During the night, I heard rain on the metal roof as well as distant thunder. Around 1mm rain fell which was half as much as fell between the beginning of April and the end of September. Nevertheless I yanked myself out of bed and we proceeded to The Promontory regardless of the occasional drops from the sky.
The most remarkable impression for me was the aroma of the herbs and bushes as a result of the small amount of rain which had fallen. To say the least, it was most enjoyable. In great darkness, with the occasional distant lightning flash, we walked to Azzuro/Plakaki with the sea colliding with the pebbles on the beach. The dogs arrived almost together at both ends which I always class as a result.
After a final trip around the Promontory in the dawn light, we headed back to the van as it vainly tried to rain. It was dark inside the van due to the tent sides being up, the time of day and the dark sky. I made tea and meditated learning other breathing techniques. You’d think that after sixty-odd years I’d know all about breathing but it seems I don’t.
I wasn’t sure of the weather but set off for Paleochora via the top of the mountain and the habitual trip around. The guy with the dog was coming down from the top of the mountain running so he had to have set off much earlier than me.
I paid a visit to Petrakis ostensibly to pick up some dried figs but ended up with much more as you do… The run back to Grammeno was along the lovely smooth new tarmac.
I met Stephanie who was at the point of departing for her island tour. She wanted to leave her laptop with me so as not to have it in the car. She should be back for a couple of days in about a week and then returns to UK I understand.
I released and fed the dogs, ground some flax for the Banana Bread then sat down for a while. Maria arrived with a ticket from ELTA as it would appear my long-awaited consignment of bike parts has at last materialised. There is €200 to pay for VAT and import duties now that UK is no longer in the EU. I can see that fewer people would wish to purchase from UK due to the time it takes for an item to traverse customs and the uncertainty of the amount of VAT/duty payable when the goods are eventually released. In this case it was nearly one month in customs!
There were a couple of very brief and almost insignificant showers, then the sky cleared to reveal a load of sunshine. This I was waiting for as I wanted to bake my Banana Bread whilst it was shining.
This BB more than filled the baking tray and included some fresh ginger as well as all the usual ingredients. I didn’t leave it in the oven for too long so it doesn’t have the same caramelisation of the previous batch.
I discovered an off-cut of chipboard in the storeroom which looked at me in a lonely way so I gave it a home. It is now on top of the large doggy crate which serves as a repository for a collection of vital items. Now that the tent sides are up and the floor fan has been relegated to the storeroom, I’m attempting to make some sense of the disaster area under the awning. Even I cannot put up with all the clutter and mess. With the tent sides up, at least there should be slightly less dust than without. The rescued chipboard is serving as a clean, flat surface now that my chair has migrated to its winter position next to the decking. It’s a bit hot when it’s sunny but I can open a window if necessary.
During the early afternoon, I wandered out to the loo and found myself in the sea. Another spur of the moment event prompted by the windless, sunny and warm afternoon after such a miserably grey and un prepossessing morning. I was only going to swim for ten minutes which turned into twenty. Janne and Erica were out and the dogs were loafing in the sun so I didn’t hurry back.
The swim and the sun spurred me to make and bake the BB. Then it was almost time for the Doggy Rice to go into the Pot. Tomorrow, I need to make Doggy Dinners.
After some rain in the night and an uninspiring morning, the day turned out very pleasantly. The top temperature was almost 30ºC as well as nearly 35ºC under the awning at one point.
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