A blustery but quiet night. Awakened by my watch at 05:30, I lingered a moment before leaving my pit. Is is warm? yes, the clock says it’s 22C inside the van. Shorts then…
Off for the start of another day at the Funny Farm. Out to give Dave his tablet, then get Pea, Oskar and Luis from the cages. Into the main compound and attach them to the gate. Get Boris out and attach him to his compound fence. Put Princess, Charlie and Fido on leads and take them out of the SDC. Attach them to the dogs on the gate then add Obi to the mix. Grab Boris in one hand, the others in the second, whilst opening the gate with the wind trying to blow it shut. Out into the camping, just managing to shut the gate against the straining dogs raring to go towards the camping gate. Dave, sensibly, stays in his straw-filled bed in the shelter of the storeroom. My day usually starts this way…
Avoiding the tree, where some try to go one way and the others another, we make it to the sliding gates onto the beach where I fumble in the darkness with my wire latch. Use of a torch is likely to attract the attention of Georgia’s dogs unleashing a tirade of barking. Not such good news around 05:45!
A lone French motorhome was parked in the Grammeno Beach car park. I’ve seen it before so they must like Grammeno. The dogs were unleashed and the morning program began. Boris had his ball this time so no need for a ballhunt.
The sky was clear, so plenty of stars. No moon as yet as it’s still too early in the month. The sea was noisy all night and even more so when standing on the rocks with the waves crashing all around. I stood several minutes to enjoy the energy of the sea, the twinkling lights of Paleochora in the distance and the force of the wind in my face. The dogs wandered the rock pools and investigated the incoming water. The lagoon was as full as I’ve seen it this winter season.
1km walk followed by 1km run so Exercise Circle nearly completed. Back to the factory to release Five, feed and medicate Dave, feed the others and then walk Dave before my 10km ride to Paleochora and back. It was windier than yesterday so the outbound trip was nearly nineteen minutes! At Petrakis, I purchased oranges and plums as well as some plastic containers to freeze the latest bean-fest. The ride back was easier due to the following wind.
I washed up, decanted the food into the containers before preparing my breakfast. A phone call from Matthew to discuss an interesting enquiry from The National Trust who are interested in buying three of his toilet huts for one of their sites. This could be a winner if things go right.
My weekly call to UK and then Dave’s second walk around the block. Totally different from the morning walk as we travel clockwise! It was sunny, warm and windy. He appeared to enjoy it anyway. I took some photos of waves on the beach, Tamarisk trees and more waves.
A phone call from Maria announcing the imminent arrival of herself and Georgia. They came in Maria’s car with the recovering Micky on the back seat. The pickup is festering in Chania. Maria was concerned that no one had seen Georgia’s cat for a couple of days however she put in an appearance despite Maria’s question as to whether I’d found a dead cat at the roadside. I suggested she might be getting a little ahead of herself…
I discovered a delightful trail of soiled toilet papers littering the camping. Someone had emptied the bins in the bathrooms but not secured the bag which had been carried off by the wind scattering its sordid content far and wide. Not wishing for them to arrive to this mess, I donned gloves, grabbed a plastic sack, and followed the paper trail.
They eventually arrived with Georgia full of news of her latest visit to the cabin factory in Bulgaria. Apparently, I will hear all tomorrow. Maybe we’ll go out for lunch again.
The evening walk was good fun. The dogs played and frolicked in the wind with streaks of foam and spume whipped up from the sea as the waves thrashed the Promontory rocks. In some places, the sand was wet, not from rain but the spray from the sea. The lagoon was even fuller than the morning making it difficult to access the rocks without getting your feet wet. Not that I bothered as the sea was breaking over in a number of places sending water spurting upwards.
Time for bed said Zebedee
Well, time for some food actually
Leave a Reply