Wednesday 9 March 2022

Seafood and Gripes

I really don't feel like writing much these days. My knee has turned every shade of yellow and purple, half the family have the dreaded virus. K is in constant pain from his shoulder but can't make up his mind to have an op.  It's cold, wet, miserable again today. Petrol prices are soaring and our electricity bill will be going up by one third. That is a helluva lot of euros.

And then there's Ukraine 




I should be counting my blessings. My knee is slowly healing, covid patients have mild symptoms, K has a diagnosis, spring is almost here.
Our dear daughter has arranged for us to pay, as she also does, our power bill in installments which don't break the bank.

But there's still Ukraine 


Life here continues as usual.  Last Monday was Clean Monday, a national holiday marking the beginning of Orthodox  Lent.  The sun shone for most of the day and we sat outside to eat. A light breeze was perfect for traditional kite flying.


I got grandaughter Poppi to prune our grapevine
A job well done


Even though we only had 2 of the 5 grandchildren with us they followed the tradition and flew a kite

This kite is in the colours of the Athenian football team AEK


I made 4 laganas, traditional flatbread
We are still ploughing through them



On the menu today was seafood
Shrimps, cuttlefish and octopus
And lots of homemade taramasalata, salted fishroe dip
We are still ploughing through that as well


The octopus hanging out to dry
It has to be sun dried before it goes on the BBQ 


And a sweet
Homemade halvas
Made from semolina, sugar and olive oil


But only half the family were with us
The other half tested positive for you-know-what and are Home Alone
This is Luli's stool. Being the youngest she usually perches on this at one corner of the big table.

Not this time. Instead of 12 we had 7 at the table.  It was a quiet day. We sat outside but by 2pm the clouds had moved in and we relocated inside and lit the fire.

And so life continues and I count my blessings.  



 

18 comments:

  1. I agree LA. We should all count our blessings.

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    1. I'm counting another right now, sitting by the warmth of the fire and enjoying a lunch that someone else cooked.
      Must NOT complain

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  2. We still have much to be thankful for, at least for the time being.
    Wishing all your sick and injured a speedy recovery.

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    1. All our illnesses etc are passing ones. In a year's time they will be a distant memory. Thanks

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  3. We can’t dwell on the negative we have to concentrate on the positives and count our blessings
    Yes there is the Ukraine, but that is out of our control
    I just concentrate on what I can do and the rest. Well what will be will be.

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    1. I wish I could avoid the news about Ukraine but every channel seems to have constant live updates. It's frightening. I try to stay positive. There's still a lot to be grateful for

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  4. You really have so many great things in your life. Your wonderful family, wonderful food and everything else.

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    1. You're right Yael but sometimes the negative seems to overwhelm me. Hopefully I can start my daily walks again soon. My knee is so much better. An hour outside walking helps a lot

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  5. Sometimes you just need to vent and then you can carry on. Hope you can get out and about and walk soon.

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    1. You're right. I try to be positive but now and again you get in a bit of a hole.

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  6. With all the horrors of Ukraine, I'd almost forgotten about Covid. But of course it is still there and causing upset. I hope all your sick family members are OK.

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    1. We had more or less shrugged off the covid threat too. Until it hit so close to home. Fortunately everyone seems to have a light dose.

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  7. Sending you hugz Linda and best wishes for your family's speedy recovery. Mxx

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  8. Covid is rampant here and the govt is winding down MIQ hotels, it's pretty much everywhere. So many people are complaining about their loss of freedom when people in Ukraine are losing theirs, out of sight out of mind.

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    1. Yes, they just don't realise what loss of freedom really entails. One moment youve got work, a nice car, your own house. And in a minute it's all a smoking bomb crater

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  9. You are allowed to have a good grizzle once in a while. Listing it all gets it out there and you can shoot at it - like you did. We hope knee and shoulder get sorted and the next celebration has a table of 12. As for the bigger picture, in Tigger's experience humans are quite adaptable creatures - they create their own messes but they seem to also find ways out of them - eventually.

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  10. It sounds like alot is going on for you, no wonder you are speaking up about it, I'm not surprised. People here complain about their lack of freedom but I don't think they have any idea.

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