A rude awakening at 00:50 with barking in the compound which was joined by barking inside the van. I did not discover the reason for the outburst but suspect it might have been the result of a feline altercation outside. I decided to put Skinny into his run and took the opportunity to visit the loo. I was not the only one there and there was quite a high level of activity on the camping. I went back to bed and resumed my sleep until around 04:45 when I just woke up. I was out and about before the alarm so fed the cats, harnessed the dogs and set out via the camping main entrance. There are a number of dogs present this weekend so I could detect a level of tension however our departure was undetected.
I didn’t spot any vehicle in the Grammeno Beach car park but guessed there might be the occasional FreeLoader as it’s a hot, Holiday weekend with good weather. I took Skinny with Charlie leaving Oskar guarding the Brown Dogs who were tied to a rock. Whilst crossing the Big Beach, we encountered a couple sleeping on the sand. Charlie barked a little, Skinny woofed a little and Oskar appeared from nowhere to add his comments. I walked on with Skinny and Oskar stopped almost immediately. I picked up the Brown Dogs and went a different route avoiding the Big Beach. No point is going there again. We went over the rocks and wandered around generally to cover a similar distance. We left Luis and went north and then south up the east side of the Promontory, again avoiding the Big Beach. We played ball with Skinny winding up Luis by nabbing his ball and teasing him with it. I reacquired it then threw it into the lagoon forcing the two of them to work out how to recover it. Skinny almost had to swim! I’ve not seen him swim properly yet. Luis and Obi did some proper swimming. We had our biscuits and returned to the camping to find it quite animated as it was now 07:20. There was a slight commotion when one of the visiting dogs was being lead off to go on a walk but that was it.
I ran and showered before going to Petrakis by car to pick up some groceries. It was hot and windy and dusty so the thought of riding my bike down the road really didn’t do it for me. Most of the journey was not too bad but the section leading into Paleochora was particularly difficult even for a 4×4! I did my shopping, which included a new kettle. Thank you Ursula for the loan of yours which I’ll put with your stuff in the storeroom. The return journey was uneventful, I sorted out my shopping and made breakfast.
It was soon time to make my weekly phone call home. Then suddenly, it was 14:00 so time for a little snooze which lasted only a very short while as Oskar came to visit me. He seemed very hot so I decided to see if he was up for having a hair cut. He seemed quite calm about the clippers so I got to work. He was extremely fluffy and not overly cooperative to start with, so the operation dragged on a little. Then Charlie appeared so I tidied him up a little before turning my attention to Fido who just wanted attention more than cutting. I straightened him up a little, brushed Oskar and then Charlie followed by Skinny who felt left out. Fortunately I will not have to clip his coat. Now that Oskar is mostly complete, the only other viable contender is Obi. He’s looking a little scruffy but probably not enthusiastic about being clipped so I’ll concentrate on finishing off Charlie and Oskar before getting involved in anything else.
It was now evening and I was hot, dirty and very hairy. I swept up the hair and other rubbish and vacuumed the van and the decking. I made a cup of tea and sat down for a rest. A shower followed where I met George, a Greek guy who works for Cedar Bay Villas and also at the camping. He showed me the missing tiles from the shower wall where the bracket for the rose should be. Apparently, they simply fell off in his hands. He put them aside for Mikhailis to deal with in the fullness of time.
It was soon time to feed the dogs as well as myself. I’d bought spinach which I washed and left in a bowl by the sinks but decided I couldn’t be bothered and should use up the tomatoes and other items festering in the fridge. I’ve not long finished a huge tomato and pepper salad with lintels in the remains of the tomato insides from the last stuffed tomato day. I shall visit the friendly guys across the road to see if I can purchase tomatoes direct from them as I’m told theirs are not chemically grown.
The camping seems fuller than last night. Hardly surprising considering this is a Holiday Weekend as it’s the Orthodox Holy Spirit Sunday with Monday being a Bank Holiday. The moon is at 97% so almost full. It’s always good to be able to walk in the moonlight in the mornings. I plan to be out early tomorrow so that we can be back before anyone else is up.
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