Sunday 22 December 2019

22nd December

Well, ho, ho, ho. Christmas is almost here.  Father Christmas knocked on our door this morning bearing gifts, dressed in his old track suit pants and sweatshirt.  His official red suit is hanging up over the fireplace and Mrs Christmas has given him strict instructions to leave it there till Christmas Eve.  She's not going to iron it again or remove the oil stains .  Around here Santa is rewarded with a glass of fire water and some fatty pork after these early Xmas runs. Things can get messy. 



His first presents were 8 litres of his very own wine and 1 1/2 litres of his excellent wine vinegar, excellent wine that went wonky.


Followed by 2, 16 litre tins of this years olive harvest, pressed two days ago.  Buy 1 (70 euros), get one free.    The bursting cardboard box in the rear is 20 litres of son-in-laws wine from last year.  He was clearing out his barrels for this years vintage.  I think we'll be having a very happy Christmas, this year.

Vaso's son and our 'koumbaros' (we were best man and woman at his wedding) brought us wine and oil before he left for Athens to join his wife's family for Christmas and New Year.  

Athens is rather jolly at this time of the year, not a bad place to be if you want shops lit up with Christmas lights, windows with dancing Santa's and piped music in the squares and parks.

Their oil harvest has finished for the year.  It's time to enjoy some R and R.  Today they finished the last of their chores, cleaning the nets used for the olive picking and the olive and  oil containers.
85 year old Vaso was out in the fields dragging pruned olive branches into piles and burning them.  She never stops.  Probably on Christmas day she'll be out there burning or weeding though she has been known to pop in for a drink and a smoke.

Our presents are wrapped, the stockings have been mostly filled and I'm knitting non stop to finish 5 pairs of wristwarmers for the grandchildren. 



16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. There will be a few hiccups for sure. With all that wine given to us we females, 3 wine drinkers, will be imbibing French sauv blanc! At Xmas I want a decent wine

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  2. Wish we had a Santa like your Santa. Cheers!

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    1. We must have been very good this year!! Actually some of it is pay back for things we've done for them....but I didn't mention that

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  3. Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas (and by the sound of it, it will be!). Stay safe and enjoy :)

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  4. Vaso is amazing!

    Do have a lovely Christmas, which I'm sure you will have!

    πŸŽ„πŸŒ²πŸŽ„πŸŒ²πŸŽ„

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    1. Thanks and a very merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  5. MERRY CHRISTMAS Kiwi friend over in the Wop Wops! Well... maybe not the wop wops, but far away. Have a wonderful holiday season.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Chris. We are in the wop wops....away from the townies!!

      Following your adventures with great interest. I hope your Xmas is one of the best and you have a sunny day with all your lived ones.

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  6. Lucky you. We (I) get through a huge amount of Olive Oil; I really need some of those big cans.

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    1. Cans were banned by the EU years ago but I see they've reappeared. Perfect for us. A 16 litre tin lasts a long time. This year's oil is selling from 50 to 70 euros. Vasos is the best. Local and fresh and no chemicals

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  7. Have a very merry Christmas! Vaso sounds like a wonder woman! -Jenn

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  8. Wine vinegar always has it's uses in our pantry. have a good Christmas :-)

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