The moon was full this morning but getting near its bedtime as it’s early in the cycle. Each morning it will be higher in the sky when we go out. This is good news as sunrise is getting later and there are still many days until the last Sunday of October when we’ll see what happens with the hour change. Technically, this should be the last time the hour changes…
Our Early Walk was otherwise uneventful since the dogs showed up at the checkpoints and I came back with the same number as I left. This is always a good sign. Granted, Charlie needed some very mild persuasion to hurry himself over the final 100m or so otherwise I could well still be standing at the gate waiting for him.
I made tea and did things with my brain before setting off for Paleochora and a visit to Petrakis. Soon after leaving the camping, I was brutally overtaken by a guy on a mountain bike. He sped off into the distance. I could have simply opened the throttle and zoomed past leaving him in a small cloud of dust but that wouldn’t really be cricket seeing as I’m on an electric bike with big, fat tyres. Instead, I got myself into gear and chased after him using pedal-power. A mountain bike is not as light as a road bike even with road tyres which his had. But it’s certainly lighter than a 30kg e-bike with fat tyres so I felt my 30-60W of motor assistance was not unreasonable. In fairness, he wasn’t watching me but I nearly caught him up just as I reached the final slope where I’d turn off up to Panorama. I was pretty puffed so I was beginning to struggle by the time I reached the turning back down and into Paleochora. I reckon to get my heart rate to 130 bpm at least once per day however it was 147 bpm when I looked earlier and remainder elevated right to the turning.
The run through Paleochora was pretty easy by comparison but I found time to pop in to see the two young females at the PAWS sanctuary. It was only a brief visit as I was mindful of my assignation with Michael at the beach for a swim at 09:00. Petrakis was surprisingly busy for a Monday morning particularly in the veg department where I started my shop. There was just over 10 minutes to get back by the time I’d put the shopping in my bike and started back. I engaged hyperdrive hoping the almost depleted battery wouldn’t sink into the flashing 20% zone which I try to avoid. I popped back and parked up outside the compound then put the bike battery on charge as I might need it later.
Michael and little Dutch [girl] friend were drinking coffee on the beach. He and I went into the water where she joined her later. It was a little like being with a teenager on heat but I survived nearly thirty minutes before excusing myself to go back to the dogs. I knew I was getting a support call from LBS so wanted to get them fed before then.
I’d not long sat down with a cup of tea having fed the dogs and filled the food container with another 20kg of croquettes. The more pressing matter was that Isabella had only enough of her food for one more meal so more was needed. Caroline from LBS was messaging me as the phones were not working.
I fixed the LBS problem which could easily have been sorted out in half the time if only people listened to what I was saying. Fortunately, Simon, who is not the most technically-minded person I know, came to the rescue so we could remove the UPS which needed a replacement backup battery. I’ve since sent Simon a link so he can order a replacement battery set from his one-stop-shop, Amazon.
I had a brief conversation with Terry who had some friends with him who are considering coming to Crete for a holiday in mid-October. They’d planned to go to Mexico.
I set off on my bike, having confirmed with Heike that she was in her shop and also had some of the Isabella food in stock. By now, it was warmer but the heat was tempered by a stiff southwesterly breeze. Usually, I take a bag to decant the 20kg bag into 2 x 10kg for each bike bag. Today, Heike had no bags having recently cleared them all out so she filled up two shop bags with 5kg each and the remainder went into the other bike bag. She told me the vets had come briefly and unexpectedly but she was arranging for them to come back in October which suits me better. I’m determined to get all of the cats sorted to avoid any further kittens as those born in March will soon be in reaching a replication situation.
As I rode through Paleochora I spied, what is technically Martha’s Matiz parked opposite the paper shop. And out stepped Michael. I’d asked him earlier to tell me if he was coming into Paleochora so he could pick up some dog food. He will be punished the next time he wants me to do something for him. I’ll ‘forget’ or be too busy…
I filled up Isabella’s containers with 10kg of the 20kg so she will be ok for a while. I needed to make some banana bread so had bought bananas earlier. I got on with this as well as washing the spinach. The roots and stalks will go in the DDs tomorrow and I’ll have a little myself over the next couple of days.
The floor fan and the ceiling fan have been working all day as well as the one inside the van. The top temperature is 33.9ºC despite the breeze.
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