Summer starts here

 

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 worker had to finish it off, as it was mortally wounded. Unfortunately he catches all sorts of wildlife. I was shown the snake on a dustpan, is that for lunch I asked? When I brush the dogs, I think of maids brushing the upper class folks hair in fancy homes years ago. Unlike them, they don’t have to brush out bits of the garden in the dogs hair, they are also moulting at the moment. I have been spending a lot more time with Victor now, the elder statesman. He was the dog that disturbed the birds in the undergrowth, that were then shot at and Mavro being a Pointer picked the dead bird off the ground. 

Mavro is not doing  too badly, he is not in any pain, and is just settling into the quiet life, although still gets excited when I get ready to walk each of the sets of dog. Rita has been doing a bit of off piste stuff in the last few days, both her and Choca  sniffed out a stray cat by a church and chased it, and also sniffed out a bird and gave chase to that too. Aloney today, was off lead on the way back and he did not catch up with us as he normally does, we went back, and saw him  staring at the road from the mountain track, dreaming away. Victor is making use of his new sunshelter, there is a nice breeze where he lives and he loves being under a bit of sun but not the full thing. I caught this butterfly on camera today, there are loads up here, all different colours and sizes, just like we use to have in the UK. There are still flowers out, the thistles are amazing, there are yellows and blues and a few reds. The garden roses are wonderful.