More Oil

The nasty fascists were beating up one of the young lads on Hotel Portofino. I have a feeling this fascist business is going to end badly for Italy and probably for Mussolini. I’d watched Wycliffe beforehand and As Time Goes By after. A fairly eclectic viewing selection ending with some more practical stuff on Nebula to finish off.

I was out of bed and getting dressed before the alarm even sounded. I’d ejected all but Oskar and Luis so that Skinny could bark at the cats and wake up Kirsti. There were clouds so the moon was struggling. I thought I might not need my body warmer but thankfully put it on all the same. It’s always a lot breezier once out by the sea and on the Promontory than it is in the camping.

We kept together, well almost, and walked along the road as it’s easier, quicker and more sheltered. The river level is going down as the water is now flowing under the beach rather than through it. All dogs eventually appeared at Plakaki and all dogs made it back to the Promontory with some slight excursions to pick up some more bits from whatever is dead in the adjacent field.

I took the girls out with Luis as chaperone. It was sunny but rather cloudy at times but interesting looking out to sea. I rode over Panorama to stop at the hardware store for some WD40 for my bike. I bought a large can for 16.50€. WD40 has come a long way since the days of Dr Bike as now we have larger cans with a funky metal spout for directing the product accurately. I understand WD40 is a UK product! Next stop was for bread and then a quick foray into Petrakis for honey, and gas, as Jorma changed their gas yesterday evening. We can’t have Fido getting cold! The honey is to go into my fresh ginger/lemon/black tea beverage as it’s quite hard just with lemon and ginger. I bought a large, 900gm jar of biologically and hopefully, ethically produced honey. The empty jar will come in handy for storing stuff.

I encountered Sasha’s sister, Maya in the middle of the road as I rode back towards Grammeno. She was initially reluctant to come to me then bowled me over with excessive exuberance afterwards. She followed my bike so I took a detour down to Alonáki Beach and across the field. She was met by loads of barking from Isabella and Sasha so I took the three of them out onto the Promontory and over the rocks to get it out of their systems.

They had great fun together and for the remainder of the day. I took down the sunblocker as this it often the first casualty with those three together. Despite all of them having been in the sea, it wasn’t long before Maya was in the blue bath splashing around in the water.

I had some washes to put on for Swiss Chris and Mickey but spent the remainder of the time relaxing in the sun. The temperature made it over 20ºC inside, probably due to the sun blocker not being present. It helps to keep the wind out which is why I left it up. I’ve made it easier to put up and take down by opening up the rings so that the tensioning elastic can be easily unhooked and the fabric quickly folded up. It’s much warmer inside without it.

I called Bona to tell her about Maya so she came in later to clean the loos and collect Maya. Meanwhile, Georgia and Zoe arrived assisted by Xanthippos to unload 300kg olive oil which is now in the workshop. I’ve been told to help myself which I shall do tomorrow.

Georgia took January’s money and told me she was off to Athens for a few days to see a friend who has been diagnosed with some horrible complaint. She will be in her element. Zoe met Saga and Luna and we had a nice chat about swimming in the sea. Apparently, Zoe swims in Chania – good for her!

With the departure of Maya, I fed the dogs so we’re sitting inside, the heater on and the dogs comatose. There are some chickpeas in the Pot for me to eat with a large potato salad if I don’t eat all of the potatoes first.