Month: May 2019

Today I went running and completed the normal 5km on the Early Walk. The dogs were a little bouncy, one in particular, for want of an Evening Walk which would have been a bridge too far last night. I slept well but work around 03:00 for a drain-down before going back to bed. Skinny, who…

I wasn’t on top form yesterday but today less so. The Early Walk was only half the usual distance and a run didn’t happen. I’ve spent quite a lot of the day doing nothing or sleeping which is not such a bad thing. As good as his word, the tomato man from last night appeared…

From the dogs at least. Radio Paradise is playing on my laptop as I write however the dogs are quiet. Luis is inside and Skinny in his run due to his propensity to scale the fence and go walkabout. We’ve recently returned from the Evening Walk which was good fun. Luis amused Ursula by running…

Sascha and Steffi were about to leave Grammeno as I walked past with the dogs at 05:30. They had a rental car which they would leave at Iraklion airport. In a moment of abandon, I had offered to drive them in their car, but as it’s eight hours to Iraklion and back, I was easily…

A large part of my day was taken up with replacing the network cable to Georgia’s house. The cable is barely one year old but was destroyed during the winter storms and high winds. I anticipated the job would take me about two hours but it took about four due to having to cut the…

The night was chillier than recently so I should perhaps have deployed my lighter fleece as well as the larger one as I kept waking up. Sascha was nowhere to be seen so we made our way to the Promontory. The usual walking about with dogs which included a little experiment with Fido to see…

Sea Bridle has been at anchor off Kountoura for a couple of days all lit up like a Christmas Tree at night time. She is a cargo vessel of 26,500 tonnes. She is empty as she’s sitting very high in the water even though the Mediterranean is very salty. Sea Bridle Sascha was not around…

Sascha was waiting on the low wall with Zora as we walked up from the compound. Charlie and Luis were with Skinny on my left and there was no complaining as we met up. Ursula was down at the end of the Promontory and had Heidi at her feet. Sascha and I walked some dogs…

Sascha was not waiting for us nor did we see him on the beach. I chatted to him briefly when I returned with the dogs. I’d passed by the Swiss couple and could see they were still there as I needed to give them some dog adoption details. Sascha said we’d have another go at…

With a top temperature of only 0.2℃ short of 30℃, today was the hottest day of the year albeit not the sunniest. It was cloudy this morning when we set off to walk the dogs. The plan came together and Sascha was sitting with Zora on the low wall just up from his caravan. Only…

The plan this morning was to meet Sascha at 05:30 outside his caravan and walk together to the Promontory with his dog Zora and my motley crew. I woke up early and didn’t want to be late so move on with getting the dogs ready and getting out. The problem is that once I start…

Sascha bravely said he’d be out on the Promontory bright and early this morning however I suspect his resolve and his expectations might not be the same. I watched the final, feature-length episode of MASH which finished around 23:45 so I was somewhat later to bed than usual. I woke up early so was en…

I was awake quite early, about 04:30 to be precise. I amused myself with my astronomy application and getting the settings back to how I like them. I also tried out some of the new features. I didn’t see the point in dragging out lying in bed for too long so got up and turned…

Broken sleep pervaded the night. I got up once having been woken by restless dogs. Skinny may have knocked over the pallets I left leaning against the storeroom wall. That may have caused the dogs to bark. I’d prepared most of my washing the previous night and Ursula’s was in the machine timed to finish…

The last time I took Skinny in, I put him in the SDC to find him gone in the morning. He simply jumped on top of one of the houses and over the fence. Easy enough for most determined dogs to accomplish if they actually want to get out. For the first couple of weeks…

Maria finally came back to the camping around 11:30 so I was able to hand everything back to her. She told me she was awake at 04:00 so wondered if I might cover a break mid-afternoon. As it turned out, she managed ok. I turned on the water heater quite early then took the dogs…

Maria needed to go to Chania for some staff administration. It appears the Internet is used only for entertainment and that abstract and inconsequential activities such as administration still require a paper chase and inordinate numbers of government employees to oversee the bureaucracy. She asked which day it would suit me to look after reception…

The night was punctuated by revelry nearby and associated frivolous gunfire which caused Fido to reply. His reply, not the goonfire, woke me. He and I had a conversation at close-quarters so things were resolved and I was eventually able to get back to sleep. The alarm woke me in the midst of some complicated…

I had a relatively early night with only one interruption of a natural kind. My alarm woke me abruptly at 05:20 whereas usually I’m awake beforehand. It was still a little dark when we set out threading our way through the multitude of French motorhomes littering the camping. I steered the dogs along the main…

Yesterday, a group of French motorhomes arrived. The organiser had visited the camping last year and asked whether it would be possible to accommodate his party. He arranges trips for people with motorhomes who might feel more comfortable travelling as a group rather than on their own. I understand there is a new record of…

I was the harbinger of bad tiding for Georgia. For a couple of days, I’ve noticed the sound of running water near to the new wooden cabins. At first, I thought the sound was coming from the new WC/Shower rooms but there is no live water there. Then I thought it might be just the…

Ursula has just left me with two portions of her lovely bean and potato meal. To call it a ‘stew’ would be an injustice. Tony departed earlier as he said he was being eaten alive by the mosquitoes. I was burning a joss stick to ward off the little devils but the majority of the…

The late Evening Walk followed by late meal and a little box-oggling meant I was not in my pit until nearly midnight (22:00 BST). With my normal wakeup at 05:30 (03:30) it may take a couple of days to get my head straight. Ursula and Ms Fluffy were already at the end of the Promontory…

I was awake before my 04:15 alarm but there was no desire for a run as it was still raining hard. Καλή had reported however I had to send her away as I was not up for running in the rain then carting a load of wet shoes and clothes with me. I packed up…

On the last day of my stay Καλή decided to join me on my morning escapade over the Downs. It was warmer than the previous days, the sky was clear and the sun shining. She bounded off so quickly as I arrived at the top of Juggs Road that I thought she was still behind…

Bank Holiday Monday but there were people about bright and early. Καλή, however, was not one. Despite my enticements and those of Eleanor, she was not up for a run preferring to cling to her bed. Only when I’d closed the front door and was on my way down the drive did she spring into…

It was very cold when Καλή and I went for our morning jog over the Downs. I had seen that it was only 3℃ so took the precaution of adding an extra layer as well as taking my ‘gloves’. Apart from the cold, it was a sunny, clear morning so well worth making the effort.…

It was very chilly as Καλή and I jogged over the top of Juggs Road towards the windmill. She was likely indifferent to the cold as she raced after the bunnies scattering as she approached. I was pleased when she broke off her pursuit to meet me at the gate where she sat down nicely…

I was awake before 05:00 but lounged around in bed until nearly 05:40! We went on our run, Winston, Καλή and I. Winston didn’t chase the rabbits but Καλή did her best. She was quite tired by the time we arrived at the gate by the windmill. She was straight on the sofa when we…

I’ve just returned from a delicious vegan meal at the Roundhill pub which is on Ditchling Road Brighton. It is run by Simon’s daughter Rosie and her partner. It is nominally a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options however it seems to be the other way around. I had a very yummy chocolate brownie with ice…

Each time I’ve returned to Hindhead I’ve not visited Hindhead Common where I used to spend a great deal of my time walking Dave and Boris. Today, I rectified that by parking outside number 10 Tyndalls and going for a short walk on the Common. It was a beautiful afternoon with ponies grazing peacefully, horse-riders…