Going it alone

Monday 27 June to Saturday 2 July 2011

The writing hut was finished, but time was still in short supply.  Dave was off for the first of his skippering charters on Monday, so I was going to be spending a week a Goat Bottom on my own for the first time. 

I'm a bit leery about things going bump in the night, especially if I read anything suspenseful or scary, but I'm very leery about furry friends with sharp teeth running over the bed.  So I threw myself enthusiastically into rat-proofing my sleeping quarters.  Instead of trying to stop access to the cab, I just blocked access from the cab into the main part of the truck - I hope!

Then there were the training sessions - monitoring the battery power, practising using the generator, agreeing settings for the toilet, to make sure I didn't run out of electricity in the week.  Then there was the washing so Dave had clothes to wear, and rustling up some curtains - more important suddenly, now I was to be on my own. 


On Monday morning I went down to the boat and woke George and his mates, who'd had a hard night partying.  After 20 minutes bullying, they were off the boat and in the taxis, and I was worn to a shred.  I cleared up a bit, but it was hot, so I went back to GB and helped Dave get sorted, then drove him to Perigiali for his charter - a 10 minute trip, then I'd be able to come back and WRITE!

But Dave's guests hadn't been able to get to Perigiali due to problems on the ferry, and so he was stuck with taking a large boat into Fiskardo arriving late in the afternoon, single handed. Anyone who knows Fiskardo will know that you can't get on the quay after 12 noon, so he'd have to lie off the wall on long lines - not possible in a cross-wind, single-handed.  So I said a quiet goodbye to two more writing days, and volunteered to go along.

Twenty seven hours after leaving GB for a quick 10 minute run, I arrived back.  Admittedly, I'd had a lovely time, and a nice meal, and one less night alone with the rats; but the ferry and then the bus from Vasilliki didn't get me back till 4 pm on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, I started to write.  I finished the first draft of the pantomime by Thursday lunchtime - 30 June (cutting it fine), and emailed it to the Director.  Then I updated the blog!

The nights haven't been too bad.  Last night was the first time I've heard any scrabbling - but that kept me awake for hours.  Rats must travel in packs (there's a clue in the name?)  as there seems to be activity, several captures, then a quiet period, then it starts again.  I doubt we'll ever be free of them.  So we've arranged with a friend to take a couple of kittens and bring them up as outdoor cats, we want them lean and hungry, ready to take on anything.

Waiting for G

Sunday 19 to Sunday 26 June 2011

We said goodbye to everyone at breakfast on Sunday, drove to Manchester Airport, dropped off the hire car, caught a late flight, got to Preveza about 9 pm, drove back to Nidri, and settled down in the Tree Bar to wait for George's college friends, arriving on the late bus from Athens.

George, with devastating style, had had his passport stolen on Saturday, so his friends were travelling without him, and so we had to wait up to help them find the boat and get them set up for the night in an unfamiliar environment ('how do you turn on the water/lights/flush the loo?').  They arrived at 1.30 am. 

Before we left for the UK, we'd spent the Saturday and Sunday before the flight trying hard to rat-proof the camper van, and were feeling exhausted, but marginally hopeful, as we set off for the airport, hastily packed.  On arrival, thinking through the week ahead, I realised I'd forgotten to bring the driving licences - a bit crucial, given our hire car plans.  We were very early, but already through security.  So we made a frantic phone call to Rob, and he leapt into action.  Getting hold of a driver, scootering them up to Goat Bottom, finding the licences and then driving to Preveza.  In one of those surreal sets of coincidences it had not only become stormy with lashing rain and lighting, but we were informed by the airport reps that the Olympic Flame was being carried through Lefkas Town that evening en route for the Special Olympics in Athens, causing traffic congestion.  With great dramatic timing, Rob arrived just as the last few people were going through the departure gate.  Clutching the paperwork, we turned to board the plane as he cheerfully called after us - 'By the way, I saw your rat!'  Instant misery.

While in the UK, I'd had a few texts from Alison and Michael from the Winnebago, they'd twice found a rat in the glue traps and dispatched both, so we hadn't excluded them.  We had no idea what we were coming home to.  And at 2.30 am, having explained the boat to George's friends, we were too tired to take on what might be there.  We went for a very late beer in Biblos, and slept on the boat, too.

It wasn't so bad, when we got there the next day, but we scrubbed and bleached and cleaned, and found that white spirit dissolves the smears of glue.  Then we went back to the boat and moved George's friends onto the Skorpios pontoon, where they had showers and loos.

Tuesday, George begged me to go to the doctor and provide a note that would give medical reasons for him being issued an emergency passport.  By now, it was fair to say I was suffering stress and anxiety, which George turning up and taking his friends away sailing would go a long way towards alleviating.  By the time that was faxed it was seriously hot, so we had one of our rare trips to the beach, where we promptly fell asleep in the shade.

On Wednesday, I drove to the bus station and picked up George, who had travelled all night.  He went for a happy reunion with the friends, while Dave and I made a few last minute repairs to Tropi.

On Thursday, I got on with my writing box.

I originally wanted a proper hipped roof, but decided that a quick fix would be this big garden umbrella, which I'd shot off to Lefkas for, one evening.  I lashed the umbrella to the framework, and then started stapling insect netting all round.

Somewhere around then, our neighbours gained a pony, Belladonna, which they asked if we'd mind having tethered in the field.  Always willing to accept a source of manure, we agreed.

After the net, I put up bamboo matting to shoulder height, for privacy and to protect the netting, while not obstructing the breeze.  I also needed extra matting on the West side as the evening sun came in under the umbrella.


Then I built a door, out of leftover floorboards, under extreme conditions.  The horseflies were at their worst, it was hot and sweaty and I was covered in an itchy layer of sawdust and insect repellent.  But the door was the final frontier.  Once that was on, the flies were OUT.

Unable to wait a moment longer, I turned out the contents of the storage trailer, uncovered the desk and chair and installed a few home comforts.  Looking good!  The umbrella is too light, though, and I had to hang fabrics to try to minimise light reflecting on the screen.

Done.  With a 'window' panel cut out in front of the desk. 

Unfortunately this overlooks the horse, which is a bit of a distraction when she's being tended to.  There are also a couple of black and white swallowtail butterflies living in the tree directly ahead - another distraction: I love watching the way they move on the wind.

The writing box is not waterproof.  It may be showerproof, but I've got to get a proper roof on before it rains - hopefully I've got a couple of months yet.  

Big Birthdays

Sunday 12 June to Sunday 19 June

We were in the UK for a week.  Dave went to the NE for the first three days, while I went to my mother's in Wells, meeting George en route, and arriving in the middle of her 80th birthday party on Monday 13 June.  We then travelled up the borders to meet Dave in Church Stretton on Thursday, for a big family party on Saturday to celebrate my Dad's 80th earlier in the year as well;  before flying back on Sunday. 

A few pics for the family, (skip these if you're not related):

Sorry I didn't get everyone - a lot of my pics didn't come out well.

Rat Attack!

Week Sunday 5 to Saturday 11 June

How hard can it be, just to build an open cube and wrap it in netting?  How long does it take?  I was convinced it would only be a couple of days, but as ever, things conspired to get in the way of my plans.

On Monday, we thought we heard a mouse in the cab.  On Tuesday, sitting quietly, I saw a large grey shape moving around in the cluttered cab.  The cab of the camper truck had gone from tool store to general dumping ground.  It had not yet been properly cleaned out since we bought it, and was a tangled jumble of garden tools, bits of rope, foam cushions, and who knew what else. 

We put down some glue traps and that night we caught the first rat. 

We put down more traps and caught a mouse.  Then another rat.  We set aside a day to strip out the cab, binning what we could and relocating everything else.  We bleached and cleaned and set more traps.  We caught another one.

On Thursday, convinced they must have a nest somewhere, I worked out how to get the glove compartment moulding out of the dashboard, and found a load of leaves and chewed foam and chewed wires in the space behind it.  We cleaned that out.  Luckily we're not using the truck electrics, or we'd be in big trouble.  None of our wiring was touched, so far.  We set more traps and caught another one.


In amongst all this, the rats had been getting into the main part of the camper - we found droppings on the cooker top, among the dishes, and bite marks in all the fruit and veg.  Everything compromised was binned, everything else was laboriously bleach-cleaned, then washed, dried and put somewhere hopefully they couldn't reach.  All the floor and linen got washed.  Dave had one run over his foot in bed, so it all got a bit squeamish and grim.

We kept catching them.  It was all out war by now.  They'd avoided the humane traps, and we weren't prepared to go soft on them.  Anything caught in a glue trap would get a swift death, although Dave hated it.  'I'm not a killer', he fretted.  I would've drowned them, but Dave believed that was more cruel than a swift blow to the head.

I got some wire mesh and used it to block up all the holes I could find, but the dashboard of the truck is riddled with ventilation shafts and gaps in the moulding, so I couldn't be sure. 

 And in between all this unforeseen extra work, my little writing box came on oh, so slowly ...

 
And the land threw out these mega-thistles everywhere you go.  But at least the seedlings seemed well established.

I want to Write!

Saturday 4 June 2011

It was now the beginning of June, and my plan had been to get all the boatyard work done, and Tropi ready for the season by the end of April, and then have the summer months to write.  Of course, it hadn't worked out like that.  I'd had one day on the yacht in Poros during our 2 weeks away, and scraped up another day since to type up what I'd scribbled then.   (After the Panto earlier in the year, I foolishly suggested that I might write the next one.   I said I'd give it a go, and if I didn't have something for the Director to consider by the end of June, then they could go elsewhere and no-one would lose out.) 

I now had a week before we were off to the UK for my mother's 80th birthday.  But it was dawning on me that it wasn't so easy just to sit and write when you live in a field.  The camper van was becoming uncomfortably hot by 10am (eventually we'll put a framework for shade and growing things on the South end, but just haven't had the time yet).  While the decking was now a fraught battlefield of horseflies, houseflies and mosquitoes.  'Living the Dream' indeed!

So I planned a writing space: about 2 metres square, in fact, cubed - floorboards underfoot, but only insect netting on the other five sides, with a roof or other cover for shade.  And went off for wood.

I started trying to level the ground - a major, thankless task with the heat, the horseflies and the hard, gravelly ground - but then Dave suggested that I just level a space for each of the four legs, and stand them on broken paving slabs.  a good idea, and a great relief.

So I cut and framed up the floor joists, fixing every other joist in place, to minimise the weight of the construction.

And then used the base to stabilise the uprights.  It was all a bit of a juggling act, even with Dave's help, but we ended up with something not too far out of true.

A follower arrives!

Sunday 29 May to Saturday 4 June

Not counting locals and my boys, our first blog follower arrived on Sunday, our friend Sasha with her daughter, Lola.  They were booked into Yianni's Pool Bar for some R&R.  On Monday we took the boat out for three days, sailing and swimming and messing about on the water.

We came back in for Sasha and Lola to relax round the pool, and for us to get on with work on the boat and at GB.  On Friday, Sasha, who is a fabulous singer, performed with the band.

And on last day Saturday, they came and chilled out with us on the decking.  Dodging the horseflies and mosquitoes.  A lovely week, come back soon, Sash!

Chilling tales

Thursday 27 May 2011

We spent the week getting the boat ready for Summer friends and family, the first of whom were arriving the following Sunday.  All the windows had leaked badly during the winter, so replacing those was a main priority.  In the event we did the two windows over the aft cabins and the forward cabin hatch before we ran out of time.  At least the cabins should be dry and snug - be warned, don't take a saloon berth if it looks like rain.

Meanwhile, at Goat Bottom, we'd been struggling with the fridge for some time. 

The one that came with the camper van had never worked.  We'd considered getting it repaired, but it operates on a 12v circuit, whereas we'd installed a 24v one.  Keith had left another one in the van - brand new, very small, and working on 24v, so that was what we'd been using - set up in the shed.  But as the weather hotted up, we were finding we couldn't keep vegetables more than a day in the heat of the van, and we were juggling fridge space all the time.

We considered all different sizes and types of fridge, ideally wanting one that would fit the available space in the van, but the only one like that was a special camper van one and cost 700 euros (reduced price).  So on Thursday evening we decided to just get the most economical fridge we could find and install it in the shed.  It's not so great a hardship to have the fridge away from the kitchen, and we could put the little on in the camper.

Here is the new fridge: Economy level A+ (super-efficient - we hope!).  It takes up slightly too much room in the shed, but we're very grateful to have it.  The little one in the van didn't work tho'.  It takes just that bit too much electricity to run two fridges, and the batteries were suffering.  And it made too much noise at night, humming and grumbling and switching on and off.  So now we just have the shed fridge - a bit of a walk, but some people have kitchens bigger than the walk between van and shed.

Breaking the ground

Saturday and Sunday 21-22 May 2011

We got started in earnest on Saturday - all those seedlings needed a home - so we pickaxed out a rectangular bed, collecting stones and wheelbarrowing away clumps of roots.  The ground slopes by 10 to 15 degrees, so we had to follow the old tradition of terracing to get a level planting area.

We tested our own soil, and the compost, and found they were both alkaline.  Not surprising for us, as Dave says we're on limestone.  Alkaline isn't so good for growing things, so we'll have to look into what additives would be good.  If anyone knows, please throw in a comment - all help gratefully appreciated.

After digging over the gravelly red soil we have, we made a framework out of old boat planks, bits of wood and big stones, and then mixed in a good few bags of Mad Robbie's compost.

Dave went off for a sleep (he'd done most (well, all) of the pickaxing) while I made a pretty track down to the new garden from the decking.  Dave wasn't too impressed when he woke up.  'Why isn't it straight?'  So much for moments of whimsy!

We rounded off the day with the Tree Bar opening night live gig.

When we went to plant out the seedlings next day, we discovered we had a plague of horseflies to deal with.  These things are up to an inch long, with orange bodies and BIG green eyes.  They leave you with an open wound full of anti-coagulant spit that flares up and itches. 

We planted those seedlings in a mad dance of flapping and jumping, one of us planting, the other swiping around with a swatter.  Unlike wasps, these things aren't easily scared off - they attack back, and come in pairs - always watch out for the wingman!  Not a relaxing, bucolic task after all.

Pottering about

Friday 20 May 2011

It was so nice to be back - peaceful, not too warm, gorgeous scenery, birds tweeting, and all that (okay, the birds were chirping rather than posting inane comments on the web, but you know what I mean) that I couldn't bear to put the generator on.  So with two weeks worth of clothes, bedding and towels, I did a mountain of handwashing.  After which I decided I didn't mind the generator so much after all!

Then we mapped out a small area for raised beds and put some fence posts in.  We used the old carpet from the camper van as walkways, and seriously considered breaking the ground, but it was just too hot ...

 ... so we just chilled out in the shade.

Back on the Land

Thursday 19 May

After nearly two weeks away, we were curious (and a little anxious) to see how Goat Bottom had got on without us.  Alison from the Winnebago had agreed to water the garden, and so we found everything okay, and most of our seeds were sprouting happily.