Cretan Diary - Chapter 53

Friday 2nd - Good Friday

April 2nd, 2010

I awoke to daylight streaming through the open shutters at 8:30am. Jenny had been up much earlier and I could hear her moving downstairs. I did my daily back exercise then dressed and went downstairs.

The sky is blue but with hazy cloud reducing the sun's glare. It's a cool 17'C in the shade but warm in the sunshine.

I read my emails, including one from my mother. Jenny made my breakfast and I ate it before both walking to the supermarket to buy bread.

In the UK it's "Good Friday" and here it's a similar bank holiday, but I don't know if they call it literally "Kalo Paraskevi" (good Friday)* or something else. According to books, everyone greets you with the Greek phrase for "happy resurrection". In practice, "pollee Xroniá" (many years) or "Kalo passhá" (good Easter) seem to be the greetings of choice, with the usual "epeesees" in reply.

*Jenny says Good Friday is known as "Megaly Paraskevee".

I did some web site work then loaded the car with broken furniture and drove to the children's football pitch next to the square. I carried it through the gateway and left it at the side of the pitch.

I returned home, collected the broken cane chairs, and took them back to the plateia. Our friend, "Costas the Radio" was sitting outside the taverna with a friend, so I sat down and greeted them. Costas always has plenty to say but I seldom understand a word of it. But this time he tried very hard. He discussed the weather, his health and the previous days of wind. I told him about Jenny's accident and the fact that we have sons and where we live.

I went inside the taverna and asked the proprietor if I could buy my two friends a drink and could he therefore change a 50 Euro note. He did so and brought drinks out for us. Costas had a lemonade because, he explained, he was taking so many tablets that he wasn't allowed any alcohol. He pulled a crumpled paper tissue from his pocket and emptied the contents onto the table. He pulled the pills towards himself, one by one, explaining "this is for my head; this is for my chest problem; this is for my Parkinsons."

He may be mentally and physically unwell, but he seems to be an extremely pleasant person.

He also speaks more clearly than most of the other villagers, which helps us enormously. He told me that he can recite the English alphabet and count to twenty - and proceeded to demonsrate. And - my goodness - he's quick! He also told me that he knows a few English words then, pointing, said "table", "chair"," hello, how arr you?" He told me that he is forty-something years old and he gets 340 Euros in state benefits each month. That's all he has for himself and his mother, to live on. It's not a lot.

A car pulled up and out stepped a man whom I vaguely recognised. Costas introduced us. "This is the electrician, my brother." The man said hello, asked where I lived, and stated that he'd wired our house. I asked him if he had a wiring diagram for it and he decided that maybe he hadn't wired our house after all, but he'd wired the rest.

I had phoned Jenny to tell her that I'd been delayed but by this tme I was feeling guilty, so I thanked Costas and said goodbye to my new friends, the electrician and Theodoros.

Jenny made lunch. Yesterday we ate outdoors, but I was busy working and it's becoming windier outside, so I remained at my computer. However, it's a holiday so I think I'll have a rest now!

I left Jenny outside in the sun, solving "Sudoku" puzzles, and drove down to Eleni's house in the valley and had a cup of tea and a chat. I gave Christos a reel of fishing line that I'd bought at Lidl. I'm sure he'll find a use for it.

I returned home after an hour and did more work on the computer, then watched a recorded TV programme.

At 6:30pm, our friends arrived and drove all of us to the "Apopsi" taverna in Neo Chorio, where we eat and take part in the quiz each week. We didn't win.

"Lamb in the paper with chips" and seafood with spaghetti.

Saturday 3rd - Excellent Saturday

April 3rd, 2010

Since I didn't go to bed till 1:30am, I hope you'll forgive me for not getting up until 9:30am!

A bright, sunny day. The temperature outside is reading only 16.5'c in the shade but it's very warm in the sunshine. Clear blue skies with hardly a cloud in sight. I had cereal for breakfast and did a little work on the computer. We drove to Georgioupolis for lunch at the Naos (which, I've been told by Christos, is a Cafeteria and NOT a taverna. We'll have to find out the difference.) Then we drove to Christos' and Eleni's house and sat in the sunshine for at least an hour.

On our return we called at both supermarkets in Apokoronas for food provisions then carried on through the village to where our friends live next door to each other. Dave gave me the remainder of the plywood, from which he had cut our bath panel. It must be nearly 2cm thick! Jenny chatted with them, then we drove home.

2pm. Jenny is out in the garden. It's a relatively cool 20'C indoors but doesn't feel cold. I see that parts of England have been enjoying cold weather and even snow in places. Well, come here - it's lovely!

You may recall that Jenny had to decapitate this olive tree last year because it was "minging" - riddled with infection.

This was the result. A sorry-looking excuse for a tree!

But, in early March, this happened!

And now it looks like this.

We finished off Jenny's lovely cheesecake at tea time.

Jenny's red Easter eggs, ready for tomorrow.

A jar of Jenny's home-made lemon marmalade and her home-made upside-down pineapple cake.

Jenny has mislaid her mobile phone somewhere. We've tried ringing it and listening inside the house and the car but can't hear or see it anywhere. We've even phoned Eleni to ask if it's there. So it must be in Georgioupolis. We'll check at the Naos as soon as we get a chance. I emailed our friends to ask them to look outside in daylight.

Shortly before midnight we walked up the road, with the sound of bells coming from the church. As we reached the Supermarket, we could see fireworks through the trees.

The fireworks continued as we approached the square.

In the square, the church was brightly lit and people held candles.

A large group stood near the entrance to the sports field where a huge bonfire was burning.

We climbed the steps of a monument and observed from there.

Soon after midnight, people started to head for home and the special soup made from offal, which will be the first meat that most of them have eaten for a week. They carried their candles. The intention is to make the sign of the cross above their doorways with the smoke from the candle. A sign of good luck.

Sunday 4th - Sunday Lunch

April 4th, 2010

I awake late and Jenny, of course, is already up and having a bath. Our friend replies by email to say that she can't see Jenny's 'phone outside.

I answer questions by email and on various forums. Eleni is making lunch today and we are invited.

Shortly before we are due to leave, she "Skypes" to ask if we can buy a bottle of "Sprite" on our way. Most shops are closed but, luckily, our own local "Bio-Market" is open so we buy a lemonade and a Sprite equivalent then drive to the house of Eleni and Christos.

Eleni tells us that Geoff and Derrick have 'phoned to apologise but they'll be an hour late. She continues to cook while Christos shows us his latest garden ornament.

He has adorned a walnut tree with a grass skirt, face and plant pots. She (the tree) is holding a lantern and a wind-chime.

Here she is in all her glory!

Geoff and Derrick arrived at 1pm. We had an excellent meal and chatted in English and in Greek for Christos' benefit. A good time was had by all until 4:30pm when Jenny felt ill and drove herself home, leaving me behind to enjoy the "party". Geoff and Derrick left shortly afterwards and Eleni drove me home, with Christos accompanying in case we came across any drunken gunmen. Easter Sunday is a day for getting drunk so it can be like "The Wild West" at times. However, we saw only a couple of cars on the way.

Jenny was resting in bed so I showed Eleni and Christos around our garden before they left.

I spent the rest of the evening at the computer, working then watching recorded TV programmes, including the first in the new series of "Doctor Who".

Monday 5th - Sunday Breakfast

April 5th, 2010

We collected our friend (whose husband has gone back to England for a short time) and drove to Georgioupolis, parked in the shade of the trees near the river, and walked to the "Naos" cafeteria. (The difference between "taverna" and "cafeteria" is that a taverna cooks full meals, whereas a cafeteria provides only snacks and breakfast. Curiously, although the "kafetereea" probably outnumbers the tavernas and caffeneeos, it's not a word we were ever taught in lessons!)

We asked Georgia if she had seen Jenny's missing 'phone. She hadn't. Georgia's daughter, Eleni, was playing on a skateboard. I asked what it was called in Greek. Yes, you guessed; it's a "skaitbord".

As we finished breakfast, Clive (who does the Friday night quiz) and his wife arrived and asked if we could direct them to the "Oasis" table-top sale. We could do better than that as we were going there ourselves. I paid the bill then we led the way. We had a chat with Eleni and I also spoke to a few others while Jenny and friend shopped. Jenny bought a dress, which she tried on in the toilet cubicle.

On the way back, heading towards the sea, we met Eleni's husband, Christos, riding towards us on his moped. He stopped to greet us, said he was going to spend two hours with Eleni, and drove off.

On the sea-front a number of motorcycle riders roared past. We noticed that the taverna was open and a bunch of tourists sat outside.

2. Lamb shop

(Greek has no "ch" sound, so they have trouble identifying it.)

When we reached them, we discovered they weren't tourists but English people whom we know.

The tavern is open. It must be summer. The beach is being cleaned and an excavator - part of the clearing operation - heads away from us.

As the excavator trundles down the beach we notice a lorry parked at a strange angle.

The Lorry seems to be embedded in the sand!

The excavator empties concrete pillars from the lorry, then tries to push it upright as the driver starts the engine.

It's all looking too dangerous for Jenny, who decides that we aren't going to watch it for a minute longer. We head back towards the car.

On the drive home, we stopped at a recycling bin, where we'd stopped a couple of days ago. Jenny looked for her 'phone. No sign of it. We dropped our friend at her house and stopped at the supermarket to buy bread. I told Aspaseea about Jenny's 'phone. She hadn't seen it.

Did I mention that it's very warm and sunny? No wind.

One of our trees is bearing fruit. Jenny thinks these are almonds. Eleni thinks they aren't. We'll wait and see!

I broke another filling on a bread crust. I'll have to cut off the crusts in future.

In the evening. Jenny decided that she last used her 'phone early last Friday. So she might have dropped it at the quiz night. We drove to Neo Xorio. Half way there it occurred to me that we had actually gone there in our friend's car and that was probably the most likely place. Anyway, we continued to Neo Xorio and stopped at the petrol station where I bought 40 Euros of petrol. I chatted to the attendant in Greek about the weather. (I have a limited vocabulary, remember.)

The taverna was closed but we tried dialling Jenny's number and listening. There was no sound in the car park so we returned to Apokoronas.

We stopped at our friend's house. The car was there but the gate was locked so I climbed over the wall and rang the bell. the neighbour, next door, shouted that she was poorly and had gone to bed early. Too late! She opened her front door so I apologised and explained our visit. I asked for the key but she had to go back upstairs for it. While I was waiting I went to the locked car and rang Jenny's number. With my ear to the car window, I could hear a faint ringing. Hooray!

She brought the key and I retrieved Jenny's 'phone from the car floor and locked the car before handing the key back and apologising again.

We drove off, somewhat elated.

I watched a recording of "Over The Rainbow". Then I watched the Grand Prix qualifying, before going to bed.

Yes, I know.

Tuesday 6th - Tastes Like Chicken

April 6th, 2010

I phoned the urologist and cancelled my appointment for tomorrow. I'm fine.

I phoned the dentist but he didn't answer.

Eleni "Skyped" me to say that we are now the owners of ten chickens.

We drove to Vamos and bought paint and white-spirit from the plumber's shop. Then we drove to the car park and dropped a bottle in the recycling bin, just as the lorry arrived to empty the bins. We walked round the corner to the dentist's surgery. A notice on the door says "closed till April 12th". Darn!

We went to the hairdresser, where Jenny made an appointment, then up to the bakery to buy a loaf of bread. On the way back down the road we discovered Geoff sitting on the steps of the bookshop, chatting to the owners. We had a brief discussion about things in general and left with the question of whether cat tastes like rabbit or chicken unanswered.

We returned to the car and drove to Eleni's house.

Christos showed us the chickens, inside a cage, suspended inside a makeshift shed.

They should be safe from predators in here. We'll see how many survive. Apparently, many chicks tend to die within the first few weeks. If they survive that long, they'll probably last several years before we eat them.

(We aren't naming them. You can't eat something with a name!)

Eleni made a pot of tea and we sat outside for a chat. It was warm but a wind arose as soon as we sat down. Christos said he'd heard that it was very windy in Chaniá town. He said it was too windy to sit outside, and went inside.

After a short time we left and drove back to Aspaseea's Supermarket. We had passed our postman in Seliá so we didn't bother to look for mail. Jenny bought some "Digestive" biscuits, to use as a base for another cheesecake, lemonade and other provisions. I added some wire and wire-cutters to the basket. Handy to keep in the car. Aspaseea told me that she'll have some "Cheese & onion" crisps, soon. "They are seasonal," she said. "They breeng them onlee een summer." I asked her if she'd been to the new supermarket in Georgioupolis. "I heard of eet," she said, glumly. "Eef you want something you must tell me and I weel get eet."

Despite the wind, Jenny found a relatively sheltered position behind the house and put a coat of primer on the wicker sofa while I watched the recorded Malaysian Grand Prix. It ended abruptly, just after lap 24, with a message saying "switch over to BBC2." Darn! However, I understand that Sebastian Vettel won.

Jenny cooked fish, chips and mushy peas for tea, which we ate with hard-to-find pickled onions. After that, I answered questions on Internet forums then watched a couple of recorded TV programmes.

Wednesday 7th - Haircut

April 7th, 2010

9:30am Jenny has driven to Vamos for her haircut appointment, leaving me to get on with work at home. It's a chilly 13'C outside. The sky is blue and sunny, with clouds on the horizon. Jenny is planning to do more painting outside, on her return, and her friend is going to walk here after 11am.

10:30am I decide to take a walk round the village. Surprisingly, even though I haven't had a long walk for several days, I reached the top of our road without panting. I turned left.

Weeds at the roadside.

The remains of a circular tower - probably a windmill.

This is the main road through the village!

Approaching the cheese factory. The yellow door is the "Internet café" which is run by a lady who must be at least eighty. She's often to be found sitting on one of the chairs outside.

The side road which leads to the houses of our four friends. They have a beautiful mountain view.

The house of Aspaseea and Stelios. Our public rubbish bins haven't been emptied during Easter week.

Looking across fields and valleys towards the White Mountains. Not much snow on them, now.

Downhill to the "Bio-Market" and the square. I buy bananas then turn right opposite the Bio-Market to go to Aspaseea's "IN-KA" supermarket to check for mail.

Curious linear cloud formation over the sea.

A closer view of the clouds.

I checked for mail at the supermarket and found one addressed to our friend. I took it home and she arrived a few minutes later to chat with Jenny, who has already finished the cheesecake and put it in the 'fridge to set.

The builders arrived, as promised via email yesterday, and finished filling the hole in the wall where we believe the stinkworms were getting into the electricity box.

Jenny cooked rice and chicken for dinner, with surplus cheesecake topping for pudding. I believe that it comprises local soft (bland) white cheese, evaporated milk, sugar and lemon-flavour jelly (that's gelatine, not the American word for jam!)

The central heating has switched on. Outside temperature has fallen back to 13'C. Jenny is watching the recorded "Dr Who" episodes from last Christmas, on our iBook laptop computer.

I managed to catch the end of the Malaysian Grand Prix via a satellite TV feed, by chance as I was "flicking through".

Thursday 8th - Working outside

April 8th, 2010

After breakfast, and after hanging out the washing, we walked to the supermarket, which was closed. I think it's only temporary. It looked as if Aspaseea had "just popped out for a minute". So we did our shopping at the "Bio-market" instead.

We made a detour through the village and came down the steep road to the junction. Yes, the telegraph poles really do lean over!

Jenny is in the sunshine, painting furniture that we inherited.

This is some of the plywood that was left over from our bath panel. It will make a nice top for the old wicker table.

The builders arrived in the afternoon. They stapled aluminium mesh over the bathroom window to keep out bugs and removed the broken PIR lamp from the kitchen wall that looks over the driveway. The wires go into a hole in the wall, with no drip loop, which explains why the inside kitchen wall is damp.

I've asked them to buy a new lamp and fit it for me. Meanwhile, they've sealed the hole.

Jenny and I walked to the supermarket and bought a box of tissues and an egg slicer. I asked Stelios (Aspaseea's husband) what it is called in Greek. He was unsure but suggested "steerigma" which, according to my pocket dictionary, means "support" or "stay". Weeds -->

However, a search on the Internet suggests that it's called something like a "kóptis yia avga".

Jenny cooked pork chops with vegetables for dinner.