In the heat of summer

The 'Poros Women' (Poriotisses) and the Council are holding a Poros Arts Festival during July and August with outdoor events almost every evening.

This group of school girls from all around the area put on a lively and enjoyable assortment of dancing, not only traditional greek but modern, latin and even a foxtrot. They danced to a packed house and accompanied by a very talented local boy playing the bouzouki.  

I haven't seen the foxtrot danced since I was at High School.  It was one of those complicated and so old fashioned formal dances we had to learn for the school ball when all we wanted to do was disco, back in the 60s.

Tomorrow night down on the beach the local fisherman will give a demonstration of a fishing technique called 'the krokou' followed of course by loud greek  music and energetic  dancing by many of the  holiday makers, Greek and foreign.  

The melons at the moment are absolutely divine.  Really there is no other way of describing their intense sweetness and flavour.  The aroma of the uncut fruit permeates the whole house.  We cut the flesh off the rind, cube it and store it ready to be eaten in the fridge.  The closed container stops the smell of the melon penetrating every thing else in the fridge and keeps it fresh.  Wonderful to be able to dip into this bowl and have a delicious mouthful of melon whenever you need a little  low cal injection of something sweet.

I have thrown (literally) one lot of  these fresh melon seeds under a lemon tree.  They are growing but not vigorously.  I suppose they might need thinning now. Maybe one cool evening. Or it could be just survival of the fittest.  The 'relic' on the right is the jawbone of a cow.  All that is left of a cowhead feast.  The jaw (this is just one side of it) was hung on the lemon tree by small grandchildren.

Something new this summer, mediterranean lager.  




Squashed snake in the middle of the road.
 This was quite a big one.  






Basil.  The smell of summertime.  This lush green basil bush was right beside our table last night.  Just a light shake  fills the night air with its fragrance.

If you plant some basil beside your tomato plants the scent is supposed to impregnate the tomato as it grows on the vine.  We tried it this summer.  Can't say I have noticed any difference in the flavour of the tomatoes.  But the green of the basil does go well with the red of the tomatoes.  Aesthetically pleasing!