Fuller

The second beetroot salad was accompanied by an episode of Grantchester some YouTube and then bed as I was tired after my busy day.

I woke to the sound of rain pattering on the roof around 02:00, to my glee. Would it stop or would it get worse? It began to rain harder so I got up, put on some shorts and went outside to cover my bike seat, close the panniers and move some stuff into the storeroom. I returned to bed and it stopped! The next thing was the alarm at 04:15.

The only vehicle present today was the ancient Citroën parked in the car park. Cornelia had taken refuge at Krios for some R&R but plans to meet me at 13:00 tomorrow if I’m able to escape. Seeing as it’s Friday…

We walked according to our morning schedule so were back at the camping just before six-fifteen. I put the boys in, fed Moggy, washed up some bowls, put out more food then took the girls and the thrower.

It was getting light so there was only really Venus and one other in the sky as the others were washed out. We walked to Azzuro throwing the ball once it was light enough. The fishing rods were still present as were the tents. We walked back, Isabella swam after the ball and we toured the Promontory for the final time before going back. I left for Anatoli and a visit to Petrakis.

There was plenty of brown bread although the stand-in bread I had contained a lot more bran than the last time I had some. Petrakis was not busy. I went to the deli counter to buy olives where I was served by the butcher as the girl was elsewhere. I wanted 500gm of Kalamata olives however he heard 1,500gm so I have quite a few for now. Not a problem as it’s the olive eating season for me. I find my eating habits are quite seasonal. Some things I eat in the summer, others only in the winter.

Back at the camping, I said goodbye to the Italians and went to ask the French couple if they wanted the place. They’d decided they were fine where they were so I gave it to my second arrival of the day who was not far behind.

The first was a couple from Eckernförde in Northern Germany, where Silvio lived with his adoptive family. The couple are in the hospitality business so come to Grammeno to unwind after six months of relentless work. We chatted last year. The second, another German, whose wife was walking Samaria, took Bay 3. The next was a large motorhome which the couple who arrived yesterday evening gave their place to and moved elsewhere. I had to do some pruning to get them in. The final contestant was another, single German man who is waiting for a part for his bicycle from Chania. We chatted about cycling, motorcycles and so on. He also likes dog and has a chocolate Lab. There is one more arrival tonight. A man and a tent who should be here between six and nine. Great Joy!

Other than deal with punters, I’ve not done much else only order some more electricity meters to overcome the current shortage. I’m thinking about building some of the older ones into a big box in locations where there’s always a demand. The sockets by the lamp pole are falling off the pole so something needs to happen there. At present, the two long-stays are using the analogue meters in one box, one of which is increasingly difficult to read. More thought is required before action is taken.

The mother/daughter with the small boys are leaving tomorrow as I suspect is the French/New Zealand couple which will free up a bay, some space and meters. The last arrival today has only a cool box in the VW camper so will give me a couple of Euros at the end. Once the heating season is upon us, it will be more important to have a better grasp of things. The Italians were using 5kWh/day just for their fridge which must be quite inefficient. Anyway, metering makes people think more which is part of it.

Interestingly, Maria phoned me as I was riding back from Paleochora to tell me she’d left the barrier up however it was down by the time I came back. I had two people drive into the camping yesterday which is annoying when the place is so full. She also told me of the inhabitants of T3 who arrived late on Tuesday evening. They’d enquired but not responded to her email until the evening of their arrival so Maria went to clear any cobwebs or dead insects. She decided I’d be tucked up at that time and she was right!

Another quite busy day bites the dust but less demanding they yesterday as I’m more in the swing of it now.