Eighth week

Thursday 21st May 2015

It was cloudy with a few spots of rain this morning. We decided to go for a ride up to Afionas. Joan and John were just passing the end of our lane as we were leaving, so they joined us. 

Walking up - Poppy pulled Phil.

We had lunch at Anemos.

 Looking out over Gravia and the most photographed telegraph pole ever.

Gravia - the island Phil sailed around

Then back to Arillas to watch a wedding on the beach. We took Poppy for a quick swim first, as we didn't think the bridal party would appreciate her dropping her sticks at their feet or shaking her wet fur over the bride's dress.

Here comes the bride

Lovely setting for it.

After the wedding all the party got on a coach and were taken to San Stefanos to go on a boat trip to cut the wedding cake. Then back to Marina Hotel for a reception. I was so pleased the weather cheered up for their very special day.

Dave Smith and Poppy.

We called at Sharon's for a drink and Poppy found a new victim to throw sticks for her.










We decided to go to Thomas Fish Taverna for our evening meal. It was the first time Phil and I have been there as we are not great fish lovers (apart from Haddock, chips and mushy peas). I had Sword fish, which was delicious, Dot had Monk fish and Phil had Chicken. Dot loved seeing Thomas family as her and Bill used to go quite often when they lived in Arillas and have watched the children grow up.


Friday 22nd May 2015

Cheeky

Dot and I had a drive into Acharavi today, as she wanted some things from the Pharmacy. We had a wander around, and stopped off for a light lunch in a Bakery. Called at the UK shop for some sausages and then came back to Arillas for yet another quiz in the Malibu. We did quite well and came 3rd. Stayed in tonight I am feeling much better but Phil still has a cough which is keeping him and me awake at nigh

Saturday 23rd May 2015

We walked down to the beach, Poppy had a good swim. Such a shame there is so much sea weed along the shore. It is really thick on the right side of the jetty, not quite so much on the left.

When we got to Sharon's I really thought Poppy was going to jump into the pool to help the two guys with their ball. 

It was Lezec's  birthday today, so there was a BBQ and a birthday cake for him. Darren was the chef, he is a great chef. It was a lovely day enjoyed by all.







Sunday 24th May 2015

Lateish breakfast then Phil went to watch the Grand Prix while Dot and I had a wander down the hill, we stopped off to talk to lots of friends. We stopped off and had a drink at Ammos with Janis.

I am still not sure if I like the Mermaid, but it was a lovely gesture from Jean Walsh to donate it to Arillas.

We went to Portofino this evening and met up with June and Malcolm who are here for 5 months. Malcolm has had his leg amputated because of complications with his diabetes. He has done really well mastering his new leg, he was determined to get to Arillas this Year. You can see his mobility scooter outside.

Monday 25th May 2015

Some new lines and posts have appeared down by the beach, opposite Sharon's, It is the new taxi rank,













Phil had a bad night again, so we had a lazy day again. I had a message from Larissa with this beautiful photo - I just want to cuddle him so much.




Tuesday 26th May 2015

Dot went out with her friend Sheila today.

Phil and I cleaned the van, the solar panel and windows were very dirty. When it rains here it leaves dusty brown rings on everything.

We had a video chat with Gary and Anja today, they had more sunshine than we did.

I made a Chicken carbonara for tonight, it was delicious.


Wednesday 27th May 2015

Very dull this morning, looks like it will rain. The garden is looking very pretty and could do with a drop to freshen it up.

Still lots of Lemons

We had a busy day (for us). We went down to Sharons for lunch and then a quiz, we were joined by John and Joan. We came a very respectable 2nd and won some Rose wine. Well done our team the 'Richard Craniums' This evening we went to the Rainbow to hear 'The Worried Men' for the first time this year. It was a brilliant night, and we met up with lots of friends, John, Joan, Brenda, Janis, Rachel and family, Wendy and Stuart. Sandy was there too with her 97 year old father Eric, they were enjoying their last meal before they return to the UK. He is a wonderful old gentleman.

I couldn't resist adding this one

Sunset tonight taken by Anemos Afionas.

End of our 8th week only another four and a half weeks left here.

Seventh Week

Thursday 14th May 2015

24 deg today. Still not 100% -just had a lazy day, laid in sunshine in the garden, reading and doing my Sudoku, while Phil took Poppy down the front for a swim. We went over to the Marvel for dinner a couple of glasses of wine and back for an early night.

Friday 15th May 2015

Our lovely friend Dot arrived today to stay in her 'Private, exclusive, luxury apartment' - she just loves staying here, and has a better night's sleep than at home.  

We are so pleased she has made it here for her holiday, as she has been very poorly for the last few weeks, we are hoping the sunshine and relaxing will make her much better. She has Polymyalgia Rheumatica. (Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) causes pain, stiffness and tenderness in large muscles, typically around the shoulders, upper arms and hips. The cause is not known. Treatment with steroid tablets usually works well to ease symptoms. You need to take a low dose of steroid each day to keep symptoms away.)

We had lunch at Portofino, our friends Sheila and Keith joined us. Then the five of us went across to Sharons for a quiz afternoon. Some really tough questions today!

Dot, Phil and I came back to the apartment and had good old fashioned Scrambled eggs tonight. Dot was really tired so we tucked her up in bed in the Campervan after a medicinal glass of Tia Maria.

Saturday 16th May 2015

35 °Today  Dot had a good night's sleep, longest she has slept for weeks, she got up at 9am. but I think she was exhausted from her journey and with not being very well either. Phil has been coughing quite a bit in the night so Dot and I went shopping to Sidari. We even had a Breakfast at 'Talk of the Town' - it was delicious  and very friendly owners. We were chatting to Tim and his Greek colleague, (didn't get his name - maybe Spiros or Kostas). Also his father was there too, lovely fit old man and his son said 'He is the 'full hundred', which I took to mean he was 100 years old, but another Greek friend explained that this saying means he has all his marbles still. I didn't think daddy looked 100, especially when he got on his motorbike to ride off round the town. We will certainly go back - maybe for an evening meal. They have some superb write ups on Trip Advisor. 

When we got back from Sidari, Phil said the landlady, Eleni, from the apartments upstairs had been with a bottle of wine just to say sorry. I had messaged her to tell her that one of the shutters had been banging all night in the wind. I wasn't complaining, I was just informing her to save it destroying itself.  What a lovely lady she is. I bet the wine will be nice too.

We went to Portofino again this evening.


Sunday 17th May 2015

28°Today 

Here are a couple of shots taken while walking down the hill.

We decided to go down to the Malibu  to join our friend Paul Roberts who is an avid Grimsby town fan. They were playing Bristol Rovers at Wembley, unfortunately Grimsby lost. Neither of us really watch football, but we couldn't resist watching Grimsby's most important match - oh well always next year! The Pina Colada cocktails were very nice. 

There is another new shop in Arillas, Tina opened her dress shop this evening. Here she is with George cutting the ribbon, Quite an opening party was going on as we walked by. 

This evening we went up to Kaloudis to eat and join in with the Quiz. We joined Paul and Tracey + 2 of their friends, Phyllis and John. Billy Kaloudis is such a laugh as quizmaster but we have difficulty understanding some of his Greek sounding English. We did actually win, but the prize was a Breakfast for 2 people. So Phyllis and John had it.

Monday 18th May 2015

Another beautiful day, another quiz.

This time at Malibu with Dave Smith as quizmaster in aid of the Animal charity  Great fun, we didn't win - I think we were 3rd.

After the quiz Dot returned to the apartment as she was feeling a little off colour. Phil and I had a wander down to have a drink in the Coconut and then on to Sharons. We met up with Joyce and Cliff. Then we all went back up to our balcony, via the Pizza place.We sat and chatted, eating and drinking - was a good night.

Tuesday 19th May 2015

It is the 34th anniversary of my fathers death - still no easier, I miss him so much and would have loved to show him his Great, great grandson.

 I walked down to the other new shop in Arillas, the Hair and beauty shop and had a lovely pedicure. The only downside was the highly perfumed massage lotion, but the mossys loved it. I now have five bites grrrrrrr.

This evening we went to the Rainbow as Neill had arranged a fun darts night. It was raining when we arrived, then thunder and lightening for about 10 minutes. 

When it stopped there was a Rainbow, I took a photo of it and Jimmy and Vicky's daughter Natsika posed for me - she is so pretty and has a lovely smile. We had a good night and finally left at 3am.

Wednesday 20th May 2015

 We walked to the beach, and took Poppy for a swim. Then yet another quiz at Sharon's pool bar, our team were 5th out of five, none of us knew the football answers, and some other really obscure ones. Stayed in tonight and had bangers and mash - and an early night.

Time seems to be racing by - it is the end of our 7th week- we don't seem to have done much the last couple of weeks with having this Flu/virus/cold or whatever it is that half the people in Arillas have. We are both feeling much better now though. 

Sixth week

Thursday 7th May 2015

 28° today - I called at Hippopots http://www.hippopots.com/ for some items we had ordered -

These are for Sandra as she collects items for her kitchen with the Union Jack on. We joked that this is the modern version of Hilda Ogden's flying ducks.

Then I went up to Kaloudis to sit in the sun with Sandra and Carol, we all went for a swim too.









This evening we went to Armourada for a meal in their beautifully refurbished restaurant. I asked Leon if I should wipe my feet before entering - but he said 'Tis OK'   Food was superb as usual.

New ramp in the entrance

After the meal Phil and I walked back to the Marvel for a nightcap. Sue and Frank were there and we ended up by having several nightcaps, putting the world to rights and watching the election results being announced. I can't believe it is three weeks since they arrived, Sue always looks stunning but her holiday has really done her good after her Quadruple by-pass operation. It was gone 2am when we left. It was a fantastic evening with great friends.

Friday 8th May 2015

29° Today, Sandra and Carol arrived with a doggy bag of items they have not used, taking pity on us poor pensioners lol. We all went to Sharon's for a quiz this afternoon, we teamed up with Kes and Kath again. There were some good thought provoking questions - Malcolm is a great question master. We didn't come last - but not in the top 3.

Well it was  29°

We had to say goodbye to our four team mates as they were all flying home this evening. I am so pleased Sandra and Carol liked Arillas - I am sure they will be back. They wanted to do a trip to Paxos and Antipaxos, but there were not enough people wanting to do it, so it was cancelled. Maybe next time. Phil and I stayed in and had a relaxing evening. I watched the last episode of Poldark, at long last - it was so sad, was really blubbing at the end. It has left it wide open for the next series though.

My sister in law Helen, sent me this photo of her and a colleague. They work in a Tesco garage, this is how they celebrated VE day.

Apparently Cleethorpes had the honour of lighting one of the beacons, I would have loved to have been there to see that as it was on 'Ross Castle' - a favourite place of ours when we were kids, to play on.

Saturday 9th May 2015

Phil is full of 'Man flu' bless him - he slept 12 hours last night, and then went for another couple of hours this afternoon. I think I will be getting it soon - my throat is sore and glands are swollen.

 I walked round the garden and took a few photos - everything is looking lovely.

Bottle brush tree-Persimmon

Loquats

Wisteria peeping out under the arch.

Today I was reading about local wine (well I would, wouldn't I).

The Theotoky Estate

I came across a website for The Theotoky Estate and found that they have a fantastic Library - I would be in my element here -
Wine and books - it is not too far from us so we may visit it.

http://www.theotoky.com/

http://www.theotoky.com/library-theotoky-estate/

I loved reading about the Olive oil and wine
- this extract made me smile:-


Preferred by James Bond.
Theotoky wine received a unique (and unsought!) accolade - specifically named as his preferred tipple by none other than Her Majestys' Secret Agent, James Bond (Roger Moore), in "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), made on location in Corfu asked if he would like to drink some white wine Bond says, "If you'll forgive me, that's a little too scented for my palate. I prefer the Theotaki Aspro (sic)". He meant, of course, the "Theotoki aspro" i.e. "Theotoky white".If it's good enough for 007, why not follow suit and select Theotoky fine wine!007 prefers Theotoky white!

Stayed in tonight , Phil didn't want a full blown meal, he had scrambled eggs and I had an omelette and jacket potato with home made coleslaw. Early night for both of us after I had a quick look at this evening's webcam - I think it looks spectacular - there was thunder and lightening over Mathraki Island - it missed us though.

Sunday 10th May 2015

26° sunny, with periods of cloud, almost looked like it was going to rain, but it didn't. I cooked one of Lauras UK Gold sausage rings today, we had sausage butties for lunch and sausage, new potatoes,  peas and sweetcorn for our evening meal. Phil went across to the Marvel to watch Hamilton loose the Grand Prix while I stayed in for a bit of a pamper session and to have a read.

 A friend of ours daughter, Laurie Belshaw took this beautiful photo of the sunset in arillas tonight - I just had to share it here.









We are still feeling rough so another early night for us.


 I did get a couple of photos from Larissa that cheered me up. Archie seems to change with every photo.

Monday 11th May 2015

24° I had a really rough night, hardly slept a wink, got up twice for a drink and paracetamol. Lazy day again.

I got another photo of Archie he is so gorgeous just look at those kissable chunky cheeks. Laid back, happy baby in his granddads arms.

Here is one of Larissa - his mum - when she was 3 months old - the resemblance is uncanny.

Stayed in tonight and had Pizza and Greek salad. Washed down with a rather nice Greek red wine at 5 euros for 1 1/2 litres - pushing the boat out.

Tuesday 12th May 2015

Put some laundry in the washing machine today, stepped outside on the balcony to read. After about five minutes there was a shout from Phil, the machine was leaking. 5 buckets of water mopped up! We just don't need that, especially as we were not feeling 100%. Our landlady Vasso arrived - she said it was the filter, she took it out put it back and it is working perfectly now. We have a lovely clean floor! We went to Portofino this evening, mainly to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Joy and Cliff popped in to say hello, Cliff had been in bed all day unwell. Spiros is poorly too, it seems it is not just us - looks like there is a virus going round. We only ate half our meal, Poppy had a nice treat for supper. Home by 10pm for Honey & lemon to wash down some more Paracetamol.

Wednesday 13th May 2015

Still feeling rough, so not much to report today. I had a lie on a sunbed for an hour, Ann and John our neighbours have arrived and John came to say hello.I have been invited to submit my blogs for a competition. It has to be between 500 and a 1000 words, so I have entered our 2014 journey for the May competition and will send my 2015 journey for the June one. Fingers crossed but I am up against some tough competition as there are some published authors submitting entries. My blogs were never really intended for publication, just to keep family and friends up to date with our holiday.  I got to look back on some photos so here are a few not posted yet! 

This is Tia a pretty little dog, our friends Danielle and Will have adopted. Tia was found abandoned by the side of the road.

Neither Phil or myself drink beer, we know lots of our friends rave about Mythos but we just don't like the taste. We saw this in a local supermarket and thought we would try it - but no - not for us.

A while ago Fox, the Marvel puppy escaped and made for our balcony to play with Poppy.

This is about the halfway point in our Arillas stay, I must say the weather has been glorious almost wall to wall sunshine, with a few little clouds and a smattering of rain. So different from last year it is much warmer and drier.