There was not a cloud in the sky when we got up this Saturday morning and the weather was much too good to waste. If we had been the UK, the roads would have been full of traffic making for the coast and we were full of enthusiasm – knowing that the coast here is only 5 minutes away. Having packed the picnic bag, fishing rods and paint box we set off for Panormo to see whether the fish were biting. This would be an antidote to Friday when we went all the way to Rethymnon with all the documentation to get our telephone line only to find out that the office was locked shut because OTE were on strike! Fortunately, we were able to do the business at another telephone shop where the staff were much more helpful. It may take 15 days or, if Easter gets in the way, quite a bit longer! Driving back from Rethymnon during the rush hour on Friday night was total bedlam.
The beach and village were absolutely deserted. 70 F is apparently not warm enough to tempt the locals down to the seaside and it is still too early for tourists but we had the loveliest of mornings. Granted we caught no fish – there was not one to be seen, but Kimon had his fishing rod in the water and watched a couple of boats being lowered into the harbour after the winter and after taking about an hour to tie one up, after 10 minutes or so –it’s owner took off around the harbour wall into the open sea. Observing all this, K was in seventh heaven and unwinding nicely.
Meanwhile I had a folding chair half-way along the quay facing back to the village church and so enjoying some quiet time, set about doing a watercolour. The light was just right with full sun light coming from one side and the octagonal dome showing all the gradients of light to perfection. The end result was far from perfect, but I happily spent an hour or two daubing away until it was lunch time.
All this time we had only seen two or three people and it was such a perfect day, I wondered what everyone else was doing on this beautiful morning. Kimon said that we must have looked like a very eccentric couple but we had the peaceful time we needed with the village and beaches almost to ourselves. It was also a frugal day with no expenditure after our recent outlay on a number of necessities for the house, all of which attracted an added 23% tax and this change has taken the Greeks by surprise. The locals in the village swap their eggs, produce and cheese to avoid all this. If you are a vegetarian, you will always have plenty to eat in Crete as fruit and veggies grow in abundance everywhere.
I think we are in a bit of a bubble - this is probably because we have not been following the news and can only catch a fraction of what is happening in the rest of the world. It seems pretty serious from Libya (- not so far away from Crete) and from Japan. I imagine the Greek population is taking everything much more seriously because they can understand all the reports on the TV news. We are doing our best to translate all the breaking news pictures but everything has been very quiet here and watching TV is about as bad as back home with Wall-to-Wall House Do-Up programmes and Swearing Chefs in Restaurant Kitchens. Who watches this stuff?
Life will be less peaceful next week. We have heard that the lorry carrying our goods and chattels has arrived in Crete and will deliver all our stuff. This is a bit of a mixed blessing because we have no idea where we are going to put everything but we have some temporary storage at the Mill. The Olive Mill is a large stone house that our friendly builder has been restoring in the village and we will be able to sort out boxes little by little after the furniture is in place. We also realise that we need to do a bit of painting in the next couple of days in preparation – so this will keep us busy.
[Ha ha – house do up missives – who reads this stuff???!!! This is the mill, not our house!]
Kimon has been dealing with all the telephone calls but I have a horrible feeling that the men coming to fix the bamboo canopy over the front porch will be here on the same day as the removal men delivering our furniture. This could be interesting/chaotic/manic – if I am right! I foresee lots of shouting, vehicle manoeuvring, gesticulation and worse, come next week. Nearly as entertaining as Swearing Chefs on TV!
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