A Brief Interval...

Hello....

I'm still here..

Just finished my stint of working away from home for a month...

I've LOADS of photographs to show you but I need a few hours to gather my thoughts together...

Everything is growing madly at the moment...

Everywhere you look, folk are digging and planting veg...

Just look....

the almonds have arrived!!

I'll be back soon with some more tales and photos..

Promise...

The Tale of 3 Donkeys

It's a normal thing to see around our village, donkeys are part of the older folks' lives, they are still used as transport and the carrier of all that is needed to be carried.. they also provide compost for the kypos. One can only hope that they are fed well and basically cared for, after all, it's in the owners own interest to keep the animals healthy .

Having said that...many of the villagers cannot afford the fees of a vet.

So, enter...Suzanne and Alistair ...'Walk With Donkeys'

I've blogged about them before here, they have as donkey sanctuary above Ierapetra, taking in and caring for abandoned and abused donkeys
. They also try to get vets to volunteer to spend some time with them, travelling around the surrounding villages giving free health checks, free treatment including dental checks and 'pedicures'...

So, this is where we come in..Leonie and I have discussed our worries about the health of the donkeys we see here in Houmeriakos, and yesterday..Suzanne, Alistair and 2 vets arrived..hoorah!!

The adhoc 'clinic' was on the street and 2 donkeys were quickly seen to..their hooves were cut and cleaned and their teeth were checked and scraped. The owners were given medicine and information on what they could do to help the health of these stoic beasts.
Erini, the owner of one of them told us that he'd been in her family for 50 years...can you believe that!!!! He's still a working beast, carting and carrying every day.

They were given new harnesses and the old ones were cut off and thrown away after finding sores where the rope had cut into the neck. I don't want to think of how long that had been rubbing.


I spied a fellow that was wondering what all the noise and hulabaloo was about!

After they'd had the full treatment, it was time for a bit of fun so Dominic had a ride down the street

So, off we went in search of one donkey I was particularly worried about...

we'd seen it in the lanes, carrying huge piles of wood and it's hooves were evidently in need of treatment.........................................

Luckily, we did find it and sadly, I was told it was the worst case Suzanne and Alistair had seen..

You can see from the above photo that the front hooves are severely overgrown

but the vet was more worried about the back legs and hooves

as a lay person, it's hard for me to describe what has actually happened so I hope the photo above helps my explanation... they donkey is actually walking on 'twisted ankles' the furthest hoove in the above photo, if you zoom in...well, that is supposed to be underneath... that is the 'sole' of the hoof. How painful is that..!!! it's been like that for years and the legs ar so deformed

You can imagine ...the best possible ending to this is that the poor thing is put to sleep immediately

When it was explained to the owners that the most humane thing to do was to have it put to sleep..they refused

saying they had no other transport.....no other way of carrying their wood.....their grain.... their veg fron the kypos.

So, the best was done of a bad job...it's front hooves were clipped and filed

The donkey struggled and slipped on it's back hooves when the front 2 were being seen to...such a sad sad sight!

As you can see, things are a little better at the front now.

Neighbours come to see what's going on and give their expert advise..

Now the hunt is on for another donkey so this one can be put out of it's misery and pain forever..
Please mention/pass this post around..the more people see what is being done by a handful of folk the more chance of people donating money/help/food. Thank you

For more info please go to Suzanne and Alistair's official site www.walkwithdonkeys.com/

They are on Facebook.

I've also noticed they have already written about this donkey on their site..

Gifts..

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing???
A couple of months ago I asked a question on the Ravelry site, of which I'm a member.
And look what arrived in the post in answer to my question...a spindle! and some roving!!!
A very generous lady in the USA posted it to me. Her name is Rebecca Smith and she lives in Alaska USA...how cool is that!!
She wrote me a note saying the spindle is a St. Helens from Cascade Spindles and the roving is from The Vichara Monastery. I can't wait to have a go!! but I think I'll be having some lessons via You Tube first.

This was also send to me...from France.
This is so lovely, it's from John and Lindsay, who are Matt's parents.
They've had a calendar made up of some of the hundreds (thousands!!) of photographs that were taken at Bethan and Matt's wedding last September. The cover is of Trevor Hall lit up and with the marquee in front

I think if you click the collage you will be able to view the individual months a little clearer.

The quality is fantastic and the reproduced photographs are so clear.

It was made by a company called Shutterfly

I've just looked at their website, they make photobooks, cards, the lot!Definitely a closer look is needed..

Just to finish off, take alook at the seedlings...aren't they doing well?

Lily was a very brave cat this week, she went off to the vets and had a little operation...

so she won't be arriving home with some sorry tale about being pregnant and not knowing who the father is. Dewi has been very gentle with her and she seems to have recovered quickly.

In total we had 15 eggs in our first week of egg producing..does that seem average for 4 hens?

Clean Monday

It's that time again..February is a busy month in Greece...There are festivals every weekend. Though alot of the towns are feeling the pinch and some celebrations have been down scaled or cancelled all together. Must admit we didn't go to any this year.

Yesterday was Clean Monday, I think I explained it last year...it's a Bank Holiday, to prepare for the coming 40 days of 'fasting', the mums spend the morning cleaning the house of all the food they will be not eating ....meat, anything with a 'backbone', eggs and dairy products. Thank goodness kalimari is excluded (a fave of mine).

The afternoon is spent partying, using up all the excess, bbqs and flying kites!! (must find out why kites, it pops up everywhere doesn't it..China, Afghanistan, but why???)

Visibility was not good to start with but as we set off for a long walk...I know, I know, we like walking!! the clouds cleared.
And so did the crowds...isn't this heavenly? 2 bays of white sand and not another person around...granted we did have to do some clambering to get there but it was very well worth it.

The sea was clear and like a mill pond, the sun was warm and soon I was paddling with our 4 legged friend
He bounded in and out of the sea..ears aflapping,
bouncing along....
quick rest...
then start again...
Dewi, behaving for a moment!!

As I wandered around looking for little gems.
Truly a wonderful afternoon. I can't wait to spend the day there in the summer especially if it stays that quiet.

Hearts and ...Eggs!!

Great excitement in the kitchen this weekend...................
Our first 4 eggs from the Dixie Chicks

and another 3 today...woo hoo!!

Of course we had to have lightly boiled eggs for breakfast yesterday...words fail me!! (Never! I hear you all shout) The yolks were the most gorgeous colour...sunshine on our plates..

I'm still sticking to my 20 Minutes a day pledge.

I've been making something for Geoff for Valentine, something for our bedroom wall.

Sorry about the poor quality photos..

each heart is a different red fabric and I've been sewing the lyrics to a Van Morrison song around the edge.. I'm a bit slow at embroidery writing.......................maybe I'll finish by next Valentine's Day.

(Geoff has promised me a small gift , that's late too, but he's been making it on the quiet.

In the last couple of years I've had a stool with a heart cut out on the seat, a wittled spoon with a heart on the handle...............so watch this space!)
Best get a move on....

20 minutes a day is a wonderful idea, keeps me motivated. Of course, 20 minutes usually leads to 30, 40..minutes..... and I knit most evenings. It all adds up.
ps. Joan emailed to say her wooden leg was playing her up again after Friday's hike...my legs don't work when I try to walk downstairs....hehe