Eviction

I was watching an interesting yet long film and fell asleep to wake at 21:00 so decided to call it a day. The film had ended but I missed the last portion so will need to rerun it if I’m to understand what the remainder was all about. I performed my evening bedtime routine and retired to my pit. It was the first use of the fan heater for this season although it wasn’t on for more than twenty minutes. I suppose we could have done without it but I like to live dangerously.

In my semi-conscious morning state I was able to make out the sound of a rodent in one of the humane traps. I wasn’t surprised to discover a small, brown mouse waiting patiently. I was beginning to plot an unpleasant end to the aforementioned which had refused the yummy dark chocolate I’d left in various strategic locations in an attempt to catch it. I transported the mouse to the colony at the end of the Promontory and succeeded in releasing it without it and the trap crashing to the ground or the dogs eating the mouse. I distracted the dogs with biscuits which appeared to work.

Otherwise, the Early Walk was uneventful. One motorhome from Austria was parked up. I suspect it’s the same one which has been there several days. Charlie managed to stay with the others and flashed his way around the walk again.

I did things with sourdough starter, the one recently begun from a simple mixture of water and flour. It seemed to be working so has been topped up with new flour. I meditated and exercised my brain then went to the top of the mountain on my bike. I’d said I’d collect money from one of the punters at 09:30 so released and fed the dogs before doing so. There were two departures: The Austrians who were here for nine nights and the German couple with the two dogs who are going to help out at an animal sanctuary near Iraklion for a few days.

There was one arrival, a German couple who have come for showers and the washing machine. They made a poor attempt with the washing load so I sent the nice lady to go looking for something else that might benefit from a visit to the machine. They are staying only one night but have threatened to return for a longer period.

Another German couple have moved into the space occupied by the departing Austrians who will spend a week or some more in Crete before returning home to enjoy the skiing season.

I watched an interesting Greek TV show about the new refugee camp which has recently opened on Samos. The dialogue was mostly in Greek however the interviews with some of the refugees were in English and one in French. One of the most striking aspects was the conditions under which the refugees were living in their shanty town which were completely counterpoised by the orderly, stalag-style replacement. Plenty of tall fences topped with razor wire. Is it to stop people from getting out or getting in?

I fed the cats with some of the tinned meat which I had to dole out in double-quick time to avoid being mobbed. There were the usual faces plus the very attractive grey cat which belongs to the neighbours but prefers to dine at Grammeno. There was another, ginger interloper which appeared quite nervous. Not all of the cats were present for the meat course so I spread some biscuits around the bowls and left them to work it out amongst themselves.

The wind which has been with us for the past two days finally abated and now the cups of the anemometer are turning only very slowly. The forecast for next week still threatens unstable weather with a greater than 50% chance of precipitation mostly around Tuesday and Thursday. We will have a clearer indication nearer the time.

Today has been sunny and reasonably warm once the wind departed. The chilliness of the wind makes a lot of difference to the temperature. More wind is forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday but it should be calm until then.