Cretan Diary - Chapter 48

The harbour area was completely devoid of tourists and almost deserted. A few locals sat in the only taverna that was open. There was much noise as workmen dug up broken paving slabs with a pneumatic chisel. I ordered a new baseball cap at the T-shirt shop near the harbour. I wanted it printed with "I live here" in Greek. I paid my eight Euros and said we'd return in half an hour. We went to the "Red Bicycle" for drinks, then returned to collect my new cap. The shopkeeper thought it amusing. We searched for a washing basket like the one that Jenny had bought for her friend a few weeks ago. We couldn't find one and had to settle for something different. We called at the electrical shop to buy Schuko plugs and adapters, then at Multirama to buy a couple of USB extension leads, then collected the car. It cost 8 Euros for the external wash and no charge for parking. (The parking would have been 4.50 Euros.) Effectively, we paid 3.50 Euros for the car wash. On the way out of Haniá, we called at "Alex-Pak", which is about as close to "B&Q" as we'll ever get. We bought a flat-pack TV stand and a few other items then drove home, stopping at Aspaseea's supermarket to check for post. There wasn't anything new. At 4pm I had to have a nap. At 5pm I finished off some work then, at 6:15pm, as it was growing dark (and cold and windy) we walked to the house of Dave and Mary and they drove us to the Taverna at Neo Chorio, to participate in the weekly quiz. The food was good (I had swordfish) and the six of us (including Pete and Hazel) achieved the highest quiz score. However, we came in second place because the scores were adjusted according as the number of members in each team. The actual winners got less questions correct but gained 3 bonus points since there were only three people in their team. No matter; we won a bottle of ouzo. The taverna owner corrected my Greek as I spoke to him. The Greek for "word" is "lexi". (Think about "lexicon".) I thought the plural was "lexia" but I was mistaken; it's "lexeis" for "words". The evening, unfortunately, was spoiled by several selfish (English) people who filled the taverna with cigarette smoke. By the time we left, my throat was sore, my lungs were burning and my eyes were smarting. On arrival home, at midnight, Jenny and I had to strip to our underclothes and put our stinking clothes into the washing machine. Carl has installed the new router in England and I have access, once more, to my computer there. Time for bed.   Saturday 27th - Early Breakfast February 27th, 2010 Since we've been invited to Peter's birthday lunch on Sunday, Jenny has told me that we can't have our usual late (10am) breakfast at the Naos. So we've decided to have it a day early. I Skyped Eleni to say that we were going for "Sunday breakfast" and would call in on our way back. She didn't reply, so I guessed she was probably busy outside the office. I told Jenny to drive because she needs the practice. Our friends from Mathess arrived at the "Naos" just after we did. (By the way, "Naos" rhymes with "mouse".) We ordered breakfast then Eleni and Christos arrived. Apparently, Christos' strimmer had broken and they had decided to "chill out" with us, before driving home to fix the equipment.
After breakfast, Jenny drove to the beach and collected seaweed for the garden. The Greek call seaweed "Feekee".
We called at Eleni's house and chatted for a short time before returning home. It was 24 degrees C. in the valley and a cooler 20'C at home. At 1:30pm it is now 19'C outside. Windy but sunny. We sit on the veranda for tea and biscuits and a chat. 2pm. Jenny has gone to rescue the washing from next door's line before the wind takes it.
3pm. There's a lot of noise from vehicles manouevreing next door.
12pm. Looks like a full moon, shining through my office blind. Tired. Going to bed.
Sunday 28th - Birthday party February 28th, 2010 I awoke at 8am, dressed and made Jenny a pot of tea. Then she came downstairs and made me some porridge with sultanas and honey. I did some work at the computer then we walked to Aspaseea's shop. The temperature is only 13'C but it's sunny and feels very warm out of the shade. Aspaseea's husband, Stelios, was swapping two weighing machines. He told me the display didn't work properly. (It has never worked since we came here in September.) We returned home and Chris hailed us as we opened our gate. She wanted to apologise for her dog's howling. But we hadn't heard it. Her husband, was mixing cement. He was building a brick support for their new bath. At 11:30 we drove up the hill and collected our friends, then continued down "Seven Bends Road" to Vrises.
From Vrises we drove out into the country until we reached our destination which, for want of a better translation, I'll call "The Horses Crown" at Nipos, where a table had been reserved for "10 atoma".
"Birthday Boy", Petro.
Enjoying the meal.
The rest of us (except Jenny, who is taking the photo).
Some men outside, apparently trying to stuff a baby lamb back inside the sheep. Or maybe they were trying to make it feed, or milk it.
We spent the whole afternoon eating and drinking. (I drank minimal alcohol because I had to drive but Petro was decidedly merry.) We returned home before dark and I watched recorded TV programmes. I'm sneezing a lot and my nose is running.   Monday 1st - Spring March 1st, 2010 We arose early - I was out of the shower just after 7:30am - and had breakfast.
I answered some emails, checked out some web forums and photographed the workers spraying cement render on the new house, opposite.
9:40am. It's already 17'C outside. Warmer than yesterday. Jenny is doing housework today.
We drove to Georgioupolis for lunch - an omelette for me and a "club sandwich" for Jenny. Something flew past - I thought at first that it was a small bird but it was a locust.
When we arrived home the builders were there. They had replaced the top section of drainpipe. The plan is to fit a canopy over the door and to lead the drainpipe into a 1000 litre tank for watering the garden.
They sealed around the downstairs toilet soil pipe because we think that's another place where the stinkworms are gaining entry to the house.
They cut and glued a marble lintel in the kitchen doorway to keep rain out. The problem with this arrangment is that, if rain does come in, we can't simply sweep it out.
They swapped the washing machines over so that we could try out the Bosch machine whose door catch I had replaced, weeks ago. The temperature remained high all day, with clear blue skies.   Tuesday 2nd - Sunny March 2nd, 2010 Our local house maintenance friend arrived at 9am to measure our bath. He's going to fit a side panel to it.
It's already 18'C outdoors and Jenny has gone out to do some gardening.
Jenny setting fire to bougainvillea cuttings.
Standing by with the hosepipe.
Fire!
12 noon. We've just had a short walk to collect our mail from the shop. The temperature is now 24'C in the shade and it feels HOT, but with a cooling breeze. I have to go help Eleni with her web site, now. 5pm. Jenny has just informed me that The Bosch washing machine mains cable is only 200mm long and has no plug on it! Wednesday 3rd - Walking March 3rd, 2010 I arose at 7:30am, shortly after Jenny. Did my back exercises, showered and dressed. I picked up tools and went directly to the shed where I fitted a plug to the Bosch washing machine - twice. (As usual, I forgot to slide the plug cover up the cable before attaching the plug.) Jenny put clothes into the machine and set it going, noting that the spin knob is stuck on 900rpm and apparently won't budge. Eleni "Skyped" me to say that her external backup drive had died and could she bring it for me to fix. I said OK and Jenny started to cook the breakfast. The electric power went off and stayed off. Luckily, there was just enough heat in the hot plate to finish cooking my egg so I ate breakfast while Jenny got out the little camping gas stove to boil water for a hot drink. Eleni arrived and we explained about the power. I connected her Hard Drive to a USB port on my Apple "iBook" laptop and tested it. The computer recognised it but announced that it was faulty and couldn't be repaired. The power came back on so I rebooted my main computer and attached the Hard Drive to that. I launched my file recovery software and left it running, as it counted down from its predicted nine hours to complete! Outside, the indicated temperature was 16 degrees, but I think my temperature sensor has developed a fault. Must remember to reset it.
A friend of Eleni, arrived and they went to look at the two houses owned by our neighbours, just down the road. They want to sell up and move to France. A tiny excavator has just rumbled off a lorry, outside.
Our friends arrived, so we got into their car and went to Almereetha. We parked both cars in the main car park and set off up the hill. By now it was decidedly warm and we had stripped down to our T-shirts!
You can see Mount Drapanos in the distance.
The sea is a lovely clear turquoise colour. There's quite a strong breeze off the sea, from the north.
The intrepid travellers stomp up another hill.
By the time we reached Kaleeves, my feet were sore. We found a taverna and ordered drinks. The waitress told us she could offer "onlee tost" to eat. So we ordered toasted sandwiches all round, with ham, cheese and tomato filling. After the meal, we inspected the plumbing, paid the bill, then walked back to the car park in Almereetha. Eleni's Hard Drive scan was almost complete. When it finished, it had managed to find all, or most, of the files. However, it was unable to recover the filenames, so it labelled them automatically with "image1.jpg" etc. I "Skyped" Eleni and told her the good and bad news. 11pm and I've caught up on recorded UK news and have just done the washing up. I'll watch another recorded programme before I go to bed. My sneezing and runny nose continues but I feel fine. My eyes are itchy. Maybe it's the start of my hayfever? I'll take a "Piritese" before I go to bed. Only 10'C outside.   Thursday 4th - We meet the electrician March 4th, 2010 Awoke at 7am but fell asleep and didn't wake again till 9am! Sunny and warm. Already 18'C outside and 21'C indoors. Made Jenny a pot of tea and had my aspirin - then a piritese because my eyes are itching and I'm sneezing again. We walked to the shop to buy bread, milk, bananas etc. Jenny cooked breakfast. Eleni "Skyped" to say she was going out but would like her Hard drive back if we were passing. I did some work while Jenny cleaned out the shed. Outdoor temperature now 25'C. Indoors still 21.C. Had sandwiches for lunch then went for a walk. Stopped at the taverna in the square for a drink. Engaged an English couple next to us in conversation. Turned out to be the famous Mike Bennett, who is the only licensed English electrician on Crete. His wife, Carol, runs a property management company (also fully licensed). See "A British spark's story" at the bottom of this page: http://www.athensnews.gr/articles/13348/27/07/2009/1278 3:30pm. Returned home. Blue sky has changed to completely overcast and outdoor temperature now "only" 23'C. Inside it's still 21'C. 3:55pm. Eleni just phoned to say she's in Vamos and will make a detour to collect her Hard drive. She and Christos arrived after ten minutes, collected the drive and left. Jenny reminded me that the clothes had come out of the Bosch washing machine hot, after a final cold rinse! I checked and discovered that the builder had connected the hot and cold hoses in reverse, and the hot connection was leaking. I reversed them and left the taps set to OFF. 5pm, indoor and outdoor temperatures are equal, at 21'C. Jenny is cooking rissotto. Midnight: It's 14'C outside and 20.3'C indoors. I spent the evening watching recorded TV and answering emails. Goodnight.

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