It's nearly the end of March and the weather on the whole has been lovely in February and March; blue skies and very warm at times to the point of wearing just T-shirts. We've been out being hunter/gatherers again (wood only), stocking up for next winter while the weather has been dry. The rivers are flowing with all the rain we had in January which is lovely to see as in the summer you only see dried river beds. The island is very green all year round. Most of the trees are evergreen anyway but the rainfall in the winter (intense!) makes sure it stays that way.
It makes for a great dog walk, though at certain points along the way it's rather stony and covered with carpets of leaves from the Holly Oak trees which are very spiky and stick in Bobby's paw pads, much to his disgust! So at various places he can be seen limping and running on three legs until he manages to dislodge them. Note here - we do not get to remove them from his paws! It is completely forbidden in Bobby's eyes to have a human do this. If you do try, you run the risk of completing the dog walk with one or two fingers less than what you started off with. We tend to just let him do it himself - much easier.
The valley behind us in Grizata - river in full flow
Bobby loves this walk
The 6th February was an occasion here in Sami as the new ferry, Andreas Kalvos, arrived at the Port of Sami after its three hour journey from Patra on mainland Greece. A ferry used to sail between these ports but was taken out of service. We were out on our dog walk at the far end of Sami and thought we may as well wait for it to arrive in Sami Bay for its first visit. It was actually quite emotional believe it or not when it came around the headland from Ithaca. It's horns were honking as it neared the harbour.
The Andreas Kalvos arriving in Sami Bay. Ithaca in the distance.
Andreas Kalvos preparing to dock at Sami - Karavomylos behind it.
The following day we noticed both ferries, the Ionion Pelagos (which runs Sami-Ithaca-Astakos) and the Andreas Kalvos, were on a collision course for each other in Sami Bay. Just joking! It's amazing what perspective does. As they got closer to each other, both ferries started honking their horns each one trying to have the last honk!
First Contact - The Ionion Pelagos and the Andreas Kalvos. Sami Bay
We call the Ionion Pelagos the 'sneaky ferry' as it just glides in and out of Sami Bay. Even first thing in the morning you really have to listen hard to pick up the noise of the engine. The only time you really hear it, is when it drops its anchor.
As February progressed the sun came out more and more. At one point I was actually putting sun tan lotion on for the first time in more than 4 months. I just love the smell of it and it brings back memories of the previous summer, the hot sun, the cool drinks, barbecues, tzatziki, and swimming in the sea etc etc. Weird because I remember thinking at the end of last summer - thank goodness I don't have to put sun tan lotion on any more!
We had a walk into the valley behind the village and on our way back came across this lovely almond tree full of blossom.
Almond Blossom
Wait a minute - Is that Kefalonia in there?
Ferry to nowhere - You can see the headland of Poros on the right.
Heading home from Poros. Over the mountain and into the valley.
Love the bus stops on the island
Just as we thought the good weather was here to stay, a storm system (Oceanis) approached on the 23rd February and dumped some snow on the mountains as well as rain and wind. It got quite a bit colder too. No bother - get the waterproofs out and the wool hat. I love my wool hat. I know how the sheep feel. You tend to feel sorry for sheep out in all weathers but their coats protect them quite well. My hat can be soaking wet to the touch but my head is dry and warm. You can't beat a wool hat. I offered to let Mark borrow it but I think the pom poms put him off.
We had a walk into the valley behind the village and on our way back came across this lovely almond tree full of blossom.
Almond Blossom
On a walk around the village we happened to see some stones in an olive grove. One of them was shaped like the island of Kefalonia.
Wait a minute - Is that Kefalonia in there?
The stone of Kefalonia on the left
We were out walking with Bobby one day. We like to try different walks now and again just to see where paths take us, and heard the clanking of sheep bells. When we turned around there was a herd running towards us, so we quickly had to put Bobby on the lead in case he fancied a joint of lamb. Sheep jams are very common over here and it's not unusual to be stuck behind them as they wander along the road with the shepherd on his motorbike behind them. Sometimes the shepherd doesn't seem to be around at all but the sheep seem to know where they're going.
Sheep Jam
On the 20th February we a had a trip to Poros on the south east of the island. Beautiful day. We found some great pieces of driftwood on the beach here. More junk in the boot of the car I hear Mark say. Not sure what I'm going to do with them.......but you never know when the artistic side of me will engage. I've been hoping it would since we arrived here in 2016 but unfortunately it seems reluctant to appear. I have some lovely long pieces of thick bamboo, lots of olive wood, shells, pebbles, multi coloured urchins and now driftwood. I did try making a bamboo wind chime but it didn't quite work out the way I expected. I have made a eucalyptus light (about 4ft tall) which consists of eucalyptus branches (sourced locally) in a pail of pebbles (sourced locally) with fairy lights intertwined between the branches. Cheap to make and quite effective if I say so myself. I'm quite happy with it, though I don't think I'll be going into Dragon's Den with the idea just yet!
While we were walking along the beach at Poros, we noticed the ferry (Poros - Kyllini) out at sea didn't seem to be moving. The back ramp was going up and down so we assumed there was a fault with it. This was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and apparently it had been in the same place since 9 o'clock that morning! Not sure there was anyone on it, but that's one long ferry journey to nowhere if there was!
While we were walking along the beach at Poros, we noticed the ferry (Poros - Kyllini) out at sea didn't seem to be moving. The back ramp was going up and down so we assumed there was a fault with it. This was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and apparently it had been in the same place since 9 o'clock that morning! Not sure there was anyone on it, but that's one long ferry journey to nowhere if there was!
Ragia beach at Poros
Ferry to nowhere - You can see the headland of Poros on the right.
Heading home from Poros. Over the mountain and into the valley.
Love the bus stops on the island
Another sheep Jam
Snow on the mountains - Donkey Trekking Kefalonia (Grisella on the right)
Snow on the mountains above Sami
We've both been taking advantage of the lovely warm sunny weather in March to get into the garden. Since last year when the swifts nested on the bracket of the kitchen canopy (see blog posts from June 2018 & September 2018), I have wanted to make a bird box of some sort and place it near to where the nest was last time in the hope that the swifts would return this year - enter the Gourd.
I had never even heard of a Gourd before we came to Kefalonia. Just in case you haven't heard of them either, they are fruits of a flowering plant some of which have hard shells. They come in all shapes and sizes, each with different names and once dried and cleaned can be used for a wide variety of crafts including jewellery, furniture, toys and musical instruments.
I first saw them in 2016 when we first arrived, hanging in a garden in our village, then at a little craft shop at the sea front and then hanging in an allotment also at the sea front. When I did my research on them, I then found that they were great for making bird houses - project gourd bird house! Of course - typical when you want to buy one they become as rare as hen's teeth! Even the mention of the word 'Gourd' or the Greek 'νεροκολόκυθο' (nerokolókytho) - which translates as water pumpkin, leaves the locals in the fruit shop and garden centre with puzzled expressions on their faces (could be my Greek mind!). So I thought I'd try my luck with the gardener of the allotment and ask him if I could buy one off him. We don't know him by name but he does wave to us every time we pass him in Snorky. He wears a sombrero in the height of the summer as he tends to his allotment, so for this reason we have called him Mr. Sombrero.
Off I go to do a bit of bartering with Mr. Sombrero, feeling very pleased with myself that I have sourced the item for my next project. Of course, not really thinking about the fact that it's March, I turn up at the allotment and it's been completely cleared and the soil turned over ready for this years planting. Not a gourd or anything else for that matter - on it!
Buying a gourd has become a little impossible. The little craft shop on the sea front has closed for the season and there are no gourds hanging in the garden in our village.
No gourd birdhouse this year by the looks of it. Next avenue is to grow them myself. From sowing the seeds to having gourds takes about 6 months, so as the swifts will be nesting shortly in April it looks like I will have to wait until next year to have my own gourd birdhouse.
I have just planted three different varieties of gourds: As well as the bottle gourd for my bird house, I chose the Speckled Swan gourd and the Dinosaur Caveman's Club gourd just because they look great and just because I can! I'll give an update on my next blog post - hopefully they will have germinated by then! Ideally I would like to grow them up the pergola but as we have plants already planted there and the gourds take up a lot of room, I am eventually putting them in large pots and growing them at the side of the house where there is full sun. This will give some much needed shade to this area in the afternoon and evening and will be known as Gourd Alley.
I don't know how many times I have used the word 'gourd' in this post but I bet it's a few.
Speckled Swan gourd - (Photo courtesy of Premier Seeds Direct)
Sowing sunflowers, tomatoes, chilli peppers and peppers has also been on the 'To Do' list in the garden as well as repotting the cacti. Humpty Dumpty and Spike (the yellow flowering cacti) were looking a little the worse for wear as during the winter, the pots had blown over and cracked. They'd lost a couple of ears too, so when I shouted at them to pick themselves up they obviously didn't hear 🤣. Last year I had also taken three cuttings from a red flowering cactus down the road. They have grown very quickly and also needed repotting. VERY spiky as you can see in the photo below. So all in all, five cacti in cactus alley.
Believe it or not I don't really like cacti (Mark does though), but we adopted Humpty Dumpty and Spike from friends and nurtured them. I've slowly taken to them, especially as the flowers are gorgeous. Just a word here - I don't really shout at them and no cacti were hurt in the repotting process, though I was, as just the slightest brush against them left me with spikes in my hands as they went straight through my gloves.
Whilst researching gourds on the internet, I somehow stumbled upon Tiki torches. I thought it would be great to make our own for the garden in the summer evenings to keep those mossies away. Not the traditional ones made of bamboo though as that would be too easy. I like to try to recycle things so I thought of using gin/tequila/vodka bottles. How to get a supply of empty bottles? I visited the local cafe/bar and asked if he could keep any unusual bottles once they were empty. I pointed out some examples to him that were on the shelf. That was fine by him, and I said I would return the following week.
The following week when we stopped by the cafe/bar during our afternoon dog walk, he gave us a few bottles. Not having a bag on us, we then ended up walking quite a long way back to the car with empty gin and tequila bottles. We got a few odd glances from the locals, probably thinking we were alcoholics. Out of all of them, we did end up with two lovely Don Julio tequila bottles, a Bulleit Rye whiskey bottle and a Robola white wine bottle in the shape of the island of Kefalonia. I'm on the lookout for more so if you have any please feel free to get in touch (there are some gorgeous gin bottles to be had).
Nothing is ever as easy as it seems though, as I then tried to buy the 10mm wicks for them. Nothing suitable could be found locally so Amazon came in handy again. Shipped from the US and delivered via New Jersey, New York, Dubai, Cyprus, Athens and then eventually Kefalonia. All in just over two weeks. Using the Internet for shopping is great when you're living on a Greek island. Takes a bit of time but we're not in any hurry.
We just need to source the brass reducing coupler fittings, (which again has been hard to source locally and which will require a visit to eBay soon) to fit in the bottle necks and hold the wicks in place, and then fill the bottles with tiny sea shells that we've collected plus the citronella oil, light them and see the mossies fly for their lives. Well that's the idea anyway.
Mark has been busy collecting donkey poo from Donkey Trekking Kefalonia and putting it on the garden borders, planting a cherry tree in the garden (another adoption from friends which we've nurtured in a pot), painting the outdoor lights, fixing the electric chain saw, cutting up wood and making me a potting table for the garage (wood store).
We like to keep busy!
And finally - last September, I found a Praying Mantis egg sac (ootheca) on our oleander plant.
Well it's still there, has survived the winter and apparently once Spring comes around they can release up to 400 baby Praying Mantises so it should be releasing its babies anytime soon! I'll keep you posted and hopefully I'll capture them on camera escaping their ootheca.
Time for a quick Brexit - sorry - exit! 🤣🤣🤣
I had never even heard of a Gourd before we came to Kefalonia. Just in case you haven't heard of them either, they are fruits of a flowering plant some of which have hard shells. They come in all shapes and sizes, each with different names and once dried and cleaned can be used for a wide variety of crafts including jewellery, furniture, toys and musical instruments.
Bottle gourds in a local garden
Off I go to do a bit of bartering with Mr. Sombrero, feeling very pleased with myself that I have sourced the item for my next project. Of course, not really thinking about the fact that it's March, I turn up at the allotment and it's been completely cleared and the soil turned over ready for this years planting. Not a gourd or anything else for that matter - on it!
Buying a gourd has become a little impossible. The little craft shop on the sea front has closed for the season and there are no gourds hanging in the garden in our village.
No gourd birdhouse this year by the looks of it. Next avenue is to grow them myself. From sowing the seeds to having gourds takes about 6 months, so as the swifts will be nesting shortly in April it looks like I will have to wait until next year to have my own gourd birdhouse.
I have just planted three different varieties of gourds: As well as the bottle gourd for my bird house, I chose the Speckled Swan gourd and the Dinosaur Caveman's Club gourd just because they look great and just because I can! I'll give an update on my next blog post - hopefully they will have germinated by then! Ideally I would like to grow them up the pergola but as we have plants already planted there and the gourds take up a lot of room, I am eventually putting them in large pots and growing them at the side of the house where there is full sun. This will give some much needed shade to this area in the afternoon and evening and will be known as Gourd Alley.
I don't know how many times I have used the word 'gourd' in this post but I bet it's a few.
Gourd seeds with colour coded pegs
Speckled Swan gourd - (Photo courtesy of Premier Seeds Direct)
Dinosaur Caveman's Club - (Photo courtesy of Kimberly B Duncan)
Sowing sunflowers, tomatoes, chilli peppers and peppers has also been on the 'To Do' list in the garden as well as repotting the cacti. Humpty Dumpty and Spike (the yellow flowering cacti) were looking a little the worse for wear as during the winter, the pots had blown over and cracked. They'd lost a couple of ears too, so when I shouted at them to pick themselves up they obviously didn't hear 🤣. Last year I had also taken three cuttings from a red flowering cactus down the road. They have grown very quickly and also needed repotting. VERY spiky as you can see in the photo below. So all in all, five cacti in cactus alley.
Believe it or not I don't really like cacti (Mark does though), but we adopted Humpty Dumpty and Spike from friends and nurtured them. I've slowly taken to them, especially as the flowers are gorgeous. Just a word here - I don't really shout at them and no cacti were hurt in the repotting process, though I was, as just the slightest brush against them left me with spikes in my hands as they went straight through my gloves.
Spike and Humpty Dumpty at the back with the rest of the gang in their new pots.
Whilst researching gourds on the internet, I somehow stumbled upon Tiki torches. I thought it would be great to make our own for the garden in the summer evenings to keep those mossies away. Not the traditional ones made of bamboo though as that would be too easy. I like to try to recycle things so I thought of using gin/tequila/vodka bottles. How to get a supply of empty bottles? I visited the local cafe/bar and asked if he could keep any unusual bottles once they were empty. I pointed out some examples to him that were on the shelf. That was fine by him, and I said I would return the following week.
The following week when we stopped by the cafe/bar during our afternoon dog walk, he gave us a few bottles. Not having a bag on us, we then ended up walking quite a long way back to the car with empty gin and tequila bottles. We got a few odd glances from the locals, probably thinking we were alcoholics. Out of all of them, we did end up with two lovely Don Julio tequila bottles, a Bulleit Rye whiskey bottle and a Robola white wine bottle in the shape of the island of Kefalonia. I'm on the lookout for more so if you have any please feel free to get in touch (there are some gorgeous gin bottles to be had).
Nearly Tiki torches........
Sea shells
We just need to source the brass reducing coupler fittings, (which again has been hard to source locally and which will require a visit to eBay soon) to fit in the bottle necks and hold the wicks in place, and then fill the bottles with tiny sea shells that we've collected plus the citronella oil, light them and see the mossies fly for their lives. Well that's the idea anyway.
Mark has been busy collecting donkey poo from Donkey Trekking Kefalonia and putting it on the garden borders, planting a cherry tree in the garden (another adoption from friends which we've nurtured in a pot), painting the outdoor lights, fixing the electric chain saw, cutting up wood and making me a potting table for the garage (wood store).
We like to keep busy!
And finally - last September, I found a Praying Mantis egg sac (ootheca) on our oleander plant.
Mummy Praying Mantis on the oleander plant
Praying Mantis egg sac (Ootheca)
Well it's still there, has survived the winter and apparently once Spring comes around they can release up to 400 baby Praying Mantises so it should be releasing its babies anytime soon! I'll keep you posted and hopefully I'll capture them on camera escaping their ootheca.
Time for a quick Brexit - sorry - exit! 🤣🤣🤣
