Living on a Greek island

 I haven’t really done much today, but I have been working on hard on the Greek. I wanted to double check my hair appointment today when in Livadi, so I found the Greek for that, in fact I knew most of it. The lady who cuts hair, fast but well, only charges, I think ten Euros and won’t accept tips from us men folk. But she doesn’t speak much English, I think she can do numbers, which is handy for appointments and such like. So I went in and bingo, she knew what I meant. Result. The cats in the car park are diminishing, as they are going elsewhere for food, so the number of feeding bays is not so important now, but we will keep them all going as most are needing topping up each day. Only the David Bowie cat is being spotted, using my block of flats unfortunately, he uses the same one each day. When I went into Grans, I told them I was having a rest day, in Greek, and that I might be cleaning the house, which I did. One of the, girls said, in Greek I could clean her house and I said,...

At the Dog Palace, you never know what might happen, Mavro is still with us, eating his chicken, freshly cooked, sometimes we have to feed him by hand.  I can’t imagine what the other dogs think of this. It’s hard to get a nice photo of him, he is often asleep and he is like a skeleton. I don’t like to think about what is feeding off all that protein. But we won’t be taking him away for a scan, as I have said before.  The dogs all had good walks, Victor was almost running today. Even he gets excited by the prospect of a walk with me, as I head towards his enclosure, lead in hand. The two female dogs Rita and Chocca are almost like lovebirds, they play with each other all day long, Chocca enjoying her sole walk with Rita. Here is a photo of them in the garden, paw in paw.  Most of the cutting is done now, the place looks bigger and very tidy but a bit sad. Outside there are a few flowers still, the thistles still putting put huge flowers. We keep getting forecasts of rain,...

The person who setup the Dog Rescue place with the owner has been using the strimmer non stop in recent days. Hence the making the hay while the sun shines title. They are cutting the undergrowth back in each Dog’s enclosure and around. ( fire risk reduction measure ) The cuttings then need to be disposed of in a place that isn’t likely to still cause trouble. It’s hard work and it’s getting hot. I decided to offer my help this task. So on Saturday we strimmed Victor’s enclosure and took the trimmings away, that was my job. It took all day, and wasn’t helped by Victor sitting on my bag, that I was using to carry away the rubbish. Luckily it was windy and overcast until I left at four pm. My coworker was still at work strimming the entrance areas. Once cleared, this old corn grinding circle was revealed in Victor’s  enclosure, I had not spotted it before. Mavro is still with us, but only eating freshly cooked chicken now. He seems even thinner, if that was possible, but not in any p...

I saw this poster a few days ago and tried to decider it. The day of the week was easy, it was Friday and the date confirmed that. I knew the Theatre, it’s in Kato Hora and by the Museum. It’s an open air type, and the audience look down to the stage with views of Livadi behind it. Eventually after trying a few friends, one of the guys at Grans told me it was Greek dancing and that I should go.  When we got there, a bit late it was packed. There was Greek music playing, and dancers in costume doing their thing. I recognised a few people in the audience which was in darkness of course. At one point a girl came on stage in a plain white dress and was gradually dressed in a coloured dress and hat by her friends. The music was very Eastern at certain points and the dancing very intricate. Just after this photo was taken the lights and sound went out. They came back to life momentarily, but eventually gave up. The presenter said they would continue, I sort of heard the Greek work Prepi ...

 I never really thought much about greetings I receive when I see people that  I know or not. But in another country with a different language the alternatives become more obvious. I have always had a positive response when I use the regular Kalimera over here. But it’s now clear as people know me better and I am seen much more than a fleeting visitor the greeting then changed. For people who I met back in September it’s now Geiá sou ( sounds like Yasoo) Paul, which I really like. It’s not universal, some people still use the more formal greeting. I met a friend of mine yesterday and they told me there is a story that I go poking about in the rubbish bins in Hora. I find this hilarious. There is an element of small village gossip over here. I tend to seed this with things that amuse me, which I don’t mind going around like wild fire, keeping the private stuff close to my chest. I do look in the bins, I often compress them down as when it’s windy stuff gets blown onto the mount...

While I and the co worker are away in July and August there is a bit of a problem for the owner. They can’t realistically do the work of two people and especially in the heat of high summer. So every year begins the work of trying to get volunteers. This year, we have been lucky, I think six weeks are covered and the other two should be ok. We also have the islander who is paid to do the walking. Interestingly we have this person in India who seems interested to come later on in the year. We can’t pay them, but can provide lodgings, they will also need to get a Visa themselves. The house is looking a bit sad inside, as things are getting packed away and taken to the new house. I have undertaken the first run, things that I don’t really need, unfortunately the guitar hasn’t been touched recently. I also have my first case of clothes and things that can go on the second run. On the day I go, I will take a later ferry, so I can wash the sheets and towel I was using, they will be dry by lu...

It’s been a bit of an emotional turmoil, the last few days. Mavro the black one, was really bad, the day the vet came. He was just lying there. I thought that’s it. Without going into details, he wasn’t put to sleep but was given a dose of sleeping and hydration fluids to see how he fared, knowing the next day, there would be no vet to complete his journey to Dog Heaven. Between us all, we spent the next twelve hours by his side. I left feeling emotionally exhausted. The next day when I was picked up the owner, they  said he was running around. Not completely well, but loads better. He has been eating chicken exclusively since he became very thin, and that day he was back on the chicken diet. He is not going for walks anymore, there is plenty of room for exercise in the complex, but he is still too weak and wobbly to go on regular walks. There was a moment, not stage managed where all the dogs came in and saw him, lying there not moving. We let them all in to see him, so they could...

 A brief post as I am working at the Dog Palace until tomorrow. The rain we had overnight the other day almost made the island seem green again after it started to go brown. As we walked to the Dog Palace from where we park, the earth was a darker brown and the air had that fresh feel to it after a decent amount of rain. A lot of of flowers at the palace have been cut down now, to reduce the fire risk. It’s starting to look like it was when I first visited it many moons ago. In the mountains you get these fine horizontal cobwebs, at low level  that look even more spectacular after rain. There are so many ants about too. They are marching along invisible train lines, carrying things many times their own size. Any unwary insect like a beetle that stumbles into the trail of ants, gets tumbled upside down and carried off, no mercy.  The ants disappear into holes that go underground. The rain probably caused havoc to them. The dogs loved the rain, there were puddles on the tra...

 A thunderclap sounded early this morning but it did not awaken me, annoyingly I was already awake. I was told about a Panagia early in the week, at the church of Konstantinos and a check on the internet confirmed my Greek translation. The church is in the castle or Castro area of Hora and I knew it. It’s a bit of a climb but the views are amazing, even if the day is not starting so good in terms of weather. I had my coffee beforehand, I asked if they  were voting today, the Greek word for voting is a mouthful, I should have used the word for election instead. There is a guy called Costas who came in after me and was very happy that it was his name day. On the TV were images of previous election days, the announcing of the winners and so on.  It’s also the name day for Elani, and as I climbed the steps to the church I could start to hear the singer, the guy who sang at the Easter service in Koutalas. The little church was full and despite having long trousers I sat outsid...

I went to one of the tavernas in Hora last night, but it wasn’t open until six thirty, so I had a brief wander around. It’s ages since I did so, and I haven’t had time to use my map of Hora to make sure I have stepped on every path in the town. Something to do on a hot day perhaps. It’s not too busy, most of the shops are open now, the ones that sell clothes, tourist stuff and so on. There are a few houses that have chairs on their roofs looking out onto the views, which are amazing. After my wander, I sat outside the taverna as they were just opening. I said I would wait in Greek. I ordered an Alfa beer, and had a look at the menu. Why not try and have all the conversation with the waitress in Greek? So I ordered a Greek salad and prawns in tomato sauce. I had to look up prawns on google translate. The Greek salad  words are easy actually. I knew the words for another beer, I had to remind myself of them, and again it’s not hard. A UK couple went in and I told them this place is g...

I had a few glasses of wine at the King’s bar, as he known on the island last night. This bar is lovely, used by locals and visitors who want to taste the atmosphere of a place that isn’t one of the trendy haunts in Hora.  While sitting outside this car pulled up, where was Hora? Well it was behind them, but of course you can’t drive into it, it’s only for pedestrians! I explained and said where to park. Anyway they disappeared only to reappear moments later still in their car. I motioned for them to go around again to try and see the car park, but they reversed. Bad idea. The King, summoned them to drive around again and then we saw them a bit later on, on foot. Here is an amazing cactus flower on one of my friend’s succulents, it only flowers for one day, then it dies. At the coffee shop, I had a sentence to say I wasn’t going to walk dogs today, but it did not work too well unfortunately, but I managed to make understood, with other words, in any case I hadn’t arrived with my re...

  It’s easily in the mid twenties each day now. Summer is here with a vengeance. There is little wind either. Even at the Dog Palace, where I have been most of the week, as the person who set it up, has a Kidney Infection. They  plan to go there  Friday, but their coworker has other plans... there are more tourists about, walking, with hire cars and so on. Strange faces I don’t recognise. But that’s ok of course. I only have a month left before leaving for Sifnos again. I heard the Cruise ship, that was here recently only disgorged thirty passengers, not as many as some might have hoped for.  Below the latest house for cats has two residents. There was an odd East wind in the air for my first day at the Palace, the openings to each of the Dog homes are faced, so as to avoid the prevailing wind and any rain it might be carrying. Mallony the dog that is very like my own Little Rascal, who used to live in Ruscombe in the UK, caught a big snake on Monday and the co worke...

 It seems that one patient gets better and another gets worse at the Dog Palace today. On the phone to them last night it seemed Mavro was not long for this world, and the folks at the Palace did not know what to do, stay with him or come down to their house. As I was heading to Livadi via the ferry, I got a take away and took it up there, as they had no dinner up in the Palace. Mavro was pleased to see me, I felt good to see him, for maybe the last time. After dinner I stayed with him a bit longer but I then decided to leave him to rest. Here is a rose up at the Palace, the fragrance is amazing. The next day, I decided to go back up there, the other helper was doing the walking, so there would be time to spend with the dogs relaxing. Mavro was there at the gate and looking a lot chipper. I spent several hours up there and drove down to do some chores. I went to the dentist, had a check up, I need a filling. I had some lunch and then drove to the new house, I had wire, to tie back ...

It’s Sunday. It’s peaceful here in Kamares, not even the building work on the outside of my friends old apartment building has started yet. The wind is calm, the sun rising high in the sky. In the afternoon I will take the Solomos back to Serifos. My friends old landlord is chatting with his builder. He speaks slowly and with good diction so I can pick out a lot of words I know. He remembered me and said hello when he saw me. His faithful dog Blackie is by his side. I think I can hear singing at a church service. I am going to see if I can bring back a present for the Dog Palace’s owner this morning before bacon sandwiches at my friends place. The garden is done. It doesn’t look much, but it was hard work. I have cleared and planted the squash and courgette plants and tidied the other areas by the path. We plan to collect some wild flower seeds and scatter them before the winter in the hope they will germinate and cover the area with colour in the spring. The stone wall was there befor...

 It’s been a busy few days, but time for a little reflection. I am actually now on the island of Sifnos with my friends, doing a bit of gardening work for them and having a few days on the island that set off this adventure nearly two years ago. But more on that on the next post. After I built the first version of the stray cat houses, I had  a bit of thought and consultation with one of my friends, I then decided to go for a rebuild. I was told the upper levels of the houses would be used only if they felt stable to the cats. I also think using the smaller plastic baskets were a bit small. So I tore the whole lot down and rebuilt it using the bigger baskets and propped the whole thing up with a big rubber mat that  I found with huge lumps of nearby rocks to steady things. I don’t have a decent one piece of wood for the roof unfortunately, I will have to wait until one gets left by the dumpsters some time. Meanwhile I have used three pieces and used a black bag and rocks ...

Not a too shabby an overnight laundry service last night. I put the clothes out, before I went to bed, and in the morning, the wind had worked its magic and everything was bone dry. I popped outside to check the clothes in the morning, with the moon over the mountains, and the sun rising opposite, it’s going to be a warmer day, with the wind easing up some more.  The first Cruise ship has moored off the island for this year. The guests are ferried to us in smaller boats as the ship can’t berth in our harbour. I don’t know how many of these ships visit us, but Hora is going to get busier  during the day for sure when they are here. The dog walks were funny, in that only the first went as expected, both the old guys had trouble with theirs, which is to be expected, but troubling of course. This meant the walk with Scoopy had me going back to drop the old guy Mavro off and then resuming the walk. I decided to go to where there was an old quarry, which is where I was taught to go ...

This weeks visits to the Dog Palace are a bit different. The person who set in motion, what  this place became is away for a few days. So it’s me and the other person who setup the place for three days. They do have another person who comes when I can’t. It doesn’t change things too much, I still do all but one of the walks, which is for the not so new guy, that’s Buddy. The Apricots on the tree near where we eat are about the size of golf balls now, the recent rain will certainly help them. Victor, one of the old timers It’s still windy but not so bad, at least it’s sunny. When we had that rain the other night, it fair tipped it down here I have been told. You can see its effects on the tracks and paths. It’s given the plants a bit more time, to get those seeds developed and cast about by the wind. There are a few poppies here but most of them on the island are by the sides of the road, giving us a red ribbon on either side of the tarmac or whatever the road surface there might be...