Bobby - "Well I'm nearly fourteen years old now and even though I lost my bud, Rocky the Border Collie, just over eleven months ago, I think I'm doing OK. I'm out and about as usual, taking my humans for their walks along the sea front at Sami and Karavomylos. They need their exercise now they are retired so I make sure they have an hour every morning and afternoon to burn off those calories.
The morning walks are my favourite though. We get to the beach around 6.45am. It's cooler then. I'm out of the car in a flash. The sun hasn't quite come up and the beach is deserted. The sea is so calm with usually only one or two yachts in the bay, if any, and the sky is pale blue, not quite the bright blue of mid morning and with the horizon having the colours of the rainbow in it if you look closely (even green). Not a cloud in the sky. I'm quite an observant Jack Russell in case you hadn't realised."
Colours of the rainbow before sunrise. Ithaca in the distance.
The sun about to rise near Sami. Me and my ball.
"The path along the beach where the eucalyptus trees make a vertical blind takes me to where I like to chase lizards. It's great fun but I never catch them. I like the way they keep perfectly still so as not to draw attention to themselves. They can't fool me though. One slight twitch and I'm there ready to pounce."
Lizard country and the eucalyptus vertical blinds
See you later - I've lizards to catch
I know you're in there!
"Wait a minute - I can see a jogger approaching. I'm not keen on them. Don't ask me why - I think it's their feet pounding on the pavement that I don't like. Gives me a headache. I used to run after them just to make them go faster you understand, but my humans put a stop to that. They have no sense of what makes a Jack Russell tick.
It's on to the harbour where earlier this year the eucalyptus trees had rather a severe hair cut. It's amazing how quickly they've grown."
10th March 2019 - Bad hair day
14th August 2019
I love to run
"The great thing about the morning walk is that there are plenty of places to have a fresh drink as there are brackish water outlets along the coast here. The water is freezing at these points so I can also cool down too. My fisherman friend is out early this morning in his boat."
Brackish water entering the sea -time for a drink and a dip
"Past the beach there is a lake, again brackish water received from the other side of the island through underground streams. There are ducks and geese here and sometimes a heron and kingfisher. As the ducks and geese approach me I run alongside them to say hello. Secretly, between you and me I'm thinking Duck a l'Orange. I quite often drop my ball in the lake. I'm such a cheeky Jack! I have to keep my humans on their toes."
Emergency! - Ball in the lake!
Sometime today would be nice!
"Past the lake there is a taverna. We have to walk through it to get to the beach on the other side."
Taverna
"Two kittens! I love a good chase. Get up that tree!"
Here kitty kitties!
"I usually manage to find something to snaffle here that's been left from the night before. A little pre-breakfast you could call it. It's only a piece of bread, but sometimes there can be the odd bone or two which I like to crunch. My humans don't like me eating bones and run after me. I don't give them up though and they go down at lightening speed."
Breakfast time
The other side of the taverna
"On the way back we stop off at another little beach by the harbour. Time to play ball. I've chased lizards, ducks and cats. What is it with throwing the ball in the water though?"
The harbour
Our route back along the sea front
Yes - it's in the water I can see that - And?
By the time we get back to the car, the sun is up and the sky is blue.
"The afternoons are a different story. It was hot in August, and there was a little heatwave running across the Mediterranean so temperatures were a little on the high side in the late afternoons at 36 degrees (feeling more like 41). It's a good job I have a short coat. My humans insist that as soon as we get out of the car, we go straight down to the water where I have to endure tsunamis (as my legs are only about five inches in height) in order to cool me down. My humans join me in this ritual and after about ten minutes I'm thoroughly drenched. I've done this so often now, that as we all walk down to the water's edge, I stop on the sand and watch my humans as they splash around in the water tempting me to come nearer. I wish they could hear me say 'Really? Do I have to?"
Tsunamis (for me)
"I can see where they're coming from though so I obediently follow. Now that I'm sufficiently cooled, we continue along the beach, up and over the bridge to where the eucalyptus trees give some much needed shade and yes it's PLAYTIME!!!!
Where's the ball? Where's the ball? What - no ball? Are you kidding me? It's only 36 degrees. You'd think we were in the Sahara desert.
The best bit after my walk along the sea front is that we get to sit on a bench in the shade where there is a lovely breeze and watch the world go by."
Drenched
"Compared to the mornings, the beach was very busy in the afternoons especially in August and September. The Italians are here!!!!! I have my fresh water in a bowl by my side. The only thing missing is my tennis ball. It doesn't seem to make much of an appearance in the summer. For some reason I'm not allowed to run after it in this heat. Just to make sure my humans don't have it on their persons, I have to perform a body search. No - there's no ball.
I like sitting on the bench between my humans. I must admit to being mesmerised a little by the view of the beach that I have. Being a Jack means I'm normally constantly on the go and there's not a second to waste, but I watch everyone quite calmly, looking left, looking right, looking out to sea............what's that out at sea........ a pink doughnut? With sprinkles? No, surely not. I'd love to get my teeth into that. How far out is it? Do I have to struggle with the Perfect Storm to get to it? Ah it's just an inflatable. Silly me.
As I'm sitting there, a black and white English Bull Terrier approaches sitting in a basket on the front of a moped, believe it or not. Cool. Nice colours too. Very reminiscent of Newcastle Upon Tyne where I'm from, both in culture and in weather! I give her the upward nod as she passes to suggest I’m interested, but she doesn't even look my way - just carries on looking straight ahead. Completely ignores me! Arrogant bitch!
The other afternoon there was a chihuahua with some serious bling going on around the collar. She was interested in me but I gave her the growl - walk on. I like them grounded. None of this celebrity status nonsense.
My humans like to people watch and I pick up on the conversation they're having about budgie smugglers but I can't see any budgies? Why would anyone want to smuggle budgies and where are they smuggling them from and to? Beats me.
Some Italian ladies walk by and give me a smile. They're nice - I like Italian women. I notice the Italians like the colour blue. Blue swim shorts and bikinis, blue beach towels, blue beach umbrellas, even blue swim goggles. I am a VERY observant Geordie Jack.
Just recently, a new kitten on the block paid us a visit. It had the nerve to enter MY territory through the railings around the house and sit on my human's lap and then take up residence on the table! Whatever next? Yes it was cute, so I kept hearing but I mean, a kitten! I chased it of course but it stood its ground so in the end I gave up. I followed it everywhere and made sure it eventually exited the premises."
I'm watching you!
Mark with kitty cat
OK Bobby - that's enough, I'll take over now thank you.........
We are in the middle of October and although we've had a couple of intense storms, the weather is GORGEOUS! Sunny, blue skies and about 26 degrees. The pomegranates are ripening on the trees everywhere. I mentioned in a previous post that it's hard to tell when a pomegranate is ripe....sometimes they look ripe as the skins are red but once cut open the arils can sometimes be white or a pale pink instead of bright red. We've since found out that once they become 'boxy' in other words hexagonal/heptagonal shaped, there's a good chance they are ripe. This is because the arils inside become so numerous that the pressure distorts the shape of the pomegranate. If they are left on the tree they burst open and the birds have a great time eating the seeds inside. It's catching them at just the right time. Still no guarantee though.
So..... 'Boxy' is the word of the month.
Another thing about pomegranates is that as a child I remember eating the arils with a pin! What was all that about? I'm sure I'm not the only one to have done this. All you have to do is cut the fruit into quarters and then push out the seeds - simple.
Pomegranates abound
Pomegranate trees on the left near a local chapel ruin. Fig tree on the right.
'Boxy' pomegranate
'Boxy' pomegranate
Ripe pomegranate
We've picked a few almonds too. I have to admit to not ever having seen an almond on a tree before, never mind in it's outer soft shell. You can tell when the almonds are ready to be picked off the tree, as the outer soft shells split open and you can see the inner hard shell of the almonds themselves.
Freshly picked almonds in their green furry outer shells
The seed pods from the Carob tree have fallen to the ground which Bobby loves as treats.
Bobby munching his way through a carob pod
I've also planted some carob seeds (extremely hard to get them out of the pod though as the pods are tough) and now I have four carob trees. Not sure what to do with them as we have no room in the garden. I'll plant them somewhere or give them away. It's the challenge I like!
Carob seed pods and seeds soaking in water before planting
Four carob trees in need of homes
The garden is full of colour mid October. It's like a second Spring.
Royal Robe
Lantana
Cape Canaveral - sorry - Cape Honeysuckle (orange flowering shrub)
We've been swimming A LOT this summer and even now in October the water is warm and even better it's so quiet as most of the visitors have gone home.
We've seen a Moray eel and a Ribbon eel whilst snorkelling.....scary. We've also been lucky enough to swim with a loggerhead turtle at one of the local coves. Quite big at about three feet across, it was lovely to follow it until it decided to turn it's head, stare at me and then about turn and swim towards me! I wasn't sure if it thought I was a turtle too, so I about turned and swam at a fast pace to the shore!
Loggerhead turtle country
Mark found a sea biscuit while snorkelling. I'd never even heard of one, but have since found out it's a type of sea urchin. This one was about five inches across. The top of it looks like a starfish has been residing on it and the underside looks like a turtle. (This is what they actually look like though)
Top of Sea Biscuit
Underside
Will keep you posted!
