There was a lot to do and I knew it would be a nice day so we were actually up and out of the gate by 05:30, only fifteen minutes after we got up! For a wonderful change, the sky was clear, Venus was rising and there were plenty of stars to look at. The ground was dry and the air clear.
We were soon crossing the rocks in the darkness as the moon was still in bed and getting pretty useless from the light point of view anyway. As expected, the water was rushing across the beach into the sea so there was no chance of crossing the river other than knee-deep. Something I’m not really up for on a January morning in the dark. Call me boring if you wish.
The latter part of the walk proceeded as expected and even Charlie managed to get back into the compound in reasonable time. It’s helpful now that he was a flashing collar as he’s rather black and tends to go off on little wanders on his own. It may be my imagination, but the dogs appear to remain closer to me when they have their flashing lights.
I put the dogs in the van, made some tea and ground some flax as the intention was to make banana bread as it would be sunny thus plenty of electricity. When I emerged with my tea I noticed we’d gained a large, fluffy German Shepherd type of dog. Isabella was delighted when The Rug accompanied us on our ball walk and she had someone to run wildly around with. Our walk was quickly completed as I wanted to drink my tea and play games with my mind before going shopping.
I rode over Panorama and through Paleochora where I met Tassos on his motorbike. He’s been having problems with his bike lately so had been walking everywhere. He’s now got a new carburettor so all is well until the next thing goes wrong and he has to fork out yet more money in repairs. He lives on a small pension supplemented by this salt-collection business which leaves him little for emergency repairs. We chatted a while before I continued on to Petrakis via the port for some shopping.
I arrived back to find a plastic bag stuffed with fresh vegetables sitting on an upturned tomato crate. Dina had paid me a visit and discovered I was out so left it for me. Continuing thanks for fixing her computer, a very simple task as it just needed a new PSU. The vegetable consignment contained another bag with lots of cherry tomatoes which I find difficult to resist but am too mean to buy from the supermarket. Some of the other tomatoes have blemishes which is why they are not sold. I simply cut out the manky bits.
I’d not long been back when the Rug’s owner appeared and removed her. He was very efficient on this occasion. I fed the dogs and then myself once I’d got the DDs on. The Swiss couple wished to leave so I went to collect their money. They are moving on to Elafonissi and it’s going to be windy for a couple of days as well as wet.
Isabella has ants in her pants as I was a little late putting the doggy rice on but now she’s finally settled down in front of the door blocking it nicely.
Isabella was walking past the folding camp kitchen unit under the awning when it suddenly decided to collapse. Due to its position it’s prone to collision by cavorting large dogs so takes a bit of a battering. The sun has eaten the webbing straps which hold the front which I replaced with wire rope some while ago. The webbing which goes underneath has also now gone the same way. The top and the shelving units are fine so I plan to purchase some more wire rope and tensioners and carry out some more repairs. The unit is an essential piece of storage. At the time of the incident, the Instant Pot had finished cooking the DDs but they were still under pressure. I retrieved the pot from the floor and transferred it to a safer location whilst I picked up much of the clutter jettisoned during the collapse.
Much of the remainder of the day has been taken up with camping admin and printing summary sheets for Georgia. She is due to visit the camping soon so now she’ll be able to collect the remainder of December’s takings and those of January.
It has been a lovely day so I even removed my coat for the first time in days. I don’t actually wear it in bed but today it has been consigned to the back of the chair with the scarf.
Substantial rain is expected tomorrow and the next day with wind later. It was also be much cooler than today. I’m glad not to be at Elafonissi on a bike in a tent!
Leave a Reply