INTERMISSION

Our Mountain ... view from the terrace

There has been a gap of several weeks since our last update. In the intervening weeks, there have been journeys back to the UK, family time, sparkling UK weather and the odd reversal of returning from the UK to Crete taking off in bright sparkling sunshine and landing through overcast layers of gloom and cold wind and rain at the airport in Heraklion. There had been lots going on in England, a fitting day of ceremony, reunion and sharing memories at Dad's funeral.  Easter weekend and time to get to a church round the corner, wonderful catchup time with one daughter from New Zealand and our son from the UK, brothers, larger family and lastly a bit of retail therapy thrown in for good measure. As always, my suitcase had quite a lot of extra goods and chattels, so my jumpers were posted back to Crete to make room for it all on the flight home.

On the minus side, I had also managed to acquire an abscess under a back tooth and a pulled muscle in my back, so driving back round the mountains from the airport was not easy, but I was glad to get back home again and think about cooking up a storm in the new kitchen. I still can't quite believe that this could be MY space yet.  Carefully wrapped in soft layers, I brought back a small painting of my mother's and this has been hung up in the Cook's corner of the kitchen where all the baking equipment is stowed.  I am hoping that my Mum's inspiration will spur me on to better cakes!

Back in the village, preparations were beginning for Greek Easter the following weekend. Lots of sweeping, mopping and tidying so that processions around the village would be able to see all the front door steps in a good light. Barbecue pits were being dug out and preparations made for the lamb cooked over charcoal after the long weeks of Lenten fasting and lots of wonderful feasts.  Bells tolled on Good Friday, the sun came out briefly on Easter Sunday and things began to get a bit more hopeful that this long drawn out winter here would finally come to an end. Loud firecrackers and gunshots kept us awake at midnight and next door's dog was not happy about it.  We have had a few days lovely sunshine, but the winds are strong and there is a nip in the air still. Lots of tourists have been in evidence and now, hardened to all the layers needed to get through the damp winters, people in sun dresses, short shorts and skimpy tee shirts look very, very foreign! We still have our cardigans and jumpers on but there have been some brave souls on their holidays splashing about in the sea in Panormo. I can wait a while yet.

In addition to Art School and Makers – regularly weekly groups to get busy, a small choir has also started to meet and we have lots of fun trying out pieces like Ode to Joy, the Blue Danube and various two or three part melodies with a mixture of pan-European and American friends. We are all enjoying the experience and expanding our repertoire week by week.

A giant mandolin left behind from Carnivali!

We have had a good week medically: I've managed to get to the dentist, K has got two MRI scans done (two hours in a metal tube!) and I have managed to get some painkillers for my back. This is all in preparation for the drive down to the South of Crete this weekend for an archaeology jaunt to look at Agia Triada. We discussed it briefly a year or so back when the group toured Phaestos and it is close to there, but we will be staying at Matala. Matala is the place where hippies lived in the seaside caves back in the 1960s. Fortunately, we have a hotel booked! We hear that the road down to the south is a bit dodgy after the winter landslides and lots of pot holes make it tricky. Indeed one of our number flipped his car upside-down on a bit of muddy road driving back from Easter Lunch, but was fortunately perfectly OK and simply opened the door and scrambled out. We were all much relieved but the car was a write off. The roads here are pretty daunting with lots of large pot holes, rocks from overhanging cliffs and mad drivers, so we will be taking things at a steady pace tomorrow.

Crete is still waiting for the good weather to begin properly, but I have seen lots of walkers in the hills and wayside paths admiring the beautiful spring flowers – orchids, tulips, anemones, lupins … large fields of them growing totally wild in the higher reaches. We hope to be able to stop for a spell to see them on our journey tomorrow. Time will tell.

More exciting chapters to follow next week ...