Living in the UK again

One day, marks a sixty five year spell on this world. A dog sit over the weekend, one of the Cockers, and a nice meal in Henley with my near neighbours. It’s was all going so well. I don’t know what caused my malaise so it would be wrong to blame any specific thing that caused my nasty sickness bug. I don’t want to go into the details as I am sure peoples imaginations will do a good enough job. I was to have the little rascal here in our home, as I did not want his owners to have to change a bed for one night. About nine pm, we headed off to our house, before the big day tomorrow. I wasn’t feeling well, but as the Cockers owners had bought me a nice bottle of red, I decided to have a couple of glasses. I started to feel worse, so I went to bed. It did not take long had my first bout of sickness. I did not get to the loo in time, so our bedroom carpet got a big red splot on it. Even in my moment of trouble, I knew I had to clear this mess of the light coloured carpet asap. Which I did a...

Even though it’s too cold to plant or sow anything in the allotment, there is plenty of preparation work to be done. I had some Italian seeds a friend from TRHA gave me, giant onion ones in fact. I had moderate success last year, when he gave me some seedlings. This year, I am following his instructions and sowing them on kitchen roll that has to be kept damp. When they start shooting, they can be put into pots and grown on. My friend says you are meant to sow them on Boxing Day, but that wasn’t possible of course, as I was in Greece. The puzzle hasn’t seen a lot of activity recently, but since I have been back, I am keen to finish it and possibly start another.  This morning we had a lovely sunrise, but in an hour we had rain. It soon stopped, and a check on the weather forecast had me going to the allotment to try and squeeze in some work before the rain really started. The fruit trees in the caged plot, they haven’t been pruned for a few years. You are meant to gradually bring t...

I don’t normally do so called dog walks, but for friends I do. In this case the day after I landed back in the UK and the day after that. I had planned to walk the chocolate lab with a friend and another dog around the nearby Dinton pastures, after a blood test. The test was to hopefully prove to the Blood Donation folded that my iron levels are ok after starting to take supplements, ,so I can resume donating plasma. I was sorting a few things out, including trying to find my newest walking boots that have gone missing. I tried to get into the car, the key would not work.  I tried the other one, no go. I know how to get into a car when the central locking does not respond, you flip a piece of plastic off the drivers door to reveal the key hole. After then I was in and.. flat battery. I think this car has in the past had its alarm trigger and I fancy it did this and flattened the battery, while I was away and being in a garage, no one heard it. The battery is new as it turns out. So...

As a result of ferry rescheduling, I had a twenty four hour layover in Athens. It seemed a pity to waste the day, and I had a tour guide to show me around. First thing was to get to the area where a lot of the historic buildings are. It’s on the metro, and I was soon on the train heading to a station called Monastiraki. This is the old metro service, I first used ages ago,  the small multi coloured trains thanks to the graffiti that often covers the windows as well as the body of the trains. Once at the destination I decided to buy the multi site ticket that allows entrance to many of the ancient  sites. First the Acropolis. It’s on a hill and I was soon heading upward with a throng of other visitors. You find yourself among humanity talking in many tongues, but one thing unites us all, smart phones in hand snapping millions and probably billions of photos every moment of the day. Once up on the top, there is more than one building to look at. It’s a marvel when you read the i...

It’s  a day swirling sea,  rain falling and strong winds, it’s as if this island doesn’t want to let me go. If  I do, it’s going to make my departure as uncomfortable as possible! Here is Scoopie, by the church we normally walk to together.  Above is Freya, sadly she and her mother do not get on at all and have to be kept apart. She usually walks with Scoopie. She has a funny face and often looks sad. But like her mother she loves cuddles too. My last visit to the dog palace, was a half day, just  enough time to walk all the dogs. It’s funny, I think they know when I am about to leave. The howls, as myself and the lady who runs the  place seemed even louder that day. I never look back on the last day. The reason for leaving early was we were we were having a Raclette dinner party at the ladies house, it’s a Swiss thing. There is this little electric stove on the table that you cook your slice of cheese on in a miniature pan, once bubbling, you place it over...

The Dog Palace lady as some might remember  broke her foot a few weeks after I had my accident. She has made a good recovery too, and sees a physio here on the island. Given I wasn’t able to see mine and walk a lot and do my exercises, why not meet him? He used to work in Athens, working for the Olympic football team. He is a very interesting fellow. He loves the island. But like me he loves it even more now. He doesn’t mind the tourists, but it’s a better place when they aren’t here! He talks while he manipulates my leg with his strong hands about the challenges of people like himself being able to afford accommodation, a story I know well. He charges twenty euros for an hour, some of that time with me hooked up to this little machine that resembles a mobile phone, with two patches that tingle my leg gently while we talk. The things he gets me to do are very similar to what my UK physio asks me to do. He thinks I should try and go swimming, that would be good for it he says. ...

 I have been having trouble with my iPad charging and it could have been the cable or the iPad. But the local shops in the port don’t sell usb C cables. So what to do? Well you ask a local,, in my case a friend who has lived here for years. There is an unmarked shop out towards the lighthouse and the fish ponds that I ought to visit she suggested. So this morning, before I did my walk with that friend, I drove there. A friendly dog greeted me when I got out of the car, and I walked towards the building, which looked like a house. The back door as I had been informed had a door with a buzzer to press. After doing so the door opened and in I went. It’s an Alladin’s cave for DIY enthusiasts !  The owner asked me what I wanted and sure enough there were  two or three examples of what would meet my need. Armed  with one of these I drove back to the port. I then went into Grans to buy a baguette each for us for the walk. I had a long chat with their delivery rider who I kn...

 One thing that is bothering people here are flies. There seems loads of them and with them various theories on why so many and now. My theory is they are working on the rubbish tip, and have exposed lots of waste the fly maggots are feasting on. In my room, I have had several who seem to be finding their way in, despite the doors and windows being closed most of the time. As today looked nice I fancied a visit to Vagia, one of my favourite beaches. I go to the far end and lie on rocks which is more comfortable than you might imagine. In the winter there is a stream on the path to the beach, which runs into a pond on the actual beach itself. The pond dries up in the summer of course. It wasn’t very hot when I got there, but it soon did, I listened to a Greek course developed by the Language Transfer people. It’s quite good. There was no one on the beach at all.  After a few hours, I got up and did a bit of litter picking but there wasn’t much as I did it October last year, apa...