Sunrise

Saturday 26th November 

It’s another lovely start to the day. Meanwhile the building work has multiplied and it sounds like the restaurant next door is being worked on with one of those electric drill things. But at least they did not start too early. This is the view I got on the way to feeding the cats. 

I walked down to the hardware store, to get a broom, the track here is concrete, but has lots of  stones on it, if you stand on one in the dark, and you could fall  over. It’s worse after the rain. The broom can also be used for the roof terrace. I wanted to get a new pair of gloves for the litter picking too. As I passed the car and vehicle garage, the Livadi bus was in for some work, it could not have been much, as  it appeared in Livadi when I was having my coffee. After getting the broom and gloves, I passed the field where the bonfires had been. The farmer was cultivating the soil with a tractor. It will be interesting to see what he plants there. Just before I got into Livadi, my landlord stopped his car, and showed me the electric bill. I haven’t read it properly, but it looks like an estimate, for three months, eighty eight euros. I need to see if I can get a rebate, I should be able to find this out from my accountant when I see him.

This dog was in a truck, and I thought he looked lovely. I patted him on the head, then he decided to bark at me, so I beat a hasty retreat. In Grans I saw the Taverna owner, the one next door. I know he does not speak English so I made a sort of movement as if I had the hammer drill in my hands, and he laughed and then made a sign, that he will need a nap later on! I haven’t really looked at how Grans operates, but  it’s quite slick. They put the order in on a computer and the coffee order comes out by the machine and the person making coffee then puts the slip above them. They do get a lot of takeaway orders, where the guy I know, drives off on a scooter laden with the coffee and pastries. He doesn’t normally wear a helmet, but today he was, but then I saw him with a woolly hat, it looked  like a Christmas themed one, I think it was Santa going down the chimney with only his legs showing!

I nearly have my eye operation sorted, I have a date, and I know where the hospital is, and I have decided when I will get the ferry. It’s going to be a slow and long journey and I think I will get to Pireaus quite late. The hospital is central Athens, so I should get some sightseeing in as well.

In the afternoon, I joined three friends on a walk from Sykamia. My map shows walks going to the left or right of the beach, we took the left path. It wasn’t a path I would want to do on my own,, it’s not dangerous, but a simple mistake and you would be in trouble. The plan was to get to Aghios Georgios Viglis, but in the end we did not make it. We got the the stage where one of us had gone as far as he felt he could safely go, and we had to walk back too. We had reached Gialoudaki beach, it was a sad sight. The winds blow rubbish from the sea onto this mini beach, there was even a partly deflated red ballon, bidding for freedom. The problem is cleaning it up. Even if you filled a load of bags, you then need to get them back to Silkamia. It’s possible we can get a boat to help us, let’s see. We could combine the cleanup, with a walk to get to the church. Because of the wind, there were amazing rocks, sand blasted by these winds, which must carry the sand, which then eats away at the rocks over time.

After dropping my friends off, I then fed the cats and met up with two more friends, who have arrived at Serifos again. As we walked down to the square, we passed Markela’s shop and she was there, the first time I have seen her since they got back from Athens. I got an enthusiastic hello. I will pop in and see her soon. Together with these friends we are going back to Ganema tomorrow and finishing my work off, and then having lunch somewhere.