NOT OUR FINEST HOUR

Welcome to Crete. I expect you will be sick of Brexit fall out or speculation about the future of our nation, our currency, our international relationships while politicians in London grapple about for words or plans for the outcome of the referendum - which, it seems, was totally unexpected. Needless to say, people living here who regard themselves as British and European hoped to remain in the EU and never expected that everything would turn inside out at this stage of their lives.

For the first few days, we went through all the emotions of 48% of those back home .. disbelief, anger, bereavement over the spirit of Britain and eventually thanked God that we were living in austerity burdened Greece. In spite of living through desperate and increasing poverty here (pensions are now one third of what they were five years ago), Greek people have never stopped looking after each other or the thousands of refugees arriving on their shores to the best of their ability. The danger of this journey and the camps where refugees are housed convince them that no one would attempt it unless they were absolutely desperate. They have not stopped reaching out. When we first arrived in Crete and went to pay our first Water Bill, the clerk listened as K explained that we had bought an old stone house in need of renovation and planned to settle here forever. The young man stretched out his hand and said “Congratulations and welcome!” Though born and educated in England, this sense of welcome had never been extended to K in his life before. It puts the blinkers of many Brits into sharp comparison. All the expert advice about Brexit was soundly ignored. A campaign based on big fat lies won a very hollow victory by a vote backed by a political leadership, no more stable than a house of cards. The worst result is that racism and bullying are now deemed to be acceptable among those people who believe that they have won “their country back”. The cosy Miss Marple idea of their 'Britain' has nothing to do with reality; Britain has been invaded by waves of incomers before the times of the Romans and Vikings for millennia and the illusion is blinding them to the value of communities made up of all their parts, no matter who or from where. So many of the real issues of concern like oversubscribed schools and getting medical appointments in these hard times will not be helped in any way by leaving Europe and needed to be sorted out by national and local government. The best we can say is that Britain scored a home goal, but let's not talk about the football either!

Meanwhile there are many Greeks who are openly envious of the Brits' escape and wish they had left Europe five years ago, so it is good to have given them a bit of a lift!

Anyway, we cannot do anything and are having to leave exchange rate changes and health care worries on the back burner. We need to stay positive at the moment because Crete is welcoming lots of tourists this year and it is the growing season. All the shops and wayside stalls are full of wonderful greek salad fare, melons, fruits and the grape vine clinging to the front fence has done us proud with pounds and pounds of lovely grapes.

We are also delighted to have had a visit from our son and girlfriend, which means we can go out and about a lot to see the sights and enjoy the very hot weather. We have been travelling about more widely recently, visiting folk at more distant parts of the island. Fathers Day in Plakas, near Vamos; shopping at the English shop at Litsarda called Greengibble for tea bags and my first visit to the Open Air Cinema in Rethymno to see the film “The Dressmaker”. It was one of Anna's first outings since the fractured leg and thoroughly enjoyed by us all.

So we have been consoling ourselves and overeating, enjoying the sunshine and trying to do as little cooking as possible in this fierce heat. Our plan is to visit Rethymnon and for the youngsters to mooch about the medieval town with its shady alley ways and pretty garden restaurants. Trips to Margeritas for ceramics and Lake Kournas as well as a bus trip to Chania are planned and all of these holiday jaunts are followed up by falling into the sea at teatime each evening to cool us down a bit. We thank our lucky stars that there are compensations to all this uncertainty.

For the UK, this has not been 'our finest hour', but hours pass and we resignedly wait for the next chapter of the drama.

BUSY GETTING NOWHERE

I wish someone could tell me how we ever found time to go to work. We have had our hands full each day this week, but seem to have achieved next to nothing, however we have had a lot of catching up to do after a few absences and the weather has been against us.

Of course, there is cleaning after rain storms or wind storms which leave either layers or streaks of dust all round the house and outside. When we first arrived in Crete, we were amused that the locals scuttled inside and closed all the doors and windows for a seemingly insignificant shower of rain or a few gusts of wind.  Now we know why and do just the same, as the dust blown in from Africa has made a few of us ill with nasty coughs and allergies this year.   Watering the plants, warding off insects and teaching snails to fly on top of all the day to day stuff all takes time. We groan each time another windy day brings thick clouds of dust our way over the mountains;  it means that everything will need cleaning again.

Mostly we find ourselves doing irritating admin jobs and queuing up in different places to pay bills. Now that Greek Easter has come and gone, the tourists are all here, masses of hire cars are on the roads (driving slowly right in the middle so no one can overtake them) and parking outside the supermarket is no longer possible. In addition, a new Police Chief has arrived from Athens and put up urban clearway signs and no parking instructions all round Panormo. There are also speed limit signs along the main road and more cameras. So we think that a fee generating exercise is underway to go with the reduced pensions and increased taxes. Bus stops along the main road are all crowded with large, lobster pink people wearing (or nearly wearing) very brightly coloured holiday clothes and, compared with all our neighbours who dress entirely in black, look odd by comparison. The little trains of all colours are chugging along the highways and byways taking holiday makers on tours into town or off the beaten track. All the trappings of high Summer are here!

Easter was spent at a traditional family kafeneon nearby. I had followed the flower covered bier with the big church cross and candles around Panormo with the large Good Friday procession.  On Easter Sunday, our lovely hosts cooked us traditional Easter dishes followed by music and dancing. It was lovely that they made such an effort to make it a special day for their guests. We started by playing “conkers” with hard boiled eggs dyed red and went on to eat and drink our way through a large variety of dishes. A young relative played lyra for us and the daughters of the family danced Cretan style.

The next week, we were supposed to be going on an Archaeological jaunt, but it all got too difficult to organise, so the main event had to be cancelled. A few of us decided to keep our hotel bookings and spent a jolly weekend away in the East of Crete at Sitea. It is smaller and not so busy as further West, and the place is great for us with a hotel right on the promenade with flat, easy access for tavernas, shops and cafes. Absolutely great for K who could stump along checking out the fishing, the boats in the harbour and enjoy the sunshine or the wind or the rain. We spent half an hour or so at the museum until a cross Irishman gave us a good telling off for being noisy! Oops, we felt like naughty second formers! Last visit, I climbed up hundreds of steps to the Church (which was closed) and this time I climbed even more steps to the castle (which was also closed) but it was good exercise. I gathered photos of artefacts and a few photo-plans for making furniture out of old pallets somehow knowing that we would never do it!

Ongoing projects: K getting his Greek driving licence renewed to drive his quad bike. He visited the Citizens Advice office KEP and they gave him a printed list of doctors to visit to get his eyesight checked and a general doctor to check his health otherwise. All these doctors are in Rethymnon in the centre of the busiest part of town, so we drove to the outskirts twice this week and Kimon jumped in a taxi which would be better able to brave the crowded city streets than I could (Gunga Din). He needs two medical reports, three cheques for different amounts made to codes which he hasn't been notified about, various photocopies, and some extra blood tests. It has taken four full days so far and he is still not finished. I want to ensure that I keep my Driving Licence for the UK and managed to renew it on line. So, as long as the internet behaves, that at least is much easier.

Last Saturday was spent baking all day in preparation for the Red Cross Coffee morning and on Sunday morning, armed with boxes of goodies we set off in good time. Half way along the road to Camping Elizabeth, I registered (with not quite good enough glasses) that the car's water temperature gauge had jumped well over the boiling point mark and great puffs of steam were coming out of the bonnet. Yoiks! We stopped at one of the petrol stations and telephoned a friend to see if we could get a lift. Monday was spent trying to get ourselves back to the car so that we could telephone a breakdown truck to get it taken to our local garage. The truck would not help us get to the car – so we had to phone our friend, yet again. That was another day gone but the car problem was not too serious after all. Yiorgos at the garage climbed about under the car and replaced a tiny hose at not too much expense. Praise God that the car is running perfectly again. We are relieved, but we know it is time to start looking for a new one.

Meanwhile, sister in law Anna is still laid up with a broken leg and not able to put any weight on it which means that she has missed Santorini, Sitea and Easter so far. All our mates have been good about dropping by, doing errands, bringing treats and stopping to chat, but it has been a long haul and after her second check up to the hospital on Tuesday, nobody could believe that the doctor had advised two MORE weeks of the same, after six weeks lying in state. Nightmare. We realise that between Anna and Kimon, the family seem to have acquired three sets of crutches and a wheelchair – which is almost the entirety of the CIC health equipment reserves. We need to replace at least one pair of crutches asap in case anyone else needs them.

Then in addition to Doctors, Dentists and Kosta Kosta our Optician (not Costapacket the UK Coffee Shop), we have had to make lots of repeat visits to shops to look for things. After the ship, port and ferry strikes of recent weeks, many of the big stores and supermarkets have had very bare shelves and Lidl was a ghost town. I have dropped into the one supplier in Rethymnon three times now to buy English tea bags, but the stock has run dry and we are stuck with Liptons Sawdust Specials for the time being.  Keeping up with whoever is on strike at the moment is also an issue; it was Lawyers and Accountants this week.

Ridiculous that such boring things keep us occupied for days on end. Busy, busy, busy getting nowhere. I expect you are too! Happy Days.

THERA, FIRA AND VOLCANIC DUST AND ASHES

I achieved a life long ambition when I visited Santorini with friends last week and saw for myself the black volcanic sand on the beaches and the picturesque domes and steeples built into the volcanic rock of the island. My tablet, camera and phone were all full of pictures which I will have a struggle to download successfully.

We had tickets for the high speed ferry which left Heraklion at about 9.00 a.m and reached Fira Old Harbour a couple of hours later. A transfer bus took us to our hotel, which through some fluke of good luck had been upgraded and we were delighted to be staying at a super place, with rooms around a lovely swimming pool serving good breakfasts and having the most helpful of staff. We couldn't recommend it enough. It was just far enough out of town along a flat, well paved road to give us a pleasant walk each morning looking over the Caldera.

Fira was a pleasant, but very busy place. Most of the up-market hotels and jewellery shops were there and obviously catered for cruise tourists who were there for a very short time and had no real concept of how much a euro was worth. Forsaking the gold shops offering items “For you, I make a special price” (!!!) and other clothes shops selling jewel encrusted flip flops at eye popping cost, we pressed on to find the bus station and work out how to get to the various spots we needed around the island.

Consequently, we found ourselves queuing for the 10.00 bus the following morning so that we could be at the Akrotiri Archeological site for 11.00 where Eugenia our lovely guide was waiting for us. It was a brilliant morning; the site covered a few acres – well roofed with firm walkways just above all the escavations. Real two storey houses, identifiable public buildings, streets, workshops, houses with furniture all preserved by tons and tons and tons and tons of volcanic ash. We walked through the town, it had indoor plumbing, it had a bank, of sorts – all amazingly cosmopolitan and sophisticated for 1700 BC. Remains of trees had been carbon dated to pin down the date of the immense earthquake and volcanic eruption which disrupted and had a detrimental effect on many of the civilisations and communities around the Mediterranean. No portable, valuable items were found or human remains. It appears that the inhabitants had managed to pack their valuables and get away from the town. There were several layers of buildings on top of each other indicating that there had been minor earthquakes and rebuilding prior to the big catastrophe which caused so much destruction.

We met up with some friends after our tour for lunch by the sea and had a marvellous meal of sea food spaghetti with conversation and discussion about the highs and lows of living in Santorini. Our hosts had bought a cave house at Red Beach and had worked and fitted out the interior with modern technology and coatings to a very high standard. I am ashamed to admit that this is the day that I forgot my camera and am also a bit worried that photos might be infringing some kind of publishing/copyright laws particularly of the artifacts in the museum.  

The next day we visited the Museum in Fira which was a jewel. It had enough wonderful and beautifully conceived ceramics, frescos (showing all the lovely colours of the various earth colours from round and about) – no jewellery in evidence. Well preserved furniture, beds, chairs, cooking utensils and metal working tools were displayed and labelled perfectly. The museum was just the right size with enough to see without being overwhelming. I would like to revisit some day!

A few of us jumped on a bus after this and made our way to Kamari – taking a trip down memory lane since my friends had first visited there 30 years earlier and were agog to see that it had changed so radically and they had problems recognising anything. We had a splendid walk along the water side looking at all the plush hotels being fitted up ready for the new season and picking up pumice stones from the beach of black sand. A cursory check later confirmed that we could not easily afford to stay in any the hotels for more than a day or two!  We thought that the 26 euros was money well spent the next day on a boat trip to see the Volcano, swim in hot pools and have a sea food lunch in a fishing village on the far side of the Caldera lake.

A trip to Oia is compulsory! We discovered that the bus service was brilliant and very good value to get about the island. The bus drivers seemed to cope with the narrow roads, obstructions and manoeuvring very skillfully and we were all amused when a young American tourist had parked her hired beach buggy on a corner which had jammed up the entire town. Hooting, shouting and general chaos reined! Most people go to Oia at sunset to take photographs of the sun setting, but we decided that we had masses of photos of Greek sunsets, so we went there on our last morning in Santorini (having packed our cases and paid our hotel bill) to eat Lolita's ice creams. I haven't eaten ice cream for a few months since gastric problems and ate two cartons in one morning! It was fabulous. Incidentally, Demitri who works there is looking for a wife – or so the notice on the wall says – so we paid for our indulgent fare and hoped that he would find one soon!

A rocky ferry trip home – in stormy seas and inhaling strong fumes of diesel - was a bit gruesome, or it might have been the ice cream, but we managed to get back on dry land and feel immediately OK for the drive back home.

Back in the village, there is more dust to clear up and Easter to prepare for. The villagers are all on a very strict fast during their Holy Week. No milk, no fat, no meat, - possibly vegetables and sea food are all that is allowed. They will certainly be ready to enjoy their Easter feast on Sunday.

Kallo Pascha!

PLASTER DUST

 

A clearer day today!

 We are back in harness and coping with southern winds bringing African dust to clothe all our work tops and floors, while gritting our eyes and giving us horrible colds and coughs, if we venture out in it. Fortunately, a weather forecast foretold the arrival of the second batch and we shut the doors and shutters overnight to at least keep the house as dust free as possible. We couldn't see the hills or the mountains – or even the sea in Panormo; it was as if someone had hung up a large grey horse blanket all around us.

A brief inspection showed that there was a little damage after the first really howling gales which I just missed, but which broke one of the struts of the pergola, several plant pots and left a rim of peculiar dust in the upstairs rooms through the walls and roof. I wondered if we had got wordworm (horrors with all the large wooden beams of the roof) but a quick inspection by Rik the Builder assured us that we were OK. I bought a couple of cans of wordworm spray – just in case – and with a bit of difficulty at the very top of the ladder and masked up, aimed a few shots in the direction of the would-be problem to be on the safe side.

The old minaret has lost its scaffolding and been restored

It took a couple of days for the sky to clear and the weather is beginning to get hot. We are nearly ready for the winter to summer changeover to take place. I am hanging on to my winter woollies for just a week or two longer so that it is one clear process instead of a scramble. Our Internet service is now so intermittant that it has proved difficult to post our blogs and we have to strike while the iron is hot. We keep complaining to the phone company and are promised something better but it has not changed yet.

However, the swallows have arrived and have ejected the all year-round sparrows from their usual spots in the trees and wires and they are pecking about on our front step. We can hear loud chattering of swallows from morning to night and watch their aerobatics as they chase insects and swoop on stray cats who venture too close to their nests. The vine on the front railings has lots of fresh green leaves and little fruit already and has needed spraying for many days, but the wind is just too strong to tackle it so far.

Easter candles for children to take to Church

In the town, the shops are preparing for Greek Easter – late this year – and the hotels and tavernas are filling up with lots of tourists for this year. We have bought our Spring plants and just need some help getting large terra cotta pots up the stairs so that we can plant some lovely jasmine and other plants which are waiting in the front porch along with sacks of potting compost and good earth for a nice growing mixture. (We hope!)

We have not one, but two of the family in plaster recently. Sister Anna after a fall had an enormous plaster cast on her leg which was too heavy to get up and down stairs and has made life really difficult for the time being. Then she went into hospital following a check up and the possibility of an operation. Fortunately, she came out of hospital with a leg brace instead of the op, but not allowed to put any weight on it. It took 2-3 days to get the hospital exit papers so she was stuck there betwixt and between. With friends and neighbours, she is just about coping in her house on three floors by enlisting help so that all she needs is on the middle floor or within arms reach of the bed. Life has been awkward for her and she can't wait for the next hospital visit to see if she can get more use of the leg. Meanwhile, in NZ, the youngest grandchild had his elbow in plaster for a short while!

Sadly, the broken leg meant that Anna was not able to come on the trip she had organised to Santorini with friends in April. It was planned to happen just before Greek Easter and prior to high season when all the cruise ships call there. However, Ma Crozier was booked and still made the journey by high speed ferry. The party had three blissful days in Santorini looking at the Akrotiri archeological workings, visiting the Museum in Fera, doing lots of walking around the town and beaches. There will be lots more about Santorini in the next post and pictures of our adventures.

INTREPID TRAVELS

I have recaptured my keyboard after a long break and having achieved the cherished dream of getting to see all the family living in New Zealand. Apologies for the break in transmission but it was worth it.

After a longish journey out to Auckland via London, I was horribly tired and jet-lagged for well over a week after getting there. The daughters had hatched lots of plans for my stay, which were crammed in around school and nursery drop offs, Mainly Music (music & dancing for toddlers held in churches) a bewildering clutch of meetings, greetings and tearful goodbyes, lost shoes, lunch boxes and after-school activities. I couldn't keep up! In the end it seemed best to just play follow-my-leader and try to slot into what, by Cretan standards, was a very full regime.  

The standard of living in Auckland is very high. That is not to say that there aren't places where people find it hard to keep up with it or that poverty doesn't exist, but I found the cafes, restaurants and shops all very full and busy whilst the evidence of very heavy traffic, industry and commerce buzzing in a way I haven't seen it for DECADES in the UK or in Greece, quite encouraging. New Zealand is a "positively can do" country and everything seems possible.

Early in my stay, a short boat trip from Devonport quay on the North Shore got us to Waihiki Island in less than an hour and it was like arriving at a holiday destination with brighter sunshine than on the coast and lots of pretty vineyards in evidence. We had a table booked at Cable Bay Vineyard and in the fine weather, it was absolutely packed. People from the bar had spilled out onto stretch-out bean bags on the bright green lawns outside.   At the same time, the more formal restaurant was fully booked while young waiting staff were racing to get everyone beautifully served. It was a lovely place for a special celebration and I am not surprised that many people choose Waihiki vineyards as wedding venues. I pulled out my sunhat and made sure that I had some sunscreen because it is very easy to get badly burned in NZ even on a cloudy day … through holes in the ozone layer.

We had a birthday party for daughter Kate which fell on a Saturday, and it was good to meet up with lots of her friends and neighbours around a firepit with drinks and nibbles.  It was planned to be a simple format but still seemed to take an enormous amount of energy and shifting about in preparation.

As I had never had a chance to meet the youngest grandson, Spencer, it was great to be there for his birthday too. He had no less than three celebrations! In the morning, we all met at the Sky Tower and were taken up in the high speed lift to one viewing platform where a noticeboard informed us that bungee jumpers would be planning to take a dive in the next 10 minutes. I was not quick enough to catch a photo of them as they flashed past the windows to a target on the pavement down at street level. I certainly wasn't tempted to have a go! We sat down for lovely coffee and special ice cream "with sprinkles".  After Spencer's nap, there was a tea party with his cousins as a dress rehearsal for the Dinosaur party planned for the following Saturday! Needless to say the big event was wonderful and noisy in equal measures with lots of tears, tantrums and smiles – but great to be with them and take photos of musical statues, whacking a pinata, an awesome cake, dinosaur sandwiches (shapes, not content!) - darling daughter looked exhausted after all this partying!

Each weekend seemed to be filled with barbecues and parties, we spent a lovely day while the weather was good down at the beach making sandcastles and I got to know the kindergarden and school quite well. On the Thursday before Easter, I was invited to "Grandparents Day".  This was interesting:  we looked at all our grandchildren's work and projects, were shown round the classroom, played games together and ended up having "Morning Tea" in the school hall rounded off by two Maori songs and a blessing.  It was good to be there and I felt sorry for children who had no grandparents present on the morning.  My stay finished at Easter weekend while we flew down to Wellington to meet up with more friends and filled the weekend with windy Wellington pursuits! Swimming with juniors, down to the beach and round the playground a few times, the Te Papa Museum, lots of visits to the Warehouse (New Zealand's inexpensive clothes/household/toy/drugstore emporium on a large scale) before flying back to Auckland on Monday teatime in time to catch NZ1 from Auckland to London via Los Angeles later on that night! Five flights in the space of 72 hours is some sort of travelling and I need to live very quietly for a while after all these carbon emissions and juddering jet lag!

 A stopover in London was a dreadful shock to the system after all the treats of NZ.   I found people serving in the hotel were not exactly welcoming or helpful and the next morning the taxi driver dropped me off at Terminal 2, far away from the trolley stack with four pieces of luggage, despite my polite request for help to get a trolley. He just took the money and zoomed off. I was lucky that the driver of the car behind him noticed my problem as I struggled to move all pieces at the same time or leave half the luggage while taking the rest towards a trolley … anyway, I made it and didn't miss my plane. What a shame we don't have porters any more when so many people need jobs. I have decided not to go to London again unless I really, really need to - it was grim.

In Crete, lovely Grigoris (our friend/taxi driver) awaited my flight and took care of all my luggage, with good manners, a smile and kind welcome. I think that the Kiwis and the Cretans have certain things in common and they still remember how to smile! Hooray, it is nearly summer time, and so great to be back in our village. A box of Milk Tray for Angeliki (who loves English chocolate) provoked an apron full of eggs and a heavy bag of oranges and lemons in return. Recent stormy winds from Africa had brought inches of sand, dust and pesky "microbes" giving people colds and flu, so poor K was feeling a bit sorry for himself with a horrible cough to get rid of.  I am busy searching NZ cooking sites for frittata, pie and quiche recipes to utilise all the eggs! Happy Days and Kalo mina!

HIBERNATION

The weather had been so lovely and the sun so hot on our trip to Margarites that I asked K to check the back of my head the next day because it felt as if I had got sunburn. After a couple of days this was covered with a rash and our Doctor took one look and said “Shingles”. Fortunately, he was able to prescribe a good anti-viral medication to lessen the effects and I have spent the time since hunkered down at home. The weather became very wet, and the rain on the mountains and nearer foothills has turned to snow = definitely log burner weather. Over all this lies a thick grey shawl of misty cloud which makes everything feel horridly damp and cold to the bones. I have barely put my nose out of doors and unearthed all the thermals.  Locals on the other hand were grateful that their olive trees were getting a really good soaking.

In the village the kafeneons are busy – which is largely due to their efficient heating! At the nearest kafeneon – Kostas and Angeliki's – their small portable log burner, alarmingly with the trade name of 'Napalm 78' has been set up for the winter. They arrange a sheet of metal on the floor, the stove on top (which frequently supports a large saucepan of meaty stew), and a chimney which is attached to the stove, spreading across the room and out of a hole made in the wall.. This seems a bit ad hoc, but gives off a wonderful heat. (UK Planning Authorities would have a fit!). Angeliki strolls over every so often and pulls the small metal ring from the top of the stove with a handle, drops some olive sticks into the aperture and shuts it off again with nonchalant skill. The heat from the efficient little burner is amazing. On days when the kindling is a bit green, the black smoke from the chimney causes a fog which makes you gasp for breath outside the house, but the system works very well on the whole. As the warm weather arrives, the little stove is stowed away again for the summer months when the hole in the wall is plugged with a branch of Rosemary bush.

K likes to get out of the house a bit and pays a visit there every evening at about tea time to have a chat and warm his hands. He never gets home without his pockets being stuffed with oranges and mandarins from their fruit trees or a bag of freshly laid eggs. On my one egg per week diet, this is a little problematic and we can't get through either the eggs or the oranges by ourselves, so we make sure they go to good owners.

At the bigger kafeneon run by Apostoli and Christina, a lot of changes have happened. In the Autumn, the place had a makeover with a new kitchen, toilets and the addition of tables and chairs for simple meals at the back of the building. A new local dance move has developed: the toilets now have up-to-the-minute lighting systems which turn on automatically when you enter and theoretically turn off when you leave. The dance begins when you first wonder who switched the lights off and then realise that you have to somehow activate the motion sensor.  The unsuspecting are frequently left in the dark clapping, swaying and waving their hands about madly and, as a dance, it is much more difficult than Zorba's!

Swiftly moving on ... the biggest impact has been made by a huge cinema screen used for watching football matches on Friday and Saturday evenings. On these nights, the atmosphere gets very noisy and Christina is very busy producing souvlakis for the boisterous soccer fans. In the meantime, an even louder card game is a nightly fixture at the front of the cafe and a lot of shouting accompanies this. We have to remember that this is never a quiet night out, but the customers are a hospitable lot and we frequently go to pay for our drinks, only to find that they have already been covered!

K's quad bike (= “mobility scooter with attitude”) needed to go for mechanical service and because parts needed to come from Athens, he was confined to barracks for 10 days or so. However, it has come back in a much more reliable state - although in wet weather, his movements are still a bit limited and getting into and out of waterproofs takes ages.

Days at home have been confined to spending time reading, knitting and summoning up energy to complete a crocheted blanket. I have been making thick soups, with all the wonderful vegetables available, to keep us warm and satisfied – even a sort of haggis on Burns Night. Filmon gives us a good choice of programmes on TV. Sadly, the two hour difference means that the UK programmes we like start too late at night to keep awake for! I have also to revise for my Greek lessons because there is a test on Friday – eek!

All our letters and parcels from abroad arrived eventually in one fell swoop. This was great and we have enjoyed all the Christmas goodies, albeit in mid-January.  Not great timing for Christmas lights or music but they are early for next year!   We are so grateful to have the ability to use Amazon which delivers quite a number of goods and foodstuffs, such as Marmite, teabags or oatcakes to Crete. The post in December is hopeless and don't get me started on our internet service which cuts out about 20 times each day. However, Kindle keeps us in books  and Amazon can deliver a surprising range of things to make life easier, so long as we don't order at the end of the year.

This is a bit of a dull blog, but I hope it will be more exciting next month because (in fear and trepidation as well as three re-connections to the internet) I have booked flights for New Zealand! Yippee! Oh, and I have just looked outside the door to see the first sunshine in two weeks. Great!

CLASSES AND CLAY

We have been enjoying unbelievably warm days for January recently, which means that we've been out and about as much as possible and making the most of good winter drying days to get rugs and blankets washed after Christmas. We can see plumes of smoke from the terrace coming from the olive groves now because the olives have either been picked or are being picked and the small branches and twigs cleaned from the trees are often made into a big bonfire (which would be completely forbidden during the dry season). Friends have started their marmalade concoctions but I didn't have the heart for it this January as most of mine was made with my Dad in mind.

First of all, an idea to get a Greek conversation class started in a small village close to us a year ago almost fizzled out when all the events of last summer landed me in hospital and another keen participant lodged in the NHS system in the UK. So we turned over a new leaf and tried to initiate another go at it. A lovely young lady with perfect English and a degree from a Greek University agreed to lead the lessons and we turned up with pens and paper to try and cudgel our brains back to work. Although we had all studied Greek before, we were all glad to do a bit of revision and try to think of examples of words beginning with alpha, beta, yamma, delta and so on. There were just a few of us and it took us way longer than we thought it would, but we are all keen to move on and gain a bit more confidence. Our teacher's father had fashioned a brilliant whiteboard and she took the whole project much more seriously than we had expected. It is clear that Greek schools take work very academically!! The discipline will do us good though and our teacher is very fun loving and good natured.

This week has been a bit of a whirl with things happening every day. On Tuesday, a trip to one of the potteries at Margarites was organised so that we could learn about the history of ceramics and why Margarites is now one of the few villages left in Crete with pottery workshops of any note. We listened to how the clay was collected, where it was worked and how ceramics were fired. We were lucky that the weather was sparkling and warm, but unlucky that DAE (electric company) had dug a pit right across the road at the entry to the village and this meant quite a large diversion to reach the pottery round the corner and up the hill. In the end, we dumped the cars, stepped over the wooden crate covering the abyss and climbed up the steep hill to the pottery shop where Yiorgos and a thermos of coffee awaited us.

We were a motley crew and the first thing was to decide how to organise the day as we had planned to go and see where the local clay was collected but this was a few kilometres away and our cars were not as handy as we had hoped, Discarding this idea, we climbed up the steep road to where old stone buildings lay, largely in massive disrepair, on either side of the road. Until 1969, and the arrival of water and electricity to the village, this is where all the potters of the village had their workshops and kilns. At the same time, the containers which had been used for oil, water, foodstuffs and chimney pots were replaced by metal and plastic alternatives which spelled a very bad time for potters and many workshops were deserted and fell into disrepair. These remains are classified as archaeological places of historical interest – meaning that nobody can do anything with them. This is sad for Yiorgos who, with passionate zeal for the long history of his art form, would like to set up a working museum so that interested people could see the process in action. The circular kilns had been best preserved – a sort of stone beehive shape with two openings. One at ground level to lean into and place the pots on a slotted floor and one at a lower level beneath the floor round the corner where the wood was put into the base of the structure and stoked to keep the temperatures hot for many hours. This design of kiln was used in Minoan times and up to 50 years ago until electric kilns arrived. It was obviously very hard work for the ancient craftsmen. These days designs for ceramics are made very much for the tourist trade where souvenirs need to be transportable.

In the absence of a museum, Yiorgos did the next best thing for us and pointed out where the potters worked and we poked about in the wooded lands at the edge of the fabulous gorge where many of the old stone workshops had stood looking at the cysterns for catching water, sinks hewn out of the rock and admiring all the kilns which we would have probably walked past on our wanderings without recognising. The kilns were once fired with all the wood from around the valley and now with olive branch clippings. Yiorgos explained the firing processes and how different arrangements and inlet of oxygen to the kiln affected the chemical qualities and colour of the finished product. He showed us a clearing in the woods of land belonging to his family thronging with huge ali ba ba pots, shards, jugs and vases lying about in heaps along with roof tiles in large stacks. We all stood round large sinks for cleaning and beginning the initial preparation of the clay from the mountains. The work of collecting and cleaning the clay to remove stones and impurities was a long process and needed infinite patience.

After this we returned to his pottery workshop near the centre of the village and watched him work on the potter's wheel. None of the pieces could be thrown or worked in one day but took several jumps and rests on and off the wheel before completion, each portion a labour of love. Yiorgos' skill was amazing and as a final flourish he produced a most unusual paintbrush with ancient origin. A stick handle with a slick tail of lambswool attached with which he quickly showed how the village signature of a palm frond was done as decoration – all with a masterly flick of the odd looking brush in a matter of seconds. Amazing to watch and to absorb his passion for a craft which could easily die out, without such experts as he. We understand that he does teach at the University and are glad that more people have the benefit of his experience. Sadly, we could not thank him with a lunch at the taverna as he had another appointment, but we hoped that we have found a compromise by putting some money by at the taverna for him and his family to have a meal some time soon.

The welcoming taverna awaited us at the top of the hill with a glowing log fire and the hospitable proprietor had prepared a large selection of meze starters and platters of chicken. All our New Year diets were forgotten about and we feasted royally. It was a memorable day out and we all thought that we would have liked to try our hand on the potters wheel at a future date. Yiorgos had looked a bit apprehensive – and with good cause, I have no doubt!

Kali Chronia!