Watching the Olives Grow Page 14
Photo: First Red-stemmed Chard.
Like the Brussels sprouts, we find it hard to believe that roses grow so well here.
Despite the exceedingly high temperatures, they are flourishing, and even more so, since the watering system has a token responsibility for their welfare, so to speak.
The following photos are of a selection of rose buds despite 35 C temperatures.
The watering system has not only totally transformed the development of the plants and the vegetables, but it is environmentally friendly too as it uses 300% less water than the hose pipe!
During the third week of August, there was a ‘stir’ down on Pantazi Beach. Our friends Elaine and Tony were launching their sailing boat from the beach. Their friend, Mark, had towed it over for them from the UK. Tony had given it a thorough inspection, and applied some varnish to touch up some areas, and concluded everything was ‘ship shape’ following the journey.
So it was off to the beach to launch ‘Matilda’ into the turquoise waters of Greece for the first time. It turned out to be quite an occasion! I don’t think it had ever been done before, as all the sunbathers were staring.
Photo: ‘Matilda’ Ready To Be Launched.
Tony found a space where there was room to set the boat up; rigging, sails and rudder etc. Then it was into the sea, and to set sail.
Apart from it being the first time that I had seen a sailing boat launched from the beach (and not the harbour), I think it is the first time that I have seen a sailing boat in the local waters. It won’t be the last time now, as ‘Matilda’ is set to be a regular sight in the future.
Photo: ‘Matilda’ At Sea For The 1st Time.
She looks good too; very sleek, and soon to have a flag on the mast!
NEIGHBOURS
Irini and Spiros will soon be our neighbours. They started work building their house in FRONT OF Meerkat Manor in 2006 and it will be finished and ready to move into during 2014. They say that ‘a home is a man’s castle,’ or is it ‘a castle is a man’s home’ which? Whichever, their house does look like a castle, built in traditional hand-cut stone; it is very substantial and will be their legacy.
Photo: View Of The ‘Castle’ From Meerkat Manor.
Photo: Front View Of The ‘Castle.’.
Photo: Stone And Pot Features Of The Entrance.
Photo: Pot And Arch Features Of The Entrance.
Their house and the walls are all constructed from hand-cut locally quarried stone. Their overall plot is very large, and they have 98 Olive trees to the front of the house, and the elevation is just enough to be able to see the sea and the village from their upper terraces
Some of the features like the entrance wall and the side entry arch are real works of art. To side of their front door, they have had a carved stone plaque built into the wall.
Photo: Carved Stone Plaque at The Entrance.
It says:
“We are where the Stones and Olives meet the Sun and the Sea.”
SEPTEMBER 2010
September 1st and Snowball has been missing for 54 days. The last eight weeks have been very ‘empty’ without her around. We keep looking, and we still live in hope that she will return.
Meanwhile, the daily routine continues. Is it because I am getting old? Have I developed a disease? I’m a little concerned as I have noticed that I have a set routine first thing in the morning; the same routine, without variation, every morning! I get out of bed and open the bedroom door, step out and close it quietly behind me so as not to wake Valerie. I step from the cool of the air-conditioned room and into the ‘oven’ of the hallway. Throughout June, July and August, the temperature in the house during the night has not dropped below 26C so, compared to the cool of 20C in the bedroom, the hallway feels like and ‘oven’ as it is so warm. I go into the second bedroom and I top up the cat’s food and water. Then, going into the kitchen area, I change the date on the calendar blocks, and I fill the kettle and switch it on. Next I take my tablets with a glass of water, refill the glass, and put Valerie’s tablets out so she won’t forget to take them, and then I open the shutters to the back and side of the room.
I then proceed to make the cats their breakfast; a small serving of packet food with meat in it, this compared to the dry high protein food that they eat during the rest of the day. By this time, Minstrel has heard me moving about inside the house and will sit outside the front door miaouwwing until I open the door to let her in. So, I open the door and in she comes; another quick miaouww to say ‘good morning’ and then she starts to eat her food. Soon after, Owen usually follows her inside and heads for the second bedroom where I have already filled their food and water bowls. He refuses to eat with Minstrel and sits and waits for me to bring his breakfast to him; very manipulative! If I don’t take it into him, he’ll just eat the dry food to prove a point! Then I make a cup of tea and take it out to the table on the lower terrace and look out across the Olive tree groves still hoping to see Snowball and to welcome her home. Then it is time to start the watering. I check to see if we have a supply of water and, if we do, I turn the water metering systems on, then back to collect my tea and to the upper terrace, where I sit and watch the boats out at sea, and ‘drink in’ the early morning peace and quiet.
The next task is to water the flowerpots; all 41 of them. They take around 15 litres of water between them. I use eight 1.5 litre water bottles, previously filled with spring water from the pump in the village. The pots are sited on both terraces and several locations around the garden. Pots watered, it’s back to the house, and I make a second cup of tea and empty the various rubbish bins, bag the rubbish and put it in the boot of the car, along with the empty water bottles, for the trip to the village.
Next comes some respite, not from the routine but from the tasks. I take my second cup of tea back up to the upper terrace to do some ‘Watching’ whilst I drink it. As by this time, it is usually between 6.45am and 7.15am, it is still quiet and peaceful. I sit there ‘Watching’ and take in the peace and quiet as I look around the Olive tree groves, out to sea and up to the mountains.
The only sounds are usually the gentle throb of the boats’ motors in the distance (as they are setting out for fishing), the waves rolling up on to the beach, and the gentle buzz of the various insects as they continue their search for nectar and other foodstuffs, as well as the singing of the birds in the trees.
Rest over, it is back to finish the daily tasks. I drive into the village to buy the loaf of bread. I go via Pantazi beach, and along the way I will deposit the rubbish in the bins on the outskirts of the village.
The next stop is at the water pump and fill the bottles with the water from the springs. Then I drive to the Austrian bakery via the harbour.
This is a great time of day to see the village. Fishermen are loading their nets onto their boats and setting out to sea to join others who have already set off before them; a small flotilla of boats going out to secure their first catch of the morning.
The fishermen’s bar is open and serving coffee. Customers at this time of day are workmen and fishermen only. The atmosphere is very calm, and everybody moves quite slowly as there is no hurry. Sometimes I stop the car just to take it all in and I’ll wave or call out “Kalimera” to those men that I know.
Then it is up out the other side of the village to the Austrian bakery and then, after I have had a quick chat with Peter and Trudi, I drive back along the main road to return to Meerkat Manor.
By this time, Valerie is usually awake, so I make her a cup of tea and start to make breakfast, which we usually eat on the terrace, and we share the peace and quiet together.
Whilst we eat breakfast we decide what we are going to do with the rest of the day.
The only variation to this routine, for me, comes on the first day of each month, which is when I take the month’s ‘Watching’ photo of the tree.
Should I be worried about this fixed approach to the start of the day? Is it just that, a routine? Or, is it the
beginning of a development of obsessive behaviour?
Either way, I cannot think of another way of getting the early morning jobs done before the sun and the temperature rise! In spring, autumn and winter, the variation is that Valerie and I will walk together to do the rubbish, water, village and bread run. In summer it is too hot and that is why I go by car.
Photo: ‘Watched 1st September 2010 – Still Growing!
Can you remember the last sun, sea and relaxation holiday you took? Remember the feeling of peace and contentment? Remember the hot sun, going to the beach, or the pool, for a swim? Remember the lazy days; reading, eating, drinking and watching the sunsets? Well, I get that feeling for a lot of the time, and for a lot of the year. However, during June to September, there is less of the peace for me as tourists come to the area, and they can be quite noisy. Nearby, Stoupa gets a lot of British and Scandinavian visitors, whereas in Agios Nikolaos it is mainly Greeks, and mainly from Athens.
Meerkat Manor is just 600 metres from Pantazi beach and usually the only sound that I can hear during the day is the waves rolling up on to the beach. This changes during the summer months because, all I can hear during the day is the sound of people laughing, swimming and shouting at each other. This is not shouting in anger, but shouting to make themselves heard over all the others. They call it fun! – Well, they are on holiday – but I call it ‘noise!’
Agios Nikolaos is around 1000 metres away and in the evenings we can hear the ‘noise’ of people; eating, talking and drinking in the tavernas and bars around the harbour. This ‘noise’ is compared to the ‘sound of silence’ that we usually listen to in the evenings, and the reason I can hear it all is because the air is so clear in this area.
I should be used to it (the ‘noise’); however, I am not used to it.
In Ampthill (the small town where we lived when we lived in the UK) we shared an apartment block with 30 other families.
We were near to the main road, which was a bus and lorry route to the Motorway some five miles distant. There were people and traffic around us 24 hours per day and on the move (‘noise’) constantly. After some 27 months living here in ‘Paradise’ I have grown to love the solitude (no people) and the peace (the ‘sound of silence’), therefore, it is a relief when the main holiday period comes to an end, and when, towards the end of September, the return of the ‘sound of silence’ once more.
The ‘sound of silence’ is just the birds singing and the various insects ‘buzzing’ as they live their lives in the trees and on the plants and flowers, and the gentle rolling of the waves onto Pantazi beach.
I quickly became used to the ‘sound of silence’ and the relative solitude of living in the ‘middle of nowhere’ right here in the Olive tree grove. I love it, adore it even, and certainly treasure it. We have this level of peace and quiet for almost all of the year.
To put it into perspective, most houses in our Olive tree grove are 100 metres or further away from us. The house in front of Meerkat Manor that is being developed by Spiros and Irini, is empty for 47 weeks of the year. They usually only visit their house for Easter and for the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August. The two houses to our front and left are holiday homes; one is English owned, and the other Greek, and both families only visit two times per year.
To our right, there are two houses that are our English neighbours who live here, but, like us, they keep themselves to themselves, and they make little or no noise at all. No! That is not true as Eddie watches Sky Sports TV, and we can always hear him cheer when Manchester United score a goal, or hear his agonised “ooooooohhhhh!” when there is a near and / or missed shot on goal!
To the rear of Meerkat Manor, and again at a distance, are two small holiday bungalows owned by Norwegians. Both couples only visit in late April / early May and then again in late September / early October, and neither have young children, or host noisy parties! The next nearest house is some 250 metres away and is a holiday home for a couple from Kalamata. Outside of the August holiday period, when they stay for two weeks, they will occasionally visit for a weekend to do some gardening. They too are very quiet.
Some 500 metres to the rear of the house, a man has a very large aviary where he breeds a variety of birds. He is breeding Pheasants, Partridges, Pigeons, Turkeys and Chickens, and all of them are for consumption at his dining table. First thing in the morning, when it is so still, I can quite clearly hear them all ‘trilling’ and ‘cooing’ despite the distance. Actually, it is a very pretty and natural sound, and like the birds in the trees, adds to the ‘silence’ as far as I am concerned.
Finally, the last ‘sound of silence’ that I can hear is the pealing of the church bells from Pyrgos, which is 2 kilometres up the mountain!
So, because of all this ‘silence’ I will quickly recognise any unfamiliar sound or other ‘noise’, and today I did! As I sat on the upper terrace, hard at work ‘Watching’ I could hear a loud ‘munching’ sound, and it was quite nearby! I got up to go and investigate. It didn’t take me long to find the source of the ‘munching’ sound, and indeed that is what the sound was; munching! Several cows had jumped over the rear wall into the garden and were busy snacking on the greenery! There were three actually in the garden, and another two sizing up the situation and, by the look of it, getting ready to join the others. Now was the time for multi-tasking. I wanted a photo, and I needed to herd them out of the garden a.s.a.p.! So, I snapped a photo of the culprits as they munched, ran around the back of them to open the gate, and came in from behind them. I was shouting in my best Greek, “oppra!” (stop!), well, they are Greek cows aren’t they? !!
Photo: Cows Have ‘Invaded’ The Garden!
I was armed with a stick and prodded and poked them until they moved to the back wall to jump over it and make their exit.
Now I had become the real deal; the ‘Urban Cowboy’ ‘Round ‘em up and move ‘em out!’
Valerie had joined me and asked why I hadn’t shooed them out through the gate? I pointed out that 1) They had come over the wall, so they should leave by the wall, and 2) I couldn’t risk them denting the car if I herded them out through the gate as the car was parked right alongside!
Photo: Cows Jump over The Garden Wall To Escape.
Now this had been late evening, and as they went off on their stroll through the dry and barren Olive tree grove, I sensed their disgust with me at chasing them away from some fresh greenery. I felt uneasy in case they would return during the night, or early morning, when I wasn’t there to shoo them away, and I was right to feel uneasy. When I opened the shutters the following morning, there they were again ‘grazing’ in Meerkat Manor’s green and succulent garden!
I immediately put some shoes on, ran out of the front door, grabbed my stick and ran into the garden, shouting at them to get out. What a sight I must have looked; Naked, but with shoes on my feet! I’m thinking that I might have to erect trip wires with bells on along the perimeter of the garden wall in order to alert me when they are anywhere near the wall, and with ‘snacking’ thoughts in mind.
We have now had just over four weeks of a heat wave. Over the previous two summers, we have become used to the heat and the lack of rain, but this summer the temperatures have been very high and for 24 hours every day; relentless heat! The temperature range of a typical day is as follows: 8am = 28C. 10am = 32C. 12 noon = 38C. 2pm = 40C (some days up to 44C!). It stays constant until around 7pm when it will cool off a little. 7pm = 35C. 9pm = 30C. Midnight until 8am = 28C.
Even the mains water from the cold tap (in the pipes running under the ground) is warm, and so too is the sea water (29C); it’s hard to get that ‘refreshed’ feeling no matter what you do. Thank goodness we installed air-conditioning in our bedroom last year so at least we get some respite! Complaining? No! No swapping lifestyle and no regrets!
After talking about our love for peace and quiet and solitude, I have just realised that, during the last two weeks of September, we will have more vis
itors than ever, and all at the same time! Both sets of Norwegian neighbours will arrive for a four-week stay, our English friends Flo and Rod, who live in nearby Riglia, arrive to stay in their house for two weeks to celebrate Rod’s birthday, and our close friends Trish and Martin (those of ‘Big Lemons!’ fame) arrive to stay with us for five days.
So much for the ‘sound of silence’ returning!
Still on the subject of the ‘sound of silence,’ I was busy up on the terrace hard at work ‘Watching’ when I heard the ‘grumble’ of a lorry driving very slowly along the track. I looked up and saw that it was a lorry laden with telegraph poles, and as I looked, it stopped just beyond the entrance to our track that leads to Meerkat Manor. The telegraph poles were to be installed in order to connect Spiros and Irini’s house to the grid, and the sight of the lorry reminded me of the time when we had our own pole fitted to carry the telephone line. The installation process is very simple. They drill a hole that is only 2cm wider that the girth of the pole. Using a mechanical drill mounted on the lorry, they drill it down to a depth of two metres. If any stones, rocks or boulders get in the way, whilst drilling down, they use small sticks of dynamite to blow them up and to continue drilling. Fascinating!
The following four photos, give an insight into the installation process.