It's been a mixed bag weather-wise this past few days, mainly sunny, but with one murky, misty, moody day and a couple of chilly nights. Plus, the day before yesterday brought the first truly chilly wind we've had this winter, and a strong one at that.
So I'm just going to post a few photos from this past week and comment on them individually. Hope you like them...
The day before yesterday was the first day this winter when we didn't much feel like doing anything outside. It was still bright and sunny, but with a chilly north wind. Yesterday was much nicer, with wall-to-wall sunshine and around 19ºC on our terrace.
We walked down to the local Sofos supermarket, where we got talking with Maria on the till. Maria's family owns the store and Maria herself used to live in Canada. She's one of those who likes to use her English because, as is the case with another friend of ours in Kalathos, Lena, who also moved back here from Canada, if you don't use it you lose it. She stood up from behind the register and gave us both a kiss on both cheeks and we were soon nattering not only with her but with an Englishwoman who's not long moved out here (yes, they are still coming folks!).
Alison was very friendly and we did remember that we'd spoken briefly with her before, since she lives next door to a long-time friend of ours in Pilona. The day was all sunshine and the light was crisp and humidity-free. We all found ourselves expressing the reasons why we love living here. The main conclusion that we came to was, despite all of us having lived in a modern, urban world in either the UK or Canada, the simple life with 300 days of sunshine per year here in the Dodecanese was much better for the soul.
Yes, we live on a basic diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, virtually all eaten in its correct season, and we curse our internet connections sometimes for not being as fast as they should be. Yes we get power cuts now and then and yet, gathering your own wood for the log-burner or, as Alison remarked, going down to the beach on a bright, winter's day when there are no sun loungers and umbrellas to be seen, and simply sitting there and looking at the ocean, well - quite simply it's therapeutic, it's cathartic and it's downright pleasurable. Plus, your neighbours usually have time for a chat.
For us the winters are too short. Mind you, that's partly because in my case, half of it is usually spent banging away at my keyboard writing a new book. The latest novel is now up to around 50,000 words by the way. So actually I'm ahead of where I was this time last year with 'A Jay in the Jacaranda Tree'. But I have to break off most days for a walk with the beloved in the olive groves behind the house, or sometimes down to the beach, as it would be criminal not to. Plus, doing the walks at the end of the afternoon, we almost always get to see some deer, which is a fab bonus!
I have now started a page on the official web site dedicated to the forthcoming novel. If you're interested at all, you can click here. I shall be expanding it as and when I get time, but right now? Well...
It's past 3.30am, so I reckon it's time to go to bed, don't you?
So I'm just going to post a few photos from this past week and comment on them individually. Hope you like them...
 |
| This one's from last Saturday, December 2nd, on the beach just a little way south of Gennadi, looking northwards. It was mild, around 18ºC. |
 |
| This is home, taken from the wooden hillside across the valley from the house. This was somewhere around 5.00pm on Monday 4th. It was a murky, misty day... |
 |
| Looking south towards Gennadi from not far over the hill from the previous shot. Moody sun rays penetrating some quite dense cloud cover. |
 |
| Similar position to the one above, only from down among the trees on the hillside with the zoom employed slightly. A Wuthering Heights kind of day. Not particularly cold, but clammy. |
 |
| Freshly picked roses from the garden. Even from there, a few feet away, their aroma is superb. The roses are coming into their own again at the moment. A couple more months and then we'll prune them hard before next year's growth begins in earnest. Meanwhile, fresh roses for the lounge every day. |
 |
| Last night, coming back from Rhodes late, got to Lardos around 10.00pm so we dropped by the excellent Savvas Grill for a couple of Halloumi pitas with a helping of oven potatoes too. The tzaki was roaring away in the corner invitingly. It's worth having cold winter nights just to see and feel this. |
 |
| My better half reaches for her halloumi pita, while the plate in the middle is the oven-potatoes (no, it's NOT pickled onions!), which were mini-spuds done in their jackets. The better half meant to ask Savvas' wife how she does them, because they're scrumptious, but then forgot all about it. Once again excellent value. You can sit at a comfy table, order a couple of pitas, a tonic and a Fix, plus oven potatoes and all for the princely sum of €10. It's a meal fit for a king for not much more than you'd pay for a couple of coffees in some café/bars in town. |
We walked down to the local Sofos supermarket, where we got talking with Maria on the till. Maria's family owns the store and Maria herself used to live in Canada. She's one of those who likes to use her English because, as is the case with another friend of ours in Kalathos, Lena, who also moved back here from Canada, if you don't use it you lose it. She stood up from behind the register and gave us both a kiss on both cheeks and we were soon nattering not only with her but with an Englishwoman who's not long moved out here (yes, they are still coming folks!).
Alison was very friendly and we did remember that we'd spoken briefly with her before, since she lives next door to a long-time friend of ours in Pilona. The day was all sunshine and the light was crisp and humidity-free. We all found ourselves expressing the reasons why we love living here. The main conclusion that we came to was, despite all of us having lived in a modern, urban world in either the UK or Canada, the simple life with 300 days of sunshine per year here in the Dodecanese was much better for the soul.
Yes, we live on a basic diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, virtually all eaten in its correct season, and we curse our internet connections sometimes for not being as fast as they should be. Yes we get power cuts now and then and yet, gathering your own wood for the log-burner or, as Alison remarked, going down to the beach on a bright, winter's day when there are no sun loungers and umbrellas to be seen, and simply sitting there and looking at the ocean, well - quite simply it's therapeutic, it's cathartic and it's downright pleasurable. Plus, your neighbours usually have time for a chat.
For us the winters are too short. Mind you, that's partly because in my case, half of it is usually spent banging away at my keyboard writing a new book. The latest novel is now up to around 50,000 words by the way. So actually I'm ahead of where I was this time last year with 'A Jay in the Jacaranda Tree'. But I have to break off most days for a walk with the beloved in the olive groves behind the house, or sometimes down to the beach, as it would be criminal not to. Plus, doing the walks at the end of the afternoon, we almost always get to see some deer, which is a fab bonus!
I have now started a page on the official web site dedicated to the forthcoming novel. If you're interested at all, you can click here. I shall be expanding it as and when I get time, but right now? Well...
It's past 3.30am, so I reckon it's time to go to bed, don't you?
No comments:
Post a Comment