I cannot believe that I will have been here a fortnight by this evening -- incredible and even more so that I have not found time to do a Blog while here so far so out to address that right now.
The week on my own before coming out to join Lynda was the toughest-- cant put my heart and soul into things when she's not around, so it was really wonderful to get here in Aegina , Greece.
Also good to catch up with Mike & Janet the first night her -- missed there company.
As I have said to the Kostas and the rest of the Greek lads in the family --- If you have a property and a Wife then you will have a LIST. Hey, and don't think that you are every gonna have a blank piece of paper because you got no chance--the list is never finished.
But Pasca weekend came before the work so while there was a lot of running around for materials and getting stopped on the way, we joined in with the Papadakis , Maistrelli and Antonio families on the preparation of the Lamb ( before Pauline gets on to start going on about a frolicking little thing, it's actually Goat ) reasdy for the sunday on Saturday afternoon and then going to church in the evening with their very special Margeritsa soup to follow at about 0100hours on the Sunday morning.
If you are lucky then you get to bed by 0300 hrs ad then up at 0700 hrs to get cracking over at the brilliant Kostas Antonios house with roasting the whole Lamb on the spit--brilliant.
Ok so a slight adjustment to the chefs attire which means that they are blocking the view of the cooked half of the lamb--the other half is already served out.
Our beautiful Elaine and hubby Konstandinos-- like our own daughter and probably as stubborn as our own.
A good looking young man called Vangelis with his mother Elaine, our friend Kostas wife and son. Bit of a heart breaker on the quiet we think and word is he may be the next big Kamaki in Aegina---this is the nice kind not the bad type.
A certain Michael James of Kipseli fame ( previously of the civil engineering James family of Bournemouth and Christchurch) -- he and his wife Janet got their boat in the water this week and have threatened us with a trip or two in the next days--maybe lunch in Poros.
No Pasca at Kostas house would be right without a little Greek dancing so her is Vagelis and his aunt. Normally this would have been Kostas but the festivities were a little subdued this year with the sad passing of the Boss of the family Vagelis Antonio Snr--he was very much missed this year.
It was for sure a little more quiet but Kostas still managed to fire out a couple of plates that smashed into oblivion---he is such a true Greek.
Of course Lynda did her usual plates of Gammon and bowels of roast potatoes that last minutes if you are lucky but this year we were treated to plate of wonderfully decorated cakes with furry chicks as well---great job as usual.
I have just got to interrupt to tell you all that it was an amazing thing when we are up in a valley in the hillside near the mountain, and this lady that we had never met was introduced to Lynda. " Ah" the lady said " So you are the Famous Lynda are you "--- we could not have been further away from society if we had tried as I will show in a minute and she gets that---confirmation that she has arrived -- well I knew that didn't I.
The next day we went back and did it all over again------
It was a really wet morning with low cloud so any idea to go for a picnic died a quick death.
Three wise men--My brother Kostas in the middle, Dinos to the right and Capitan Yiannis on the left-- Kostas next door neighbour.
Ok so after all that celebrating and frivolity , Lynda and I had some work to get stuck in to. It had been a while since areas of the external house had been decorated , some of the bathrooms / Toilets and the furniture and the upshot is that end result looks like this--------
Yeah ok so Elf and Safety would have a field day but hang on a second---I did a Risk Assessment with the upshot being that providing I had drunk enough Ouzo , if I fell I wouldn't feel a thing. Hey, you stick to your assessment and I will to mine.
Someone took one of the two red plants in the picture-- don't let me catch the person coming back for the other.
There is Ossie behind the rasilings supposedly keeping watch over us.
I re-did all of this
Had an Ouzo or two round this table with some amazing people over the years -- some keep coming back in the hope that I might give them another----
Garden looking good--Great job Lynda - we worked our little socks of didn't we.
I reckon a Bar-B-Q is in order next week.
I will keep back the roof photos for another time when we have our first evening drinks up there.
The roof is all spruced up though, thanks to Mrs A, who sorted the clean up from the winter before I got here. Oiled all the Dining furniture up there as well and they look great--- looking good for the summer. Gotta get the wine cooler/fridge when I get back --take some of the stress out having that up there.
Also thinking of a 32 tv bolted on a flexable hinged frame on the wall--well how bad could that be in the evening watching the mighty Chelsea.
Yesterday Lynda and I took a trip to Athens. Look , we have continually talked to anyone who would listen that we were going to buy a car in Greece, and you know what, we could still be talking about it when they carry us out of this place. So we got off our bums and headed in to the big bad city to a ford dealership where we know a very nice young lady called Mairy Grammenou, who assisted to introduce us to the guys in the showroom and the rest as they say is History.
We are pretty much committed to buying the car below sometime next week---well put a decent deposit down anyway.
Close to the colour that we are getting
Smart interior with a voice activated computer that does what you tell it to--that'll be a first for me.
It is a Ford Fiesta, Titanium, 1.6 TD. It is an Economic and means no tax due to the low omissions.
Nice car and we are really looking forward to some pretty amazing trips starting in the summer especially with our friends.
We then went to the wonderful IKEA where we not only picked up the items that we wanted--and some that we didn't know that we wanted, but we also had a great lunch of meatballs and fries , it was yummy.
If only last night with the football could have keep up the thoughts of it being a great day, being with Andonis Kellis, and my mate Michaelis but we were stopped by a poor second half and our own goal keeper that we had loaned to Athletico Madrid. Still Semi's of champions league isn't so bad.
So today is May Day-- 1st of May and we went up into the hills above Moodey Bay in the valley beyond the initial hills.
Fairly torturous journey up roads/tracks that were not designed for the well being of vehicles, but this is Greece so you get on with it, but the view on the way up or down are to DIE FOR.
The view across Perdika towards Poros.
The view of Agistri island.
That is Moni Island in the middle of the picture.
And looking back towards Marathonas.
We drove up fairly inhospitable tracks into a valley on the other side of the hills to see some sights people on the island never bother to find -- which I am cool with anyway.
These Olive trees are said to be more than 2000 years old and they are protected from being ripped out. I have to say that when you stand nearby there is a real feel of something very powerful living there
Sorry about the rotation -- cant seam to get the knack of it but pretty awesome roots just like this Greek family.
I tried so hard to rotate Andonis fathes picture but would not do it.
Kostas Horse Saltanna taking a break
Ya Ya Katerina Antonio and 3 of her grand daughters
Me and Mrs A -- and I promise Lynda that I will make sure that we get more pictures of us together and one's of you as well.
Mama Katarina and 2 of her daughters Maria and Elaine.
Me and my buddy Kostas
There is a small white dot in the middle of this picture that is a little church half way up the mountain
Here Yiannis Papadakis brother-in-law Petros, who is a school sports teacher and own's a sports shop with his wife Betty, who came from Marathonas for a walk-- really nice guy who we never get enough time to talk with.
This little church has a well behind it that collects enough water to feed the goats in the hills with throughout the year.
We went from the valley to Dinos and Elaines house for Lunch--- how good are the Greek families in they way that they all bring plates of something and spend hours relaxing and talking without pressure that they are all under through this financial crisis in Greece.
Ok so here comes John Wayne with his horse Saltanna from the hills to the house
We had a great lunch, so simple but so tasty and the company was as always so entertaining.
Such good friends and family not sure there is too much to beat it .
Ok so it has taken me a while to get back on to this and to get into the swing but will try harder in future to not leave so long.
In the meantime we have over a week to go so we shall have to see if we can gather piccies and info to do another in a few days ---
In the meantime--Xronia Polla and Adio and Yassus to you all.
