A chilly wind greeted us as we traversed the field towards the road. It was cooler than the past few days as well as darker due to the moon phase and 7/8 cloud cover. I was busy thinking during the walk which exactly mirrored that of the previous day except that we appear to have walked an additional 50m today. Gosh! Isabella came out with Skinny again and we walked the rocks against the northerly wind.
I fed the cats before leaving for a mountain ride to Krios. I’ve not been out that way for a couple of days due to my successive trips to Paleochora. My bike battery was much flatter than I’d realised which was a bind as the wind was strong and I had little assistance. Teach me to pay more attention. I’ve since charged it fully, not something I do each time. I fed the dogs and gave Isabella her jabs before preparing my breakfast after washing up the inner pots. I’d set up the chicken and rice the previous evening leaving the timer to do it’s job. I’m not too good at remembering things at 04:30 for some reason.
Xanthippos called from the gate that he’d be waylaid by the mobile mail distribution operative and had been given a huge envelope. I opened it to find an enormous birthday card containing the following text:
How to find out if you are old…
Fall Down
If people ignore you,
you are young.
If people panic,
you are old
Additional text:
To a 65-year-old person of great importance, wit and sagacity
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
I fear the additional text may have been intended for another recipient…
The front of the card is adorned with a mosaic of pictures of me and a number of dogs.
The clouds dispersed a little, I ate my breakfast, it warmed up and we all snoozed. For a little physical activity, I wandered down the camping to find myself accompanied by a small Albanian boy with a fluffy dog attached to a chain suitable for a Rottweiler. He politely asked if I was the [crazy] guy who has all the dogs. I confessed so he continued with his sales pitch which was to offer me his dog for ‘no money’. I politely pointed out that the seven dogs were quite enough so refused his generous offer. He continued by telling me his dog was very low-maintenance, ate very little and so on. He asked if he could see my dogs so we attached his dog to a post and he came in. He was not confident with the dogs especially with Oskar barking at him although he offered to take Obi off my hands in exchange for his dog. A definite flaw to his marketing strategy. We went out and examined his dog for pests and then he departed, dog in hand. He inquired about the man with the three larger dogs which I guess is Xanthippos. Good luck there! He already has a full complement of dogs and other animals.
As I sat in the New Room lounging on the large, but impractical sofa, a Nissan car passed by on the main drive into the camping. I’d not been forewarned of the Royal Visit but was unsurprised nevertheless. The duration of the visit was fairly short with enough time to have a chat and to leave me money to pay Antonis for some recent work at the camping and also some for Xanthippos. My reward, will quite naturally, come in Heaven. The following topics were discussed not necessarily in the exact order:
Georgia’s cat is not quite as fat as before
The tentative loosening of LockDown from 3 May (after the Mayday Holidays)
The camping opening for the Summer Season in June
Greek schools will not go back before the autumn except transition to university
Doubt as to whether foreign visitors will come
Uncertainty as to whether foreign visitors are a good thing
Feeling that Greeks will not come due to financial constraints
A cap on the numbers of customers permitted in the camping at any one time
Social distancing in the restaurant
Completion of ongoing projects
Recuperation of outlay for New Room, Boiler, showers etc etc
New Room outlay in excess of €15,000
Planned work for next week – cleaning, painting and shades
Georgia and Lena staying a few days next week (!) (maybe at her mother’s)
Winter Season 2020/21
Following the excitement of the Royal Visit, I calmed myself with a few circuits on my bike whilst listening to podcasts. The doggy dinner in the Pot was ready so I doled out the food amidst a waiting and interested throng. Today’s meal contained broccoli stalks cut into cubes and added to the rice. I can conclude that: Skinny and Isabella don’t like broccoli stalks. Skinny fishes it out and Isabella eats around it. Fido actively seeks out his own and any abandoned broccoli. Oskar and Charlie will eat anything. Luis and Obi eat theirs like good boys. More broccoli to follow tomorrow. No point in throwing it away. The cats seem to make short work of all the dross and bones which I leave out in the storeroom for them.
The day has been windy but sunny and warm with a high of 21.4℃ which felt cooler for obvious reasons. I understand there is the threat of rain on Thursday evening!
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