BOTANICA

The week has been a full one with a fair amount of mileage in various directions seeking different destinations in Crete. This has been in-dispersed with clean up operations because the legacy of recent dust storms is still with us and is taking some persistent effort to clear away. However, we are on the last leg of blankets and carpets which have all had to be soundly beaten and washed this year before being rolled up for the summer with moth proof formulas. Panormo, our nearest resort, organised a clean up last Sunday and we donned rubber gloves and black sacks to pick up rubbish from the road verges and alley ways while other groups cleared the rocky harbour edges and the beaches. 

This Sunday, all the young folk of our village were weeding and clearing rubbish from the lanes and verges. 

 On Monday, my walking buddy and I picked a big bouquet of Spring flowers and made little wreaths to hang outside the house. There are a few around the village and these stay there from 1^st May until 21^st June – the Summer solstice - when they are burned. My little wreath has completely dried out already.

Our first road trip out was by bus to the Historical Museum in Heraklion. This is a lovely old Venetian building which has been lovingly restored and converted by the family who own it. As there were about 20 of us in our party, it was, by necessity, a taster tour and most of us wanted to return on our own later and spend time reading more thoroughly and spending time between floors to take it in at depth. I found the WWII displays particularly interesting with many original pencil drawn maps, letters from the dignitaries of Australia and New Zealand, General DeGaulle and other well-known personalities of that era fascinating. It deserved a lot more “sinking in” time and I will go back and pay for the headphones next visit!  Apologies for lack of photographs on this day out.

We had heard lots of enthusiastic reports of a fantastic herb emporium on the South Coast and decided to drive down to the place on Friday. The road south leads through the mountains at Spilli and our convoy threaded its way through masses of tourists, parked cars and delivery trucks before emerging on the route down to Matala. It is a good road, with imposing mountains towering above and beautiful downlands and chalky hills between. The journey was longer than we remembered and we had the crowded market town of Timbaki to negotiate. None of these passages have the space for a by-pass! Emerging relatively unscathed, we found the tiny village where the herb shop was doing a roaring trade and found very little parking space in the centre of the village. Long racks of brightly coloured chilli peppers hung from the rafters at the entrance and the little traditional shop was stacked with shelves and shelves of books, bottles and jars of every shape and size. The smell of herbs and spices was wonderful. Clutching my purchase of Golden Slumbers tea and some herbal tea preparation for arthritis, we had a quick refresher and made our way back along the road to a lovely mountain taverna for a late lunch where goat was on the menu. It was a jolly party, but the journey had been long and the hour late, so I begged everyone's pardon for leaving early and started the long trek home. Quite a long way to go for herbal teas!

This Sunday, our Church group trio made the journey to Kefalas to go to church. The little Anglican Chapel has sadly been without a Vicar for a while and were making preparations for the Churchwardens to fly to Brussels to attend interviews at the Diocese of Europe to find a new Incumbent. Quite a tortuous process! Let's hope there is someone who fits the bill and will be happy to venture forth in Crete.

Knowing that hospice care in Crete is not really available, a good friend who is a retired nurse and I discovered a hospice organisation in Athens which we would like to try and visit in the Autumn to see what might be involved within the Greek way of doing things. We have been thinking about it for a while but what with her hospital treatments and our time away, have been a bit unsuccessful in our attempts to pull anything together as yet, but slowly, slowly – sega, sega (as the Greeks say) we will see what we can find out. The Orthodox Church, the legalities of hospice care, the application of medicines and the practice of Greek families caring for their own will all have an effect on the outcome, but not all people have families to look after them and we need to find out what could be workable.

All the hotels and apartments seemed to be very full – even for so early in the season – and hire cars are at large – which we can tell a mile off. They are the very shiny ones, travelling very slowly in the middle of the road! In Crete, slower moving cars hug the hard shoulder and use it to allow the more speedy animals to overtake more easily! While the tourists are all in shorts, sun dresses and scanty wear, we inhabitants are all still wearing our cardigans! We think that our blood must have thinned since we arrived here.

So, between our outings, we are still trying to get the house and garden cleaned up. We are nearly ready for summer now and looking forward to our daily swim! Happy Holidays!