Spring Fever

This weekend was the 'catholic' easter (as they say here).  One more week till the Greek easter.  The weather is warm and sunny with a few showers.  Summer is coming fast.  The painting and refurbishing of tavernas and cafes has come to an end and most of them are up and running.

There are a few foreign tourists around and this week, Holy Week for the Greeks, there will be flood of visitors from Athens and other parts of the country all coming to participate in the traditional Greek island Easter celebrations. 

Those visitors with summer houses are thinking about their own painting and clean-up over their holidays.  This week walls and steps will be white washed, gardens weeded and replanted, grills and BBQs sanded down and spruced up so they're ready for the Easter Sunday (April 16th) spit roasting of the sacrificial lamb and it's innards.

Even our own neighbourhood out in the backcountry is starting to come to life.  The absentee owners of the three empty houses around us have appeared and will be looking for labourers to strim their driveways, thigh high in winter growth.  

We also are in the getting-ready-for-easter mode.  K has booked our Albanian lad for Monday to put up the shade netting over one balcony and pull the last weeds.  He himself is sanding down the long spits for the grill and checking that the machines that turn the spit are greased and ready for action.  

On Saturday we went down to the garden shop.

The owner is our neighbour across the valley.  He has a loud booming voice which can be heard quite clearly at our house.  He and all his family were at the shop running to complete all the orders.  Even the 6 month baby was there being babysitted by his slightly older sister.

The place was humming.

 

I had a look at the flowers but I think I'll wait a few weeks till it's a bit warmer.  There were lots of herbs, lavender, thyme, oregano, mint but no summer vegetable plants yet.  The only ones I saw were strawberries.  I'm not a strawberry person.

There were 2 sorts of lavender.  I was tempted by these pots.  The lavender flowers are so big and bright.  However I already have a well established lavender.  It's flowers are smaller and more lilac but still with a powerful aroma.

They have a lot of garden pottery decorations.  I'm always tempted by those but I have loads in the garden already.

Measuring out the dark green shade cloth

Really nice pots with an olive branch design.  We have so many good pottery pots.  Don't need another

A garden or roadside shrine

My favourite.

A sort of Billy Goat Gruff gnome.

He will come home with me one day

 K bought the shade cloth, a bag of whitewash, a few bags of soil, a gardenia and a box of charcoal to fire the easter grill.