Hottest day of the year!

Today’s high is 22.6C making it the hottest day of the year so far! This is what my weather website has to say:

“The maximum temperature so far today is 22.6°C and minimum 9.8°C, with an average of 16.3°C. This is 1.4°C more than yesterday when the average was 14.9°C (max 20.5° and min 9.7°C). The long-term average for the station on this day is 14.9°C. An absolute maximum of 22.6°C was measured in 2018, while the absolute minimum in 2018 (9.8°C). Therefore so far, today is 1.5°C above the long-term average for 10 march. Today’s maximum temperature of 22.6° is also the highest temperature overall measured this month. The minimum temperature for March 2018 is 9.4°, observed on the 1st at 07:35. March 2018, with an average temperature of 16.7 °C is currently 1.4°C above the long-term average for March (15.3°C). The maximum temperature ever in March is 24.0°C which was in 2017. In contrast, in 2017, the temperature dropped as low as 0.0°C” Which is not strictly true. It just means there was no data on that day for some reason.

Anyway, it was not quite as hot as it was last year on the same day. March last year was quite mixed as we had a variety of weather which included cold northerly winds and rain. We also had some good days too.

We did our usual walks this morning but a little later than yesterday as I was woken by the alarm at 05:40 rather than by Luis at 05:00. Consequently, we were out as it was getting light so moved quickly on to the running bit. As yesterday, I did a back-to-back walk with the Four and Boris, having deposited Pea and Princess. Ursula decided to take Luis with her as he was rather noisy yesterday. Luis has been very quiet all day except for on a couple of occasions probably due to the nearby passage of Πέντε or similar.

Luis has been amused by Xanthippos who has been pruning since this morning. He provided me with a long explanation as to why the vines were giving no grapes even though they were planted ten years ago. Apparently, it’s all down to cutting back the dead wood so that the rest can thrive to produce fruit. He promises huge crops of grapes in the summer. I will await this with enthusiasm. I recall being in The Third Eye restaurant where grapes hang down from the vines which provide shade in the outside dining area. The proprietor cut down a bunch of grapes, rinsed them under the tap before putting them on a plate for our table. You can’t get much fresher than that!

I went on my bike to Paleochora to buy in stocks of Chia, flax and other necessary breakfast-time dried fruit. I was back and had my breakfast prepared before 10:00. We ate outside Tony and Ursula’s van and then I slipped off into a little doze outstretched on the wooden bench. My snoring kept Luis awake!

There followed my weekly telephone call and very little else. Some tea-drinking and sitting in the sun. We are waiting to take the dogs out but can see that the AirSoft guys are out taking pot-shots of each other on the Promontory. Taking the dogs out now would result in an unsatisfactory experience for both parties. Hopefully, they will disappear soon to go home to their loved ones or go up the pub!

I have some baby tomatoes to look forward to as well as some beetroot now cooking on the hob. The beets are big and the pan is very full but hopefully, it will not boil over the nice, clean cooker! Once the beets are cooked there is a potato, a leek and also the leaves from the beets. to cook over the steam from the beet water. Nothing wasted!

The sound of noises-off from Georgia’s dogs indicates either there are foreign bodies on the beach or perhaps that the AirSoft lot are possibly packing up to return to their cars. No matter anyway, as it’s a lovely evening so will get dark later.

Only another two weeks and Summer Time will commence providing longer evenings but sadly, darker mornings. I’m sure we’ll cope! A week later it’s Easter in Western Europe with Orthodox Easter a week after. I might have mentioned that Orthodox Easter falls on 19 April in 2020 when I’ll be 65!

The sound of enhanced barking together with revving engines and loads of dust might indicate the departure of the shooters leaving the Promontory for us to play.

A while later…

It’s now dark, the dogs are walked, fed and in bed. The sole remaining vehicle in the Grammeno Beach car park is a huge, Mad Max-style monster truck motorhome. Maybe they won’t hear us as we come past in the morning.

The hob is awash with beetroot juice. Perhaps it’s a cleaning agent?