Rollie

It is about time that I introduce my favorite pet to the blogworld. Her name is Rollie and she will be 16 years old this june. That is quite an age for a little dog. Apart from being deaf, she is in perfect health. Struggling a little bit with her weight but that is a general female issue.

She is what you would call a typical island dog...definitely not a pedigree but a mixture of all the different dogs that are around.

In the summer she is our little mascot. Over the years she has become friends with many visitors to the island and guests of our taverna. I am sure she remembers each and everyone of them and their little routines. Some like to take her for a walk on the beach early in the morning, others walk with her at night and during the day she finds shade under the beach chairs of her international friends.

There is one special friend that always feeds her the peanuts we serve with the cool beer. Someone else brings her special doggy treats. And almost everybody gives her a little tickle or cuddle.

Aaahh this is a dog's life!

Cats and dogs

Earlier this week some Danish customers in the taverna asked me if I knew where the dog shelter was. I was happy to explain to them and show them on the map. They had seen a tv program about it on television in Denmark and were very impressed by it and wanted to visit the shelter.


Also this week there was a charity veterinarian visit from England organized by the Skiathos Cat Welfare Society. Many cats were looked after and treated and quite some neutered as well. It was also a good opportunity to take Rollie -our little dog- to the vet. She has had a little mole on her back that looked like a tick but wasn't. The vet removed it and now she has a little bold patch with stitches on her back and she is feeling a little bit sorry for herself.

And to complete the story, last night, after a long period without any, it really rained cats and dogs.

A new season has arrived

As I mentioned some time ago in an older post, in Greek there are wishes for all kinds of new beginnings. Not only day, weeks, months of the year but also for the seasons. Only in this case we have wishes only for two seasons: kalo kalokairi and kalo xeimona for a good summer and a good winter. At least I have never heard the wishes "kalo fthinoporo" (fall) or "kali anixi" (spring).

Anyhow, summer is here. The tourist season has started and the first visitors have arrived.

Most of our visitors arrive by plane directly from their countries, some by ferry from the mainland and some by beautiful ships like this one.

Everything on the island is ready for yet another summer and my wish for everybody: in spite of all the turmoil that Greece has been going through and the severe sacrifices that are demanded of all of us, "Καλό Καλοκαίρι" -a good summer- and that many tourists come to enjoy the beauty and the unique athmosphere that Greece has to offer.

My winter is officially over now as well since I have started working full time as of yesterday. But I hope to find time for some crafting, gardening, surfing (the net, not the waves) and blogging as well.

My Sweet Lord

This song is high on my list of all time favorites and has been in my head since early this morning. It came to my mind when we were following the procession and singing the traditional Epitaph "Ω Γλυκύ μου εαρ": my Sweet Lord.
In most of Greece this procession takes place at 10 o'clock on Friday night but on our island it is at 4 o'clock in the morning. It is always an impressive sight. Hundreds of people with lit candles following the beautifully decorated coffin of Christ and singing.

Whether you are religious or not, it must have an impact on you. And it made me think. How religion can be so important for many people and how many find comfort and peace of mind through religion.
And then this morning I read the post of my blogger-friend rawqueen on her blog Somethingblu about how they have a different tradition on her island and that made me think a whole lot more.

And whilst I am in the middle of preparing our feastmeal for tonight -of which I shall spare you the details because it involves cutting up lamb intestines amongst others- I felt I just had to sit down and share my wish, or prayer if you like, with you:

May every person have the freedom to choose to believe what he wants and the wisdom to respect everyone elses choice.

Easter is near

This weekend is Easter. The biggest holiday and the most important religious celebration in Greece.

Since the beginning of Lent, now almost 40 days ago, everything in daily life has been building up towards the highlight of this celebration: the Rising of Christ on saturdaynight.
Many people have been fasting for this whole period. Some only for this last week and some are fasting just the last 2 or three days. But everybody is looking forward to enjoying all the culinary specialties and festivities that go with Easter.
This last week before Easter is called "Megali Ebdomada" and it is a week full of excitement, expectations, preparations but mainly a lot of devotion. The churches are full almost all the time.
Today the children made their rounds singing to family and friends with their beautifully decorated crosses.

There is a smell of spring in the air, the lemon and orangetrees are full of blosom. I wish I could bottle the scent and share it with you, it almost makes you dizzy!

In my kitchen though it smells of freshly baked koulourakia (cookies) and tsourekia (sweet bread). The recipes are from my favorite greek cookblog "Recipes from the heart"

And my fingers are red from dying a lot of eggs. You can find beautifully decorated and painted eggs in many colours, but I prefer the traditional red.

I wish everybody a happy Easter, Καλή Ανάσταση και Καλό Πάσχα!

On a road trip with my mother-in-law

One of my items on my Mondo Beyondo dreamlist is: making a roadtrip, to drive by myself from Greece to Holland. Although I find it very scary, I know I am going to do it someday.

It is not going to happen this spring or summer because our time of leasure and freetime is almost over.

Instead I took my mother-in-law on a little trip.



Of course this doesn't count as a real roadtrip. First of all we didn't even drive ourselves but traveled by hydrofoil boats, taxis and buses and second you don't really call it a roadtrip when you travel with your 80 year old mother-in-law. But it was adventurous nevertheless.

My mother-in-law hasn't traveled a lot. The times she has been off the island can be counted. She was the youngest of four sisters. The elder three got married on the mainland and moved away. When she married my father-in-law, a local fisherman who unfortunately passed away 6 years ago, they stayed in her parent's house where she took care of her father until he passed away. She has lived in this house since she was born.

Only one more sister is alive now and they haven't seen each other for many years. So after long planning and a few times postponing, it was finally the time to actually go and visit her.

It was a long journey but so worth it. I think the picture speaks for itself.





Our visit was too short but we already decided that after the summer we are going to do it again.

A morning well spent

Well, today was our clubs turn for clean up duty. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and plenty of sunshine. The wind was still a bit chilly though. Perfect weather to be spending some time on the beach.

There was a lot of driftwood and plastic that the sea had thrown on the beach but I have to admit that there was also too much rubbish that people had just thrown down the slope. We picked up al sorts of things: little children-bicyles, some engines, half a motorbike, a pram, a broken woodstove, plastic chairs and more.

At least we were having some fun with our found treasures

But..........................................................................................................................................................

When will we learn to give this beautiful environment the respect it deserves and not just throw all our unwanted stuff in the bushes where nobody can see it?!


I suppose it will be little steps at the time and we just must never give up trying.

My new little friend has arrived!

One of the first blogs I started to follow was Time with Tascha. I clearly remember the first video of Tascha that I watched on YouTube and how fascinated I was by this lovely art. It gives me a happy feeling because it is cute and colourful.

She even inspired me to actually paint my very first painting with acrylics on canvas. The little girl I painted is hanging proudly in my kitchen but she is too shy to show herself here.

I have been wanting an original painting from Tascha for quite some time now.

About two weeks ago I decided it was not neccesary to wait for a special occasion to give myself a little present so I made a bid on Ebay and won!

And today she arrived, safely packed in a little box. Travelling with her were a lovely card and a handmade bookmark.




Now I have to find the perfect place for her. Somewhere where I can easily see her because she cheers me up.

A different kind of weeding

After a few weeks of early spring we are now confronted with cold and rain. Luckily it usually doesn't last too long. And of course the rain is good for our nature. When the sun comes out again, after a few days, you can see men and women of all ages walk the fields with a knife and a plastic bag to collect xorta. These are the wild greens that spring up everywhere after some good rain.

Where I grew up, we used to call this weeds.....

But here they are well loved and most popular in daily diet. There are many different kinds of xorta. Some are really bitter, others almost sweet.

Freshly boiled, with a healthy amount of olive oil and a good splash of lemon juice, it is the perfect companion to any fish dish. It is also a tasty filling for pies, with hand made pastry, some Feta cheese and herbs. A great snack or light meal

.

Of course it is also a good reason to be out in the fresh air and enjoy the company of some good friends, like my mother in law and her girlfriends.

On this particular day our mission was to find kaykalithres, as pictured above. They made a really good pie filling.

Lemons, lemons, lemons

It is the time of year. All the lemon trees are full of fruit. Everywhere you look there are lemons. In Greek cooking we use a lot of lemon and lemon juice. But how many recipes are there with lemons?

So I am on a mission this week: baking with lemons

I have tried to make lemon curd which turned out ok, but alas, my family doesn't eat it at all.

Yesterday I made lemon muffins, they turned out nice.

And for today I am planning to make a lemon-meringue pie.

And tomorrow? I don't know yet....maybe somebody has a suggestion?