Mould after the recent flooding. The water came pouring through the walls in the lounge and came in through the ceiling here. The lounge wall is sodden, has some sort of white stuff growing out of it.
Red wine, fish soup and spinach pie
2015 HERE WE COME
We have
snow all along the tops of the hills above Galatas. (the village just across the waters on the mainland) And it is COLD.
The day started off with heavy rain and my son-in-law Kyriakos decided
not to go to work.(Kyriakos runs a taxi boat from the island to the mainland)High winds as
well.No flying dolphin or boat today from Athens
but the car ferry is still working.We
are going down to Elli for New Years eve.Kyriakos (Elli's husband) is doing miracles with duck and salmon.He's cooking tomorrow as well.His mother lives next door to the cheap
german supermarket (LIDLS for those who might have seen it in Europe) so we get
cheap duck and salmon.One up for the
germans - but they still owe 'us' millions from wwll.
Anyway, no babysitting because Kyriakos has the kids so
I don't have to go down the mountain and we have settled in for the day with K's wine from his barrel(red from a cardboard box for me).
The wood burning fire which has an oven on top has already cooked a spinach pie
and I'm thinking of hot cheese bread as well.Our neighbour brought in a plate of xmas cookies - she and her sisters
are excellent cooks and these honey cakes and almond shortbread (Traditional greek ) are
just waiting for me to taste them.She
has decorated the plate with a handful of choccies so all is well.Can't 'do' cold without chocolate.
Kostas has made a big pot of fish soup......and we still
have Kyriako's cooking tonight. I'm stuffed just thinking about it all.
'Someone' won't be drinking too much tonight.The road down is officially closed but
someone (not us) keeps on pushing the signs out of the way and cutting the tape and we
all use the road, because otherwise it's an extra 3 ks.But after the floods the sides of
the road are falling away in places and there are piles of rocks and dirt. This
is why Greece will always be the 'problem child' lol. ps The 'someone' of course will be me. But Elli and I only have one bottle of sav blanc from Marlborough.One bottle between two, hardly enough to wet the larynx.
Up in the Balkans temps are down to -20 ... -10 in northern
Greece and snowing in northern suburbs of Athens.Weather getting better on Saturday and new
cold front coming in on Tuesday.Paul
and Karen, you might just see a totally different Greece - though you suffered
the 'cold of the bears' that time you came in November. Don't think we'll be
visiting the mountain villages or wine tasting.The motorway in the Nemea (which is where I thought we might go to taste
some good greek wine ....oxymoron???) is covered in snow at the moment and the
road waiting to be snow plowed.
If there are no boats when you arrive we'll have to come
round by car.But anything can happen in
the meantime.The sun may even
shine.We need that sunshine now to dry
out the rising damp in our walls.
There is a HUGE FEAR CAMPAIGN been launched by
Wolfgang Schroider (or whatever his horrible name is), all of Europe and the
rest of the world to make us vote 'correctly' in the elections at the end of
January.You can smell the fear (theirs, not ours).Will Greeks vote in a rebel who will bring
Europe to its knees?And these elections
are being held just because this parliament couldn't vote for the new President
who is just a figurehead and no-one gives a damn who he is.We're being taunted again with bankruptcy ,
an economy worse than some povery stricken African nation, being thrown out of
the European union, more pay cuts, no pension payments etc etcBut we've heard it all before, for years now,
before every major decision which affects the economy.Been there, done that.Who do we vote for??Haven't got a clue.
Hope you're all a little warmer than us and a little
drier.HAPPY NEW YEAR.HAVE A GREAT
2015....WITH LOTS OF LOVE, HAPPY FAMILIES AND GOOD HEALTH.
PICKLED OLIVES, RED PEPPERS FROM THE GARDEN
MINI XMAS STOCKINGS - 50 MADE, 20 TO GO
NELS AND ME AT A BAPTISM....HELL, I'M GETTING OLDER
KIDS IN THE STOREROM ABOVE THE BATHROOM
FRIEND YIANNIS, LYDIA, JAMIE, NATALI
CAMBRIDGE TODAY
-
*HAPPY 37TH BIRTHDAY*
*STEVE!*
*First up for today, I'm off to Cambridge for an FBG walk.*
*Nice flat route today thank goodness.*
*The weather is lo...
For St George and for England
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I have been in and out of the house today, waiting for the wind to swing
around in the right direction to properly unfurl my St George's Cross. It
ha...
Graft
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Mr B was working over the weekend, and the cycle ride-out I wanted to join
was booked up before I even saw the invitation, so I decided to graft
instead ...
flowers
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It is one of the most beautiful and magical things in nature, the little
yellow flower and the pink and white flower, both very small growing in the
...
Enforced jolliness.
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The local farmers are up early. By the time we set foot out of the front
door there are four tractors working away in the fields down by the sea.
With t...
The village cemetery (2)
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These are some of the graves in the village cemetery that have plaques with
words on them. Maybe you'll be able to read some of them. By the way, after
the...
Finding the right model.
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Lady Magnon has an iPad; quite an old one. It works perfectly, does all she
asks of it, but the cover has finally fallen to bits. In fact it's
currently...
Happy Earth Day- Look who I Found!
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I spent quite a bit of time outside today cutting back perennials, edging
part of one bed, doing a bit of weeding, moving the cat…
I almost didn’t see t...
Simpler Times
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"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and
truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple
plea...
Taramakau River
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Last week B and I drove out to Dillmanstown which is a former mining
settlement out Kumara way, about 20 minutes drive from Greymouth. We have
many ma...
Gorilla gardening
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The sun came out in the afternoon and I was sick of being inside so I went
out to water the veggies and check on their progress.
The fig tree was damaged ...
Drivers just wanna be first........
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This is my signature meme for drivers, haha. I remember drivers
ed....we've seen the consequences on the highway and streets when people
tailgate. Bu...
CHRYSANTHEMUMS
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I always have a vase of flowers in the house, usually on the dining table
and pick them from the garden. This week at the Growers' Market I noticed
some b...
In memory of George
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In 2007, a 9-year-old Jack Russell Terrier called George died after
protecting 5 local children from an attack by two pit bulls. He was given a
posthum...
Books 7-11
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A Friend of the Family by Stuart Field
Families are dying. No matter how hard DCI Platt tries, he's not seeing a
pattern; not even after his own wife a...
Sinking of the SS Ventnor
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The SS Ventnor leaving Westport in 1901
The SS Ventnor was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1901 for Gow, Harrison and
Co as a British cargo steamship. Her le...
Nothing goes to waste
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I had quite a lot of fabric left over from the re-covered chair (I ordered
extra to allow for any mistakes!) so I decided to make a couple of
cushions. ...
Going Into Recess
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Have you ever felt that sometimes your life has turned a corner? Or, as my
uncle used to say, started a new chapter in the book of your life?
After r...
Catching up!
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Oh dear, nearly six months since I last posted a blog. It is not that I
have been bothered to write to you. Oh no. It is because words have been
absent ...
Mincemeat and Quince
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The days are getting shorter and the trees are beginning to shed their
leaves. The quince tree has done magnificently this year. The fruit
enormous a...
I write. I create. I observe and record my life, after 40 years, in Greece. I love to create either with my handy craft, cooking or writing. Freeform always. Keep it simple, keep the interest, make it useful. I write about my garden sometimes, my grandchildren and the different culture and traditions. My New Zealand up bringing was so different from this way of life that I do truly feel like an alien at times. Greece is home but so is my kiwi 'homeland'. I am a citizen of both and an alien in both.