Slow boat from Sifnos

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 before, but I covered the concrete on its top with rocks and stones to make, it look nicer.. I put some soil in there to sow seeds in it too. My friends had some old wood they found which doesn’t burn well, so I have used it for decoration. There is the small matter off what their lovely dog will think of it all..

The island is very beautiful and so different from Serifos, given how near it is, that seems odd. The harbour is smaller and doesn’t have the big concrete apron we have. But in many ways it’s the same, with a lovely community of people, a few of who know me after my  many visits here. It’s been good to meet them all again. At the port one of the windows has lost its glass, so a clear view is there out to the sea.

In the evenings we have had lovely meals, and the dog inevitably draws people to us and we talk to them. He truly is a beautiful dog in looks and behaviour. He was trying his hardest to persuade a couple of ladies to give him a treat and of course, he got a titbit. He doesn’t beg like other dogs, but his looks are hard to resist. 

I met another dog, a puppy called Socks, who is black again, but with little white feet. He is very young, but I hope to see him again when I come back in June to look after my friends dog. Back on Serifos, Mavro the black one is edging towards leaving this world, he has picked up a bit, I hope to see him soon before he goes. He will rest in peace with the other dogs by the entrance, an Aloe Vera above his resting place.