HARVEST HOME

 We have had all our plates spinning on sticks for a few weeks now and I have had to keep running to catch up most of the time, so apologies for lack of blog jottings.

Innovations: We installed nice looking rustic bamboo over our porch when we first moved to the little stone house because we needed some covering to keep the sun off the front of the house and, having only visited Crete in holiday months had erroneously thought that this would be the right answer. Several winters in Crete (and last winter in particular) had changed my mind completely because although the bamboo looked pleasingly rustic, stood up to the Cretan winds and kept the porch in shade all summer, the impact of tropical rainstorms plus so much dust and dirt were a different matter altogether and foraging for damp logs in the cold and wet, then sweeping and mopping the tiles every day during the wet winter months was a miserable business when I had more important things to do. Rik our friendly builder came to give us some ideas. I just managed to get the water proofing on the main house roof before the heavens opened for the usual October rains. After dodging rain storms and horrendous weather for a couple of weeks, Rik rolled up with some insulated porch roofing which is doing a wonderful job of keeping the porch dry, the woodpile protected and there is even room to get laundry under cover - just! Worth every euro and we are pleased with it. We hope it won't be too hot and airless next summer, but time will tell.

While all this was happening, great friends from the UK came over for a week at the start of November. I was worried because the weather had been awful and all the tavernas, tourist shops and cafes had shut for the season and I wondered whether there would be enough to keep everyone busy and happy. Fortunately, they did not want to do anything too taxing, we took a walk round the headland, paid a visit to the Makers Craft session, cooked, shopped and strolled around Rethymno in really quite bright warm days and even shocked the locals by swimming a few times! The Scrabble Board came out with disastrous results! (I lost by a mile). It was lovely to see them and the car behaved itself very well on its way to and from the airport despite being a bit elderly.

Then we were getting all sorts of odd questions about the house sale in the UK and we were grateful for Leo's input about doorlock enquiries and double glazing attributes. K and I looked completely clueless and slightly derailed by the intensity of such questions. We hope we are close to exchange and completion now. Wherever will we store all our bits and pieces while we look for somewhere in Staffordshire?

My Greek is beginning to improve. I managed to slowly translate a phrase made by one of our neighbours when I commented on the heavy rain. “Creasoumay vrechy sto yelyes” … after a minute or two racking my brains I realised that the locals were pleased to have lots of water on their fields because “they needed water for the olive trees” and to swell the olives before harvesting. All the cafeneons are alive with the discussions of the olive crop this year. There is a cacophony of vans and trucks firing up and disappearing by 8,00 a.m. every morning with a selection of sacks, nets, generators and twirly sticks which they use for the olive harvesting. At night, a large buzzing noise from the top of the village means that the Olive Mill (curiously painted vivid green which can be seen for miles) is working long hours to give the cold pressed oil. It is so good for everyone. We have new neighbours in the run-down building across the road who spent a few weeks restoring the house, replacing and treating the windows and they eventually moved in. It is nice to see washing hanging up, lights at the windows and a plant pot outside the front door. A nasty dark storage cellar, home to cats, birds and other creepy crawlies has now had wooden doors constructed and painted. It looks much more welcoming now than in the time of the former tenants - roosting pigeons on all the window sills who made so much mess. In fact, many of the empty village houses are beginning to be reoccupied by newcomers. Nice.

We have also discovered and sampled our village doctor who calls every Friday morning in an office just off the village square. You queue for ages but she takes all the prescriptions to the Pharmacy in Panormo and Niko the Pharmacist drives back with the medicines and delivers them to the door later in the day! How great is that? Kimon doesn't need a car or lift at all.

I have been saving the best news until last: K had the lowest (=good) PSA result of all today from the lab – it had gone down to 0.089 – an improvement on three weeks ago which means that something (we hope the radiotherapy or hormone treatment) has made a difference. We are just thanking our lucky stars and good friends who have cheered us on. Harvest Thanksgiving has a real intensity for us this year. Yesterday and today I have been making jars of chutney, marmalade, home made fudge for a table top sale over the weekend, so life has been hectic and there doesn't seem to be any let up. I'm looking forward to relaxing in front of the log burner and a few sleepy, winter evenings but I don't see it happening for yet a while!