Month: March 2017

There was no rain during the evening walk yesterday and it was still light when we returned. My assistant Dog wardens were with me which makes everything so much easier. This morning we encountered the wife of the Austrian who has the black Labrador. She had found her way onto the Promontory and was heading…

Following a sunny start and morning, the afternoon clouded over and there is now a little rain. Just at about the time for the evening walk. The good news is that the ‘army lads’ who sometimes come to ‘kill’ each other on the Promontory of a Thursday evening, will probably have departed for fear of…

Antonis met me in the supermarket on the way to his workshop. He told me he’d be along shortly to finish off the New Boris Compound. He turned up just as I’d made a cup of tea. He is trying to drink less coffee and something more healthy. I gave him Green Tea Citron. We…

I awoke to the sound of rain on the van roof around 04:00 followed by the plaintive sound of a small puppy wishing to go outside to do his thing. I used the moment to bring in the blankets left outside as I didn’t expect any rain. The next thing I knew was that it…

You know how it is when you think you have a cold coming? I suspect that tomorrow it will have arrived. I blame it on the weather, the Albanians, the price of tomatoes or maybe it’s because the clocks have changed? I felt a little mouldy this morning when I got up however things have…

I’ve not worn a watch for years but feel the need to know what the time is when I’m out with the dogs: but don’t want to take my iPhone. My three watches, including delivery, came to under £5, so I can afford to lose a couple and not worry too much. They are not…

The Little Monster is quietly sitting munching yet another clothes peg. They don’t cost much money and it’s better that than my iPhone I suppose. I led them all on a merry dance over the rocks this morning which included some quite demanding climbs. He managed to keep up with the others most of the…

It was much warmer today so we had the windows open in the car as we drove around Chania. Antonis took Dave and I to the vet before going off to run his errands. Dave’s eye is not responding to treatment and the vet would really like to remove it, however, Dave would probably not…

Rain last night and again this morning. I went out on the morning walk expecting weather, however, there was none. If I had not bothered with a waterproof coat and over trousers, it would have bucketed down. The rain stopped at lunchtime but it has been overcast since then. I washed a couple of dog…

I’ve just had a conversation with a certain small white dog about her behaviour. She is now confined to a house next to her son. All the other dogs are in the inner compound except her and her puppy so she occasionally slips by me as I open the gate into the camping. Some poor…

There is a small puppy watching me as I write this email. He is lying on the big dog bed under the awning where I am sitting. It is dark and all the other dogs are in bed but I am still outside as the evening is reasonably warm and my laptop is here. We…

My Dutch neighbour turned up at 17:30 yesterday to help walk the dogs. He’d seen Ursula arriving at that time so decided to help. Whilst out we bumped into a Greek couple who have a restaurant at Agia Marina on the north coast. They also have three quite large dogs so were not at all…

I had forgotten to joys of having a small creature in full ‘chew mode’. Anything of value has been taken out of range and the gate is across the door of the van. Today he has been allowed to roam free since first thing. I think he is chewing up some cashew nut shells at…

Paleochora is quieter than usual. A bit like Brighton in winter but without the students and with sun. We had a pizza and Tony had spaghetti carbonara. After we went back to their accommodation and ate apple crumble which Ursula had made in the little kitchen. Tony retired to his boudoir and Ursula and I…

As I’m sure the actress said to the bishop! The Albanians must be very clean. I turned on the electric heater for the water at 16:00 and have just experienced a tepid shower at 19:30. So where did all the hot water go? It has been sunny all day so it must already have been…

Today is 15 March: The Ides of March. The day Julius Cesar supposedly was assassinated. I awoke at 05:30, was out of bed before 06:00 and walking most of the dogs. Boris declined to join us preferring to lurk in his bed. Ursula had only just arrived at the promontory so could see me letting…

I’ve just put the heating on again as it’s the third chilly evening. No more stray dogs on the beach this morning. The mother and puppy were left in the Small Dog Compound whilst we were out with the others. I gave them all except Boris and Obi to Ursula to hold when we returned…

Your communications appear to be reaching me ok. I cleaned out all the rubbish and unsubscribed you from Varndean Chat last week so there should be less clutter in your inbox. The new inmates seem to be settling in. The mother spent all day avoiding me each time I walked past but has since given…

On the promontory this morning with Ursula, there was a lot of barking and squealing and I could see that the dogs had found a little puppy. I rescued the puppy from the hoards and soon after there was more barking as they had now discovered the mother. I gave the puppy to Ursula and…

It’s doing it again but at least we got a dry walk this evening. Ursula turned up around 17:00 but we didn’t go out until about half past. Georgia was chatting to some Albanians who complained about the lack of hot water. She asked if I’d turned on the heater and I replied that I…

Yesterday it rained more in the afternoon and was getting harder as evening walk time approached. I’d decided to cancel the evening walk until the rain almost stopped. We went out and everything was going well until near the end when it poured down. By the time I’d fed them and put them to bed,…

We managed to come back without the CO2 cylinder filling the car with gas. This time, Antonis took an older cylinder and not one from the new batch. Dave’s blood test seem to have stabilised and he can now reduce to 150ml saline drip daily. The other medications remain. He has more plasma for his…

Following several days of cloud and rain, today has been mostly sunny. Gentle rain accompanied this morning’s walk, enough to soak through my aged rain jacket and into my fleece below. I changed coats when we got back around 07:15. Then off to the supermarket where I spoke to Dimitris commenting on the recent precipitation.…

Nothing like an exciting residents’ meeting to get one going! I remember the AGM of the Court Road flats. Excitement beyond my wildest dreams! I have subscribed to the Guardian as it is a lot cheaper than the FT. Only  €49 per annum as opposed to €5.89 per WEEK! The decking is starting to dry…

The sunshine has been rather elusive today. Starting with a storm and hail at 02:00 with occasional downpours throughout the day. There is some sun now so I am steaming gently as I was out without a coat when I went over to turn on the electric heater for the showers. The Albanians come back…

Rain, that is. The forecast is for lots of rain today and tomorrow with more at the end of the week. So far we have had only 3mm or so in a couple of showers and a heavy downpour. Most of the 3mm was during the downpour. It looks as though much of the rain…

Days disappear without any effort. Might have something to do with dogs as well. I have a sicky one which keeps puking. He was very unimpressed when I didn’t feed him this evening. My replacement weather station device has finally arrived, is installed and even works! Looking forward to being able to actually record the…

I wandered to the office this morning to see if there was any post in the post box. On the mat, outside the office door, lay two letters tied together with a rubber band. One was my new debit card from N26 bank in Berlin, the other, correspondence for the camping. I picked up mine…

Antonis appeared bright and early with all of his equipment to start building the frame to hold the windbreak to protect the north and east end of the awning from most of the wind. He had ordered metal tube from Polychronis which had been delivered to the bar area where a new floor is being…

This morning I decided to get the mailbox on the wall as quickly as possible. I didn’t do it Greek style. I measured it and got it level. Someone will have to come along and do the job properly so that it is no longer central or level. I meant to take a picture, went…

It has only taken around three years but finally we have a mailbox for the office. I wrote to Georgia last night suggesting I buy one to put on the wall. The reply said that Georgia would take care of it. I then said that I would be going to Chania so could easily pick…