ray is a good bit better. We had to call off a dinner party planned for Tuesday evening but nearly everyone we know is poorly anyway. Nevertheless, we have salvaged the remains of the pergola over the last few days and Ray has cut down two more branches of the huge olive tree overhanging the wall we are finishing. We now have the most expensive kindling wood in history and a huge bonfire to light.

Despite being ill I've managed to minister to Ray, walk the dog, cook the dinner and potter about outside in the sun every day. Greece in the winter is quite lovely and the recent cold snap seems to have turned the remaining leaves on this pistacia tree a wonderful colour.

The burning bush

What's blooming in the garden today then, granny?

As we are forecast a few days of cold weather, before they arrive, I thought I would have a wander round the olive grove and see what else is in flower. Apart from the roses, pelargoniums, osteospermums etc which have been planted there are wild cyclamen, wild iris, Bermuda buttercups, grape hyacinths and Friars cowls inter alia.

Iris

Bermuda Buttercup

Cyclamen

All a great sign spring will soon be here.

As we are currently suffering from colds and flu, contacted undoubtedly at the last ex-pat gathering, we are mooching about coughing and sneezing indoors trying to recover.

No sooner had we resolved never to go to another party than an invitation arrived for 'The Big Lunch'. However, it is in June so we should have recovered by then and hopefully there won't be so many germs about! Certainly don't feel like flag waving and singing patriotic songs (think Queen's Jubilee) at the moment, and possibly ever?

Yesterday when I took the dog for her daily evening walk down by the shore the weather was very clear and you could see the snow on the tops of the mountains in the distant Peloponnese.

Tonight it was not so clear and the photo doesn't convey the impression the Drakonera islands give of floating just above the horizon.

I'll try again another day but I feel life is not long enough for me to become a decent enough photographer.

Drakonera Islands

The loss adjuster cometh

Loss adjuster was so struck with the view from the balcony he kept taking photos of that instead of the storm damage. However, it seems we will be able to make a claim but there are lots of hoops to jump through before that, of course.

Meanwhile, it must have been cold yesterday night as there was still ice on the puddles on the east of the hill where I took Kelly for a walk last night. Some compatriots have had to go to town to buy more hot water bottles, not us, we're lovely and warm with the underfloor heating, long may it last.

While Ray is in bed with the flu I took the time to rebuild the plant nursery with some frost protection just in case. I also swept the drive of all the fallen olives. It is such a waste but anyone who has ever been olive picking will confirm it is such hard work especially for those with bad backs, ie me. It is quite hard work sweeping them up as they get crushed in the grooves and then the drive gets slippery with oil! The birds help as you can often see them pecking them up. Thanks birds.

Hard to remember it is January when I'm outdoors working in only a jumper but spring is in sight as I found the first of the narcissi in bloom.

Catastrophe Averted

When I got up at 08.00 this morning to make the early morning hot beverages I noticed a yacht moored in the bay. I thought it was rather an unusual place to moor as it is very deep opposite the house. It was a ketch with a British duster, all the usual stuff, although the spray hood looked a bit salt encrusted, and the dingy was on board. It hadn't been there the previous evening so it must have come in quite late. It was a fantastic full moon last night which we saw rising over the hill on our way back from the village. Huge and tangerine coloured like a balloon being squeezed from behind the hill.

Half an hour later I got a telephone call from our neighbour to say the boat was in danger of drifting onto the rocks at the entrance to the bay! Our neighbour's husband rushed down to the rocks shouting and whistling to awaken the occupants who were obviously still asleep and unaware of the situation. A fishing boat then arrived with an air horn which did the trick. Engine on and it motored safely out of the bay. Phew!

Wonder what can happen next?

Mercy Mission

Just when I thought nothing more exciting had happened today other than topping off 2 meters of stone wall, I got a phone call from a friend who had been out for a walk and got stuck 'off piste' in the maquis. He had been fighting his way through it for an hour and a half trying to get to a path which he knew would lead him back home. Fortunately he had a torch as it was now nearly dark and he could describe where he was.

Beyond the point

So we tooled up with torches, machetes and ropes and set off in the car for the other side of the bay. Fortunately as we neared the point where I believed he was I got another call to say he had made it through to the path.

The knowledge we were on our way and that he wouldn't have to spend the night on the hills gave him the extra strength to push through. He had to surf over the prickly vines and bushes in order to make progress. Bear in mind we are talking about another pensioner here and temperatures are set to drop to 1C overnight!

We dropped him off at his house for a stiff drink and a hot bath. Not an experience to be repeated! And Ray thought his days of mountain rescue were over.

Party Time

Not actually today's party but the venue was the same

Good to meet up with lots of expat friends today to wish local pair kalo taxidi for their journey back to UK. They will then be more pat than ex. A toast to absent friends as well in memory of those no longer with us to enjoy the afternoon. Too busy enjoying myself to remember to take any photos!

Good News, Bad News

First the good news: the cat has settled in well and I've done the ironing.

Next the bad news: about eleven o'clock this morning we were hit by an extremely strong gust of wind and it carried the upstairs pergola off! Although gusts of 70 km/hr were forecast I think this must have been the strongest gust we have experienced here. The whole structure, not just the vinyl covering but the heavy wooden supports as well, was ripped from it's moorings and taken up over the roof, over the tall olive trees, across the road and over the power lines and then dumped on the vacant plot behind the house. It must have been quite a sight flying away, oh for a video! It's been raining before, during and since the event so we've not been able to assess the whole damage, at least it missed the chimney. This has been the worst weather of the winter so far but at least no-one died, (and it's not cold).

OMG where's the pergola gone?

Thought we'd never find it!

New Arrivals

First off it's been a trip to the big smoke, Lefkas style, to collect my new passport sent out from London via the Madrid processing office. Now I can travel again but I'm a bit more circumspect as it was a big shock to be handbag picked on the way home from Vienna. I have walked through the valley of death, or at least down Botchergate, Carlisle on a Friday night, and many other insalubrious places without a fear. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe it's just a product of getting older? So I'm currently searching Amazon for a security bag I can have round my neck, it'll make a change from the usual millstone!

Lovely new epassport

 

 

Did lots of food shopping while in town as there are reports of future food shortages as well as the rest of Greece's woes. Meanwhile, this morning we got another mouth to feed. We are now foster carers for Stavros the cat. He belongs to a couple who return to the UK during the winter and his original foster carers are also returning to live in the UK. Sounds like a stampede? And things will get worse here before they get better, if ever in our lifetime!

Stavros the cat

Due to the inclement weather, rain and temperature down to 13C, we started work on the wall top just below where Stavros is standing, once he'd moved. Got 2 mixes of cement done before heavy rain stopped play. Rain forecast for tomorrow as well so maybe time for the ironing.

Third Day of the New Year

Before

2004

Another glorious day for working outside in the sunshine.

Now I have finished the current lot of pointing the driveway wall takes priority, only seven years since we left off to attend to more pressing tasks!

Today

Only 7 years on

New Year's Day

Slight technical hitch yesterday as photos from camera won't now download direct onto pc! However after the rain had stopped I relocated the bouganvillias up the new pergola posts.

Today I repaired the Christmas lights from my trees outside the front door where the dog had chewed through the flex. Decided not to put them up again until said dog has learnt not to chew things.

Today finished pointing the stonework and plugging up a hole where the rat gets through! Start as you mean to go on as they say! Glorious day for the first day of 2012.