10th day of the heatwave and more to come. It's now uncomfortably hot at night and midday it's scorching. We spent the last 4 days beside the sea. It's cooler but tiring being there all day, in and out of the sea. Today we are staying home and will spend the midday hours in an air conditioned room. I need to do some home work. Washing, cooking and a very little cleaning.
Every day the main mountain road is blocked by the Municipality. Only residents can move through the area. Beside us there is land full of long dry grass, we are right next to olive groves and only a stone's throw from acres of pine forest. There has been a steady breeze most days but today it's blowing a gale. The fire warnings are on red alert.
We took down our big sun umbrella. The wind was threatening to tear it to pieces. The washing I hung out dried in half an hour.
Fire fighting planes drone overhead several times a day either looking for fire or on their way to put one out.
WELCOME
POROS
ISLAND
Fried peppers from our garden
Plain or stuffed with feta cheese.
Cro, on his blog (Magnon's Meanderings) the other day, pictured his lunch plate with fried green peppers. His were padron peppers from Spain.
I picked some green papers from our garden and began frying some for us. It took 30 secs to remember why I don't fry peppers. They spit hot oil all over me and the kitchen. A minute later they were out of the frying pan, into a baking dish and in the oven. 15 minutes later and they were ready to eat. They had a thin coating of oil and all they needed was salt.
Both K and I preferred the ones without the feta. They were nice hot and later cold.
We ate them as-is although I thought of drizzling over some balsamic vinegar with honey.
A piece of watermelon skin
and a scarab beetle
K saw on Facebook a photo of a piece of watermelon skin with a bunch of scarab beetles feeding on it.
I thought maybe we could feed a few of them too. We always have a scarab beetle or two whirling round our heads in the evening. However, ours don't like watermelon. This one on the watermelon is actually dead and the brown spots are seeds from the peppers.
Scarab beetles land and overturn themselves. They are very fragile. I turned this one over so it could fly away but must have been a bit heavy handed. It never moved again.
Alas Poor Scarab
Today we have been advised there is a water shortage.
No washing of cars or watering gardens.
I shall give my pumpkins a little each day, using a watering can, not the hose.
For the rest it will be survival of the fittest
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Oof. Your heat.
ReplyDeleteWe have plenty of water here. Definitely no shortage where that's concerned.
We should do a swap. Send a few clouds our way please
DeleteDo you not collect rainwater LA?
ReplyDeleteWe have a tank full of water to be used in case of fire.
Deletethe beetles are so beautiful with their iridescent colours. I never managed to get the real beauty of one to come out in a photo - copper and green and amazing. How is the fire season generally? My colleague (of a Poros family as it happens) was on Kea a couple of weeks ago and said that even there (no trees) fires were breaking out.
ReplyDeleteThere are fires all over the place, around Athens, Korinth and on the islands. There haven't been major fires on Poros and the mainland for a few years. Touch wood
DeleteWe've had summer today and its been 28C. I have been indoors watching the Tour. I am celebrating with a kebab later. It feels like summer at last.
ReplyDeleteI hope it lasts. 28o is comfortably warm
DeleteI too was inspired by Cro's peppers and went looking for some in the little store here. I only found bigger peppers.
ReplyDeleteThe peppers I stuffed were longer. Just use what you can find. Beware the frying pan
DeleteWhen I grumble about all our rain, I try to remember places that have such high fire risk (my daughter experiences it as well). I find fire risk to be quite frightening. Hopefully, you will be able to excape summer without any nearby fires.
ReplyDeleteAustralia, and the US seem to get heatwaves every summer and wild fires which burn over a long time. Living in an area that has a high risk isn't frightening because you never expect the worst but it does make you very cautious
DeleteIt’s scary when your that close to all that fuel for fires.
ReplyDeleteGet K to put a hose on your washing machine and then the water that gets poured down the drain can go straight to the garden. During our long dry spell about ten years ago that’s how I keep the back and the trees alive. I had a little barrel on a trailer that I emptied the washing machine water into and then I hooked it to the ride on mower and watered all the trees with it. My back lawn was very green
Just remember to not use too much washing power and to use the rinse water on the same place to dilute it even further
It is akk that forest land around us that makes it more likely any fire will spread quickly. Pine cones explode and carry sparks 100s of metres.
DeleteOur washing machine water does goes into the garden. I'm so glad I made him attach an extended hose. It waters most of the back garden but it's the front that is going to get dry. Mind you when they say don't water gardens it's mainly the olive trees, citrus trees and vineyards theyre thinking of. A lot are on automatic watering systems now. Watering a few of my pots won't make much difference. Oh and not cleaning the front yard and road daily with the hose either. A lot of the older people do that and its a terrible waste.
Thanks for all the hints
Echoing Angela’s words about salvaging grey water. Tipping washing up water as well as diverting your shower (even collecting by bucket in the shower) that long Millennium Drought we had wasn’t pretty for town or country but it did bring people to their senses. Was years before garden sprinklers and driveway washing was made legal again
ReplyDeleteWashing water i do save now and again. Ive got to get into the habit of saving it. And from the shower. Ive seen other people do it so I should too.
DeleteYouve had it much worse than us in years gone by.
Thanks for your tips too
I hope things cool for you before too long.
ReplyDeleteEnd of next week they say. Cross fingers
DeleteToday we were told we can water our gardens one hour a week. That's the first since June 5th-just watering cans since then. Then this afternoon there is another water main break in the same neighbourhood as the big one-but, they say, unrelated!! I think that's the third one there since the big one. It's so hot and just keeps going higher everyday. Supposed to be high 30s by Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteYou're suffering worse than us. Your water problems are ongoing and now high temperatures as well. The next thing we are threatened with of course are rolling power breaks because of overuse of aircondition. What a summer. In 87' we had similar temps but not for such a long period and hardly anyone had aircon back then
DeleteWe all look forward to Summer, but when it comes it brings all sorts of problems. Another pepper recipe is for bottled whole red peppers. They are stuffed with 'brandade' (mash, cod, garlic), drizzled with olive oil, and baked for about 20 mins. Delicious. Look on my page under 'veggie guests'.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cro. I shall look at your recipes. Ive heard you talk about brandade before. It sounds delicious. We have salt cod now and again but I always forget to give a go. I shall put it in my diary
DeleteI hope the weather breaks for you soon. Do you experience monsoon rains? We are having ours now, part of the “rainy” season in New Mexico. Last year our total rainfall was just shy of 11 inches…..so I certainly get the hazards of high fire danger. Right now there is some green still from the rains we received recently. I am thinking of putting up rain barrels in the back yard to catch the little bit running off of the roof for my garden.
ReplyDeleteI will add to my prayers for Poros and Greece to catch a break and have some cooler weather!