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!

What was I thinking?!

Today I did the most stupid thing you can imagine and it could have ended in a tragedy but fortunately this story has a happy end:

A group of my friends go for long walks in the mountains almost every saturday. Today was such a beautiful day and I decided to join them. We were meeting at 1 o' clock. When I left the house to walk to the meetingplace, Rollie, our little dog, was so excited to come for a walk that I decided to take her along.

What was I thinking?! Rollie is 15 years old, deaf, a little bit overweight and never has been on a mountain hike before. But she seemed so happy to come along that I couldn't leave her behind.

We drove to the starting point with two cars. We started walking and soon left the dirt road to continue the hike through olive groves, up and down mountains, through woods. It was beautiful. The views were breathtaking.

Here she is still with us.

At some point we came to another dirt road which we crossed to continue our path. This was where Rollie decided she had enough and took of on her own over the dirt track. Before I could reach her she had run away and disappeared over the hill.

Since the rest of the group had moved on, I had to follow them if I didn't want to get lost.



It was a beautiful walk but of course now we were all worried about the dog. We made stops at a couple of the little churches and I was hoping Rollie would have found her way back to the cars and would be waiting there for us.

When we finally returned to the cars, she wasn't there. That's when I realized how stupid I had been for taking her along. We drove back to town, looking out for her but there was no sign. By the time I got home I felt terribly guilty and decided to take my motorbike and return and try to find her. Well, to make a long story short.......I finally found her not far from where we had parked the cars.

My friend came to pick up the dog with her car and to drive her home and I drove back on my bike through the mountains in the pitchdark which was a little bit scary.


And now we are home recovering from this adventure.

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.