Visiting Family

August 2016

In the UK, Dave went for a week of wedding preparations at Rob and Tanya's, while I visited my Mum and redecorated one end of the kitchen. 

 I painted a heron as a birthday present for Mum

 Bookcase built and painted blue, noticeboard installed, and walls painted jade white.  Interesting to visit builders' merchants in the UK and check out all the stuff we can't get in Greece!

Richie managed to come over for an evening and stay the night before an early start for work

Absent in August

11 August 2016

We started our two week trip to the UK with a flight to Corfu.  We don't trust our trusty Fiat Punto to make it to Igoumenitsa for the ferry, so we took the flight and the extra hotel nights instead.  Lovely to have a little time in Corfu, but money we can't easily afford, so close to the start of the building season.

 We've sat and watched swimmers at this little town quay so often, we determined to have a go ourselves this time. Very civilized to have a dip between sipping wine and snacking on olives

 The promenade along the seafront - the route between Corfu town and our hotel ...

 ... where we stopped for an excellent fish dish ...

 ... and another glass of wine

Slothful in August

1 - 10 August 2016

Nothing to report for the early days of August.  Very high temperatures, work at the weekends, preparations for going away - otherwise mostly slothfulness, eating lots of moringa salads and profuse sweating.  And an outing to Dmitri's restaurant up the hill from us, with Naomi and Pete

All at sea

26 July 2016

And then Jonathan arrived, and we were out for a few days in Tropi - in the thick of the high season.

 Tropi at rest

 We had a surprising evening of music in Kioni with young Eli who turned out to be an incredible dancer, although he was only six.

 Yet another late night singsong - with Pete and Naomi on board 'Heather'

 Kioni looking very pretty

 A grasshopper that we found clinging to Dave's back, which then hitched a lift from Ithaka to Sivota

 Driving back from the airport, after dropping Jonathan off, Dave spotted this fabulous stork nest.  We think these are the adolescent kids, waiting for parents to return with food.

Boaty Prep

19 & 20 July 2016

We were invited to our friends' boat for a convivial curry evening which turned into a three-guitar singsong on Tues 19th, and followed it up with a full day out on Tropi, while Panos, who plays bass with Dave, and is a diver with the archeological survey, undertook to scrub the green slime and barnacles off the hull.  Fellow musicians Dmitris and Takis, came along for the experience and then scrubbed the deck, while Lucy (Panos' girlfriend and singer) and I scrubbed the boat sides from the dinghy.  It was all a very nice day, with lots of sailing and a good lunch.

Garden Update

16 July 2016

The Moringas continue to grow like crazy, and everything else, if it's not being eaten by the tortoise, is doing rather well too.

 The tallest Moringa, with roses in full bloom behind

 The two widest Moringas

 Marigolds and tomatoes in companionship

 And our biggest problem - the broken motherboard from the wood chipper, which we need to get fixed urgently to add more wood chip to all the beds.  

The veggie beds - courgettes on the left, tomatoes on the right

Choir

13 July 2016

To round off a busy day, I had a choir performance in the evening.  We were supposed to wear all black, but I don't have much in black, and rather let the side down in my flowery top.  Otherwise, it all went very well, and I only mimed one little bit, so I was very pleased.

That's me, back row, left end, looking a little tense!

Tortoise

Weds 13 July 2016

While digging in the irrigation pipe, and therefore being up exceptionally early, Dave went down to the vegetable garden, and found the culprit who had been eating all our melons.  Caught red-handed, dribbling melon juice from his/her jaws.

Munched melons

 

and meanwhile - an unwelcome guest in the house

Digging in

13 July 2016

Luckily the irrigation had kept the garden mostly alive, but we were worried about the pipe crossing the track and the damage the car might do to it.  So, like in the song: 'early one morning, just as the sun was rising ...'  up we got, and dug out a channel for the pipe.  We had to soak the ground before the pickaxe would break it, it was so solid.

Away again

First week of July 2016

We nipped over to the UK for a week for my sister's wedding, and came back to find the Moringas had grown even more.  Having missed our Good Life diet, we thought this was a good time to see if we actually liked the taste of them.

 Ann & Dave, 2 July 2016 - a great day and a lovely week in Sheffield and Saltburn

First day back - we picked a few Moringa leaves, and some Rose petals.  Here they are in the sink, and then put them together with parsley, celery and cherry tomatoes from the garden and a few other things to make a fabulous mostly-home-grown salad.  And yes, we do like the taste of Moringa leaves - a bit like field sorrel, slightly sharp but very pleasant in a mixed salad.