Doomsday?

 Poros is hit by an apocalyptic Saharan dust storm tonight. Day has turned into a spooky orange twilight.

It got so dark I had to turn on the lights. It's the sort of scenario where you expect to hear the town crier singing out

'Repent ye sinners. The end is nigh'

Tomorrow there should be a wind change which will blow the dust wave away to the east over the islands of the Dodecanese.

Athens. 

Taken by grandson this evening on his way, with his army squad, to lower the Greek flag on top of the Acropolis

The Dragon Slayer

 There'll Always be an England. 

 This song kept on coming up on my youtube list today and I've just realised why.  Tomorrow, 23rd April, is the Feast Day of Saint George. Saint George the Dragon Slayer is the Patron Saint of England.  

 

It did cross my mind that maybe you're not allowed to celebrate this day any more with all the religious turmoil over there.  But I see there was a parade by the Kings Guard and Horse and Cavalry on Saturday. There will be parades and celebrations all over the country, including Morris Dancing and Punch and Judy, they say on the net. You eat Toad in the Hole, Fish Pie and Fry-ups it seems.

Happy Name Day England.

The song 'There'll Always be an England' is a good stirring piece of music.  A good old  patriotic tune from days of old.  Britain has a few of those.  Britannia Rules the Waves comes to mind, and the hymn 'Jerusalem'.   

23rd April is also the Name Day of my grandson George, who is, at the moment, doing his military service in the Greek Army. However this year his fiesta falls during Orthodox Lent so we'll be celebrating with him on the day after Easter, May 6th.

Age Old Ceremony

 The Olympic torch was lit at Ancient Olympic in Greece today. The torch will be carried by relay through Greece for 11 days and then  to Marseille on a French 3 masted barque.  The French relay will last for 68 days until it reaches Paris on July 8. There the torch will light the flame in the Paris stadium, opening the 33rd Olympic Games. 

In 2004, for the Athens Olympics, the torch was brought to Poros and the relay went around the island, being met by one of our Olympic rowers.    We will not be seeing it this year though we now have an Olympic silver medal winner.  And a few up and coming rowers who could quite possibly compete in the 2028 Olympics.

Greek journalists, news readers, are on strike today but it was covered by the BBC and then I found it on the national channel. The ceremony is a piece of well rehearsed greek theatre and at the end of the performance the High Priestess lights the sacred flame.   I watched the flame being lit but couldn't hear the commentary which was in reverently hushed tones.  I wouldn't have heard anyway as K was on the phone next to me talking reverently in loud tones about the price of a pig.

The first modern ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic flame took place in Ancient Olympia in 1936 before the Berlin Games.  The ceremony takes place in the ruins of the stadium where the  games first began in 776 BC.

Over the years the flame has been around the world, into space, travelled underwater and even scaled Mount Everest.

Lets hope the torch travels safely to France and into Paris.  

1. These are the 1st games where there will be equal numbers of male and female athletes

2. France has hosted the summer Olympics 3 times.  In 1900,1924 and now in 2024

3.  There will be 32 sports contested including breakdancing, surfing, skateboarding and sporting climbing, whatever that is.

4. Neither Russia nor Belarus will be competing in these games because of the invasion of Ukraine. 

Spring Clean Up

 I got some help this weekend

Pruning the thorny white bougainvillia

Nels and Poppi replanting celery.  We will have celery coming out of our ears soon if we don't start eating it.  Celery, the leafy kind, called selino here, is sold with the roots still attached.  We have 3 pots of the stuff now. This 'pot' is an old washing up bowl.  It grows very easily, as does the parsley which has turned into a bush

K got the annual clean up of his back yard over with. An able bodied Albanian lad did an excellent job.  He filled up 14 huge black rubbish bags with weeds and plastic rubbish hidden in the jungle.

Before

After

The front yard is my domain.  The garden is still nice and green.  The clover/sorrel is starting to wilt a little but the nasturtiums have begun to flower, yellow and orange blooms, the mint is taking over the bed by the entrance .  And there is no rubbish in my territory.  

What was left of the big winter wood pile has been taken to the back of the house, and stacked.  Slowly I'm sweeping and cleaning chairs, tables and shutters ready to arrange our summer sitting place

The front roadway should be weed-whacked but in the meantime the knee-high weeds have been cut back.  In a month's time they'll probably be knee-high again.  Unless this heat continues and dries them all out.

Now that wall needs white washing for Easter

Sunset

 Poros at dusk.  Photos taken by another granddaughter.

This is taken from the car ferry.  Looking towards the main town.

And from  their balcony looking over the strait to the hills of the mainland

And here she is.  Or isn't.  

This child does not like having her photo taken.  Obviously

Thanks Natali. See, I didn't put your photo on the blog!

Or not your face anyway

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Nels

 

Just boasting.......

Nels. No, not Poppi this time. 

Nels. Sister of Poppi.

Dietician. Nutritionist. Beautician. Athlete. Rower.

She has put many family members on weight losing diets. We're a family of losers thanks to her

This is the granddaughter who runs 15ks, phone in one hand, taking photos without breaking stride.

She has dozens of medals and cups for rowing but gave it up to study.

A few years ago.....

Rowing for Poros

All the grandchildren have tried rowing and they've all won medals. It's naturally a popular pastime on a Greek island.

Her hobby is hair styling, fashion and beauty.

For friends.

And her grandmother

I got my nails done.

Poros island, permanent population around 4,000, has many talented young people and has produced a few world champions.

An Olympic silver medalist for rowing at the Beijing Olympics.

Poros also had rowers at the 1960, 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

 European and Balkans Triathlon winner. 

European and Balkans WaterSki champion.

European and Balkans Kayak and Canoe gold medalists

Nels will be working on the island of Lipsoi this summer .

Give it a Google. It has been named the best holiday island in Greece.   It's an island of unspoiled beauty, not a party island.

Lipsoi

Tiny island in the Dodecanese

Population 800

 Crystal clear waters 

Sandy beaches

Fresh seafood from the Aegean

Homegrown lamb and goat

Thyme honey

Local cheeses

Fokiano - sweet local red wine

3 day Wine Fest every August

                    

Phenomenon

 Sea Fog.  

 Formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.

Sea fog is a very rare occurrence. 

I've never heard of it before.

We noticed the other day coming down to the harbour that there were strange clouds hanging low on the hills opposite. Fortunately a friend of ours took photos and a video.

A thick cloud of Saharan dust covers the city of Athens.

Not my photo

182 million tons of dust (sand) is carried away from the Saharan desert every year

How long will it take to empty the Sahara???

The dust can be carried as far as Europe, the UK and even the US, depending on wind patterns.

It is full of minerals and is good for the garden. However it can cause breathing difficulties, heart congestion and eye irritation.

The present dust storm seems to be going on for over a week. I've got stinging eyes and a headache.

The dust is very hard to get rid of. Our car, which is not under cover, has to be well soaped and rinsed. Flagstones have to be cleaned with soapy water too but often there are orange stains which only disappear with time.

It's supposed to dissipate tomorrow. 

Did anyone hear of a decent April Fool's prank?

In years gone by there were always a few joke news reports. I've heard nothing so far.

Is the world suffering too much to stop for a few minutes of light entertainment?

March Pruning

 Pruning time.  Our gardener finally found some time to clean up the vines and roses.  Poppi has been doing this job for 4 or 5 years now and she does a damn good job.  Her arms are strong from rowing and she wields the secateurs with confidence.

This year K told her to cut the grapevine right back.  There was a lot of old wood.  Never mind the long vines whipping around in the wind. She sheared it right back almost to the thick main stem, collected all the cuttings and piled them up in the back yard for K to use on his BBQ.

Look at those nasturtiums.  They have taken over my front yard this year.  Some of the leaves are as big as dinner plates.  They would have smothered any other plants in the garden but I hadn't really planted a winter garden this year. All I had was a few cauliflowers and lettuces in pots.  And one stunted kohlrabi.

One reason for severe pruning is to stop the grapevine later from growing out onto next door neighbours driveway.

She cut the roses well down too. They were reaching for the power lines. 

I bet in a couple of months time they'll all have turned into veritable bushes. It's difficult to over-prune grapevines or roses . Or olive trees. 

Nasturtiums, lemons and no rubbish in my front garden

Maybe I should rename this blog. Lately it seems to be...

'The Life of Poppi'

Independence Day

 Greek Independence Day, 25th March. The celebrations mark the beginning of the uprising, in 1821, to throw out the Turks. 

Greece was finally recognised as an Independent state in 1830.

Poros marks the day with a church service, followed by wreath laying, speeches, a parade of school children and finally Greek dancing in traditional costumes.

There was a huge military parade in Athens and the highlight is a flyover of jet airplanes. 

One of the pilots is a local lad and he gave Poros and the surrounding villages their own special air display.

He flew right down over the strait between the island and the mainland and came back even lower saluting us all with a wiggle of the wings.

The noise was tremendous. The airshow spectacular.

We all cheered and clapped . 

Our Poppi once again. Leading the dance wearing the folk costume known as the  Amelia dress.  

Seafood and Sunshine

 Monday, start of Orthodox Lent, was a beautiful sunny day. We started off bundled up but by 3 o'clock the youngsters had stripped down to Tshirts and I took off my top layer too. 

The Octopus was hung out on my washing line to dry a little before it went on the bbq

Feasting took place at my daughter's house. Not ours this year

The tentacles were so big  our chief bbq-er skewered them and made them into octopus souvlaki

There was seafood and more seafood

Mussels in a mustard sauce, octopus, crabs, kalamari, spiky sea urchins (kina in Maori) and prawns  

And lagana, the special flat bread eaten today

Poppi filling up a wine bottle from our 20 litre wine boxes. There's white and rose

Friend Jan and K

And the family dogs

Molly the Old English sheep dog

Boem the cocker spaniel (also called Rusty when I can't remember his proper name)

Junior, an Asian breed, with a name like jujitsou (but it's not)

And me and my girls

Next weekend is another long weekend.

Monday is a National holiday

Octopiii

 Octopii are an important part of the Lenten menu because they have no *blood and can be eaten all through the long fast.  They are also an essential item on the menu when visitors arrive in the summer.

We have started filling up the freezer. 

But this one, what remains of it , caught by grandson Jamie with his trusty trident, will be eaten this Monday. 

It's a long weekend. Monday is Kathara Deftera, Clean Monday.

We will be eating kalamari fried and grilled, mussels, crabs, octopus done 3 ways and taramasalata (fish roe dip). 

Each of the men of the family are cooking octopus in their own special way.

Kyriakos makes stewed octopus with vinegar and olive oil. It's tender and tasty and you can dip your bread in the vinegar and oil. Not me though.  

K prefers grilled octopus.

He dries it first by pegging it out on my washing line. 

 Octopus bbqed this way is too chewy for my taste.

I dont know how Yiannis is cooking his octopus . Maybe with makaroni or with whole onions.  Both are popular. 

We will find out on Monday when we all gather for the family feast at my daughter's house.

Meanwhile the word is out and anyone catching an octopus has K's number.

*Octopii are supposed to have blue blood. 

An octopus has 3 hearts

They are super smart 

Excellent at camouflage. 

Move by jet propulsion. 

They're found in every ocean in the world. 

14 March

 Look at this photo. The colours, the clear water, the fearless bather

Yes, it's Poppi again with Rusty, their cocker spaniel...enjoying a cool winter swim.

It was around 16oC yesterday.  The water? Freezing. I'm sure. 

Her sister went for a 13 kilometre run instead.

She gave us a wave as she passed our cul de sac up in the hills

March Meats

 

A Get Well 

Welcome Home 

Present

Thursday was *Tsiknopempti, the last big meat eating day before Lent. 

K was going to BBQ a pile of meat and I had a bottle of prosecco saved just for an occasion like this.... Good food and the company of a good friend.

Jan has been a member of our family for many many years. 

Her English wit, perception of Greek foibles and sharp rejoinders have brought me a lot of laughter over those years. 

But, that was the day we learnt of our friend's passing. K, our head Chef, was immediately away to arrange papers and help the family. 

K had done all the preparation the night before, marinating mutton chops, preparing the hamburger 'dough', making pork souvlaki and taking **kebabs from the freezer. 

It was easy for me to  ***shape ****burgers and put them in the oven with a few potatoes. We changed ovens recently and I'm still not quite up with it's times and temperatures. They ended up a bit overcooked but were fine with some quickly made gravy, tzatziki, Greek salad and the prosecco.

I cooked them 'foreign style'. No lemon juice and very little olive oil. 

The main course of the day was catching up on recent events in our lives. In the English language. 

It was better K was absent. We don't catch up very often and when we do it's endless chatter in English which K can't keep up with. It drives him mad. 

Thanks Jan for the beautiful flower. I don't know what it's called. Anyone got a name for it? 

She gave me the prosecco too, at Christmas. 

Cheers

*Tsiknopempti - literally smokey Thursday. The smoke is from the meat grilling on the BBQ 

**kebabs are long tubes of spicy minced meat

***To shape dough is to 'plath' - one of my favourite greek words. It means to shape dough, for biscuits, bread, burgers, with your hands

I Plath.. platho 

You Plath.. platheis

We all plath.. plathoume 

****Burgers in Greek are bifteki

Marching On

 Life ebbs and flows. Yesterday we were at a funeral of a close friend.

After the church and interment everyone gathers at the cafeteria next to the graveyard, beside the sea, for a small Greek coffee, mastiha liqueur and a sweet biscuit. 

I didn't wait around to witness the burial. Arm in arm with my daughter I retreated to the café, out of the cold. 

It's a chance for everyone, as they leave the Cafe, to pay their respects to the mourning family and wish the deceased a peaceful ever-after, 

or a long life to the family that remains that they may keep his/her memory alive.

Those that linger on, close family and friends usually, stay for soup and wine.

Sometimes it's meat soup.  This time it was fish soup, served with platters of the boiled fish and vegetables. With plenty of wine.

It was delicious but I put too much pepper in the soup and had to wash each spoonful down with some wine. I drank just a little more than I intended. But I'm not on a restricted diet . Just a restricted lifestyle.

The church was freezing and the constant stand-up-sit-down tired me out. Everytime it's stand-up time: for the appearance of the priest from his sanctuary, for the sending of clouds of  incense from the big swinging burner, or for a prayer, K nudges me in case I'm inattentive. In the end I decided I was a recovering patient and stayed seated. 

RIP Petros

Continuing with March

 What the heck was all that about yesterday with the 'outage' of Facebook and Instagram. 

Thank goodness most of it went down during siesta but K was not at all happy to find, when he woke up, that he was blocked from Facebook. He spends hours on it checking up on his friends and the local buzz.

When it came back I managed to get him straight back in . I couldn't get mine to work till the next morning. Not that it worried me. I only have Facebook so I can use Messenger and follow Poros activity pages.

They made me change the password . I hate having to change passwords. Who remembers the damn things. Or where I've written them down. Or if I've  made a note when I've  changed one. 

Marching onwards...

Forgot to add the change to summertime at the end of the month. I don't like changing times but summer-time is preferable to winter-time. It means longer, warmer days. 

Granddaughter Poppi was given an award last week for being one of Poros' top athletes. She is on her way upward to the National rowing team, spends hours training every week and races  all over the country. 

School trips.

 Two of my grandchildren are in their last year at High School and this is the month they go on their 5 day end-of-school excursion. Then they knuckle down to study for their higher education exams in June.

Jamie is in Thessaloniki (Capitol of the North) at the moment with his class and  Poppi will be going up to Ioannina (city in the North west near Albania) next week with her class. Poppi has been there before competing in rowing races on Lake Pamvotida. 

Jamie and Poppi

Police chief . The new Police chief is showing his presence handing out parking tickets, performing breathalyser tests and giving fines for motorbike riders without helmets and licences. Hard days for the Islanders who are used to a more laid back regime. But it will probably stop in a day or a week, as he settles into the rythym of island life. 

All our neighbours are busy pruning their olives trees and burning the lopped off branches. The fire ban begins on 1st April.

Piles of vine prunings.  We haven't pruned our own grape vine yet but his friends are bringing their trimmimgs to adorn our front yard.  K likes to collect them to use on the BBQ

And then there are name days. Plenty of those in March.

And then comes April.

 

March Merriment

-  Sunday 3 March

Tou Asotou.  Feast of the Prodigal Son

K considers this as his personal day of celebration along with all his friends. Naughty boys now grown old and grey and kept under control by their doctors.

- 8th March

International Women's Day.  This used to be a huge celebration on the island.  The older women would dress up in their Sunday best, joining up with friends. First for a meal and then to dance on tables at the waterfront bars.  I went a few times with my sister-in-law but backed out as soon as she found other company.  Not my idea of fun. 

Nowadays there are still groups of girls and women that gather for a drink and a laugh.  However it's nothing like the good old days when Poros women would take over the tavernas and bars and dance all night.

- Tsiknopempti

Smokey Thursday.  The last big meat eating day before Lent.  Next week is Cheese Week and then comes Clean Monday which marks the beginning of the Orthodox Lent.  Greek Easter isn't till 5 May this year.

On meat eating Thursday we will be having a BBQ and eating lamb chops, kebab and sausages with Greek salad, lots of tzatziki and more than a few glasses of bubbly Prosecco.

- Carnival.  Carnival festivities are ramping up .  The last weekend before Lent there are huge parades and celebrations of local customs  all over the country.  Our Municipality organises activities for the local children who all come in costume.  The schools put on a masquerade party and bbq in the school yard .  

-  18 March  

Kathara Deftera. Clean Monday.  First day of Lent.  The beginning of the long fast.

This is a public holiday and a huge celebration.  Hopefully the weather will be fine.  It's a long weekend and Poros will be full of Greek visitors.  Tavernas will sell mountains of fried kalamari, octopus, shellfish, and sell gallons of wine and ouzo.  Ouzo is 'the' drink with shellfish, octopus and squid.

If there's any sort of a breeze then children, with any adults left standing, will be out trying to fly a kite.

For the 7 weeks of Lent very strict followers of the Orthodox church will eat no meat, fish, dairy, eggs, drink no wine and on certain days of the week abstain from olive oil as well.   Not many follow these rules.  My sister-in-law usually does the full fast and members of the family are known to stop eating meat for the duration.  

- March 25th 

Church festival and the day marking the start of the revolt, in 1821,  against Turkish occupation and oppression.  There will be church services, the laying of wreaths under the War Memorial, speeches and a parade by school children.  Then we usually gather at a family home and eat salt cod, beetroot and garlic sauce.  It is one of the few days during Lent when it is permitted to eat fish, and drink wine of course.

All these plus St Patrick's day and 2 family birthdays.

1st March

It is tradition on 1st March to make a bracelet with red and white thread. 

Or buy one

It is worn to welcome Spring but also is said the protect the wearer from getting burnt in the springtime sun which can be stronger than you realise.

It's worn till the end of March and then hung on a tree so the birds can pick at it and use it for nest making.

Or it's worn till May Day and burnt on a bonfire .

Or it's worn till Easter and burnt on the coals that roast the lamb.

In actual fact it gets very tatty very fast and usually breaks or falls off. 

My crochet effort

Children plait them at school today out of embroidery cotton. 

It's Over

Surgery all done and dusted.

The Greek health system works well.  I had excellent treatment in our  rural small- city hospital. My stay and surgery was free. I had a sympathetic doctor, nurses who were always cheery and on the ball.

We gave 'thank you' money to the doctor and anaesthetist but neither had their hands out.

Some demand and some don't. 

A year ago I had my cataract operation at this hospital.  The eye doctor wouldn't even set a date for my cataracts until he saw that fat little white envelope with a 'deposit'.  His manner changed in an instant and my 2 year wait was suddenly over.

It's a corrupt system, illegal, not helped by us. But it's hard to know what to do.  

We had a wee upset when getting the once-over from the cardiologist.  He told me I was a high risk patient, something to do with 2 valves. He insisted I must have had trouble walking and wouldn't have been able to climb stairs without being very short of breath and dizzy. Whereas  I've  never felt fitter. My own cardiologist gave me a scan 3 months ago and pronounced me in great condition, and stands by that now . 

The problem would have been with the anaesthesia. The anaesthetist asked me a whole load of questions, said the hospital doc was known to over exaggerate but decided on an epidural drip. 

That's a weird feeling, not being aware of my body below the waist. Listening to doctors and nurses chatting as they take my insides out, snip off bits and pieces and replace it all, correctly.

 The day before my surgery K was sent off to another rural hospital to pick up 2 litres of blood. My daughters are blood donors and the procedure, on paper, is handled by the local council.  It wasn't needed but they like to have it on standby.  That's the 2nd time he has transported blood in our car.  It's usually done by ambulance but they were all tied up.

The gyno ward is in the old part of the building and there were only 2 of us there. An Albanian girl who had a cesarian in one room and me in another. We both departed  the same day, leaving an empty ward.

The rooms on this ward are old.  No TV because there are no connections.  It would have helped to pass the days after surgery, especially for K who sat by my bedside all day. I had a book  and both had our phones, and a plug to recharge. The central heating was a bit noisy but kept me warm as toast day and night.

The bathroom was clean but ancient.  Toilet bowl without a lid, small basin and a shower head attached to the wall without either a shower tray or a curtain.  It would have been a very wet room if I had wanted to use it. 

I had a room mate for a few hours on the first day. May the woman live long and healthily, but nowhere near me, please.  Ye gods and little fishes. She spoke in a ringing voice to everyone all day long. She phoned all her friends and told them all in detail, and very loudly, why she was there, a minor procedure. She introduced herself, and me, to everyone from the cleaner to the trolley bearer. She wouldn't shut up. 

The only photo I took

Old hands

Like most rural hospitals many of the patients are Roma (gypsies).  They never come alone.  The whole family tags along, from babe in arms to ancient matriarch.  They're noisy and the kids run along the corridors, opening and closing doors.  At nights when the hospital was on standby duty I could hear them down in the yard yelling at each other.  A few months ago there was a gunfight at this hospital when 2 families got into an argument.

All part of the colour.

Food.  I can't complain because I was there for surgery.  However, after 2 days of nothing and 3 days of boiled chicken and soupy rice it was getting boring to say the least.  The sound of the dinner trolley is the day's excitement.  It got to be a joke between us and the trolley lady.  Boiled chicken again.  On the last day I got roast chicken.  What a delight.

I lost 2 kilos.

So I'm home and recovering.