Friday 10 April 2020

Early Easter Lamb


This photo is an the easter lamb we were given before the crisis.  It has been sitting in our freezer for 2 months now.  K was very happy to be given this 12 kilo lamb for a job he did for a friend and was planning the easter feast around it.  


How times have changed.  The lamb will remain in the freezer till better times.

Today is Good Friday for most of you.  For the Greek Orthodox this coming week is Holy Week and Easter Sunday is  a week later than yours, on April 19th. 

The government had already warned that there would be strict travel regulations brought into force to stop anyone returning to their village or island for the easter holiday, and spreading infection.  All main roads, side roads and highways and byways have been closed off with police inspection of every car on the road.

If you have papers to prove you are a permanent resident you can travel but will not be allowed to return till the crisis is over.  Residents on many islands have pleaded with city dwellers not to return.  Incoming travellers are not welcome

Each car must have no more than 2 people, the driver and a passenger, all carrying the correct papers.  Anyone caught  will be fined 300 euros, the car will have number plates removed and they will be sent back to where they came from.  Road blocks are on a 24 hour basis so you can't escape at 2am or 4am or whenever you think the cops have gone for lunch or dinner.

Similar checks are being made at airports, harbours, bus and train stations.

Yesterday I stepped, 5 steps, outside our front gate to fill the wild cat bowl with fish bones and I had neither my permit paper to go for a walk or my ID card.  Theoretically I could have been fined 150euros for the lack of papers and 75 for no ID. 

A lot of people here still consider it a joke to outwit the police but the police can appear out of nowhere and they do make checks.  We have no cases anywhere near us, not on the island or on the mainland opposite and I would like to keep it that way.  The islands at least, closed communities, should be virus free but some of them aren't, just a handful, because people returning have unwittingly carried the infection and haven't stuck to the 14 day home isolation. 

Next week we will be baking easter cookies and dyeing red eggs, listening to the church services on TV and my traditional person will light a candle and probably waft a bit of incense around.  I'll be sitting here at my desk writing about it.

Today I should have been making hotcross buns along with my NZ family but I didn't get around to it.  The photos they've posted on Instagram and Whatsap are scrummy.  If I want the house to smell like I remember easter should then I had better get moving

25 comments:

  1. It sounds as though lockdown is being taken seriously over there, and is working too if you have no cases yet.
    The lamb will taste all the sweeter when this is all over.

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  2. WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Police enforcement!!!!!!! Got to be grateful, to Police!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Gentle hugs
    πŸŒΈπŸ’›πŸŒ·πŸ’›πŸŒΈ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are very strict, even here. We've heard of a couple of people fined because they didn't have the right papers and they were literally outside their houses

      Delete
  3. Some serious lockdown going on in your part of the world. Please post about your red eggs when you do that. I love those! -Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very serious. They mean it when they stay at home. Seems to be working.
      I'll let you know about the red eggs

      Delete
  4. Look forward to seeing the hot cross buns next week. I wish we could get them all year round and not just Easter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So do I. All those spices, they are just plain delicious!

      Delete
  5. Here's exactly the same regulations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you. Now they have just announced that schools will be closed till May 10 - at least. We have a while to go yet

      Delete
  6. Kinda sounds like the war years. You need papers to travel. It’s scary
    Yes Easter here is cancelled for now
    I had to reply with a resounding NO when my dad asked about Easter celebrations
    I’m not even going to bother. I did drop off chocolate eggs to the girls during the week. Left them out the front and rang the daughter from the car to come out and get them
    This is one Easter that will be remembered for a while

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it will go down in history here! No church, no dancing and wild drinking. Maybe a change for the good.

      Delete
  7. I actually think your police restrictions are good as so many people here (even people I know well) are openly flouting our lockdown rules, with the excuse that they don't have the virus, they won't have an accident, they are only traveling a short distance, blah blah blah. Lockdown only works if everyone does it. I think we are just lucky that we haven't had more cases of Covid-19.
    On the other hand people would HATE police restrictions on that level - and this is election year all said and done!
    Stay safe and love your bubble :) Mxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Police restrictions are the only way to get everyone to stay at home. Here they were out sitting in the parks, swimming, walking in groups. Now its stay at home or pay up.

      Delete
  8. Sounds like great enforcement. Number of deaths doubled here today from 2 to 4. That is the whole of NZ not here in Northland.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If there are rules, they should be enforced correctly; it's the only way to ensure that people are safe.

    Lady Magnon makes her hot cross buns today, and for tomorrow I shall roast a whole breast of Lamb (my favourite cut) with a few potatoes and preserved Lemon. Roast Lamb for Easter is not to be missed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those hot cross buns. Everyone is talking about them, baking them, posting photos. I really must get into gear.

      Delete
  10. This is my first Good Friday without Hot Cross Buns. Boo hoo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For the first time in forty years our neice and nephew brought hotcross buns from London. So much better than those I make, but none this year either.
      You'll just have to have a go at baking them. I have to make a start too. Can't stand reading about them and not smelling that aroma and actually eating them

      Delete
  11. Slow cooking my locally sourced organic leg of lamb today for our evening meal.Cooked with a little garlic and dried garden herbs it's an Easter feast we really look forward to .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like a real feast. I haven't had lamb in ages, looking forward our meal

      Delete
  12. Happy, Happy, Happy...πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’œ

    & So happy, you DO keep blogging...!!!! πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’œ

    ReplyDelete
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