Another night with the door open and only The Rug outside. It was a relief there was no wind and the morning was mild. I left my coat but did wear a hat. It was warm enough. As we walked towards the river the lights of Paleochora suddenly went out except those that have backup. I’d been warned about the planned power cut a couple of days previously.

The only other ‘great excitement’ was meeting the guy who hunts octopus from the Promontory. He knows the dogs well enough and called to them as he approached slowly on his scooter. Only Ruggy made a big fuss and, as it was still early, I quickly shut her up. We continued on our second circuit and back to the camping.

I took the two girls our once more and gave Isabella a good run for her money. I had her swimming out into the sea to retrieve the ball so she was suitably tired for part of the day at least.

I went into Paleochora for some groceries and then put a wash on for some of the customers. I noticed that The Rug was no longer with us so had been collected by her owner or had done a bunk over the fence. I don’t know which as there was no power so the camera recorder wasn’t working. I then had time to get some breakfast and pass a leisurely morning enjoying the sunshine.

There was a call from Sascha later in the day to let me know that his life-long friend, Martin had died in a car crash the previous evening. Martin used to come to the camping during the winter to use the showers and washing machine then take his dogs for a walk.

He was travelling in a car with a friend when the vehicle struck an articulated lorry which was coming from the opposite direction. The driver was severely injured and is in hospital in Chania. Sascha will arrive tomorrow afternoon to take care of Martin’s affairs in Azogires where he’s lived for several years. I believe he was very much a part of the local community so will be greatly missed.

I cleaned Manolis’ oil-filled radiator ready to return it to the room where some other items of his property are stored. It had a good layer of dust and doggy hairs unsurprisingly.

Fanis and Elene arrived in the early afternoon and are in Z6 where I’d left the key. I went down to welcome them to discover that Elene has lost over 30kg since I saw her last which was back in the summer. She said she’d had some upset at work but had completed her professional diploma. Fanis is working five days at the hospital and teaching for two days. Apparently, Elene sees him infrequently and I suspect Fanis needs to work on his scheduling and priorities. They are staying one night as they are both working on Monday.

The sky looks as though the Sahara has come to visit as visibility is limited and the air is murky. I will know more when I take the dogs out for a walk soon.

I’ve had confirmation from David that he plans to leave Crete on 17 April and will drop Charlie on the following Friday/Saturday. I will have to get Charlie to the David who is in Rethymno.

A warm, sunny but not very clear day with no wind.