Friday

 Good Friday is a day of mourning. Shops do not open till 10 or 11am, after the church service when Christ is taken down from the cross.

Church bells sound the death knoll all day long.

No cleaning or cooking. Most people will fast today. We will be eating boiled potatoes, tomatoes and olives. And no wine.

Hallejulah. A simple meal for once. 

Usually there's a candlelight parade along the harbour at 9 pm. The four big churches all join together followed by almost  all the local population, plus visitors, holding candles. There was no parade last year and there won't be one this year. However  we are allowed to gather this year  outside the churches and the service is broadcast over a loud speaker.

We used to go up to the Monastery where there was not such a crush. However the monks have all had covid recently so I don't know what's happening there this year.

K watches the services on TV, as he did last year, broadcast live from the Patriarchal church in Istanbul .

Good Friday is also a day to clean the family graves, make sure the candle is lit and waft around a little incense.

Films showing on our TV channels tonight 

The Bible 

The Passion of Christ 

Jesus of Nazareth 

Close to Jesus 

Noah 

The Ten Commandments 

Regular programmes like MasterChef and Survivor are all put on hold till Monday after Easter.

I staked my tomatoes, washed the front terraces, tidied up the front garden which is my domain. I stripped the bed but can't wash the sheets till tomorrow. Actually I could have done some washing. Even K wouldn't have said anything but I left it, remembering years gone by when I was admonished by my mother in law and her elderly sister for doing some sewing.  Times have changed. 

I don't mind having one day when I can potter and not have that guilty feeling that I should be doing something else.

Thursday

 Holy Thursday is red egg day.  Done and dusted and all nice and shiny. 

I dyed 40 eggs. 20 of those will be given away tomorrow morning.  A few more will go to neighbours during the week.  Any left over will be cracked like chestnut conkers on Saturday night and Sunday.  I keep the strongest and write the year on it.  I've got one from 2011.  The inside yolk goes hard like amber

This was Poros waterfront last week.  Nary a person and only one car, ours.

This week the waterfront is buzzing with cars and people.  The island is filling up for easter even though movement between counties is still forbidden and everyone is discouraged from returning to their villages/islands for the easter holidays.

Arrival of the easter lamb.  Ours has come in a black plastic bag from a shepherd on the mainland

And one for Dave.  The front garden is greening up.  In that small space in pots and in the ground are a hydrangea, a geranium, coriander, thyme, 2 sorts of basil, mint, hot peppers, a rose bush and chives. And a rabbit

Easter Prep

 Holy Week.  Every day there is work to do.  Good Friday is a day of rest and Easter Sunday is the mega fiesta.

Monday was whitewashing day.  The job didn't get finished but at least our front wall is a gleaming white.  Weeds were whacked a week ago so the entrance is tidy.

Holy Tuesday for us was koulouraki, easter cookie, day.

I would just go out and buy them but our traditional person insists on making them himself.  In years gone by the grandchildren helped roll the biscuits.  Now they're old enough to bake koulourakia in their own homes.  Thanks to Pappou they all carry on the tradition

Under construction

The back terrace is the 'cave' of the traditional greek man of the house.  He is busy sanding spits, checking motors,  repairing ancient chairs and preparing work benches for the big day

Holy Wednesday was our 42nd wedding anniversary.  I made a Lenten seafood 'kritharoto', risotto with orzo instead of rice.  Traditional people reviewed their lists of Greek island music and ordered extra coal for the bbq. 

The coal/coke is from olive wood.  Only the best.  Along with the bag of coal he also arranged to have delivered a blue hydrangea. 

Only the best for his 'greek-ish' mate of almost half a century.

Lagana with Tahini

 This turned out to be scrumptious.  One step up from the usual flatbread

Warning...Warning

NOT traditional

Flatbread with cheese on top and ouzo and tahini in the dough

The dough rose quite a lot even though I flattened it out.  It tasted like a cheese scone to me and I cut it into triangles, split it in the middle and slathered it in butter and honey.  A delicious cheese scone with honey

Ingredients -

300 grams flour 

100 grams fine semolina 

1 dessertspoon dried yeast 

1 tbsp tahini 

1 shot glass of ouzo or some other alcohol, whiskey perhaps?

Oil about one shot glass

Tsp salt 

About a mug of water for mixing  

Make a nice soft dough, leave to rise for about an hour.  Flatten out into an oval shape. Brush with oil and top with grated cheese.

Bake about 20 minutes in a hot oven till golden brown

Other Possible Toppings -

Sliced onion 

Chopped olives 

Rosemary 

Oregano 

Chopped sun dried tomatoes

Little Lazarus-es

 Lazarakia.  Little Lazaruses

They are small sweet, raisin bread made in Greece on Lazarus Saturday, the Saturday before Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week.  They are baked to celebrate the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  

The small loaves are shaped like a man wrapped in a shroud with cloves for eyes.  The recipe has loads of spices, mastiha, mahklepi, cinnamon, cloves and I put in a little cardamon and ginger as well.  The bread follows the fasting rules, no eggs, butter or milk.

This is the first time I have made them.  A few years ago the grandaughters made small paper dolls representing   Lazarus but I've only recently heard of these sweet man-shaped buns.   On some islands they are stuffed with nuts and raisins.  I simply added raisins to the mix.  A big spoon of marmalade would also give a special taste.  And a glaze of honey and oil, olive oil.

In many places they can be found in the local bakery.  I doubt if ours will have fresh hot Lazarakia and I'm not going down to the harbour to find out.

It is finally raining.  Good steady rain which the olive trees and grape vines will be slurping up.  My young tomato plants and pumpkin seedlings will be loving it too.

Wikipedia says that 'one of the Lazarakia should be kept in the home for the entire years and either eaten the following year (?) or thrown to the fish'.

Before 

And after. 

In days gone by. The paper Lazarakia

These girls are now towering teenagers

If you pull the legs the arms go up and down

Lettuces and All

 How many lettuces can you grow in one small pot?

There were 4 lettuces in here and they all grew to a good size.  The snails loved them.    

I'm picking, harvesting, most of the lettuces, cleaning, blanching and freezing them for the midnight soup on Saturday night (May 1) which will be a 9pm this year.  Another pot had 5 lettuces, all growing too fast.  They'd be overblown by our Orthodox easter.

The midnight soup, mageritsa, is made from the offal of the easter lamb, lettuce, fresh onions and dill.

I think this is an iceland poppy.  It belongs to our neighbour and makes a colourful wall hanging.  I keep on saying I'll take a cutting.  Maybe on my walk today

Me, getting shaggier and shaggier.

Hairdressers are open but one of them has the virus, not my hairdresser, but I think I should wait a while anyway, till that fringe drives me totally insane.  Better safe than sorry

I've posted this view before.  It's from my daily walk.  The horizon is finally revealed after days of Saharan sand and zero visibility.  That land mass so far away is the coast of Athens and Piraeus.  

What's New

 The whole country was covered in fine orange dust, from the Sahara, for days.  My eyes were red and sore, the atmosphere heavy and dull, the horizon obscured and our car covered in orange streaks after a feeble few drops of rain.  Thank goodness the skies have finally cleared and days are warm and sunny. The car is still a streaky mess. 

 The air was so damp that we lit a fire for a few nights.  That should be the last of our fires.  I've cleaned the wood stove and I don't want to see any more ashes.  They've been strewn all over the garden all winter.  We don't need any more fertiliser.

The whole extended family has been vaccinated from 18 year olds up. Grandchildren to grandparents, cousins and in-laws.  There is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Cafes and tavernas are opening with outside seating on May 3 which is the day after our Easter Sunday.  No doubt all the island will be out if its a nice sunny day to celebrate this step back to normality.

Meantime Easter is coming up fast but it will be an easter similar to our last.  No-one is allowed to travel back to their villages for this, the biggest holiday of the year.  Many will try of course.   There are sure to be loop holes.

The candle lit parade which takes place on Good Friday will take place this year but it won't be a gathering of the entire island.  Each church will transport its flower decorated bier around their immediate neighbourhood .  The midnight service on Saturday night will take place at 9pm, instead of midnight, with a curfew of 10pm.  A huge difference from last year when the priest and chanter were the only ones at the midnight service.  This year there will be worshippers outside.  Its an important event because we receive the holy light on this eve which lights candles and shrines around the home. 

 23rd April is St George's day.  Kronia Polla England.  Because it lands in the middle of Lent this year the fiesta will take place on Monday after Easter Sunday, when my oldest grandson will surely be celebrating with his friends.  Cafes and tavernas will be open with a curfew of 11pm.

This weekend is Palm Sunday when we can eat fish. On Saturday I shall make the sweet breads called Lazarakia to mark the rising of Lazarus.

Then Holy week begins with so many traditions and for some lots of church going.