A Disappointing Free Bus Trip...

Last Friday we set off for a very rare day out together in the height of summer.
As Geoff works for the Safari Club Crete  he works most days throughout the summer months.

We went to Heraklion as our daughter-in-law-to-be
Heather, had won 2 free tickets on an open topped Big Red Bus.
As Heather works for a similar company in the centre of London
and we had thoroughly enjoyed that trip, we were looking forward to this trip around the city of Heraklion

The trip didn't start off too well, we were told there was a 10 minute delay due to the amount of traffic,
the bus finally arrived 25 minutes later....
We were all handed free, single use earphones as we got on and also could buy a sun hat..which could have been handy if you'd forgotten your own as the temperature was 36 degrees.
First crackly recorded message..'On your right is the Natural History Museum'..silence..
The bus then veared around a mini roundabout and into smaller streets...
'On your right is 'Jesus Gate'...silence.... 

Then,  within 10 minutes we were turning around at Knossos...
Hmm, not quite what I'd expected..
The posters we'd seen around displayed times of 60 to 80 minute trips...
Ours took approximately 40 minutes..
The recorded 'sight seeing sound system' was virtually non-existant and very hard to hear through the crackles.
The young ticket collector could have used her  time better by making the area safer, picking up the piles of disgarded ear-phones from the floor and stairs.....instead of rubbing her armpits with a roll-on deodorant......

Do you think Geoff was trying to block my complaints out??
Looking at the map later, we noticed that at least half of the
tour had been cut out..
All in all very disappointing.
I certainly would not recommend paying 20 euros per adult.
A family of 4 = 50 euros...

We ended the day by eating at one of our favourite fish tavernas, Ligo Krasi, Ligo Thalassa,
sorry, we'd eaten most of the delicious seafood platter before I remembered to take a photo.

ps. I've just spoken to Heather and she is offering a discount on anyone booking tickets on The Original London Sightseeing Tour
 (online or by phone)
Just remember to use the code ' RELATIONS' when booking



and while I'm at it..
I've another code to offer.....
My daughter Bethan, loves
Frugi clothing.
It's a Cornish company making and selling good quality organic clothing
for babies, children, mums to be and breast feeding mums.
To celebrate Bethan becoming a crusader for Frugi
they are offering 10 per cent discount off  (except sales goods) all orders
if you use the code BETHAN' when ordering in the UK.

Now, just feast your eyes on these little beauties
my bouganvillia

my wonderfully perfumed hoya

and...the delightful stephanosis, having issued the most gorgeous perfume all night is closing it's petals....

A Day Out, Some Crops and a WiP......

I had a wonderful day out with a friend last week.
We set off early to the south coast, it was hot, hot, HOT!! 

The south coast has a different feel to where we live, the coast is basically
a flat, long, beachy, stoney, narrow piece of sandy HOT land.
It is on the Lybian Sea. 

We sunbathed, swam in the clear, clear, warm sea. We chatted and drank coffee
and people watched.

We went to the most wonderful little taverna serving delicious
fresh, local dishes. We could also  pop into the kitchen to
look at the the food being prepared and cooked.

Those tiny pebbles were rather hot...

We are so pleased with our crop of grapes this year, we've got kilos
and kilos
of them

I've also been picking almonds and leaving them to dry in the sun until I can peel
the outer skin from them.

I dug up the onions this week, abit smaller in size than last year, but
still a good crop and will last us for a month or 2...

The potatoes are good too...

My work in progress is very slowly growing, I only knit for an
hour in the evening on the balcony..but it will be ready
for autumn, when I need it.

Summertime....

The temperature has been in the mid 30's for several weeks now..

I try to get my chores done by mid morning, after that everything is hard work.

 ..and I scoot off to the beach.

 ..but it's at night when it's cooled down to a bearable 29 degrees 

when folk come out.

 This is the season of summer evening festivals, 

weddings and eating out in the open air gardens of tavernas.

 ...and of course, dancing...

 The village...

at 1.00am, walking home...in the cool....

My Life in Mosaics....

As the days, weeks, months fly by, I thought it might be an idea to make some mosaics of some of the
scores of photographs that are on my computer.

So, let's start with the first set above
It's Dewi, Jack and the late, long suffering Lily.
The 3 of them got on very well and spent hours kissing and cleaning each other..
Unfortuneately, Lily became ill a while ago, and we had to make the heart wrenching decision to have her put to sleep.

...

Next,
some finished 'makes'

Hmmm, I know...
Christmas things...
We had a wonderful time and I really enjoyed making gifts and table decorations. 

This speaks for itself..
yummy food

The Lovely Lirys
an absolute delightful little 2 year old
(yes, I know, I'm biased!! She's my granddaughter!!)
She' a picture of health, proving breast is best, followed by baby weaning...
she feeds herself, (always has done) and is certainly not a picky eater..

And, of course.....
  introducing.....
Seren, (star, in Welsh)
Lucy. (a great, great, great grandma)
She surprised us all by arriving with loads of black hair, but 8 and a half weeks later
it has thinned ( a little bit)

So, there you have it...
next blog will be up to date and hopefully, I'll be back very soon
(as long as the warm sea stops calling me.. the sea temperature is 27 degrees  at the moment..wonderful!!)

Oh yes, as I as fiddling around with this 'new' Blogger set up, I managed to delete
Blogs I Follow list...so, can you leave me a comment with your blog address if you know you were on that list...please!!

and another thing...if you click on the mosaics they will enlarge...I think these photos are rather small, I'll have to search Blogger and see if I can enlarge the sets.

Well, hello!!

Is there anybody still out there..?

I'm not going to start apologizing, stuff happens and sometimes LIFE gets in the way of blogging...I know! 

Life in Crete has had it's moment recently, as you all probably know, we are living through hard times and 'crisis', 'hardship'  and 'frugal' are the buzz words.

More and more land is being ploughed up, mainly in the olive groves to grow produce so families can eek out their dwindling wages.On average, wages have gone down by 25% this year...that's alot when the average wage is 400 to 600 euros a month.

Now,

Please believe me when I tell you that all this affects and concerns me..

but , this is my blog about my view of Crete, where we came and settled. This blog isn't about what I think  should happen to this country and if you want to read about such 'stuff' you'll have to go and find a more learned person.

This is about me, my camera, my family and friends and my crafts and adventures.

 Vrissis

 Garifalia, our neighbour, sunning herself.

 Lovely time was had in Athens in February

So, having said all that...

I'll try to show you some of the crafty bits I've been doing next time.

Oh..another thing, I'm off to Surrey on Wednesday, grandchild number 2!! is about to arrive...

so, if you're really lucky..you'll have some photos of  big sister Lirys and a teeny tiny new baby....

Take care

ps.. if anybody does read this, could you possibly leave me a message..just so I know I'm not talking to the wall..