Putting the dogs to bed last night was fun. There was no evening walk due to the rain and I held off feeding them in the hope that the rain might stop. I finally gave in as it got dark, so ventured out to distribute food as best I could. Luis and Charlie were in the wrong place but then who cares when it’s raining? So long as they had something to eat and somewhere to sleep, they were happy. The fabric-covered houses seemed to have stood up to the rain with few leaks. The remainder of the evening was thankfully drier and uneventful.
It was dry in the morning despite some rain in the early hours. Even the leads, left hanging over the fence during the night, were dry when I hitched the dogs onto them. There was an almost full moon amongst the clouds so it was possible to see without a torch. The shifting cloud complicated things from time to time. Without an evening walk yesterday evening, Luis was full of beans and ran up and down in pursuit of his ball. Others tried to join in but he was having none of it. He got tired at one point so buried it leading everyone on a merry dance trying to find it.
By 05:40 I felt we’d all had enough so I took most over the rocks and met up with Ursula at the Big Rock to reacquire and dispense biscuits. Back to the camping to continue the standard morning procedure. Ursula was game for pilates on the decking despite the dampness. I ran, found some puddles in the dark and enjoyed a cold shower upon my return. Maria had deserted her post and not got up early enough to turn on the water heater!
Ursula and Tony went off to spend the day with their children and grandchildren and I busied myself with sundry chores after my cycle to Paleochora. Fido trotted alongside my bike today and we both went for a wander on Paleochora beach. He met up with
One of the chores was to set up the Blitzortung lightning controller which sends my captured data to a central computer which generates maps of all the lightning strikes worldwide. I built the controller and roughly configured it so that it worked and was sending data back in September. I had only put up one antenna and had failed to get my head around the detailed configuration. In comparison to the other stations, mine was sending lots of data and signals to the central server, however, the maximum efficiency was only around 2%: way below the others.
After some research, I located documents which detailed the controller settings and correct setup. My station is now sending a lot less data but the current efficiency is now 21% for up to 5,000km, 38% for up to 500km and 79% for up to 50km. Out
Here are some screenshots from today:
There has been more rain and more thunder with a current total of 4.4mm for the day. Yesterday’s total was almost 25mm, nearly five times the predicted amount. All this rain should ensure that the camping will soon turn green with an abundance of pretty flowers. Summer visitors simply do not believe me when I tell them the camping is a sea of grass and flowers in the winter.
The dogs have had a reasonable day despite the lack of sunshine and periodic rain. The damp ground does not please them much either. I think it’s now time to take them out for their evening walk.
The dogs are now walked, fed and in bed. We were on a bit of a mission as the sky is still quite grey and stormy. The last thing I need in the evening is eight wet dogs at bedtime!
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