My Girls and Me

Every day is daughter's day

So, a short celebration

If you asked me today

'if you had the chance would you go back and change your life'

I'd have to say' NO'. I wouldn't have missed out on these two girls and their adorable children for anything the universe can offer. 

Would I tell others to dare to do the same? I would say a big 'No!' to that.  Stay at home, stay close to your folks, enjoy your culture, your roots,  marry one of your own.   It's not easy adapting to a foreign life, accepting a foreign culture. 

I miss my downunder family even though they visit often. I hope they can continue to travel now as this world, and our lives, are being torn apart. And as we all grow older. Thank the powers that be for social media and Whatsapp but it's not the same as having them in the next town, state, even across the Tasman Sea,  somewhere we can meet now and again for a flat white, a custard slice, reminisce about growing up and laugh together.

 Thankfully my girls, my dear sons in law, grandchildren, are close by and I know I'm blessed. As I am with my foreign husband who supports and cares

Elli's balcony

She's living in the family house down in the old town.  It has a roof terrace with a panoramic view of the harbour and a balcony full of pot plants

She sends me marmite recipes, NZ memes, NZ recipes that she hopes I'll take the hint and cook for us

That reminds me it's time for hotcross buns.  This weekend Elli, and Jan, and the rest of you 

Danae, eternally aged 28 (with a son of 24. How dare he!! ) 

Phones me for advice on a recipe,  sends me all the latest kiwi goings-on from NewsBeast.gr

 NZ only gets in our news feed when it's something strange and downright weird .

Now an empty-nester she's bringing up Boem

Elli's bundle of joy

Junior is now a senior

The three of us

We all love NZ. The girls have visited quite a few times and have NZ nationality

Up and Down

 Every day we are threatened with thunderstorms, doom and gloom.  It has been affecting me mentally and health wise.

Now I understand why so many Brits write about grey skies and grey moods, and escape.  

This is run up to Easter weekend for you and I expect the island will fill with european tourists in shorts and Tshirts 

  The conflict now seems just far enough away, on our horizon, out of reach.  We have become accustomed to hostile war cries and rhetoric. Our Turkish neighbour rarely let's up. 

Planes are flying safely in and out, supermarket prices are more or less the same, fuel prices have flattened out.

I've had headaches, a sore back and aching bones all week. Plus the sameness everyday of that doom and gloom on our doorstep dragged me down. Days and days of sameness. 

Family pulled me out. Even though they didn't know it. 

 Luli's parade and her important place as wreath bearer.  The heart  really  can burst with pride. 

Nels learning to make my stuffed tomatoes. 

A BBQ meal with some of the family

 Messages from other grandchildren far away in Athens 

Morning greetings from my girls

Communication with my dear family downunder

The little things that matter. 

A change of time.  New timing hopefully will bring warmer weather, maybe more energy, more enthusiasm 

Help from a stranger. A little old man became my guardian angel yesterday.  I went to the Atm to use my new bank card.  I thought I'd read the instructions for the card's use but I hadn't noted the newfangled stuff. I tried to poke my card in the hole as I did the old one. I tried again and again. It wouldn't go in.  The little old man standing behind me, never seen before, said 'no no, you do it like this'.  Seems it's a swipe card. You swipe it across the little swipe-icon, never seen before. Hey presto. It worked. I gave him  a smile and a heartfelt thanks. 

I'm slow on the uptake. I know. And this wizened angel flew in to my rescue.  It really made me smile

Everything is back to normal. K is boiling old goat, aged Vaso next door seems to have wandered off and we can hear the family calling her.  The dogs are echoing the chorus. The sun has come out for 5 minutes. The washing will dry quickly. 

I feel happy enough today to make a Shein order, try out a new sticky chilli sauce recipe, plant the 2 pots of basil and the marigold I picked up a week ago. 

There's no cooking to be done today.  We've got leftovers from Granddaughter Nels stuffed tomatoes and Yiannis Bbqed meat. That boiled goat is a 'delight' for another day. It may need more than 24 hours simmering in the stock pot.  At least we will have the stock. If nothing else is edible

Queen of Poros

On 25th March 

 Greece celebrates the beginning of its successful uprising and eventual freedom from the Turkish Ottoman Empire in 1821

 

On this Greek isle, as in every greek village, there's a parade of school children, wreath laying, music by the Municipal band, speeches and later Greek dancing

The last grandchild in the parade

There she goes, Luli, Queen of Poros and  Queen of my blog.  Dressed in the traditional costume of a Poros woman

She'll be in the parade in October and after that we will have no-one to applaud. The last of the grandchildren would have flown the coop

The costumes are provided by the Lykeio (High School) 

Worn in the 1800s and early 1900s

Luli 2nd to last on the right

she was also the wreath hander-over to all the local important people as they approached the War Memorial

Mother and daughter

They represent almost 50 years of parading, dancing and reciting patriotic poems on this and a few other waterfronts

All the kids in that final class were in costume

Nels first, Christos the rowing coach, Poppi and friend dancing the hasapiko, a traditional greek folk dance.  The hasapiko,  'butcher's dance', originated in Constantinople, instigated by the Greek Butcher's Guild'

 

And just to show you how it was done in days of yore

Here is Danae, in the middle, dancing the same dance when she was at school.....a few, ahem, years ago. On Poros waterfront

Danae is my '28' year old daughter, mother of Poppi and Nels and  24 year old son, George

Forever young

At the going down of the sun 

The Navy Guard from Poros Naval School taking down the flag at sunset on the 25th, bringing the celebrations to an official end

It's also the name day of those named Vangelis (male) or Vangelia (female) so unofficial celebrations continue long after sunset

What's Up Doc

 What's Up?  Not much around here

Elsewhere, it's a different story

Orthodox Easter happens in a few weeks. 

Every year there's  a 'miraculous' candle lighting ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Since 1988 the Holy Light from the church has been brought to Greece on Easter Saturday evening. The candles with the Holy Light are taken to every big church in the country before midnight. At midnight lights are turned out and the priest appears with the Holy Light.  The light is transferred from candle to candle through the crowd and then comes the proclamation 'Christ is Risen'.  Our island receives the light by speed boat. The Mayor meets the boat and transports the Light (candle in a lantern) to each of the 5 main churches. 

However bomb fragments fell last week near the Church in Jerusalem and no one knows yet whether the ceremony will still take place.  

It's freezing again. K is having trouble with cold fingers

It's been freezing for days. 

We weren't going to buy any more wood but we've been forced to

The young lad stacked it very nicely. The front yard doesn't look too untidy

   

We always fly the blue and white Greek flag on National holidays

25th March is an important National Holiday, As usual it's to do with church, historical victories and tradition

 These flags are in shreds.  

He's taken them down and tomorrow there will be 3 new flags, NZ, Australia and a big Greek flag in the middle

 

Doctors and Diversions

 

A day at our nearest city, Nafplio, always starts early.  The outing begins with a crossing on the 8am car ferry. An hour later, having driven past a few small villages and quite a few sign posts for ancient ruins we reach city limits,  the Army Base and big Chinese Emporium. 

 Naplio is our nearest city. A lovely town with lots of cafeterias either in the old town or on the waterfront. But we don't go there. We go to the 'old men's' cafenion on the roundabout. It has excellent coffee, raki and good Greek mezedes (snacks), different according to the season and religious calendar. There'll be fried kalamari and vegetable rissoles on the plate now. And it's where the local men congregate.  Not just men, but they are the majority.  K feels right at home. And I tag along as usual

These days out at Nafplio are very routine. The trips are always for matters of health. We work the diversions around the doctors.  

Entering the city

On top of the hill is the Fortress of Palamidi

The fortress is 'modern'. Built in 1711.  Accessed either by 999 steps or you drive up there in your car

Saturday and Wednesday there's a Farmers Market

We always arrange the visits to coincide with the market.  I buy cheap clothes, fruit and vegetables which look so fresh and wholesome and full of colour.  K investigates the fresh fish stalls.  The catch is scaled and gutted while you wait.

5 litre containers of local wine, olive oil, olives by the kilo, fresh eggs, dried beans and lentils bought by the kilo out of a large sack, bunches of oregano

K trying out our new shopping trolley

We used to have a squeaky old thing which was really a suitcase trolley.  Too embarassing and it kept on trundling crookedly into other people's legs.  

The new one is very chic

Time for a scan and the doctor's visit

All's well

Then my favourite part of the trip

Lidls!

And K's favourite part of the day

This is one of a chain of souvlaki shops called 'Trendy'

Some days it's full of 'good old boys' in their 'uniform' of greasy jeans and black tshirts, and often there's a table or 2 of Poros people.  It's a popular stop after a busy day.  

It may be Lent but almost everyone, including me, was eating pork in pita bread, tzatziki with a pile of fries.  K however chose from their big oven trays, stuffed tomato, no meat and a no-alcohol beer. Leftovers are put in a box and taken home. 

Besides our own shopping we often have jobs to do for other people.  Pick up a sack of dog food, get lost in the back streets trying to find a shop that sells electronic bits and pieces, wait for a rotisserie chicken for a neighbour who doesn't get out often, lettuce plants from the nursery or some obscure car part from one of the dealers, even maybe a huge sourdough loaf or a kilo of choc cookies from the bakery 'Flour and Sugar'.  That place always has a queue.  The smells are delectable.  

It's always a long day and I'm exhausted by the time we have returned to Galatas, sailed over on the car ferry to Poros, delivered everyone's bits and pieces and unloaded our own bags of goodies.  

The World in Crisis

 World in Crisis 

A blog written by my brother Richard.....

Radical thoughts for an endangered planet

'The real story of the events and people shaping our world in the 21st century.  Not the world of the conspiracy theorist or the doctored and distorted world of social media.  No left or right wing bias.  Just independent, objective analysis of life on Planet Earth - sometimes bizarre, sometimes hilarious, sometimes downright mad - as the climate crisis bears down on us.  Plus analysis of the radical changes we need to make if we are to survive'

You can follow the link below and have a read of his thoughtful and well written blog.  He has published an article by me too, about the island's victory over the proposed expansion of fish farms around our coasts.  

I've included the intro below, go and read the rest.  Just scroll down, it's easy to find.  A more serious look at our peaceful little island

https://rikcreasy.com/

The Short Read - A 'feel good' post from the Greek  Islands

Poros is a Greek island paradise a few hours out of Athens in the Saronic Gulf.  It's just as you would imagine it in mid-summer, humming with tourists and a chorus of cicadas, clear blue skies and clean blue seas.  This little paradise has been threatened in the last few years with new regulations which would have turned it into an industrial zone, enabling fish farming to increase by 8 times over.  The island already has 4 fish farms breeding sea bass and sea bream.  Avramar, the multinational company which runs the fish farming here, planned an eightfold expansion of it's operations.

Linda

Poros Greece

I'm writing another piece about Poros but it's not coming together easily.  Poros is supposed to become one of Greece's 'Green Islands' with electric taxis, cars and car ferries too I think.  We do have an electric powered bus but progress seems to be very slow.  There's a long way to go.  Even our recycling leaves a lot to be desired.  They're far better organised across the straits on the mainland.

It was announced in 2023 that Poros would be the 3rd island to be included in the Gr-Eco Sustainability programme.

But, I'll leave that subject there for now while I try and sort out exactly what is happening

Go and read Rik's blog

Dastardly Dave

 Who's Dave?

I Love

Iron Maiden

Dave

This was written in stones on the road at the end of our cul de sac

I walk down here now and again but there is little other traffic and only one, unoccupied, house 

One of the landowners, who lives in town, comes down to potter on his land, otherwise it's just goats and cats.  And Dave

Maybe it was this mysterious-Dave who stole Ks helmet from his bike.  So who the hell is he?

What is happening in our quiet backwater? 

Mysterious-Dave who loves Iron maiden. Who are you?

'Where did you come from, where did you go

Where did you come from Cotton Eyed Joe'

(American Folk Song)

And what use did he have for this bed of nails that disappeared around the same time. 

 

Maybe it's...

 

Macavity the mystery cat

He's called the hidden paw

For he's the master criminal who can defy the law 

He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squads despair 

For when they reach the scene of crime

Macavity's not there 

The Mystery Cat by T. S. Elliot

One of my mother's favourites

 

A Winter's Walk

Late  on a cold afternoon

This is a private chapel dedicated to Saint Nektarios.  It's fiesta is 11 November and it's favoured for Baptisms, Weddings and Services for Health and Thankfulness

The chapel is in the grounds of Paradise Taverna.  Paradise is just down the road from us and is a good walking distance. It's very popular in the summer with chairs and tables under the grapevines. 

However there were family disagreements at the end of last summer and it closed down. Their chairs and tables were advertised for sale on Facebook so it looked final. Now there are bulldozers in there revamping the outdoor dining area. Rumours are it will reopen this summer.  We hope so. It does a roaring trade with its Al fresco dining, views of sea and mountain and excellent traditional Greek cuisine. 

A hedge of lavender. It's just had a haircut.

The wild sage bush

I've taken cuttings from this and they're thriving

A hedge of rosemary

At the bottom of our cul de sac

Our neighbour has these 2 abandoned boats on his land. I think he was intending to fix them up and go fishing. That was 10 years ago. 

They've been joined by 3 motorbikes, a couple of fridges and a little red car

He has grand plans but something else always gets in the way

A Winter's Morning

 Up early again for a visit to the Microbiologist for Ks blood tests

Maria, who draws the blood, is a good friend.  She's full of good cheer whatever the hour, has relaxing music playing, lightens up the atmosphere with her laugh and you hardly realise she's taken your blood.  Her nickname is Bloody Mary

 I don't know the name in English of the person who takes your blood and does the diagnosis.  A phlebotomist takes the blood.  Maria, and her assistants, do the diagnostic study of it as well.  A Clinical Pathologist maybe. In Greek she's a Mikrobiologist

She sends the results out the next day by email, to us and our doctor. 

This is the coaster on her desk

It's a bit of a climb up steep steps to reach her lab especially early in the morning

You can have a rest here and get your courage up before going inside

Afterwards it's coffee time.  The morning was chilly but we sat outside anyway to drink our coffees.  Greek coffee for K, Hot capuccino for me.  My fingers had turned white from the cold so I wrapped them round the cup

You can see the early morning Hellenic Seaways Catamaran in the background sailing down to Hydra

Brad Pitt is not on Hydra any more. The movie set has moved on to Evia and Athens. The film?  The Riders. 

On to the fish market.  K ordered some smallish snapper type fish and while they were scaled and gutted we went on to finish the rest of our tasks. We don't often come down to the centre of town 

Farmakeio

First on the list was the chemist.  K has a list of his monthly medecine. Nektaria at the chemists is another cheerful face. Quite often they don't have  a certain medication but it's ordered immediately and delivered the next day

Nektaria gives injections, takes blood pressure, gives advice and performs basic first aid

Then to the bakers for a kilo of sourdough bread.  It lasts all week.  K doesn't mind when it gets stale and hard.  It's what he was used to growing up.  His mother baked huge loaves which fed all the family for more than a week

One of the few tavernas open all winter

It's right on the waterfront

Euro jackpot!

It was up to 73,000,000

We played .............

And will have to play again

Most of the cafeterias and the tavernas are closed for a couple of months for cleaning and refurbishing

Easter is coming up fast

The Orthodox Easter Sunday is April 12, one week after the Catholic Easter (as it's known here)

They'll all be up and running by mid March in time to catch the european holiday makers.  Hopefully.  This year the easter tourist traffic is a question mark

One souvenir shop is always open.  He's a school friend of K

The other shops open when the tourist '3 Island Cruise' boat comes in.  During winter they only open for the cruise boat and close an hour later when it pulls out for the next island. 

One of the half dozen ATMs.  We only use the ones outside the National and Alpha Banks.  If something goes wrong or it eats your card you can go into the bank and get it sorted. Only during working hours.  8am to 2.30pm

 

A Boy and His Boat

Winter is the time for boat repairs and painting.  K's boat hasn't been taken out of the water for a few years.  He needed to get it cleaned and painted because it's going on the market

Much as K would like it's now very difficult to actually get onboard.  He can no longer jump from the wharf to the pointy nose part and he doesn't want to take it out alone either

He has owned the boat for about 20 years now and when he first retired he spent many hours fishing, by himself, with friends or often with the grandchildren.  20 years have passed and those that are left have all grown old.

He doesn't go out fishing anymore and every time it rains or there are gale force winds he has to phone up his sons in law to go and check that it hasn't broken loose and pump out the rain water.  They've both got their own boats to look after and they both have jobs to do.  Everyone has been suggesting for a long time that he sells it.  He has finally agreed. 

 After 2 years in the water 'Danae' was finally being dry-docked ready to have her bottom scraped and painted

Son in law Yianni was called out to lend a shoulder and do the heavy work

He had to propel the boat from its mooring to the ramp pushing it along with a long handled oar.   

They then had to manhandle it onto the rickety ramp. A makeshift winch was attached and with a lot of muscle and elbow grease, and greasing of the ramp itself, it was hauled into position so the winch would drag it onto land.  It wasn't an easy job.

The underside was slimy and green and covered in barnacles

It looked as though it would be a long job but Hassan got to work straight away and it was amazing how fast the muck and slime was cleared away.

Hassan is from Pakistan and knows NZ because of its cricket team.  He loves cricket.     Pakistan has one of the most successful teams in world cricket and has beaten  NZ many times

A boy and his boat

Ship shape, ready to be refloated

Freshly painted blue and white

The colours of Greece

Tied up at the dock again

We've advertised the boat on 'Car Gr' and are waiting for someone to show interest

5,000 euros or any reasonable offer