Goodbye July!

I’ve been shopping again! This time I’ve bought a kitchen unit to put on my deck so that I can use my new electric cooking pot outside and I can stow all my stuff underneath. At present, it all gets cluttered on the shelf under my computer. It gets very dirty there and looks extremely unsightly.… Read the rest

It rained – but only a few drops

Day 3 and the balls are still going down well. It was breezy so I hoped it would keep the mosquitoes at bay but it was also very warm and close so they were not going to be put off. It’s amazing what they will do to get your blood! Fido and Luis are suitably tired and Fido made not a sound last night despite the neighbours coming to the fence twice to plug in their phones to my electricity.… Read the rest

The bar and restaurant website

As well as the Grammeno Camping Google website, I have also been working on one for the bar and restaurant as an entity of its own. In fact, I think it was me who put the bar and restaurant onto the Google Map and search website in the first place. To avoid bogus businesses, Google requires the owner to verify the business before the content is made public.… Read the rest

Blood Moon!

It was almost a Full moon as we trekked across the car park in the direction of the Promontory. Higher in the sky than yesterday so provided more useful light. Unfortunately, the clouds got in the way from time-to-time but it didn’t last long. Fido galloped up and down in pursuit of his ball and the tennis ball was found and then lost.… Read the rest

I forgot the meat!

The dogs have just received their Wednesday meat one day late. I forgot to get it out of the fridge yesterday so it was frozen to the inside of the can. I decided to postpone rather than chisel. They will be confused all week thinking today is really Wednesday when in reality it’s Thursday (I think).… Read the rest

The aftermath

The death toll for the fires around Rafina and Mati is officially some 75 although this is likely to rise as rescue workers search through burned-out buildings and cars.

There was an early start to the day with a jolly jaunt to Souda Airport which is to the northeast of Chania. We left at 03:00 on schedule and met up with Sue from Azogires who was transporting the other dog Sascha agreed to chaperone to Berlin for someone else.… Read the rest

Fires on the mainland and Crete

Ursula’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s house in Rafina, close to Athens, has become a victim of the wildfires ravaging the mainland and also Crete. She received pictures from Vangelis as Tina, Tony’s sister, is returning from Tinos. I understand that the upper floor of their beautiful house has been destroyed and along with it possibly many valuable possessions.… Read the rest

Hot or what!

The above temperature graph for today makes interesting reading. You can see that the temperature has not dropped below 31.8℃ since midnight. As I gazed through the fog of my half-open eyes, I could make out the temperature displayed on the clock at the foot of my bed which read 34℃.

As we trundled across the Grammeno Beach car park I was hoping there would be some kind of wind at the other end of the Promontory.… Read the rest

I was wrong (Ursula will be glad to hear this)

Contrary to my expectations, there were no FreeLoaders on the Promontory this morning, requiring only Princess and the inevitable Obi to be detained. It was surprisingly warm but also surprisingly cool in some places. Kostas was collecting salt but left fairly soon after we arrived. We played ball for half-an-hour before wandering over the rocks and home.… Read the rest

The deal is done!

Yannis Petrakis tells me that the contract has been signed for the new road between Paleochora and Kountoura. The road passes in front of the camping and will be wider than the present one to accommodate a pedestrian/cycle path as well as increasing the carriageway size I presume. There will be lighting and it is either going to take eighteen months to complete of it will be completed in eighteen months.… Read the rest

No invaders today!

Other than a few FreeLoaders on the Promontory there were no invaders to my inner sanctum. Only a quick visit from Mikhalis who was dying to see what the others have been doing all this time. I feel sure he will have something to say whenever the opportunity arises however he contented himself with a cover story that he felt it was a good job.… Read the rest

Close enough for now

The job is 98% complete with only a few odds and ends to deal with. I will have a better idea after some rain and some high winds. Fortunately, wind is far more prevalent at this time of year than rain!

They went off with most of the tools and cleared away most of the metal work.… Read the rest

And finally…

…we almost have the completed project!

The Dynamic Duo were with me until 15:00 having decided that Georgia’s restrictions for working only until 13:00 could be ignored as they are so close to the finishing line. I suspect the urgency of requiring payment may also have something to do with it!

There was a message from Matthew asking me to call Dave, the guy at the woods where his vans are parked.… Read the rest

All fall down!

I got up to Oskar at 00:55 and misstepped as I walked out of the van door. Antonis had been welding the previous day so I’d pushed the PVC sheet from on the decking, into the gap between van and decking. This sheet stops the wind from blowing up under the van into the awning area.… Read the rest

Happy Bastille Day!

It’s been a fairly lazy day as I have been performance testing the new fabric for the chair I bought in 2015. It did quite well but finally collapsed a couple of weeks ago. The chairs are quite expensive however it’s possible to replace the fabric to bring the chair back to an as-new condition.

The ‘fairly lazy day’ included all the usual morning activities such as walk, run, cycle so not that ‘lazy’ really.… Read the rest

Mad Max – eat your heart out!

Mad Max would, I’m sure, be happy to see the progress to the new external roof as it is in keeping with the style of vehicle and dwelling portrayed in the 1970s film.

As good as his word, Antonis arrived with his equipment soon to be joined by the guy who was helping him yesterday. They worked hard and have now put up the front frame for the external roof.… Read the rest

Softly, softly…

No rude awakening from Luis this morning. Perhaps he’s got the message? Yes, and Pigs will fly!

Even though I went to bed early last night, I still woke up on the alarm. I didn’t spring out of bed, that’s for sure!

The mosquitoes were very pleased to see me this morning, both Kostas and I agreed on that!… Read the rest

Thank you Luis!

Luis shattered my blissful slumbers with some wailing around 03:30! I didn’t get to bed until after midnight following an evening of taking down the awning and tent. I was not pleased that Luis decided to wake me up so even took the trouble to get from my bed to tell him so in words even Luis would not fail to understand.… Read the rest

Very busy Monday

I didn’t post this blog last night because I was very busy all day and taking the awning down all the evening.

The first visitor of the day was Antonis to tell me that he’d be coming on Tuesday morning with someone else and that the awning needed to be taken down before he could progress the job.… Read the rest

Burial party aborted

The plan was to get out on Saturday evening to dig the hole for Boris’ burial at sunrise on Sunday morning. When could be more fitting?

The first flaw in the plan was that, due to the departure of the North Poles, space became available north of the compound. Some fairly active people decided to camp out on the ground, without a tent.… Read the rest

RIP Boris – July 2004 – 7 July 2018

BORIS

July 2004 – 7 July 2018

(14 years)

 

This morning, Sascha took me to the vet in Chania to find that Boris had died in the night.

Antonis helped me take him in yesterday and he was treated with a nebuliser and other medications to help his breathing. Unfortunately, he did not respond to the treatment so the vet decided to keep him in and leave him on oxygen all night.… Read the rest

Boris to the vet

I decided early on that I would contact Antonis to take Boris and me to the vet. Boris declined another evening walk and was quite stressed when I checked him out at bedtime. I decided to get him out of his house but as he was having difficulty standing: this was no easy task. He was quite distressed and having difficulty breathing.… Read the rest

A restless night

I could hear cackling and laughing as I wandered to the loo at 04:45. I’d forgotten to put my Apple Watch on charge so stuffed it in the charger for fifteen minutes whilst I marshalled the dogs. Boris was nowhere to be seen. Probably worn out by all that driving I did yesterday.

We wandered out under the clear, moonlit sky and made our way to the end of the Promontory.… Read the rest

Sascha, Steffi and Marie arrive

It was a longer day than I’d expected. Sascha, Steffi and Marie together with Zora the dog, arrived at Souda (Chania) airport. The last time Sascha and Zora travelled via Souda, their flight was delayed by one day so they spent their time in a hotel waiting for the next day’s flight.

This time was not so long as the flight was delayed a mere 90 minutes.… Read the rest

33℃ My foot!

It’s been a bit warm today. In fact, the hottest day of the year so far. Last year, it got this warm at the end of June. This year, just for a change, the end of June was like winter and we were wearing our fleeces and rolling down the sides to the awning tent!

Today, a high of 41.5℃, was a little bit of a surprise following a predicted high of 33℃.… Read the rest

Work resumes

Antonis was heading towards Grammeno as I cycled towards Paleochora. He stopped and we had a quick chat about the job. He needed to go to his workshop to pick up his tools which gave me time to continue on to Petrakis to get some fruit and get back to the camping.

The ride was easier than yesterday as was the earlier run.… Read the rest

Surprise, surprise!

There were no FreeLoaders on the Promontory this morning! Last week, I think I counted at least six vehicles in the Grammeno Beach carpark alone. It was a relief as I was able to exercise the dogs properly which is good for both them and for me.

Back at the camping, I took Boris for a walk with Charlie as the former had declined a walk the previous evening.… Read the rest