It was pretty much business, as usual, this morning although the power went as I was sitting on the loo. My trusty headlight was with me so I switched it on and everything was fine.
No need to give Dave his morning tablet or his first injection, so straight out with Pea, Oscar and Fido. Boris was subdued this morning but I’m unsure if it was due to the low temperature of 8C, which is on the cool side for here or something else.
Out onto the Promontory via the circuitous route towards the sea so that they don’t get the scent of Extra-Dog and double back to him. Down to the end of the Promontory where there were a good number of stars to look at before heading over the rocks and then a run.
All was well until the end of the third lap of my run when I could make out the sounds of abnormal barking over the music on my headset. Running is much easier with music. There was a young woman and a dog trying to avoid my lot, minus Boris, which were intent on chasing her dog. She finally disappeared over the rocks so I gathered my lot up and left, having abandoned the remainder of my circuits.
Charlie has been more than a little tardy in coming back at the end of walks so has missed out on meals on a couple of occasions. With Extra-Dog next door to the camping, Charlie can show off to everyone how macho he is by barking at him. This leads to a mass barkathon and general disarray. To prevent this, I now collect Charlie earlier in the walk so I am certain to have him with the others. That way I can be pretty certain of an orderly return to the camping so long as I take the seaward route.
I recognised a white van as I took Oskar and Πέντε to feed Extra-Dog having fed all the others. Extra-Dog was not up for following me with Oskar in tow so I went to the other beach bar to deliver his biscuits in the hope of him finding them later.
Returning a few minutes later, I chatted to the young lady with the dog, now returned from their walk. She had only been with this dog a few weeks and both he and she are a bit fearful. I explained that my lot look upon the Promontory as their territory so any intruder is likely to get chased off. Particularly if they are fearful. We had a long chat about dogs and other things and it transpired that she is spending the winter in Crete but works during the summer in Switzerland although Spanish-born. I explained my walking times in the hope that we could have a peaceful coexistence. She saw Extra-Dog and said that she had been looking for a large dog for ages but settled for a smaller one. She considered taking Extra-Dog as well but I dissuaded her from that pointing out that things are completely different with one dog than two.
We parted, and I went off to Paleochora to collect a parcel from the post office and to pick up some fruit and veg from Petrakis. Yannis told me that he’d been talking to lots of people but no one wants Extra-Dog. With my bike bag full of parcel and purchases, I set off for Grammeno to be overtaken by Martin in his little Renault Twingo. We chatted, he showed me Georgia’s chair he’d restrung and he told me about his night looking after Lucky’s interests in Azogires. Martin, like me, normally goes to bed early, so finds it difficult to sleep if he goes to bed very late.
All was quiet when I arrived back at Grammeno. The power had gone off again so I didn’t get a cup of tea as I couldn’t be bothered to dig out the other kettle and clean it.
The day disappeared between power cuts and working. No walk for Πέντε in the afternoon as she usually accompanied Dave morning and afternoon.
I was chatting to Ursula on the phone, quite a rare occasion, as we usually text, when a voice came from outside the gate. Tina’s mother bearing a bag containing half-a-dozen large tomatoes, a pepper and two cucumbers. Lucky I didn’t buy tomatoes this morning. She enquired of Dave and I explained that he’d died as he was old and sick. She enquired after Extra-Dog and I said that I’d seen him around.
The evening walk was uneventful however Boris had recovered some of his lost enthusiasm. We went over the rocks and I could see that Boris no longer has the spring in his step of old. I can foresee a time when he will no longer be able to keep up so we will either need to modify the walks or he’ll have to go separately. My Move circle was far from complete due to interruptions this morning and less daytime walks, so I ran two laps whilst Boris patiently waited with my coat.
Back at Grammeno, everyone was fed so Πέντε and I went off to give Extra-Dog his evening food. He hadn’t found the morning food so I added a little to the mountain watching him chomp his way through it. Having a day’s ration in one go was not a problem.
Boris had still not eaten his morning food when I returned from my shower. Fido walked away from his morning bowl but I think he ate this evening. Luis did the hay equivalent of burying his morning food but was to be heard munching away this evening.
They now have nice little water bowls attached to the doors of their cages. The parcel from China. £2 each. No more hay in their water bowls hopefully.
Extra-Dog may get an upgrade to a proper bowl tomorrow as Dave no longer needs his.
I found myself wanting to either go and give Dave a tablet or stick a needle in him even though I’d cancelled all the reminders on my watch.
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