I Hate Kokkino Horio

I Hate Kokkino Horio

Well, this is not strictly true. Kokkino Horio is a lovely old whitewashed Cretan village quite close to the sea and reputed to have been one of the locations for the filming of “Zorba the Greek”. It now sits in “Little England” amidst the Brits whose holiday homes overlooking the blue Cretan Sea and each others’ houses. With so many swimming pools it is not surprising that there is often a water shortage there.

Anyway, my problem is that I keep driving my car into this village by mistake. Kokkino Horio is full of typical tiny narrow streets which go to….. a dead end, which is an absolute nightmare to escape. It’s like some insect trap, I seem to get lured into the village and by the time I discover the error of my ways it is too late, the car is stuck. The locals in the kafenion have a great laugh watching hapless motorists reversing in their struggle to get out!

I really must avoid the place….

Night skies and dittany (Cretan mountain tea)

First summer clouds and jam making

The village

Sad scorched garden but fine courgette flower

End of the Cretan Summer?

Yesterday it rained for the first time in three months.

At the end of August, there was a marked change in the weather. Suddenly the harsh heat of the day abated, and the daytime temperature dropped to around 30 degrees, with the early mornings having a definite subtle coolness. There are even occasional days with large white clouds in the sky again, and even the threat of showers on one day. The evenings are noticeably cooler (20-21 degrees!), so our G&T’s and dinners on the roof terrace may now be numbered, and the BBQ soon tucked away till next year. Eating out at the local taverna has unexpectedly required long sleeved clothing to feel comfortable!

In the village, the Athenians have left their holiday homes and returned to the city, leaving the roads quiet again. A return to the dominance of the pick-up trucks going up and down carrying feed, water barrels, assorted green”stuff” and often large dog(s) which delight in barking as they speed passed the house, just to wind-up Rufus and Buffy! There seem to be less tourists’ rental cars on the road as well, signalling the decline in the number of summer visitors to the island. Even the noisy cicadas seem to have abandoned the silver-green olive trees in the garden for pastures new at last. We now have a growing number of praying mantis visiting the roof terrace, which would be interesting if they did something other that standing stock still and swaying occasionally!

Maybe this is the best time of the year to be here on the big island (reminder -must go swimming this afternoon).
Thought for the day? At least, I won’t be inducting new students to the University for the first time in 21 years – ouch!!!!! Good luck everyone…….

Rufus and other animals

Rufus and other animals

I suppose that town living does not prepare you for waking up in the morning to find farm animals outside the kitchen window in the field next door. But that’s what happens in our life in Crete.

This week, Rufus has found himself with three sheep and five young lambs as neighbours. His lifelong fear of large dogs has transposed itself to sheep, unfortunately, one sheep with the bell around its neck has attitude and was quite happy go literally head-to-head with Rufus (maybe because he just looks like a black lamb??). So when Rufus sticks his nose through the wire fence, the sheep simply butts him on the nose for good measure. Last night, these mothers and lambs were replaced in the small field by a whole flock of sheep much to Rufus’s dismay, but they had moved on by the morning. Now, we have Muffin the mule taking their place, but at least he eats the carabs which have fallen from the tree.

What next, I wonder?