CHANGING SEASONS

 Now is the time to look out fleecy dressing gowns and winter clothes because after a long, hot, dry summer we are now feeling the change of temperature in the mornings and evenings – even if the days are still remarkably warm for late October. Our vine has confused us completely by dropping all its dry and dusty leaves and sprouting new growth at the end of the old wood at the same time.

One morning during the week, I was woken by a pneumatic drill outside the house and wondered why the electricity company was excavating the foundations of the telegraph pole outside the house. As the water supply and the electricity seem to go on and off without the slightest warning at frequent intervals, we are used to the utility companies doing strange stuff at will. Anyway, for some reason, they have done this to all the telegraph poles in the village, I'm not sure that anyone really knows why. By co-incidence, there was an enormous explosive crash immediately overhead later the same morning and, convinced that the telegraph pole had crashed down on the house, I raced up to the roof … only to find a clear blue sky, fluffy white clouds and all well with the world. We think it was either a supersonic boom or some sort of air force manoeuvre going on. Every one we know, wherever they were, thought that the sound came from immediately overhead. It was deafening.

Some lovely friends arrived for a holiday in Crete during October and admonished us for saying that the weather was so much cooler since they had weighed down their luggage with lots of warm jumpers! It was hard to explain that the weather (still in the high summer values of the UK) was cold by comparison with the summer just past and that, after a few years of healthy Cretan diet that our blood was much thinner and we felt the cold more easily! I think, however, that there were a still few times when they were glad of some extra layers. Steve and Liz were last here when K was stuck in hospital and we felt forever grateful for all the help they gave us then right in the middle of their holiday. It is wonderful to have such good friends. As our old car was still available, they managed to get out and about, as well as travelling down to Kato Zachros and round the South Coast of the island for a week or so and had a great time. It was fun for us to have some laughs and catch up with all the news from home.

 Our Greek conversation class at Achlade, a nearby village, is progressing well with Dimitra, our teacher. She is so patient with us and I am trying to learn by heart the phrases which we are writing and practising every week. I think my brain is just not as retentive as it used to be, because I seem to forget stuff so quickly and have to revise a lot. We have been bringing questions with us to the class about buying zips, getting coats dry cleaned and waterproofed, paying phone bills and asking for help and directions. Progress is horribly slow. Marina at Vinzi's Coffee Bar in Panormo always looks so amused when she wishes me a good afternoon and after a long pause for brain cudgeling, I eventually respond with “επισεs” (and the same to you!) It's pathetic when foreigners learn English so easily.

We have been partying in the village and the arrival of a new English lady living close by and her relentless energy meant that we had a street party in the small square outside the kafeneon of Kosta and Angeliki last Sunday. Lots of people were galvanised into action: one family brought the village trestle tables and chairs (a collection of hundreds - usually used for village parties and weddings) delivered to the right place the day before the event and collected the day after. A great village resource, which we wished we had known about when we moved here. However, you live and you learn! Five of us gathered round a collection of work tops and prepared salads, the men from the local Albanian families produced two huge barbecues and a lively meal of meat, bread salads wine, raki and cake ensued so that Steph could thank the locals for their kindly welcome. It was lovely. The little girls of the families jumped up when some Cretan music was put on the turntable and put on a performance, the barbecue went well and we all enjoyed ourselves.

After bitter experience with all-night festivities of Greek weddings at the local Kentro where traditional music keeps us awake and we resort to sleeping with ear plugs, we realise that our choice in music varies considerably! We had to share our amusement at differing taste across the nations. Aegean Greek music, much enjoyed by the “Brits” with its beat and melody left our Cretan neighbours completely cold, but some Cretan lyra music woke them all up with sighs of appreciation and the move to stand up and dance. As there was a friendly Scottish lady in our number, we tried out the Scottish Country Dancing CD a bit later on and did a few rounds of the 'Gay Gordons' (or whatever they call it these days) for good measure, but it seemed to produce the movement for all the villagers to rise from their seats, clear tables and get ready to leave. It is not the first time across our years in Greece we have noted that Scottish dance music has had this unfortunate effect!!! However, we all had a great time.

A few of us did the trek to Church in the new car last Sunday. The weather was still very hot and it was good to catch up with our fellow parishioners (albeit so far away) and hear about the plans they have for Christmas. The car made the journey really comfortably and it was a great opportunity to have long 'putting the world to rights' chats on the journeys to and from Kefala.

There are still loads of tourists in the big towns but things are slowing down and cooling down week by week. The hot weather lasted just until 28^th October, Oxi Day – long enough for the village school children to march to the memorial in the big Square and since then we have battened down the hatches for some very welcome rain. All the farmers and gardeners are delighted and we have excavated our wellies for the forthcoming torrents!   Let Winter commence!