A mass exodus at 04:45 set the day in motion as Isabella wanted to go outside and seemed to take most of the others with her. I went back to bed as I could see absolutely no need to be rushing around first thing on a cold, potentially wet, Sunday morning. Soon after, they came back inside and there was peace until around 05:45 when I surfaced to face the day.
The sky was leaden but the moon managed to poke its nose through the clouds a couple of times. We managed to complete the entire Early Walk although the river is still running like there’s no tomorrow. There was some event which took place in the darkness whilst up near the river where Skinny returned without his collar. I went to retrieve it as I could see it flashing away merrily to itself in the distance. How it came to part itself from him I know not.
The sky was even darker as we completed the second tour of the Promontory and it was starting to rain as we entered the gate. All of the dogs bar Charlie, who was with us in the field, came in. I’d forgotten about him to find him lurking around outside in the camping sometime later. I fed the cats and the rain started to fall more determinedly so I passed the time exercising my brain. Later, I took Isabella and The Rug out again and the sun actually managed to shine and it was almost pleasant at times. Forgetting my running nose, streaming eyes and frozen fingers of course. It was around 7ºC at that time although the wind made it feel somewhat cooler.
I dug out an abandoned large plastic pet bowl which had been decaying gently under the decking for a while. Having cleaned it up, I gave it to The Rug as she’s an untidy eater so easily redistributes her food to the Four Winds. I needed to get another 20kg bag of doggy kibble from the storeroom before I fed them as there was likely insufficient given there’s an additional mouth to feed at present.
The bag split spilling a good 5-10kg of kibble onto the floor of the storeroom. I was soon joined by a horde of starving cats even though they don’t really like dog food. They are not choosy even though it was not long since they were fed. Using a dustpan, I gather up the spilt kibble into an empty plastic food sack and filled up the container under the awning. I fed [smelly] Charlie and [equally smelly] Rug before inviting the others to join in the celebrations. Rug managed to keep her food within the confines of her larger receptacle. I fed the others then concentrated on myself.
The morning was a repeat of yesterday with showers and sunny intervals. The sunny bits were good but we could have done without the wet bits. Kirsti came with her electricity meter reading so I could work out how much she owed for electricity. A lot less than for their previous visit as they’re heating with gas and not with electricity. She mentioned that Jorma had found a dead black cat on the road near the camping. I’d noticed that one of the visiting black cats had not been present at feeding time earlier. Tomorrow may confirm the matter.
I went into the workshop, grabbed a spade which I took for a walk onto the beach. The mission was to dispose of the sheep cadavre which has been plaguing me for the past couple of weeks. I dug a hole with the help of the German guy currently staying at CBV with his wife. They were at the camping over Christmas, saw the villas so I introduced them to CBV Maria who arranged a month’s rental to my surprise. They are happy with the accommodation and have just taken delivery of several bags of wood pellets for the space heater. They say it’s very cosy. Anyway, between us, we disposed of the sheep in a deep hole on the beach next to where it had been deposited by the storm. Long may the dogs amuse themselves trying to find it!
I kept trying to get out on my bike but the procession of showers and biting northerly wind rather put me off that idea. The Dutch couple are leaving tomorrow. I managed to extend their ‘two or three-day’ stay to nine days of which one was free. I tried to palm them off with a cat or two but they were wise to my wiles however the picture of the happy Swiss couple with their moggy might have helped.
I prepared the supper for one and all then took Isabella and Rug for a romp around the Promontory in the sunshine. A couple was walking ahead of us and there was a man in his knickers at the water’s edge. I was freezing with runny nose et al so thought he must have escaped from a local institution for the mentally unstable. The Girls enjoyed themselves.
The Crazies at work!
The heating is on, the dogs are fed and inside, except for Ruggy who appears to enjoy the outdoor life and has plenty of insulation, hopefully down to the forecast 3ºC tonight. I noticed the snow line was much lower with cover at Sklavopoula and the mountains near Kountoura and Grammeno. If there’s more rain tonight it will look pretty in the morning.
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