Postcards.......

August,

a trip

to visit

my lovely son in London

and those pesky girls in Surrey

 My son is relocating to York soon

 so this was my last walk around the area where
he and his wife have lived.

 Then, on to Surrey

 This summer Lirys has learnt

about the cycle of seeds to food, she has thoroughly enjoyed
these lessons and it's a joy to watch her  taking such pride
in the garden she has made with her mummy.
It was difficult getting the beans, peas and carrots
into the kitchen and on the plates...they were often munched  way before then.

 On the morning of the day that I left,
I sat in the park, discussing the meaning of life
over a strawberry (the very very best!!) ice cream,
while I marvelled over the green-ness and the huge trees
with the most beautiful and bright little girl  x

 Have you sent or received any postcards recently?

Are you going on holiday soon, or where have you been?

Do you miss grandchildren??

Summer Night.....Festival Season...

If your name is Evi, Evita, Vivian, Voula, Paraskevi, Veti,     Congratulations!!( κρόνια πολά )
Here on Crete it was your name-day yesterday, big celebrations in your year, bigger than your birthday!!

We have a church for the saint of Pareskevi (Παρασκεβή) in our village,
so last night was our festival night.
Normally, the village is a sleepy little place, most of the inhabitants are asleep by early evening.

Not last night...no...

the old school playground was filled to the brim with tables and chairs, hundreds of them!!

Of course things don't kick off until 21.00 to 22.00

We all enjoyed a wonderful meal, loads of μεζέδες (starters) and 

then 'pork from the oven,'  'chicken in wine', 

vegetarian bean dishes....

wine, beer, water...

A popular tipple at these occasions is a bottle of whiskey...costing 50 euros a bottle..

The music played on and the ladies got up and started 

dancing, wonderful to watch!! 

Give them a while and these chaps will be strutting their stuff..

While some just prefer to 'people watch'

These girls make it look so easy but as the tempo hots up they become whirling dervish..

The band played on, typical Cretan music played on 

a lyra

and an 'askomandoura'.....a type of bagpipe, made from the skin of a goat or sheep..

The evening was good, enjoyed with friends.

We walked home after one o'clock, as Geoff was working this morning

As we walked up the hill, we were passing groups of more people going down to start their festivities...

I woke at 0400 and the band was still in full flow..

and I suspect there was still dancing ............

Today (27th July) is 

Pantelis

Panteleimonas

name-day

Have you ever been to a Greek Night? have you tried Greek dancing?

Please, tell me what you thought about them..

The Scenic Route Home.

 Hello there,
                                                I have a choice when driving home from work.

My village is perched on the side of a mountainside.

  I can take the National HighRoad or take the old road and take a leisurely drive and admire the countryside.

   Many people don't realise how mountainous Crete is.

  

Guess what....???

I'm going to try and get blogging again, just thought I'd test the water with a few photos..

Tell me what you think.
I've just got to try and work out how I can blog about my crafts and our life here on Crete.

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.