Fish and Stuff

Fresh fish again.  This time K gutted and scaled them.

One of these grilled made a meal for two with a bowl of greens

They were brought to us as payment for the inspection of a broken washing machine and advice to the owner on how to fix it.

They came out of the sea that morning

Another bowl of wine leaves

I'll blanch these and give them to those in the family who want to roll their own dolmathes

Noble Russian vodka says the label.  And the Transatlantic Racing?  Has vodka now replaced rum as the tipple of the navy?

This came into our fridge after another consulation, this time for an ice-coffee machine.  

Summer

We are in the middle of our first heat wave.  Temperatures up to 40o in some parts of the country, till Thursday.  At this time of the year these high temps are bearable, just.  The nights are still quite cool and there is a slight breeze.

We have taken up our big carpets, cleaned them outside in the yard, dried them, rolled them and stored them.  Summer clothes are half out, winter clothes almost stored away.  Blankets and duvets exchanged for very light cotton coverings.

Some of our curtains are of the very heavy draft stopping kind.  I'll take those down sometime soon, there are only three of them, and put up some lighter ones which will not stop any essential breezes.

We are not on a diet of greek salad yet but our eating patterns have changed.  Our evening meal, or snack with a glass of red wine, in a glass full of ice, is eaten later and we sit on the side terrace looking towards the pine forest, listening to the neighbourhood dogs and watching for the lights of an airplane.  There are no airplanes of course, none circling to land at Athens International, none gaining height as they take off for Africa, Europe, the Middle East and down to New Zealand.

Even the stars seem dimmed.  There is mostly silence.

Last week I picked vine leaves and rolled up some stuffed dolmathes and this weekend it is time for our first stuffed tomatoes and peppers (capsicum).

Tomatoes and green peppers filled with rice and herbs, parsely, mint and basil

A similar sort of filling goes into these wines leaves but with lots of dill too

Here they are rolled and slowly filling the bottom of the pot

Garden Stuff

In the morning now I sit  outside.  I'm still drinking hot coffee but it is almost hot enough for the frozen kind.

I observe my small garden from my chair and after coffee I potter, do a little watering, take a stroll with secateurs in hand, pick any lemons that have fallen   

My nasturtiums.  They won't last long once the scorching summer heat begins

I love the way they are mostly yellow but now and again an orange flower pops out.  That's the rusty old wheelbarrow.  I did have a pot in it but I rather like it falllen amongst the greenery

The amaryllis in all its glory

Garden decor

Northsider Dave was having a problem in his Irish garden with slugs and snails and Sol, in her Scottish garden, suggested a way to get rid of the snails in my greek garden was to serve them Mythos, a  greek

 beer.  I didn't ask, why Mythos?  We never drink the stuff, its Alpha beer in our house or Amstel.

I juggled/struggled with the thought of drunk snails.  There are dozens in our garden.  In the fridge I found another greek beer,

 Vergina*, and set up a photo shoot.  In the end I couldn't bring myself to waste a good can of beer and the Vergina went back into the fridge.  If anyone tries it, let me know what happens.

*Vergina

Vergina is a village in the Greek province of Macedonia near the site of  three royal macedonian tombs, one belonging to the Phillip, father of Alexander the Great

Giants Be Here

Mother Nature has her seasons, has her reasons

This is the spring of giant grape leaves

The small leaf at the top is a normal size one that I have picked to make stuffed vine leaves (dolmathes)

There are masses of these giant leaves, along side the regular leaves.  Now is the time I pick for cooking but also we remove a lot of the leaves so the grapes get sunlight and also they say with the removal of leaves the vine gives more strength to the fruit

Where have all the poppies gone

There are years when the fields around us are a mass of bright red poppies.  This year we have only a few peeping out from amongst the wild grasses on the side of the road

At easter we  normally have tablecloths and tuille at hand to cover the lamb as we take it down from the spit to protect it from the flocks/hordes of flies.  This easter (in lockdown) we (just the two of us) roasted our lamb in the oven.   There was no need to cover the oven tray for there were no flies.  No flies?  An easter miracle!  And still there are no flies, and not many wasps around either.

Last year we had very few ants where normally we have to keep everything in the fridge or airtight containers.  Ants appeared instantly, in other years,  as soon as a loaf of bread hit the bench or a crumb hit the floor.

The last few years we have had masses of grasshoppers, and green stick insects and jumpy things.  They have all gone.  Two years ago we had wasp swarms making making any outdoor drinking or eating an exercise of arm waving and cursing.  Our sugar water traps were always full.  Last year the same sort of trap caught only a handful.

It is early yet but we wait to see what pestilence will annoy us this summer, or will it just be this cursed virus

Let 'em Go

The local pensioners with their little fishing boats, under 7 metres, are allowed out to fish.
Yeh!!  No nets, but amateur fishermen have been banned from using nets for some years now.  Facebook started flashing messages οn Monday evening when there was an official announcement at the end of the daily briefing.

But as usual, there is a hitch.  Next morning fishermen weren't allowed out because the Harbour Police had not yet received the official go-ahead.  

And crazy grandchildren can go swimming at the beach across the road from their house. They were complaining today that it wasn't hot enough. Weird kids. They have been swimming all winter. Quarantine has made them soft!!
Their cousin, my youngest grandaughter, was made of sterner stuff.  She went into the sea yesterday and said it wasn't even cold.  

Moving about between districts and big towns is still prohibited and it is difficult to land on our island but not impossbile.  Poros has the only banks, Post Office, and offical-paper-places for miles around.  For all the small villages nearby on the mainland Poros is the business centre.  They must come here to do official business. And now they can.  Pensioners without electronic know-how can  use the bank again.  But the little taxi boats which carry them across can now only take 2 passengers at a time, instead of 28.  Not much profit in that for the water taxi owners.

The hydrofoil which comes from Piraeus, the port of Athens, can now only load up 7 passengers instead of the almost 100 that is their capacity.  How long are these services going to continue running before they go bust.


Private cars could only have two people in them, the driver and one passenger.  Now they can have three.  Woo-bloody-hoo

Last night police all over the country were breaking up Corona-virus-parties as the parks in big cities filled up with party goers dancing and enjoying their freedom and take-away alcohol sold by cafeterias.

(Cafeterias and tavernas are still officially closed except for take-away coffee, food and 'drinks')

There are still a few things to be ironed out it seems.

Freedoms Eve

Tomorrow lockdown restrictions are easing.  Today it's a beautiful sunny Sunday.  Everyone seems to be outside, celebrating today.  Just a few hours to go.

 Cars are going up and down our cul de sac.  Our part-time neighbour is having an ouzo get-together for his old wheezy friends.  There are no virus cases on this isolated island so I suppose they will all be safe.  I wonder if the police are out checking permits today.

 What would their reasons be for moving out of town?  Going up to feed the farm dog, going to assist an elderly aunt?  They are all elderly.  Anyway, who cares.  K has gone down the road too to join the gang for a resumption of the 'debating society'.   I wonder what they are all talking about today.  What's the gossip.  I'll hear it all later when a wine soaked tongue won't stop wagging.

They'll all go home happy.  

Tomorrow we can just walk out our front doors, no need for reasons, for permision slips, for an sms letting us go to the supermarket or the chemist.  I will stay at home I think.  

But I did do some preparation for out-of-isolation-socialising

Hair colour.  I'm completely blonde again, with a crooked fringe and curls down over my collar.  I think I'll leave the cutting of my hair for a little while yet and see where it grows to

Our washable masks are all ready. 3euros each I think they were, from the chemist.  We must wear masks at all times in indoor spaces, or risk a large fine

May Day

 A public holiday, usually,  a day for picnics and kite flying.

It has been postponed officially till the first Monday after lockdown is over. No one today is allowed to drive outside their immediate neighbourhood, shops are closed, gatherings not allowed and social distancing a priority.

However in the centre of Athens and other big cities workers, activists are still gathering for their usual May Day march and protest. They are all standing 2 metres apart, at the moment, are wearing red masks and waving red flags. Down with capitalism, 

My daughter made a posy of bright cheerful flowers for her front door...... this is a photo taken at dusk and hence is a bit dusky

On May day Eve it is a tradition to gather wild flowers and make them into a wreath to hang on the door or gate.

I shall make ours today. After my coffee I shall send an SMS, get my permission to leave the house and go for a walk to see what I can gather.

There were plenty of flowers and greenery in our garden so I didn't have to go far.

This posy is for our front gate.

Rosemary, oregano, geraniums, a lemon branch and a rose

A wreathe of lemon branches, rose geranium, a bright yellow nasturtium which is hiding behind the lemon leaves and a few roses