As expected the gas ran out so I had to fumble around changing the cylinders. At least I no longer have to empty the content of the gas locker to swap bottles.
It was chilly in the night. The minimum was 5.9C which may account for the snow on the mountains. I made an effort to make sure that all the dogs were covered up as I guessed it would be cold. The minimum temperature was at 07:30 as we were coming back from our walk.
Today’s walk started at 06:00 when I got up just before. I was awake by 05:15 but now that sunrise is so much later, we spend lots of time in the dark. None of them seemed in too much of a hurry anyway. Even Obi didn’t make any attempt to move from his place until I started really moving about. Usually, if I make any getting-up noises, he’s ready for off.
Charlie has discovered the whole ball-thing and loves to take Boris’ ball at the earliest opportunity. Fine in its own way but leaves Boris wandering around looking for it once everyone else is long gone. Boris likes chasing after his ball so I try to make it so Charlie doesn’t pick up the ball. Not always that easy when it’s dark as I fear Boris’ eyesight is not what it used to be. I remember the times on Hindhead Common. Throwing Boris’ stick into a huge pile of other, similar, sticks: he would always come back with the stick I threw.
I saw Jupiter and Mars but Venus was too late this morning so was swamped by the rays of the sun. The moon was still bright so no need for a torch once the dogs had left the compound. Walking through the camping with a headtorch on is asking for a barkathon.
I completed my running and walking: today was walk, run, walk, run. This appears to give me less of a start since I suspect the initial walk does not raise the heartbeat sufficiently for the activity to count as exercise. Starting with a run raises the heart rate sufficiently so that all the following activity counts as exercise. This gives a higher score. I will test out my theory tomorrow morning.
I went into Paleochora after the Dave wander. My first stop was Manolis’ petrol station to see if he’d got my messages about needing gas in the camping. He had not received them so it was fortunate that I went to see him. We were down to only one gas bottle in the communal kitchen and, as my 10kg bottle ran out last night, I needed one as well. Up until now, I’ve had two 10kg bottles: I keep one on the van and one spare. I have now removed the bottle from the gas locker, extended the gas hose and put the bottle on the decking. Consequently, I am no longer restricted in the size of the bottle I use as it is no longer dependent on the available locker space. Today I traded-in one of my 10kg bottles for a 25kg one. The same as is used in the kitchens at the camping. Although not as big as the 47kg bottles I used with the caravan, they are much more easily moved on my own. With the help of a wheelbarrow, I moved it from the rear of Manolis’ truck to the decking and then rolled it the remainder of the way. 25kg refers to the weight of the gas inside the bottle, not the total weight. I remember Danny picking up a 47kg gas bottle the day the van engine caught fire. The bottle had been wedged in the back of the van so we concluded it better to remove it. Funny how one person can manage such a heavy weight in an emergency. It also transpires that the 25kg bottle contains only Propane whereas the 10kg bottles are a mixture of Propane and Butane. Both burn equally well just that Butane vaporises at a higher temperature than Propane. Around 5C as it happens. This might explain why the gas pressure drops when the cylinder is low and it’s cold. You are excused if you got bored by this long diatribe on gas.
Georgia arrived and took Xanthippos off to do something useful somewhere. They both returned to the camping with a 190litre oil container for the kitchen. This should keep them going for the summer apparently. She wanted to test it by filling it with water before risking such a valuable amount of oil. I said that water was a good test as it is heavier than oil. Xanthippos and Georgia disagreed saying that oil was heavier. I then pointed out that oil floats on water so must be lighter. Teach Xanthippos to agree with Georgia without using his brain. He is so funny when Georgia is at the camping. He goes all serious and purposeful. I pointed out to him that I’d arranged for the delivery of the new gas and he was terribly dismissive. Granted I was going to see Manolis anyway but if I’d done nothing, there would still have been only one working stove in the communal kitchen. Anyway, he needs to feel important…
Lots of excitement on the evening walk and I never found out why. The dogs were raring to get going so I let only Obi off to see what would happen. He raced around barking occasionally but came back soon after. Slowly, I let all the other go too. Small boats were fishing for something as I could see lights in the distance. The dogs all raced around and we walked over the rocks. Boris lost and found his ball several times and Charlie found the ball he’d lost the other morning when he had to forgo his breakfast.
Talking of which, I need to get something to eat too.
Following a couple of cooking days, it’s raw food this evening. Nice tomatoes and other veg from Petrakis.
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