47th!

No, not him

It's our wedding anniversary no. 47

Who'd have thought

1979

2025

Celebration and jubilation 

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

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

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

Wheeere's Poppi.....and the other Grandchildren

Family Post............

My Mokapuna s

 Heeeere's Poppi

What's she up to? 

She's studying in Athens

She's a bit sad that she hasn't starred on my blog for quite some time. I promised I would let her fans know she is still rowing but she's studying hard at the esteemed Athens Gymnastic Academy 

Her syllabus includes actual hands-on athletics, everything from her rowing, soccer to dance choreography.  She also has lectures to attend and studies sport regulations, history, health, physiotherapy and a lot of complicated sport science. 

This is the way a true athlete studies. 

There's no time-out

Coffee time is study time too

The café here she says is actually a flower shop, and study hang-out

Poppi is not my only granddaughter

Though I can't say I blame you for thinking so

Oooooof the suitcase is finally packed AND closed

Luli is finishing high school and will be in Athens for higher studies next year

In their final year at Lykeio (High School) the kids go on a 5 day 'educational' trip

Her class went up to Thessaloniki, the northern capitol of Greece

It's an all day bus trip up North.

That didn't tire them of course

They all went bowling later

The class visits museums and historical sites during the day and enjoy a 'lively' nightlife 

 

These school trips can be wild

Ask the grandsons George and Jamie

I don't think they slept for the whole 5 days

Partying continued all night in their hotel rooms

George went to Crete for his 5-dayer

and 

Jamie also went to Thessaloniki

Poppi went to Yiannina, a city near the Albanian border. It's beside Lake  Pamvotida where she's often gone for rowing competitions

Poor Nels missed out altogether because her graduation was during the first covid lockdown

My girls, Elli and Danae,  went to Rhodes and Crete

There are hotels which give the schools special packages 

The kids spend months organising transport and hotels and raise money by selling raffle tickets, organising parties and luncheons and soliciting donations from the islands businesses and municipality 

There are usually a couple of  schools at each hotel.  Must be bedlam for the staff

The aftermath 

Luli caught the flu, along with a dozen of the other kids that were on the bus

 That nasty one called Influenza A

She didn't/ couldn't eat anything but Nana's brownies

Then her mother caught the bug and then her father

So I made another batch of brownies

And left them on the steps

I didn't dare get any closer

They wanted Weetabix too but I searched and there are none on the island

The brownies recipe is one I used to make with Luli many years ago when I babysitted her. They often came out too cakey.

  It's difficult achieving that gooey brownie-ness.  I googled and followed the tips. 

The eggs need a really good beating  

Don't over mix

Don't over cook

A packet of chocolate drops or 

A few spoons of nutella lifts them up to another level 

But

Back to Poppi

She's the Brownie Queen 

Her recipe takes 2 days to make and it's worth waiting for. However I don't have her recipe. If I'm going to make Brownies, I want to eat them today. Right Now

Luli's back at school now.  She has extra lessons on key subjects and will be swatting hard till her University Entrance exams in June

Nels, Luli, Poppi

My three girls

My 2 boys

George and Jamie

Famous People

 Famous in our family.  One of our rowing grandaughters won a gold in the national competition.

Here she is.  Our rowing champ holding the cup high, resplendent in her bright yellow crocs and dark socks.  

That child always stands out.  One way or another you just can't miss her.  

The big shiny cup and her medal

You're Our Number One

Here's Poppi in the skiff, a few years younger

And the other half of the Famous Bitouni Sisters.

Nels has given up rowing to study in Athens but her cups and medals remain and fill up a few shelves in her bedroom