Bumps in the night

Luis was a little noisy in the night but I think he has fleas which always annoys him. I treated him with product yesterday morning but it takes time to come into effect.

The night was a lot cooler and I needed a sheet – the first time for weeks! I’m following a meditation course which I’ve been finding quite insightful and relaxing. I decided to perform my meditation in the evening and made it almost to the end before falling asleep in my chair. I transported myself to my bed and fell asleep immediately. I don’t have trouble sleeping anyway since my only vice is Green Tea in the mornings.

I was reminded that I’d come off my bike the previous day as I walked down the steps onto the decking. I had bruises and aches I’d not noticed before.

Surprisingly, there were no cars parked by the beach only the sound of an automatic sprinkler watering a different section of the beach. I’m sure there is a very logical and valid reason for watering the sand but I’m too stupid to understand.

The same two cars plus a couple of others were in the beach car park. Far fewer than I would have expected for a Sunday morning in July. We met for biscuits and then romped down to the rocks for a few more. A few degrees cooler makes a difference to one’s desire to proceed more briskly.

We discovered no bodies on the Promontory although there was a brief bark from Obi right at the beginning of the walk. The beach was devoid of people on loungers but a couple of tents further down towards Plakaki. We were on our way back by 06:10 and I could make out a form at the end of the beach. It turned out to be a young woman paddling in the sea.

We encountered a [different] young woman and a young man who was fishing from the rocks just past the caves. The dogs were there before me but were just showing polite interest in the woman who appeared to reciprocate. I called them to me and kept them away from the fisherman as there was scope for too much disaster with his equipment spread around him and a loaf of bread he was luring the fish with. More biscuits, over the rocks with a little chilling out by the lower rocks.

As we arrived on the Big Beach a couple of men were walking along chatting. The dogs were ahead of me but appeared to ignore the men other than to run past them. The men were slightly surprised to meet so many dogs at 06:45 on a Sunday and one wonders what the purpose of their walk was anyway. I suspect they may have been there for nefarious purposes but discovered they were not alone.

I made tea, Elevated my brain and almost got to the end of another meditation before leaving for a ride up the mountain and round to visit the PAWS puppies.

A woman arrived as I was tickling tummies and scratching ears. She is planning to take one of them back for her grown up daughter who is currently looking after her eight-year-old Spanish rescue dog. We chatted about Pet Passports and taking dogs on planes. I suggested she look on the airline’s website for their exact regulations. I mentioned that she should be the owner for transportation purposes. She was undecided, took lots of photos and made a video for her daughter. I helped her to make a shortlist. Any of the puppies would be fine from a temperamental point of view, it was down to flavour and potential size. I left to release my lot who’d been inside since 07:15. The ride back was against the wind so I engaged some extra assistance to speed things up and remove the drudgery.

The dogs seemed fine but were quite interested in the puppy smells I brought back as I’d not had time to swim. I fed them then made tea.

The day was generally restful, taken up with reading the papers and browsing the Internet. There were noises of people enjoying themselves wafting up from the beach but I didn’t see a lot of activity in the restaurant and bar when I looked later in the afternoon. Considering it’s July 18, things need to pick up next weekend or we’ll be in August.

I’d decided not to make bread then changed my mind so there is a fresh loaf baking in the oven as I write. The smell of bread is unmistakable. I went a little over the top with the ingredients, the dough was climbing out of the bread pan so some may have encrusted itself to the bottom of the oven.

There is an annoying, yappy dog somewhere in the camping. My brief excursion to the Customer Kitchen for the DDs revealed that one of the two tents to the north remains but the area is generally clear.

There were clouds this morning which gave way to a clear sky once the sun got going. There have been more clouds this evening and it feels cooler again although the day has been warm and mostly sunny.

The threat of showers tomorrow morning has reduced to virtually nothing although it remains for Tuesday but only 41% probability and then less than 1mm of precipitation.