Cretan Diary - Chapter 26 | |||||||||||||||||
Wednesday - The WalkOctober 14, 2009 We had been invited to go on a 7.5km walk by Geoff, a local Brit, so I hurried to do my work while Jenny packed a picnic. We arrived at the appointed village square at half past ten exactly but nobody else had arrived. Jenny phoned Geoff to check that we'd got the right village. We had but we were a little early - a week early in fact! So we drove back towards home, intending to pick up a map and a book and do a walk on our own. On the way, we spotted Allan Tazzyman, a british watercolour painter who lives on Crete. We stopped to introduce ourselves and spent almost an hour with Allan as he showed us round his gallery, his house and his garden. Here's his web site: http://www.atazzymanwatercolour.com By now it was almost lunch time. We mentioned our intention to take a walk and Allan handed us a leaflet for a newly-opened botanical garden, located on the other side of Xaniá. We continued home and ate our picnics because, by now, we were hungry!
Thursday - The Garden CentreOctober 15, 2009 Because the rain begins now, Crete has a second spring at this time of year. Trucks drive around selling plant pots and the garden centres do a roaring trade. This is the time to do your winter planting. The risk of frost is small. Sun and rain are guaranteed. Jenny wanted to buy a young vine, for our upstairs balcony, and some herb plants so we drove to the garden centre in Kalives. For those of you with memories, this is close to the previously-mentioned Vodaphone shop, the book shop, the windscreen wiper shop and the electrical goods store. We didn't realise, until we'd followed the sign for "Parking" and almost filled the tiny "parking area" with our little Peugeot, that the Garden Centre was divided between two locations about 300 metres apart. So we had parked next to rows of pots containing young vines but the shop was further down the road.
When we reached the shop the assistants were chatting and ignored us. This is not unusual behaviour for people who speak little English. They often let us make the first move and, while some may be a bit "pushy" to make a sale, most aren't. So Jenny mooched around, looking at plants. She asked another customer (in Greek) for the name of a herb she was picking. The lady told her and was duly thanked. We went inside the shop and Jenny explained (in Greek) what we wanted. A Vine (with "white" grapes for eating, not drinking); some herbs and some compost. After some discussion between mother, son and husband, it was decided that Jenny would go behind the shop with the husband to the herb garden; I would walk back to the car with the lady to select a vine. The son, who was on crutches with his leg in plaster, wisely volunteered to stay behind and look after the shop. We chatted on the way to the car - the usual "where do you live? Are you on holiday? Oh, really? How long have you lived here? What work do you do?" I can cope with all of this, having had much practice. However, when it comes to discussing plants and trees, I'm not good. Surprisingly, the lady commented on my good Greek (ha) then started to speak English! This happens quite often with some people here. As soon as they realise that you really are trying hard, but struggling, they'll be as helpful as possible. Even if, previously, they've stated that they speak no English at all, they'll use the few English words they know in order to help. They are so nice that it almost makes me cry. After dark we saw flashes over Rethymnon. It was surreal because I could hear no thunder.
Friday - About Zapping and EatingOctober 16, 2009
Finally, I spotted it on the white shutters. I brought round my zapper, finger on the button, and swished the wire matrix through the air where the mosquito was sure to head. Crack! Got it! I lay down, put out the light and relaxed. By 2:15 pm I was just dozing off when I heard a familiar whine. I thrashed wildly and fumbled for my bedside lamp switch. With myopic eyes blinking in the sudden glare, I squinted around me for the little blighter. (Déjà vu). Finally I saw it on the ceiling. I stepped gingerly onto the bed. Jenny rolled over. Shhhh! I pressed the button and swept the zapper towards it. I couldn't reach but it must have sensed the air movement. As it dived for cover, I got it. Crack! Eventually I dozed off into a fitful sleep and awoke at 7:30 am as usual. Jenny was covered with red lumps on the arm that had been exposed. The little sods! Lesson learned. We won't be leaving doors or windows open again without a fly screen. It's another fairly hot day with high humidity, but a strong wind and some cloud cover made the heat bearable. The temperature indoors has remained a fairly constant 22 degrees Centigrade since 9am. It will probably fall to a "cool" 20 degrees during the night. The lowest we've had is 18.5 degrees but that's going to change in a few days, apparently. I walked up to the shop to buy bread and asked the price of wood for the stove. A hundred and twenty Euros for a ton. (It sounds like a lot of wood but it won't last the winter.) We stayed in and worked for most of the morning. After lunch, around 2pm, I "Skyped" Eleni because Jenny had some "car boot items" to give her. She was having a rest and asked us to go after 3pm. So we drove to "Our Yoopolly". As we approached "Seven Bends Road" it rained so hard that I actually had to put the wipers on intermittent sweep! We parked the car in the shade of some trees* and Jenny paddled in the sea while I rested in the Taverna overlooking the beach at Georgioupolis. Do we seem to spend all our time eating? This was my first treat in ages. Let me explain that, in England, Jenny worked in a hospital while, for many years, I ran my business from home. I used to take our youngest boys to school and cook evening dinner for everyone, five days a week. As the boys grew older, I cooked less often and, at least once a week, we'd eat out or get a "take-away" because we could afford to and I needed a break. When we decided that Jenny would retire and we would move here, Jenny agreed that she would take over the cooking because:
Anyway, we eat three times a day - mostly small meals apart from the occasional meal out. It has (almost) become routine to go out for Sunday breakfast - except for Sunday before last when I accidentally cooked eggs because I'd forgotten! After a Sunday breakfast, we generally skip lunch. So please don't think we are gorging ourselves. Unfortunately, inheriting my father's genes plus a mostly sedentary lifestyle, has left me with a paunch. In my defence, I'm getting quite a lot of exercise and I am a pound or two lighter than I was a month ago. It's not a lot but nobody can accuse me of "getting fatter". (Well, they can, but it's not true!) Back to the story. We drove to Eleni's and handed over the "car boot stuff". Christos showed us a pastel landscape drawing that had apparently taken him only an hour to produce. He has a talent, that's for sure. Back home, Jenny listened to radio from her computer and filled in a puzzle book simultaneously. I can't multitask like that. I answered emails then watched the 6 O' clock BBC news (at 8 pm). I was going to watch something at 8 pm (10 pm) but I guess I got too involved with typing this - so I've missed it. Later: I've remembered what it was. It was a repeat of the repeat of "The X Factor", programme 11, which I've now missed three times. In the UK I would record it on my computer then watch it, later, skipping the really awful bits. Here I'm not only two hours ahead but I have no facility to record. Consequently, I keep missing the darn programme and, when I do manage to remember, I find myself mentally screaming at the awful bits and the never-ending adverts. It's losing its appeal. You may recall that, a week ago (chapter 22) our Estate Agent asked us to leave the shed unlocked so that his men could access the power to fix the loose canopy over the kitchen door. Well, the shed is still unlocked and the canopy is still loose and flapping in the wind. Now you understand the true meaning of "avrio". (In the dictionary it means "tomorrow" but, here, it means "mañana".) | |||||||||||||||||
