COOL YULE

Happy Christmas to all our friends. The Croziers have been a little preoccupied in recent weeks with various medical appointments and preparations for the Christmas holidays. Since we try to make as many home-made or locally produced gifts as possible, it takes up a lot of time in the kitchen or devising packaging. I had already decided to get small gifts from local makers or craftspeople rather than large stores with only partial success. We have been to a couple of craft fairs in the local villages, which are always good fun and where all the ex pats and local traders get together to sell their wares.

On top of this the weather has been stunningly good. Not warm exactly, but with deep blue skies, sparkling sunshine and gleaming snow on the mountain tops; lungs full of the fresh air each morning gives everyone a glad-to-be-alive feeling. It was too good an opportunity to miss getting heavy items washed, dried and aired and the house swept and mopped before earning some quiet time for contemplation or a “cup of coffee moment” on the terrace where it is warmer in the sunshine than inside the house.

Art School closed unexpectedly for a few weeks over Christmas, but the Makers Group organised a Christmas Meal in Rethymno for a staggeringly low cost and we had a chance to exchange cards, swap news and enjoy a large procession of meze dishes with a glass of wine and still be home at a respectable hour!

Building on last year's experience, I prepared a large dish of cakes and Father Christmas chocolates to have handy in case carol singers turned up as they did last year with lots of children, adults and tinkling triangles in the street outside the door. Predictably, this did not happen this year, so we have a large dish of cakes and chocs which I have covered up and will try not to eat in case they come at New Year instead!

We fitted in medical appointments all on one day in Rethymnon and K saw the Ophthalmologist and Urologist for eye examination and three-monthly injection. We are trying to get the process set in motion for his cataracts to be dealt with but it will be a while before he is ready. After several weeks of enquiries to Amazon, a box containing an aid to help with socks and stockings arrived, which helps with the putting on of things, but is no help at all in getting them off! The effort for both procedures is like an hour in the gym! We need a concerted Crozier effort in the innovations department as K wants to get as independent as he can.

Meanwhile, the fine weather has meant that the olive picking has continued and all the farm buggies and trucks set off early each morning and return when the sun is going down and the Olive Mill is humming until late in the night. A few small presents to our villager neighbours promoted many bags of eggs and litre bottles of the most beautiful olive oil, all fresh from this years crop (along with other offerings of home made wine and raki … help). Our friends Kostas and Angelliki seem to like English chocolates and a visit by the English Grocer to one of the Christmas Fairs, meant that I could get them a big tin of Celebrations – utter luxury for them! So the commonplace for us is in stark comparison again. All our friends enjoy Christmas here. There are no crowds, traffic jams or heaving shopping centres. We have been given gifts of chutneys, pickled onions, home made biscuits, hand made knits and beautiful cards. No one has much money, but all the creative efforts were lovely and very thoughtful. Our hosts for Christmas Lunch put on a most beautiful meal and laboured over home made gifts too! Other guests had made up Red Cross parcels, wrapped in brown paper and string and which contained an assortment of small items, similar to a Christmas stocking! It was lots of fun!

We have had some heartfelt prayer moments too. Not only to see and hear Christmas celebrations from round the world via on line programmes, but some CIC friends have the husband (Tony) in the intensive care unit in the local hospital due to pneumonia and they have induced a coma, done a tracheostomy and all the same procedures that K went through a year before. What a Christmas for his wife (Gianna) and how I sympathise with her! So we have made our way to the local church to light candles and pray for a swift recovery. I know that coming out of ICU to a normal ward in the hospital will be even more difficult for his wife and hope she will keep in touch with us. At least they are nearer to their friends in Rethymnon.

The sound of running water has stopped me in my tracks; it is now pouring with rain, so Boxing Day will be different from Christmas! We send you love and greetings for a joyful time and a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

HOME AND AWAY

 After a short second stint in the UK, Mrs Crozier is back in Crete unwinding.

The first few UK days were quite dry and fine which helped a lot and made things easier but later on, the clouds gathered and the weather started to get much colder. UK friends who helped give lifts, cooked wonderful meals and offered storage space were so appreciated. I even braved South Quay in Southampton on Black Friday weekend, which was a bit of a mistake as the crowds were so overwhelming and I didn't need any shopping. However the light lunch at John Lewis's Place to Eat in bright sunshine made it slightly easier and we escaped in one piece. Everywhere we went, the pressure of people and traffic seemed worse than ever and I was glad not to be driving.

House clearing was hard going, but the help offered was marvellous and the whole contents of the house in Hampshire were divided and taken away by vans and car to various new locations or for storage for a short while. The stress of getting repossession of our home and dealing with the aftermath made it very unappealing, so K and I were glad to cut our losses, sell up and prepare to look for somewhere away from the crowded South East. After a frantic week of packing and cleaning, I dropped off the keys at the Estate Agents to await completion the following day and set off for a stayover at Gatwick on Thursday night. Just as I was turning off my mobile to board the plane on Friday morning, the Solicitors called to say the transaction had completed. Brilliant. It had all worked out surprisingly well. I slept all the way on the flight to Athens and then after a short break at Athens airport was wide awake to Heraklion.

I was boiling on the plane in my winter woollies. The flight was stuffed to capacity with every seat taken for Friday night and so squashed that even if the Greek travellers had the self discipline to take one piece of carry-on luggage each, there still would not have been enough bin space for all the bags, bundles and boxes that people, air hostesses and strong men were trying to wrestle into the space above their heads. Since Aegean Airlines have started to charge for even one piece of checked luggage, it has caused mayhem on the planes and they are always requesting for people to check their hand baggage into the hold and pick it up at the carousel. I did not mind doing it, but would not always want to surrender my bag due to my odd assortment of ex-pat stuff which is sometimes quite fragile. On this occasion, it actually made life a bit easier.

I can't help thinking that the ground staff who operate the luggage scanning machines at the security department must see some odd sights. I memorised the peculiar assortment I had packed: coat hooks, a door knob, shaving oil, a new pan for the bread maker, new filters for the water filter jug, Christmas wrapping paper (found in the loft), various treasured bits which I thought had been disposed of, a hair dryer from the UK house to replace the one that had broken here in Crete and a small oven pan. You can buy oven pans here, but they only sell ENORMOUS ones, and K and I have no need to cook so much food at one go these days. Similarly cake tins and dishes all seem to be made for huge family meals rather than sedate suppers for two. There may be a lesson in that somewhere. Anyway, it was time now to think about Christmas Fare Cretan style and to make some homemade mincemeat (which I didn't have room for!)

The house was warm and welcoming on our arrival, K had lit the log burner which was warming the whole of the ground floor, my lovely friends who had met me from the airport brought a bag of the most beautiful mandarin oranges freshly picked from their tree as a gift and K had some food ready to cook if needs be – but the hour was too late to tackle a meal after all the journey food.

A stormy weekend was perfect for looking out the Christmas decorations

Cretan weather had been really hot in my absence and lots of people had been out in their gardens or on the beaches enjoying some warm December sun. I stopped off on the way back from the supermarket on Saturday and took a short walk down the sea wall just to sit on a bench in the sun for a few minutes, look at the harbour and count my blessings. It was so great to be back on this beautiful island to enjoy a lead up to Christmas completely emptied of the usual hassle. On Sunday the winter rain storms started up like an orchestra – loud thunder, dips in the electric power and heavy rain all night. We have been appreciating the new porch roof sevenfold! Enough for now; it is time to sweep up after the deluge!