JOTTINGS FROM THE CALENDAR

The weather looked unsettled on Thursday so we took a little spin in the car out to Margarithes which is known by tourists as the Pottery Village and there are certainly a lot of potters and pottery shops to have a look at. We stopped for a quick lunch but managed to block the roadway for the one bus per day which travels through the village an a loud claxon horn made Kimon jump up and run quickly from the table to move the car.

Check out this working tractor from our village – it surely must be a brilliant advertisement for Massey Ferguson!

The alterations to our patch are not pretty but it seems to have done the trick. Top Cat and his smart feline gang have taken the hint and moved elsewhere. Just in case anyone else has a similar problem, we found toothpicks more effective than souvlaki sticks.

　
With the help of friends, was able to get to church on Sunday (about 20 miles away!). It was a lovely morning and I always enjoy the services at St Thomas at Kefalas. I am trying to find others who journey from our side of the island to share the travelling costs. As a member of the congregation was selling plants to raise funds for the church, I returned home with dill, fennel, basil and lettuce plants which Kimon potted up on Monday.

　
We have been on two fruit-picking rendezvous this week and picked some small fruits – a cross between a pear and a plum with multiple stones – possibly medlars - from a lovely lady’s garden. There were too few to make into jam, but they were delicious stewed and served cool with yoghurt. Then to the Perivoli (Nikos’ orchard) to pick more oranges. Nikos found an unexpected box in the corner of his field which he did not recognise and thought it might be a bomb! Kimon thought it looked like a beehive and eventually Nikos was relieved to discover that it was in fact a beehive that a cousin had put there recently without letting him know.

In the meantime, we found absolutely perfect fruit and so much that we didn’t know how to use it all – so I will take bags of oranges to Art School on Tuesday. We are invited to a Cake Sale in aid of the Greek Red Cross at the weekend so I envisage a grand baking day at the end of the week and have been thumbing through my Edmonds NZ (Sure to Rise) Cookbook for failsafe recipes.