To keep us going over the weekend, I thought I’d put up the last 12 unused photos from my file. These are the most recent ones and are a bit of a mixed bag. The water channel works at Ag. Marina, pomegranates, plants, the harbour, some recent clouds… I’ll try and get something more interesting over the weekend. It’s the Ag Dimitrios festival today, we’re invited to two celebrations, so I’m not sure which one we’ll be going to, probably the nearest as Neil has to get back for work, and I have to finish an MS by Monday. We’re still living under the sun, though clouds and possibly rain are forecast for later next week, there are fewer boats in the harbour, and a jumper or jacket is now on hand if we’re out and about in the late afternoon or early evening. Winter draws on, as they say, albeit gradually.
I was wandering around inside my old photos file and realised how many photos I have of elsewhere in Greece (and Cyprus). Only a few places, but for a change, here are some Friday photos from elsewhere taken at various times of the year over the last couple of years.
It’s hard to believe we are heading towards the end of October. It’s warm enough to have my tea on the balcony at five in the morning, I haven’t needed to put a hoodie or jumper on in the evenings when outside and the temperatures have been in the high twenties. Apart from a couple of rainy days, October has been very mild so far, and although the number of day boats coming in has lessened of late, the ones that come in are bringing loads of visitors. Not the same numbers as the height of the season, of course, but still…
I took these photos with my proper camera, from a distance while wearing my contact lenses. The trouble with these lenses is, I can’t clearly see what I am photographing, or if the focus is correct, not without putting on my magnifier glasses. Long-distance is fine, as is middle distance, but closer up isn’t wonderful. This could be because I think I am wearing them upside down. I’m sure I was told to have the arrows pointing outwards (they are multi-focal lenses), so the right one has the arrow pointing to the right, the left to the left, trouble is, if I do that, long-distance is blurred, and after having them for a couple of months, remains blurred. So, the other day, I tried them with the arrows pointing inwards and lo! Long and middle-distance are fine, and I can see as close up as about one foot away, the same as my glasses, and only then do things become blurred. Maybe I misheard, and I am wearing them correctly at last. Still, it makes looking through the camera a bit tricky. Thank heavens for auto-focus, I say.
Although summer may be gradually fading and life quietening down, we seem to have suddenly picked up a busy-ish week. I have godson #1 popping in later to discuss when we start piano lessons, Yiannis is arranging transport for four of us to go up to the Ag Dimitris festival in the hills on Saturday, a farewell dinner is planned for next week with some friends, we have Neil’s unofficial birthday coming up, the proof-reader needs my latest book by Monday when Godson is also in the Oxi Day parade, and the cover designer has come up with a cracking cover, so I have to get that book finished. So, there’s plenty going on, and the sun is still shining. (Famous last words?)
We saw this little chap hanging around in front of the house yesterday, just sitting on a pole waiting and watching to see what was going on.
A lot goes on around the front of our house, actually. There is some ‘no man’s land’ where the fig tree used to be, to the left, there is a ruined garden with an orange tree and a pomegranate tree, and the building opposite and below has a spectacular bougainvillaea. There’s also an unkept area right in front of us and a rickety old vine, so lots of wildlife in a small area. As the pomegranates are ripe right now, they have attracted some attention. There were a couple of ladies with a ladder, leaning it up against the ruined wall and climbing up to take what they could reach, and then there are the hornets…
The hornets seem to work a short, midday shift as they are rarely about before 11.00, but between then and around 14.00, the air is buzzing with them, darting about, banging into the walls, feasting on the fruit and then staggering off again. It’s quite a dance just below the balcony at that time of day, and they rarely blunder into the house and bang their heads against the windows. When they do, I try and put them out, or just leave them alone and let them get on with it.
Anyway… The question I posed the other day, what was missing from the photo? Well, I finally have the answer for you. Here’s the original image…
What’s missing from this scene?
And here’s the one showing what we couldn’t see because of the humidity. Either that or someone moved the entire range and then snuck it back overnight.
I managed a lie in on Monday and didn’t get up until four. This meant I was able to get some things done before going out for a walk as it got light, around seven. As usual, I headed up the road and off to ‘To Vrisi’. The engineering work on the water channel is coming on and is very impressive. They’ve been working there for months, and now a series of rock-filled cages have been set up along the base and sides of the watercourse. There is still more work to do, but it’s fascinating. The only downer is, I won’t be able to see it in action, because, if the rain is coming down so hard it needs this channel, it won’t be safe to be out in it.
Meanwhile, some of the day boats are still coming into the harbour, though not all, and some of the tavernas have closed for the season, but only a few so far. We continue to have visitors to the village, but not as many as a couple of weeks ago, and the weather remains warm enough to sit out in a t-shirt and shorts, but only up to a point. The evenings aren’t cold, but it’s gradually becoming long trousers weather. We’re in a fashion grey area where it’s often shorts beneath and a shirt and hoodie above.
And if you were wondering about yesterday’s photo and the ‘what’s missing?’ question, I’ll take another shot when the missing thing is back and see if you can spot the difference.
