FALLING TEMPERATURES

Souda for Remembrance Day

  What a week! Lots of travelling back and forth between our village and Rethymnon on the bus (which is cheaper and easier than taking the car) but after Art Class on Tuesday, I even took the car very nearly into Rethymnon town centre to pick up a microwave oven. Playing scaredy-cat, I turned the car quickly on the southern outskirts of the town and beetled fast back to the national road to get back home before I could get embroiled in the one-way system and lunchtime rush hour in one of the many downpours of rain we have had over the week.

As the weather has been damp and cloudy, we have had to force ourselves to get out and about between the showers on one quest or another. On Wednesday, we got the early bus and K did a round turn of various government offices trying to get all the documents together for a Greek Driving Licence.  He did well. A general doctor on the approved list, an ophthalmologist with the relevant dockets representing money which had to be obtained in advance from the bank. He already had passport photos, masses of ID and almost made it to the last port of call (the Mechanilogiko – vehicle licensing building) only to find that a notice on the door indicated that the people were “KATALYPSI” - not working today. Translating it literally, the sign said “Depressed”, but we think it meant that they were on strike – although “depressed” is a very good description of how things are for government offices right now. Car tax stickers are no longer printed, much work is now downloaded from an on-line website and we are confronted with these new developments, announced on the TV, as each day passes. For us, things are a vast improvement because we can access things fairly easily and it seems as though each bureaucrat has been to Charm School since last year where the vast number of people would shift us from window to window and office to office because it was their job to appear to be doing something! With so many less people on the ground a year on, we have found workers really putting themselves out to be helpful and accommodating. We are guessing that they are all very anxious to keep their jobs right now.

As we trudged uphill from the bus stop through the village, we passed some lovely roaring open fires and made the momentous decision to light the first fire of the year. It took some remembering, opening and shutting of doors, vents and re-arranging of the kindling and logs, but it was lovely and cheerful when we eventually got it going. All the washing was aired nicely ready to put away and we found the kettle (about 35 years old) to put on the hob for hot water. AND warmed pyjamas, what luxury is this? In the meantime, the floor rug with Axminster carpet wool which I have been working on is more than half way done. How good it will look when finished is a bit academic, since marble floors are so cold in the winter that we don't think we will care over-much. I'm aiming for rustic but toasty!

Back in the streets, the impact of hard times is beginning to be a little more obvious with mothers and children begging on street corners in Rethymnon and people in the village walking from door to door trying to sell their wares. We also have a new daily bread delivery van which “Beep, beeps” early each morning and brings, bread, pastries and paximadia (rusks) almost to our door. People are obviously making a big effort to make ends meet and get business going …so things are better for us and proving that it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good!

Our CIC has collected funds recently which has been used to buy food for hungry schoolchildren. Our friends Bob and Ev have found church in Rethymnon which has undertaken to cook a hot lunch for 50 every day. There could not be a better gospel message than this (especially as Bob is Jewish and Ev Roman Catholic!!) happily married for more than 40 years; they are a marvellous couple to know and work closely with the local Red Cross – we love them dearly.

We met some friends at Anna's for lunch before their return to Ireland. Hilariously, both they and we turned up with an apple crumble for dessert and Anna and I voted quietly to put mine in the freezer and eat theirs. As I had made more than one special trip out in the car for cooking apples, custard powder (called “Vanilla Pudding”) and then to get extra milk and cream, I was struggling hard not feel put out at having to leave my apple crumble behind us! However, Anna has frozen it and we will enjoy it at a later date, if it survives the freezer.

Today, I took the early bus back into Rethymnon for exercise, which is badly needed when the weather is poor. Back pain seems worse in the cold weather and – in accordance with Doctors orders – swimming and aqua therapy are needed year round. Anna found Aqua Zoumba which turned out to be aqua aerobics to South American music. It was very lively and great fun and there seemed to be lots of ethnic shrieking and yee-haaing as well as dancing as we stretched and shimmied, mercifully covered up by the water. We enjoyed ourselves and were glad that the Greek ladies who attended were so friendly and welcoming. It would be really good to make some new Greek friends and practise conversation, so I am hopeful on all fronts.

Art School Gallery

We had a lovely exchange of information over last weekend when Kimon started to lop back the tree outside the front door. Our lovely neighbours Kostas and Angellikki obviously couldn't cope with watching K wobble about on the ladder any longer making a complete hash with his pruning saw and, as a spritely 71 year old, Kostas leapt up the ladder like a mountain goat attacking the knobbles and branches with professional zeal! I gathered up all the nice leaves for Angelliki's goats and tried to tie up all the long branches which were blocking up the street. Angelliki thanked me for the buckets of leaves I had collected and quickly stripped all the branches of extra leaves quietly sneaking 5 lovely eggs in a plant pot by our front door. The moment was lovely the next day when I decided to make some cookies to say thank you to Kostas and dropped a plate of warm fruit and oat cookies into the kafeneon. Half an hour later, Angelikki's daughter in law came by to ask for the recipe and we had an amusing 5 minutes getting the packets and measures out of the kitchen cupboards as we peeped at ingredients I had used, wrote down the quantities and I mimed the method!! It was nice to feel more accepted as a matron of the village!!!