Mould after the recent flooding. The water came pouring through the walls in the lounge and came in through the ceiling here. The lounge wall is sodden, has some sort of white stuff growing out of it.
Red wine, fish soup and spinach pie
2015 HERE WE COME
We have
snow all along the tops of the hills above Galatas. (the village just across the waters on the mainland) And it is COLD.
The day started off with heavy rain and my son-in-law Kyriakos decided
not to go to work.(Kyriakos runs a taxi boat from the island to the mainland)High winds as
well.No flying dolphin or boat today from Athens
but the car ferry is still working.We
are going down to Elli for New Years eve.Kyriakos (Elli's husband) is doing miracles with duck and salmon.He's cooking tomorrow as well.His mother lives next door to the cheap
german supermarket (LIDLS for those who might have seen it in Europe) so we get
cheap duck and salmon.One up for the
germans - but they still owe 'us' millions from wwll.
Anyway, no babysitting because Kyriakos has the kids so
I don't have to go down the mountain and we have settled in for the day with K's wine from his barrel(red from a cardboard box for me).
The wood burning fire which has an oven on top has already cooked a spinach pie
and I'm thinking of hot cheese bread as well.Our neighbour brought in a plate of xmas cookies - she and her sisters
are excellent cooks and these honey cakes and almond shortbread (Traditional greek ) are
just waiting for me to taste them.She
has decorated the plate with a handful of choccies so all is well.Can't 'do' cold without chocolate.
Kostas has made a big pot of fish soup......and we still
have Kyriako's cooking tonight. I'm stuffed just thinking about it all.
'Someone' won't be drinking too much tonight.The road down is officially closed but
someone (not us) keeps on pushing the signs out of the way and cutting the tape and we
all use the road, because otherwise it's an extra 3 ks.But after the floods the sides of
the road are falling away in places and there are piles of rocks and dirt. This
is why Greece will always be the 'problem child' lol. ps The 'someone' of course will be me. But Elli and I only have one bottle of sav blanc from Marlborough.One bottle between two, hardly enough to wet the larynx.
Up in the Balkans temps are down to -20 ... -10 in northern
Greece and snowing in northern suburbs of Athens.Weather getting better on Saturday and new
cold front coming in on Tuesday.Paul
and Karen, you might just see a totally different Greece - though you suffered
the 'cold of the bears' that time you came in November. Don't think we'll be
visiting the mountain villages or wine tasting.The motorway in the Nemea (which is where I thought we might go to taste
some good greek wine ....oxymoron???) is covered in snow at the moment and the
road waiting to be snow plowed.
If there are no boats when you arrive we'll have to come
round by car.But anything can happen in
the meantime.The sun may even
shine.We need that sunshine now to dry
out the rising damp in our walls.
There is a HUGE FEAR CAMPAIGN been launched by
Wolfgang Schroider (or whatever his horrible name is), all of Europe and the
rest of the world to make us vote 'correctly' in the elections at the end of
January.You can smell the fear (theirs, not ours).Will Greeks vote in a rebel who will bring
Europe to its knees?And these elections
are being held just because this parliament couldn't vote for the new President
who is just a figurehead and no-one gives a damn who he is.We're being taunted again with bankruptcy ,
an economy worse than some povery stricken African nation, being thrown out of
the European union, more pay cuts, no pension payments etc etcBut we've heard it all before, for years now,
before every major decision which affects the economy.Been there, done that.Who do we vote for??Haven't got a clue.
Hope you're all a little warmer than us and a little
drier.HAPPY NEW YEAR.HAVE A GREAT
2015....WITH LOTS OF LOVE, HAPPY FAMILIES AND GOOD HEALTH.
PICKLED OLIVES, RED PEPPERS FROM THE GARDEN
MINI XMAS STOCKINGS - 50 MADE, 20 TO GO
NELS AND ME AT A BAPTISM....HELL, I'M GETTING OLDER
KIDS IN THE STOREROM ABOVE THE BATHROOM
FRIEND YIANNIS, LYDIA, JAMIE, NATALI
Rhino
-
No breakfast on my jumper and with *Chic Eleanor’s *jaunty scarf giving
the illusion that I am indeed a counsellor, I’m almost set for a day
counsellin...
Flooding here in Saint-Aignan...
-
...has been minor compared to flooding along France's west coast (along the
Atlantic ocean, more than 150 miles from here). The photo above shows the
river...
Growing season '26
-
Spring is in the air.
I shall be growing vegs again at Haddock's this year.
I'm hoping that Kimbo will have planted a few Tomato plats before we arrive ...
Lent begins!
-
Traditionally lagana is baked for Clean Monday, but I was putting together
sourdough and didn't have time. My starter hasn't been good this whole
win...
JUST SEWING TODAY
-
*Oh thank goodness, today is gunna be a NORMAL day.*
*No one is due here. I don't have to go anywhere. *
*I can sew to my hearts content, and I couldn...
Back in a week
-
Into a fifth year. This song being played a lot this morning. Didn't he
look young ? :https://youtu.be/ZvlMnHizVso?list=RDZvlMnHizVso&t=84
Guys out with...
Wild Cattle
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Yesterday we contributed to island economy by attending a 'flower show' and
craft stalls event with 'food stalls' that turned out to be a sausage
sizzle an...
Returning
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Two days of continuous rainfall, water standing ankle-deep, I'm beginning
to think a pair of webbed-feet would be fitting.
Temperatures are unseasonably w...
Medical update
-
Went to the doctor to get results of the tests I took in NP a while back.
When the nurse did the usual tests of pulse and bp, they were off the
charts ...
YESTERDAY'S WALK
-
I posted my photos straight from my phone before writing the blog and they
have gone on back to front. Never mind. It was another hot day so I had
orga...
The silence before what?
-
I'm scared. It's coming in waves. It's been a few weeks or more, and every
headline is even scarier. We're like puppets on a string, dependent on the
de...
It's a bit COLD
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I thought I would quickly pop back here for an update. We are having
another good old fashioned winter again. LOTS of snow in "southwestern
Ontario" wit...
Books 25-30
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Let Her Go by Willow Rose
A missing five-year-old girl is the key to unlocking a detective’s
terrifying past…
When Detective Billie Ann Wilde receives ...
Xmas decorations
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Greymouth has 3 main streets in town. On the way home from work at night
I've been stopping to take photos of some of the shop window decorations.
It'...
A Birthday Present.
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I reached the grand old age of 62 last Friday. Like that great English
folk singer Sandy Denny once sang:
"Who knows where the time goes?"
I received ...
Quince, Life, and Puppy Dog Tales
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The season of mellow mists inevitably means that I suddenly have a deep
desire to store food in the form of jams, pickles and syrups. It also
means that...
Friday prayers
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Look at sales figures, origins, annual reports, statements from company
chairmen; become armchair investors and see what you would do yourself,
annual ...
Aoteaora's first Maori police woman
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Evelyn Mete Kingi was born Evelyn Owen in Moerewa and has been described as
a woman of resilience and character.
She was born in 1922 and joined the thir...
Farewell My Friends
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After blogging for nearly six years, I have decided to retire. Blogging
filled an empty spot in my life after losing my husband, but that has
changed...
Japandi Bedroom Makeover
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*Do you want a break from politics and British summer weather? Read on...*
“Another mural? Are you pulling my leg?”
Colin was back last month to decor...
Catching up!
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Oh dear, nearly six months since I last posted a blog. It is not that I
have been bothered to write to you. Oh no. It is because words have been
absent ...
Professing !
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Actual professing.
There are times when every learned person has the duty of stepping up to
the line and of explaining the intricacies of life from the...
Internal Garden Monologue
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If you had told me 5 years ago, I would be sitting in a house, at a table
over looking a front garden in Scotland, I would have laughed my socks
off. I...
A Note of Sadness
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One of the problems about getting so involved with these m/s recipe books
is that I feel as though I almost know the women who wrote them. I can see
how th...