Thinning out

Petra was in full flow when I went down to collect some food. She was speaking so quickly I was able to pick out even fewer words than usual. It was obvious she was not happy.

She presented me with my container, empty, and two large, foil takeaway trays, one with Gigantes, the other oven potatoes. Far more than I could comfortably eat in one meal, even though it was my only meal of the day.

I watched an episode of Poirot but fell asleep just as he was about to name the real killer and woke up twenty minutes into the next episode which explained why all the characters had changed! I went to bed and back to sleep.

The night passed quickly and was initially very warm but cooled down by early morning. The morning started with a clear, bright sky with plenty of stars and the odd planet. Venus is rising just before sunrise and Jupiter and Uranus are rising before midnight.

The Dutchman had parked his van near where we come out of the field so his slumbers were disturbed when his little dog went into a barking frenzy. Not necessarily for any particular reason other than we were nearby. Otherwise, there were three or four cars in the car park and a few vans scattered along the beach track.

It was cooler, but still warm. None of the dogs went AWOL. They barked at someone on the Promontory around six, probably the person who’d been collecting salt which we met with the girls later.

Skinny tried to find favour with a young woman ensconced in one of the Azzuro sun beds. I only spotted her when he approached her as it was just starting to get light. Skinny has transformed from a dog fearful of everyone to one who now seeks out people to fuss him. Sadly, on this occasion, his attentions were rejected probably because Isabella, Sasha and Maya were hot on his heels.

I took the girls. Isabella was keenly holding two tennis balls between her teeth when we left so I brought the thrower. By the time she’d visited the first bush, the balls had been left behind and she seemed incapable of finding them within a reasonable time so I left the thrower by the path. I need to check I brought it back. The remainder of the walk was rapid so we were back by around 07:20.

I paused, and my meditation may have morphed into a sleep. I rode to Paleochora over Panorama where the thermometer informed me it was 34ºC. I stopped only at Alonáki for a swim.

I noticed the camping is a lot clearer at the top and there are far fewer cars in the car parks or thereabouts. I fed dogs, made tea and settled down to connect routers in the various stores to the one in Lewes. It didn’t take too long so I tidied up a little, deleting old information and making sure what I have is current. Sue contacted me because the Exchange had done a reboot following updates.

The Exchange services seem incapable of starting following a reboot but I have a cunning script which starts them all for me although it has to be started manually. Starting each service one at a time is tedious and time consuming so the script is a blessing.

Caroline and Simon contacted me about a keyboard problem with Stephen’s computer. He has a wired keyboard for now as he appeared to have little luck with the wireless kind.

Other excitements of the day included Bona paying me 20€ for her supply of Hell and a few messages from Nick at Seaford about mail and his connection to Lewes. All now satisfactorily fixed.

There are still quite a few children in the camping. I can hear rather than see them. Nearly every tent in the area north of me is a rental and I think only one is occupied by a Greek family.

Recently, I had a message from Sonja and Sandra asking me to reserve for them at the beginning of October. They are staying from 2 October to 11 October and may bring more Germans with children with them seeing as the couple are in the education business. They came last October and stayed in Ξ2, this year they will bring a tent. They are becoming frequent Grammanophiles since their initial visit for the winter of ‘21-‘22.

So now another day draws to a close as does the month. Only a couple more days and September begins. By then the camping will be quieter during the week with fewer Greeks as the school term approaches. More foreigners will come: either older couples or young families with pre-school children. The summer temperatures will moderate to average in the late twenties and the evenings and mornings will start to become cooler. Erica and Janne will visit mid-month too.