The end of September and October has continued with lovely weather. Sun and blue skies with average temperatures of about 25 degrees celsius in October, so it's still shorts and T-shirts but it's lovely to walk around without the intensity of heat of July and August.
We went to take a look at the new Xaraka Bridge above Myrtos beach. Myrtos beach is famous for being the scene of the mine explosion in the film Captain Corelli's Mandolin and is a popular tourist attraction as is Assos and Fiskardo further north.
It's only a small bridge but it's instrumental in connecting the length of the west side of the island and the Paliki peninsula. The original road (there wasn't a bridge originally) was water damaged followed by an earthquake in 2014 so people have had to divert inland and up over steep mountain roads to gain access while the new bridge was being built. It was manufactured on the mainland and transported via trucks and ferries. The new bridge opened earlier this year.
The new Xaraka Bridge above Myrtos beach. Photo taken in October this year.
This YouTube video shows the bridge being erected. The video is only 5 minutes long, but worth watching. At the start of the video you can see the chasm left by the earthquake.
Erecting Xaraka bridge
View of Myrtos beach taken from the new Xaraka bridge
Myrtos beach. Just look at those colours! Zola in the distance.
The long and winding road to Myrtos beach
Although the actual whole beach looks like fine sand from above, it's mostly round white cobblestones and pebbles. The turquoise colour of the water is all to do with longshore drift, wave energy and the fact that the surrounding sediment at Myrtos beach is composed of marble. As waves curve along the beach they pick up the finest bits of marble giving the turquoise colour.
It can be very dangerous to swim here at times due to rip currents and we noticed the red flag flying the day we were here.
Wild!
Just to show the waves! Not sure who the peeps are!
Closer to home and somewhere that we hadn't been while we've be living here is the Monastery of Agrilion up in the hills behind Sami. It was such a lovely day that we took a picnic and made a cuppa in the camper van. Unfortunately the monastery was closed but we took a look at the little church and the remains of the bell tower. The location offers incredible 180 degree views with Antisamos beach on the right, the strait of Ithaca in the middle and the village of Agia Effimia on the left.
The church and the remains of the bell tower. The Strait of Ithaca in the distance.
You can see the monastery behind Mark but we couldn't access the grounds.
The Strait of Ithaca - separating Kefalonia from Ithaca
Picnic site
Top of the world
Antisamos beach
Just dropping in on Antisamos beach
Agia Effimia on the left in the distance
The old, the older and the ancient!
Living on Kefalonia is great - gadding about in Snorky, here there and everywhere! - love it - but it does have some drawbacks. Certain items are not so easily sourced or are a lot more expensive as the larger stores that we have become accustomed to in the UK are not here on the east coast of the island or for that matter anywhere! The capital Argostoli, which has more of a range of stores, is on the west coast of Kefalonia which is only about 30 minutes away from Sami, but it's over two mountain ranges with some spectacular drops! It's a lovely drive especially when the skies are blue, the sun is out and there's a gentle breeze blowing - which is a large part of the year!
I think perhaps what I'm trying to say is that I now look to source items from anywhere - and I mean ANYWHERE! I have come to call this - Extreme Recycling! The more I do it the more extreme it seems to get and the more I get a buzz out of doing it. Sounds sad I know. This will become apparent as you read on.....
So..... it all began with the woodburner.
Until we arrived in Kefalonia we had never had a woodburner before, so come the dark cold nights it was great to get the fire going. You can't beat sitting watching TV on a cold winter night with a glass of Kefalonian red wine or Mythos followed (eventually) by a cup of tea with a Pocket Pie (that's a chocolate wafer bar) in front of a real roaring fire burning olive, eucalyptus and walnut wood. It's the bees knees. As winter is approaching again, the fire will be roaring once more.
The only problem is that we don't have a log basket and the wood store (garage!) is only accessible by going outside, so when it's raining, Mark gets wet!
A solution would be to get a log basket but I've always thought some sort of trunk would be a good container for logs so as winter is approaching I needed to find one quick.
Funnily enough....while out on our dog walk a week ago, what should I come across but an abandoned trunk lying in a field. How weird is that? I must admit to being something of a reclamation recycler so I was so excited at my find. Mark tends to put up with my "hobby" and I could sense his foreboding when I ran up to it shouting "It's a trunk!!!!"
However, he must have seen the potential in it as he said it could work. When we opened it, it was full of empty plastic bottles, paper and other crap!
I was about to empty it (into the trash container nearby of course), but Mark, feeling slightly uneasy in case we were being watched, said to put it in the camper van which was parked nearby as quick as possible, as it was, - bottles and all. Not that the two of us looked shifty at all dragging a large trunk across a field.
Once we got home we emptied it and took a look........
It was 96cm long, 50cm wide and 55cm tall with a slightly domed top. Quite big. Strange length - you would think it would be 100cm long. Made of pine it was covered in brown tin on all sides but the back. There were wooden straps across the top with metal corners which were rusted. There was a piece of wood missing at the back which could be replaced and the locks, and latches were rusted and broken so would have to be replaced. The handles were rusted but working. The hinges were present but hanging off and not in working order so they would have to be replaced too. A strip of tin was missing along the left top side.
The inside at one time must have been lined with paper as strips were hanging off which were black with use. There was some bold black lettering on one of the pine slats at the back which read "PIRAEUS" which is the Port of Athens.
Apart from all of that it was fine! Unfortunately I can't believe I didn't take any photos before the cleaning up process!
The outside of the trunk cleaned up.
Slightly domed top - rusty latches still need to be changed.
Inside -showing the piece of wood missing at the back. The paper inside has been removed and the wood cleaned. The bamboo is just to lie the logs on.
So the first thing to do after cleaning the outside of the trunk and removing all traces of paper inside was to find (yes.....find) a piece of pine which would replace the top back piece. This we did (it was on the roadside having been put out as hotel rubbish), but instead of replacing it, Mark strengthened it with the additional piece of pine which fitted perfectly inside - job done.
Next we had to buy three hinges with screws from the local hardware shop at a cost of 1.30 Euros. It's an amazing shop which is really a tardis full of DIY stuff. It's quite dark inside and your eyes need some time to acclimatise if you've come in from the sun. We had to be prepared to walk around the store for ten minutes before we bought the hinges so that we didn't come out with a step ladder! The people are very friendly and helpful though.
Three hinges fitted and the lid fits the box - job done. We need new latches but that's for another day.
What intrigues me about finding items like this is:-
- Who has owned it?
- What was it used for?
- Where has it been?
- How old is it?
Ready for winter!
We have been very lucky in that our villa here on Kefalonia has a lovely mature garden with lots of plants in it, but I do like pots around the patio, so I've been spending quite some time taking cuttings from the garden, growing plants from seed etc to fill pots. We also have a never ending supply of plants from friends nearby (You know who you are - Gary, Elaine, Pat and Dom) which is great but I'm always buying pots from the garden centre which can be expensive - especially the large pots. Not much I can do about the large pots as I don't "come across" these on a day to day basis. Smaller pots for starting plants off seem scarce to even buy, so I've taken to sourcing these from thrown away orange juice and coffee cups from my favourite bakery - Spathis.
The orange juice cups are ideal as they have a lid and are totally see through so they're a bit like a mini greenhouse, complete with hole at the top for air and water. They just need a few holes poking through the bottom for drainage, but you can also see when the plant needs repotting as the roots are visible. They can be used again and again so I feel like I'm doing my bit for recycling especially as they are plastic.
Even the ordinary coffee cup (again from the same cafe/bakery) I use for potting seedlings. These being made of paper aren't so reusable but I can still get a few plants grown in them before being disposed of.
......and here's a silk tree grown from seed in a coffee cup.
Hopefully it will become like its parent plant.
Our silk tree
Pots from the beach.
I see it as cleaning the beach of plastic - but where are they originally from?
We have had many visitors to the island (family and friends) since we came to live here and we like to take them out and about to show them just how beautiful the island is. A lot of the time we obviously end up on the beaches/coves. As it can get quite hot in the summer months we always like to take parasols with us to give us at least a little shade on those beaches which have no shade at all. So parasols are in essence - essential. No problem! We now have a supply of them (five to be exact) acquired by various means. Whenever I "come across" a parasol, Mark will say we have enough but you can never have too many parasols as they don't last long, being a bit on the flimsy side.
- One has been donated to me on the beach by a tourist.
- Two have been donated by a hotel via a guest (Thanks Miss Smith!)
- One has been found on the beach (complete with tag)
- One has been found in the rubbish bin (perfectly OK)
Blue parasol
Orange stripey parasol
As most of the beaches near us are stony, chairs are definitely the way to go. We've been here 18 months now and still not got round to sourcing beach chairs. However.... we have now acquired two for free via a Kefalonian Facebook page! That will do nicely thank you.
Trying out the new beach chairs - Agrilion Monastery overlooking Antisamos beach
What will I find next...............?
