Visitors

I drank tea before bed so there were a couple of extra Stand Hours during the night. We were out into a warmer morning with the sea gently lapping the shore and a good crop of Sunday night fast food containers in the waste bins. I picked up the packets as Isabella chased the cast couple of chips.

There were vehicles but no tents or maggots. A car with a roof tent with dog-friendly occupants as Sasha discovered later. Like Isabella, she’s not backward in coming forward.

Our walks were enjoyable and uneventful. I suspect most of the residents along the beach road are getting used to dogs snuffling around their vans first thing. There was quite a bit of bathing: Isabella makes it as far as the lagoon whereupon I hear a splash. Often she comes across the field and straight in the sea. She can be seen in and out of the sea as can Sasha who is not quite as at ease in the water.

The two girls came right out again so we could complete our morning entitlement. I was taking my time crossing the rocks and enjoying the view so the two of them were waiting patiently when I eventually arrived. My big toe is still a little bruised and another has a small, annoying cut so I’m wearing my barefoot shoes which require care when crossing the rocks on rough terrain. My feet are becoming stronger but some of the rocks are very sharp and the soles of the shoes only a few millimetres thick. Care is required so as not to stub ones toes! Sasha met the roof tent resident as we were making our way back to the filed. He took time from brushing his teeth to pet Sasha. Strangely, Isabella was elsewhere.

I trained my brain and then set off for Paleochora via Panorama and the mountain. I stopped at the bakers to pick up some spinach pies for Bona and then Petrakis for some DDs ingredients. I was back on the road quite soon with a stop for a splash around in the sea off alonaki.

I came back, dried off, fed the dogs and then sat down for a rest/snooze and some tea. That was once the DDs were in the pot and on the go.

There were some IT tasks but no hurry as today was a UK Bank Holiday so no UK callers. That said, yesterday, I had a call from Sunny Spain from Simon who was unable to collect his emails primarily due to his phone having no Internet connection it transpired.

I received a number of personal callers comprising Noisy, his brothers and sundry other children from the punters. They took Luis, Obi, Fido and Sasha for walks. Skinny wasn’t too keen on the idea and they were a little reluctant to take Isabella for some reason. All of this child attention is excellent for the dogs as even Oskar allows himself to be petted and not just embark on a tirade of ceaseless and uncontrollable barking. The children and sundry parents came in the evening just at feeding time so I asked them to come back later which they did. It was much later so dark when the children arrived followed by the parents a while later. One of the children was quite small so about equal height with Isabella which he found quite daunting. She has a large waggy tail, larger white teeth and plenty of energy in her 1 metre-length tongue. The little boy was a little frightened to begin with but was actually going up to Isabella to pet her at the end. The boy’s mother was pleased that he was making progress as he has little doggy experience other than from their own dogs, pigs and some other creatures which I’m assured they don’t/won’t eat.

Noisy and his two elder brothers formed part of the visitors as I think they are behind the animal interest. Noisy is the most frequent visitor so can now enter the compound without the dogs barking or even taking much notice of him. He comes in, takes a dog for a walk, comes back, takes another and so on. A little like Valdemar, the little Danish boy, who came with his family in August 2014/15. He used to rearrange the dogs on their lines and take Luis and Fido into the outside shower to cool them and himself down. He’d come with me on the Evening walk and go into the sea with Boris and Dave. He’s a big chap now so has other interests.

I’ve managed to sort out the laptop and iPad so will arrange for them to be collected tomorrow. The laptop required dismantling and the battery taken out. Now, following a reset, it seems to be behaving as expected.

In the late afternoon, I went to see Maria in the office who had a Greek woman with her using her laptop to rearrange her flights. Apparently, she lives in The Netherlands but is planning to return to Crete as she misses Crete even though she enjoys the choices and orderliness of The Netherlands. She’s prepared to go back to the chaos of Greece for nicer weather and fresh vegetables. I found this hard to understand as The Netherlands is one of the largest producers of fresh vegetables in the EU. She says she does enjoy the quality of life in The Netherlands but Greece wins on balance.

Petra gave me another huge container of food which I will be eating until doomsday. This time it was peas and potatoes. Doesn’t sound very interesting, and was not fresh today, but still very nice once reheated in The Pot.

Petrakis sent a statement for August, destined for Georgia but I hijacked it and put it through the scanner. I grabbed a couple of invoices in the same envelope or I’d never see them again. I held the fort whilst Maria went to the restaurant to eat. Not that I had to do anything as the Greek from The Netherlands dealt with the only caller who spoke English anyway. No point in having a dog and barking yourself so I got on with the invoices as the month-end approaches.