Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas everyone

Kala Christoyenna

Kirihimete

Jan and I wearing our Xmas outfits

Tis but once a year

More or less

That we can wear these 

Kronia Polla from K

Cheers Big Ears

Elli and Kyriako 

We had a massive thunderstorm which knocked our Wifi out

Can't comment on your blogs but am managing to send these greetings

Warm wishes for a happy day

North and South

Wherever you are

PS wouldn't be complete without Poppi 

Poros Pics

 December... 

It's still warm enough on a sunny day for coffee by the sea

The streets are merry and bright

Even at night

And alive with the piped sound of Christmas carols

The Central  

 'Mayoral Square' 

Down one end of the harbour winter works are under way. Sewage pipes are being replaced. 

The road is closed but the works hopefully will be completed over the winter months 

Better now than midsummer

Bundles of nets all along the waterfront are wrapped against the elements till spring

The little boat is decorated with flags for the festive season 

It is the tradition here to decorate boats at Christmas and New Year

All the yachts which make up the

'Greek Sails' flotilla are tied up to the wharf for winter refurbishment 

Rudi

 A Christmas bazaar 

A lovely time to catch up with some of the expats, rummage through clothes, books and knick-knacks, have a laugh or two and drink mulled wine in the sun

All for the good of this fellow

Dear Rudi needs a supply of medecine which is not cheap

These two make it all happen

Cecile provides the space, whisks up a merry brew and keeps us all jolly and bright

Jan, in that awesome pink hat brings it all together, encourages us to rummage and organises Rudi's daily dosage

Hobnobbing with friends

I found some nice lightweight shirts 

Books and a Xmas coffee mug

Curtains anyone? 

Rudi taking a break

 Isis.. Our Belgian goddess 

Isis gives up her office for the bazaar 

She's Rudi's Mum and looks after him day to day

I had a lovely few hours socialising with people who speak english

Winter

 Most days the sun shines.  Lucky for us. Our hot water is heated by solar panels.  In the summer the water is boiling. In winter there are very few days when it's not hot/warm enough for a shower. 

Empty beaches

Sometimes it rains

But mostly the sun will shine

Winter sun.  Sun 'With teeth' they say here

There are a few winter swimmers but they don't sit around to sunbathe afterwards

One water taxi waiting to cross the strait 

A virtually empty yacht harbour

Blue skies and blue sea

The car ferry coming in from the mainland village of Galatas

No lines of vans and trucks

A few motorbikes and cars and foot passengers like me

Can Pigs Swim

 Pigs Can Swim dammit

There's a huge wild boar problem across on the mainland. They're breaking down fences, destroying olive trees, digging up gardens and threatening the human population.

There are none of these pigs on the island. Yet.

This hog was photographed midway between the mainland and the island 

The longest distance between island and mainland is only 400 metres, the shortest crossing is half of that

We don't want wild boars, hogs or anything of its kind over here

Unfortunately I couldn't find out what happened to this hog. I hope the photographer turned him back

The worst we've got are woozles which eat wires in the cars engine. And darn cats

Festive Stuff

 

Youngest grandchild is 17, oldest 24

I still hang up their 'stockings' They're my grandchildren so of course they're good kids all year round. Right???

 Santa fills their stockings with Chocolates and goodies every Xmas Eve

 

Christmas assembly line

Most of the cakes K bakes are given away . That's the Christmas tradition here

First on the list are the recently bereaved.  It's not done for them to make sweets the first year of mourning

English mince tarts

Most of these are given away too

But I ate quite a few so

I have to make some more

 tomorrow. 

I don't like the Pastry although I've dived into YouTube looking for the best recipe.  Judy in England has given me her traditional recipe. 

I'll let you know how it goes

The filling is homemade by me.  I've eaten a few spoonfuls of that too.

It's very moreish*. 

 

*I looked up that word. It's one my mother used.  The meaning? 

You just want more and more

....... Obviously

Before Xmas

One of the traditions at New Year is to hang a large bulb called a Boska on the front gate. It is wrapped in silver paper and decorated with a red ribbon

They bring good luck. As do pomegranates 

Normally after New Year's I would throw it onto the compost heap. 

But last year my daughter Elli told me they keep theirs all year, still wrapped in silver paper.  It not only lives all year without watering but starts growing again in time for the next New Year

 It has indeed sprouted a green leaf.  I was amazed.  

I rewrapped it and it's good to go for another year. Not quite as leafy as last years

Cheerful, festive red peppers in the garden

My NZ niece Julie is hanging a blue and white Greek eye on her kiwi Christmas tree

Pickled onions ready to go

My thick Christmas folder

With

Traditional NZ/English recipes

Recipes from my childhood

Lists and more lists

Xmas supermarket shopping list

Xmas eve prep list

Food that should be on the Xmas table list

 You don't know how easy it is to forget the Yorkshire puds, garlic bread or even the gravy when there is so much variety. English and greek

Then there are my blog posts from xmases past, printed out for posterity 

It's a very thick folder

Delivery from Vaso's trees

The smell of Christmas

Orange juice and zest goes in almost every Xmas sweet, Greek or foreign

Real Greek

 My traditional Greek has taken over Christmas and Easter baking. 

He bakes authentic festive sweets. Not his mother's or his sister's recipes. He does a deep dive into  Greek cooking sites and follows the recipes to the (Greek) letter . 

It has been many years since I've made these goodies.  I didn't mind at all giving my place in the kitchen to someone else.  Especially when he's a dedicated follower of Greek tradition. 

In years past he supervised the grandchildren as they followed his directions.  Now he's by himself, though I do help a little to clean up.  It is still My kitchen 

Cinnamon, orange and walnut biscuits drenched in honey syrop* 

This year's batch of melomakarouna were delectable. 

The best he's made

They weren't too big, too sweet or too syropy

And I've eaten quite a few dammit

Real Greek men do cook

And they wear an apron

He weighed out every little lump

But didn't follow the recipe

Instead of 30 grams

Every morsel was 40 grams 

And he was right

40 grams makes just the right sized bite

These are kourabiethes

Almond and butter biscuits

Which are sprayed with rose water and covered in icing sugar

*syrop or syrup?? 

Nens Dressings

 I didn't realise just how confusing this sign could be.  It was posted, in days of yore, outside every church and monastery 

A notice like this is still posted at the entrance to our local Monastery. However nowadays it is written in correct English. 

No Admittance into the church to women wearing trousers (men's dresses) 

Here is cousin Caroline at our local Monastery covering her 'men's dress' with a wrap around skirt. 

These long skirts are provided free of charge to those not dressed correctly

One size-fits-all long trousers for the men

Entrance is also forbidden to men wearing shorts

Or

Anyone in a swimsuit

Women with sleeveless tops

Short skirts . They should be below the knee

At the Meteora nunnery we visited earlier in the year with my brother and sis in law we were inspected by a nun as we entered. We were dressed modestly but in trews. Karen donned a wrap-around and I had brought a black slip-on skirt for the visit. 

Apparently it's not just about covering your legs but also keeping the distinction between male and female. 

Good luck with that

However..... 

Local churches are far more relaxed. A few years ago there was an Archbishop who encouraged people to attend church telling them to attend

'as you are. In pants or skirts, tattoos and earrings' 

I nearly always wear 'women's' trousers (slacks, pants or trews). 

The English in menus used to be very badly translated.  Something of great amusement which I miss 

You'd open up a menu to find offerings like 'Grilled lamps'. 

I wish I could remember more. 

Every Greek child learns English at school now and most go on to earn at least one higher certificate. There's no excuse for badly translated signs or menus.