June - I took up the first of the carpets today. They all have to be washed and stored - under the spare bed. Winter clothes have been put away and we're into t-shirts, but it is still raining. Summer showers which just make it muggier. The lemons are falling off the trees at a dozen a day. They make a noise like a small bomb falling in the deep silence of the summer night. I made some lemonade but will have to get Georgie and Nels to squeeze them all and freeze the juice, to take it out a bottle at a time. Fresh lemonade is excellent with vodka and gin, but a lot of sugar.
Yesterday was Kosta's birthday. We gathered as usual and had a bit of lamb and wine. Just a quiet celebration - except for Jamie who must have been on a sugar high. He climbed over fences, up trees, under tables and followed Georgie like a shadow. He tried to beat us all with a stick but Elli and I grabbed him and the stick before he did any damage to anyone. We arranged a treasure hunt which the older kids loved and they made up their own one after that. It is a great idea - I'll do it again next time and make it harder so they are occupied for longer. Treasure was a bag of lollies for them - more sugar!
The economy is following its rocky course. We wake up every morning wondering whether or not to watch the news. Today is a general strike and everything in the big cities has ground to a halt. Not much happened here though the banks and P.O. were probably closed and the cafeterias full of strikers enjoying a free day.
We have stopped eating cucumbers although there is no threat here. All our cucumbers are local. Just the thought of an e-coli attack puts one 'off'. At least it wasn't greece that was to blame this time but the first reports did a lot of damage to poor old Spain and all the time the source was in bloody germany.
I haven't got my mini-quad bike yet. The first one couldn't find their papers and had to pay years back-road-tax. We found another, got the papers together, and he asked another 200 for the repairs he did. K said 'parto kai farto' - take it and eat it! There are others around, most too expensive. I might just have to learn to ride a scooter.
Born in NZ, 45 years in Greece.