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. It was over 40℃ when I left Grammeno for the 105-minute drive to the airport. Only after 30 minutes did I receive an email from Sascha telling me the flight was running late. I didn’t hurry and ended up parking outside the airport watching a helicopter ferry water to a fire I passed as I drove through the mountains.
They finally arrived so we had a slow drive back to Grammeno with three adults, their luggage, a dog and a dog crate lashed to the roof of the car. We were back at Grammeno around 21:45 whereupon I was greeted by a lot of joyful but noisy dogs. The North Poles were sitting outside trying to enjoy a meal. I have no idea how long the dogs had been barking. I took them out for a short walk just to calm them down before putting them to bed so that I could get something to eat too.
I fell asleep on my lounger on the decking and finally went to bed at 00:30.
The remainder of the day had also been busy with a succession of small support calls which interrupted the other things I was trying to do. As it was so hot, I set up the mist sprays for the dogs as these help to lower the temperature as well as wet the ground. They then dig the ground to create a humid hollow in which they can shelter from the heat.
The wind meant that there was little point in Antonis coming to progress the awning project since wending in the wind is a non-runner. I was surprised not to hear from him just to let me know however I’ve known him long enough to understand that communication is not his strong suit.
The high on Emily’s birthday was 41.1℃ and it was only just below that temperature as I left for the airport at 16:15. It was still hot as we came back over the mountains. The fire was still burning and we were overtaken by police cars and an ambulance truck racing off with utmost urgency.
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