FreeLoaders in November!

The dogs spent time looking for Ursula this morning. I let OddJob go and also Pea and Charlie, later Luis. Fido and Oskar stayed with Princess and Obi. The dogs were moribund today so we spent the time walking around or on the rocks. OddJob was about but not joining in from a safe distance.

Charlie was not present at the collection point and OddJob was lurking nearby. We walked to Alonáki beach where both reappeared. They had been chasing each other around on the beach and in the field next to the camping. I tied all of the others to various posts on the beach and proceeded to give OddJob huge amounts of attention. The others were suitably incensed by this so there was lots of barking and carrying on. Eventually, I went to the others and made a big fuss of them too. OddJob joined in so I achieved the desired result of getting them all to be close together without killing each other. We went back to the camping as one happy group.

I took Fido running having put Luis, Charlie and Oskar in their respective houses. We ran 8km today to make up for yesterday and to help complete the November Challenge. After a shower and a chat to Maria, I rode into town to pick up some vegetables for a stew for the evening.

I had breakfast and then made my weekly call home. It was warm sitting out on the decking and the afternoon passed quickly. I prepared my supper and put it in the InstantPot to cook whilst I was out with the dogs.

As we walked across the field, I could see a couple of caravans parked on Alonáki beach opposite the demolished kantina. They were probably Greeks. Further, into the Beach car park, I passed a camper parked with the sliding door facing the sea. A loud barking came from within and there was a certain amount of excitement from my lot. They required a little calming down before proceeding. The walk was on the lead for everyone as it was getting dark and I didn’t want any mishaps either.

Back at the camping, they were fed and put to bed. No sooner had I sat down than I received an email from Maria asking for a ‘quick’ meeting in the office. As expected, the meeting went on for ages but I was also to blame. We discussed some of the projects Georgia had proposed and agreed that we felt they could be achieved more simply and more cheaply by other means. We also discussed the prices for the static vans and the reception rooms as I think Maria is actually going to leave tomorrow and someone is arriving to stay in T1 possibly all the winter. A contact of Peter I understand.

I’m running up the Instant Pot to finish off my food before settling down for the night. I’ll have to remember all of the FreeLoaders on the beach and in the car park for when I take the dogs tomorrow morning.

Looking at the weather forecast, it is set to get cooler next week so I’m glad I had my hair cut yesterday giving me time to acclimatise myself beforehand.

Ursula, Tony and Heidi left Patras for Ancona this evening so should arrive later tomorrow to begin the drive back to Calais for the Channel Tunnel. Ursula is nursing a damaged head having slipped over at Tony’s sister’s house and bashed her head on the ground. She says she will live though feeling a little fragile at present.