Kiwis

 The next visitors were two kiwi lasses

Come and gone but they'll be back! 

October visitors

Julie and Danelle walking the gangplank

Our kiwi nieces

Julie's been here many times  so we  left her to catch-up  by herself

She knows what to eat, where to shop and greets all the locals with a wide kiwi smile and a 'kalimera' 

First stop

Beers on the waterfront

Alpha beer of course

There's s a new one out made with sea salt. It hasn't reached Poros yet but their Alpha draft was cold and the mezes were just what hungry girls wanted

The Greek host at Villa Linda

Host and chef

Ouzo with seafood snacks

Octopus 

Prawns with feta, and tomato

Pickled tuna

All made by K

And meatballs in lemon sauce

These sort of got pushed to the side

K and I ate them for days afterwards. 

Napkins designed by entrepreneur Julie for her new Poros/Greek business

More of that later

Danelle

About to dig in

She entertained us with tales of the huge fish she caught down in NZ oceans

Danelle comes from a kiwi fishing family. So different from this island's fishing

Some of the Essential supplies they brought with them

Neither available here

Thanks kiddos

A bit of rain didn't stop these girls from enjoying themselves

It did almost put a spanner in Julie's olive research

She wanted to see an olive press in action.  They had just opened for the season but with days of rain  no-one was olive picking.  No olive harvesting, no olives to press 

More of that later too

In between rain showers the sun came out and they got a bit of a tan

Spent evenings with family and old friends 

Danae and Julie

Ate at favourite tavernas

Sofia and Julie

Sofia runs the best taverna on Poros

Everyone gets taken to Sofias

Julie is a valued customer from many visits over the years

Comment from Poppi...her cousin once removed 

'I think Julie is considered as a local now'

Julie first stayed with us on Poros in the 90s.  1998?   She was on her way home from a stay with a Turkish family on a University exchange, teaching English in Turkey.

The end of

Chapter One

Workmen

Our chimney cleaner has a vaccum cleaner and scoops up any mess he makes. He even polishes the inside pipe, which is our wood-fire chimney. 

However, not all workmen consider the aftermath as their business. 

 Workman no. 2

Darn this one 

He cemented some holes that had appeared between the flagstones. 

All the stones are now covered in a film of cement. It can't be scrubbed off but we're hoping heavy winter rains might wash the worst away. 

He threw the leftover cement slush over the geraniums and the container he used ended up in the garden too. 

But

He's a cousin and cheap

Thumbs up and a bonus for this young workman

He brought our first load of oak logs 

And stacked it without being asked

Greening Begins

 My garden

October 13th

Brown and dry with a suffering lemon tree

November 13th

Nasturtiums and oxalis are growing like mad. The lemon tree is finally looking healthy and happy 

There's a pot of basil in there too.

Anything green is welcome

Red hot peppers and mint which is loving the constant rainfall

Tomato plants growing in a pot where I buried the leftovers of a greek salad

We've had quite a lot of rain and the temperatures are still in the early 20s.  Perfect growing weather.

Around About

I'm walking in the neighbourhood again. It's been months since I've been out on foot. It was just too hot.  I was looking forward to seeing the changes. Changes?  Naa, nothing much has changed.  

Mother Nature is changing the landscape from brown to green. The herd of wild goats has grown in number. The group now includes a number of spirited youngsters. They leapt nimbly up into the olive trees.  

The owners of those  trees will be out with shotguns if they see those hijinks.  Olive harvest is just beginning and the goats will be shaking  all the olives to the ground.  And harming the trees 

The old farm house is still used as a chicken run.

Too small really for restoration. One room up, one room down.  

Down in the misty damp valley in the winter

The old church dedicated to St John

With a cypress tree almost growing out of its wall

Clumps of pink cyclamen are everywhere but these yellow crocus are special.

Halloween on Poros

That was it...

A trial run for Xmas. Homemade Bailey's.

The whisky is not Ballentines but 2 bottles of 40 years old whisky which had been opened and not sealed properly.  Only just drinkable. Perfect for adding condensed milk and coffee and stirring it all about.

Some of the old whisky went into a trial run of Xmas cakes too. 

October

 It got cold very early this year. Early October we had high winds and rain and thought about ordering our first firewood.  

Now the weather has changed again. A bit of rain but it's still warm.  There are yachts anchored in the bay below. Tavernas are slowly closing but there are plenty of visitors about.  Lots of tourists on quad bikes, still wearing shorts and Tshirts. 

The ants had seemed to be bunkering down for a long hard winter. They were furiously collecting every crumb these last months. They've since  disappeared into the depths of our walls and whether they can forecast the weather remains to be seen. 

Last week our woodman conducted a huge double trailor off the car ferry and up to his wood-yard near us. 

We learnt the double trailor was carrying 20 tons of  oak logs from Northern Greece. We are expecting a load soon. Our woodman isn't in a rush to deliver but K  wants our supply ready and waiting in case there's a sudden cold snap.  We are first on the list, he says. I wonder what it will cost this winter. 

Some much needed rain.  We got a good soaking. 

Is this a joke? 

Salted caramel? Yes. On icecream

Marmite? Yes. On toast. 

Together?  I wouldn't buy it but I'd be interested in a taste test

Rodi (pomegranite) festival

Pomegranites are big and red and right in season.  Down the coast at Ermioni  there are large pomegranite orchards and a yearly festival. 

There was a bicycle tour around the seaside town of Ermioni, a treasure hunt, a concert of course with Greek music and dancing.  On offer were lots of edible goodies made with the pomegranites and litres of fresh juice to taste. 

A wonderful souvenir made by a local crafter. 

A hand designed piece of Greek marble made into a fridge magnet. 

Thanks Judy and Steve

A Little Bit of This.......

A few photos 

Lemons lemons everywhere

This photo was taken at the beginning of summer.

Slowly they all fell off the trees and none of them had much juice.

Now we are buying lemons.  Almost 2 euros a kilo.  At least they're local and not from Egypt or South Africa.

Hopefully some decent rain will liven up growth and production on our trees.

Cat deterrent 

A board full of sharp sticking up nails. He doesn't like cat fur on his bike seat.

Koliva. Memorial wheat. It cannot be thrown away if we don't eat it all.  I put it out on the wall for birds, crows and sparrow's .  Or the cats? 

First in first served

Together with the bag of funeral wheat we are given a small loaf of sweet bread. Boy is that nice. Soft and full of greek flavourings.... Mastiha and mahlepi. 

It tears apart easily and is often dipped in the cup of greek coffee offered after a funeral or memorial 

Tuna

Wrapped in baking paper with slices of lemon and oregano

I cleaned out our knife drawer.

These are the extras.

3 cheese knives which we never use.  I left  2 others in the drawer.

All these got wrapped up and put  away at the back of a cupboard. I'm not allowed to get rid of them although we have another half a dozen big sharp knives still in the drawer , 2 more wooden spoons and a huge selection of spatulas. Someone loves knives and kitchen utensils

SS

Christmas is coming

And the goose is getting fat

Time for 'Secret Squirrel' 

To put our names in a hat

Yes. It's Secret Santa time.  Our Greek family is doing the secret gift exchange for either the  3rd or 4th year. Everyone gets one gift. 

We draw the names  now so we have plenty of time to consider the gift and find it or get it ordered. 

It's been very difficult to get all the family together this summer. Some of the family we haven't seen for a month or more. It was a busy summer.  

Then half disappeared off to Athens for work or study. 

This long weekend everyone is on the island so our not-so-Secret Squirrel wrote out the names and put them into a jar.   She's in a central position down on the harbour so we all pass by at our leisure and draw a paper with the name of one of 11 immediate family members . 

 

K and I went in and...... I drew my own name.  I was tempted to keep it. I know exactly what I want. 

But I  took another twist of paper.  

I sent a photo to our Secret Squirrel of what I would like. Someone's going to get my name in the next few days. She can whisper in an ear

Jamie  chooses his Secret Santa draw 

With Aunty Danae and Mother Elli

It's all supposed to be secret but if you've got no idea then hints are discreetly asked for, or loud calls for help!

 

There's a limit of around 20 euros so we are not emptying any kids piggy banks. 

Last year Clever Clogs George, after the draw, asked everyone which was their favourite tipple. He got his gift answer without anyone knowing the recipient. 

Look what I just found!

Next year I'll print out a dozen of these. And leave them somewhere for everyone to secretly peruse.

Xmas is coming folks!

PS Secret Squirrel really has nothing to do with it but he's another SS and I remember him with fondness. 

So here's another video