Month: June 2017

I have to say that the records are my records so only go back to the end of May 2014 which was when I returned to Grammeno with my weather station. The high was 43.6°C which in old money is 110F. UAT was also a new record of 46°C or 115F. The next highest temperature…

Ingo and Silvia, the couple from Iraklion had duly arrived and pitched their tent by the time Dave, Obi and I got there on Dave’s evening potter. Obi now hangs around like a groupie whilst Dave has his food and his meds, then comes out for a wander around the camping. We chatted and joined…

I sort of had to really as Minnie was out earlier and I hadn’t noticed that she’d gone into the van. The next thing was her paddling in the water bowl before wandering around, turning all the dust to mud. I’d been meaning to do something about the state of the floor but now I…

Kostas was there long before us today, sitting enjoying some coffee on a rock by his Jeep. Those that were free arrived first waking him up with some casual barking. The others followed soon after but had little choice other than to engage with him at close quarters. The barking eventually stopped and I was…

It was dark when we went out due to lack of moon and sunlight. There was a car in the beach car park as well as a touring cycle parked, complete with panniers, by the side of the track. We proceeded and I let some dogs off. Boris was not interested in his ball and…

Blissful sleep from 03:50 after I awoke to find there was still some night left. The absence of moon does not appear to have affected the doggy ability to get up to go out for a walk. It is new moon today. No cars in the beach car park but it was Sunday morning so…

As it is the weekend, I did a quick spin around the beach car park to see that there  were no vehicles secreted behind the trees. The chances are then that no one would be camped on the Promontory. I let off most of the dogs retaining only Obi as he was a bad boy…

I didn’t see any vehicles in the car park but this was not due to a lack of moon or cloudy skies. What is left of the moon rose at 05:34 so was no match for the gathering daylight. It is dark at 05:15 however there is usually enough light for walking unless the sky…

Up and at ’em just after 5am with only the vestige of a moon to show us the way. There is already light streaming over the horizon and reflecting off the sky, so enough to see by. A pickup with Chania plates was parked in the beach car park so I was alerted to the…

Today is the longest day of the year: from here it’s all downhill to winter. Other than the fact that we have yet to ‘enjoy’ the hottest weather which is in August and September. We did get nearly to 39C at the beginning of June which was a bit of a surprise. All before 08:00…

As I was getting out of bed I could hear the sound of Kostas’ 4×4 driving down to the Promontory. He was there before us this morning and was the only person we saw. He waved cheerily from a distance as I looked over from the cliffs as I gazed out to sea. I could…

It was windy in the night and still quite windy today with gusts to 42km/h. This morning was quite chilly so I retained my outer, longer shorts until I came back from the supermarket and I even wore a fleece for the morning walk. The Freeloaders were gone so all the dogs got to have…

04:10 Woken by a dog [Boris] making pathetic noises 04:45 Woken by dogs telling me it’s time to get up – told them to shut-up 05:14 Woken by dogs and got up for morning walk 05:30 Arrived beach car park to find Freeloaders’ car still there 05:34 Boris, Pea and Heidi released – Freeloaders woken…

Just coming up to 5pm and these are the first words for today. The first mistake was that I fell out of my morning routine. I’m not quite sure how it happened but there will be a full investigation. I have already explained the getting-ready-to-go-out-for-a-walk routine so will not bore you again. For some reason…

00:55 bright headlights shone in the direction of my windows accompanied by voices in English. A late arrival no doubt but why leave the engine running and the lights on? More conversation and more tick-over… Dogs started to fidget accompanied by some yapping. I shouted, they shut-up. Lights went out and motor was eventually switched…

January was wetter than the wet January of the 2015 – 2016 winter. From then on there was little rain until the surprise 23mm in June. It has also been quite cool until the last few days. But now is the day of the insect, especially for flies. Eating lunch at the camping restaurant courtesy…

Despite predictions to the contrary, Ursula was standing outside the gate around 05:10 for her last morning walk until September. It was still dark and the flashing ball had been misappropriated by Millie to a location under the decking. Boris had to do with his traditional ball and I just threw it less far so…

A more sensible departure around 05:20 today and an absence of Salt Man although someone appeared in the distance. Maybe it was him? Boris’ ball yet dimmer but still functioning admirably as a ball. Back after 07:00 for tea but I was fiddling with Ursula’s iphone installing an application to keep her password information secure…

It was Boris this morning and, not Obi, who started the day. Boris was fidgeting about before 05:00 so I thought it a good idea to send Ursula a text at 04:59 just to see if she was on her toes. As expected, a reply came almost instantly. I felt she should get at least…

Pea discovered the desiccated remains of a hedgehog which he carefully brought back to the compound several weeks ago. I recall removing it from the SDC as I didn’t feel that a dog of such tender years should be partaking of such delicacies so threw it into the outer compound and forgot all about it.…

Obi tried to get me up at 04:50 but I resisted until 05:05 whereupon I sent a text to Ursula who was standing outside the gate shortly after. It was dark but there was a full moon so I could see all that I needed. Boris’ non-flashing, flashing ball doesn’t seem to want to stay…

Following the intense excitement of the rain and flooding at Grammeno, today has been a lot less exciting. I understand there may have been some sort of an election in UK yesterday and that now the Conservatives are in some unholy alliance with the Irish. Serves them right. The sand on the Promontory was hard…

I’m just SO sad at not being able to enjoy the thrill and excitement of the UK General Election. I might laugh my socks off should a party other than the Conservatives win! A few spots of rain fell as we set off into the darkness this morning, Boris clutching his flashing ball. There were…

It was a bit dull this morning so my little brown alarm clock slept in. I woke up when Ursula sent me a text to ask if I was up. We managed to escape the camping almost undetected however it was a different story on the way back. Obi had decided he’d join Micky who…

At just after 04:00 this morning I was awoken to the sound of pattering paws on the floor. I persuaded the perpetrator that it was far too early and that it was time to go back to sleep. An hour later, I finally gave in and got out of bed. We were up and out…

The Holiday Weekend is drawing to a close. The tents are disappearing from the area north of me and a very fancy pickup has pulled up to take away those to the west. The morning started at 05:10 when I sent a message to Ursula. She arrived at the gate just as I was getting…

Saturday night was quite active in the camping as I could hear Five and Micky barking over the other side. Fortunately my lot were well behaved and managed to make very little noise. The increased number of campers also adds significantly to the general noise level. Friday was less noisy but the dogs had to…

When Georgia said that the camping would be busy over the Holiday Weekend, I rather took the comment with a pinch of salt. Yesterday didn’t seem that busy but today has picked up as there are now quite a few customers on site. There were no salt gathers when we went for the morning walk…

I went to the supermarket after the morning walk, cup of tea, feeding and watering etc. Ursula came and looked after the dogs whilst I was away. Obi, who had taken himself off to play with Micky and Five at the end of the walk, had surrendered to her and so made use of the…

Everyone wishes each other Καλό Μίνα on the first of the month. It’s a bit like saying “have a good month”. As we chatted, whilst the dogs played in the rocks and Boris chased his ball, I could hear the sound of Bulldozer Man in the distance. He had visited Grammeno’s beach yesterday to meaningfully push…