A Bookcase With A Secret.

Ian made me this lovely bookcase as I have loads of books needing a home. The thing is it is not only a bookcase.

We only have one bedroom here and we needed to have somewhere for our visitors to sleep. Somewhere with a bit of privacy. Where could we put them? The stable? No, only joking, really. Anyway Ian came up with a wonderful plan. Hence the bookcase.

The bookcase is at the front but behind is a secret hiding place. My hubby is not a carpenter and came across a few problems during the construction but it turned out just as we wanted it.

In the back of the bookcase we have stored the double bed frame and mattress. Its a perfect storage place for it when it’s not in use.

When we get company the bookcase opens out and becomes a room divider. The back then become a wardrobe for the guests clothes.How ingenious is that?

It halves the size of our living room when we do have guests but we spend a lot of time outside in the courtyard anyway, so it is not too much of an inconvenience.

I know that I am very pleased with it, all it needs now is for it to be stained or varnished.

Siamese Twins???????????

 

This I found very interesting and have not seen anything like it before. I prepare lettuce everyday at work. All just like this one, but then I found this one was different. The outer leaves formed one lettuce as you can see, but underneath those leaves

 

It had two heads but only one stalk.

Have you seen anything like this?

What could have caused it?

Could it have been the fertilizer or pesticides or just a fluke of nature? It certainly makes you wonder.

Well that's it.

 

Yesterday was my last day at work. The season has been very short. I have not earned as much as I was hoping to so we will just have to tighten our belts a little this winter. Ian still has a few more shifts then he will be finished too.

In a way I am a bit sad but also pleased that I will have more time for me and us. We will be able to make plans, go out when we want and just do as we please. No more working around a rota.

With us both working things have slipped a bit here so first thing is to get the house back up together again and looking tidy. Then after a bit of leisure time start again with the continuing renovation work. There is still a lot to do, so I think we will have to write out a priority list, getting the most essential work done first. Like a staircase up to the bedroom. At the moment we go out of the house, lock the door, go up the outside steps onto the roof and enter the bedroom  through the door that the lovely Geoff made for us.

This also means more time for my crafty pursuits and more blogging!!!!!!!!!

Cheers everyone!

Fruity

Not that long ago all the flowers were out, blooming away merrily. Now look what's happened.

We have pomegranates on the trees.

 

Luscious figs. They are ripening fast and bursting open. No one seems to pick them and they just drop off and get squashed on the ground.

 

The olives are coming along just fine. They have a long way to go yet though, harvesting doesn't start till around January.

 

The grapes are getting there too. Yum yum.

It won't be long before I'm picking my walnuts.

 

Wonder when it's time to pick them, how do you tell when they are ripe?

I know a man who will tell me, just got to find the time to go and see him.

Along Came A Spider.

I am no spider lover and it took a lot of nerve to take this close up of a spider I saw when taking Lucky for a walk.

It looks like it has only four legs but take a closer look and you can see its holding two legs together. It never moved when I took its photo. Its body is about half and inch round.

No wonder little Miss Muffet ran away, think I would too.

July

Well today is the 1st of July and this is what my view looked like this morning when I got out of bed.


A bit misty but nice and warm. Shame I have to go to work.

Todays Harvest

We are now getting a stead supply of courgettes, patty pans and purple podded beans.
You can't beat the taste of home grown produce. Soon we will have green peppers and aubergines. The strawberries seem to have finished fruiting for the moment but I see there are some more flowers coming. Oh goody goody.

I have been working a 7 day week for the last 5 to 6 weeks and today I had a day off. I planned to do loads of things, but my get up and go seems to have got up and gone. I have caught up on some sleep though. Think I needed the rest.

I will be having some more days off too as my sister and her husband are coming over to see us on the 9th July. I am really looking forward to it aswell. The last time I saw them was October last year.

Catch you all soon.

Out and about in Vrisses.

I know its been a while since I posted but now that I am back to work things are a bit hectic. So this post is not going to have many words.

These photos are from the village that we live in.

 

 

 

 

 

Will try to post some more very soon.

Garden news

 

Well its been a while since I mentioned my garden.  Things have been growing well. I have beans, courgettes, tomatoes, aubergines and peppers.

 

This is my aubergine. I didn't grow it from seed, bought it from a plant shop in Neapoli.

I also bought these tomato plants.  They are growing funny, only one tomato seems to be growing on a truss. Not quite sure why that is.

Some very yummy strawberries.

Some lovely beans growing up some branches. Didn't have any canes, but they are not bothered. they will use anything.

Some bell peppers

These are summer squash.

A patty pan squash. I grew the yellow one last year and used it like courgettes. Below are my courgette plants. Two different varieties.

Got to mention these again.

The walnuts are still growing strong. Think we will have a good harvest.

So all in all everything is growing well and I am looking forward to eating our own veggies again. There is something about home-grown food. It tastes better and you know what went into it. No pesticides to worry about.

Not one but TWO beautiful little girls

Today I had my first ever hold of twins.

This is me with Zephie and Aura. Just 4 weeks old. They are so cute.

This is Zephie, she didn't want to wake up.

And this is Aura saying no photos please.

They belong to my boss, Marco and Carissa.

Will definitely be going back for another cuddle.

June flowers

 

The flowers are still blooming away here in Crete, even though it's very hot and dry. The plant below grew very quickly from nothing to quite a large plant in about three weeks. It has small thorns on the stem too.

The next three photos are of a lovely flowering shrub that you see all along the side of the roads.

The last photo is a pelargonium that belongs to my next door neighbour. It has such a rich colour it looks like velvet, beautiful.

Must dash now got to go to work. Catch you all later.

Flaming June

 

Well it's June and the weather is heating up somewhat. But, where are all the tourists? Looks like the recession has taken hold here too.

These photo's where taken about 18.00 on Thursday. However Thursday is a change over day.

The photos are of a side street, the main street is busier, but there again not as busy as it normally is. Looks like its going to be a bad year.

Panic Stations.

 

Yesterday while at work my hubby rang to say that when he was taking Lucky for a walk she got frightened by a pick-up and had run away in panic. That was two hours ago and she was still not home.

My hubby is working nights and needed to go to bed for some sleep but he was worried sick about her.

There was nothing I could do but worry about her until my shift was finished. I got back home about 21.30 and she still was not home.  Ian had not slept at all. He took the car and went down to Limnes, where we used to live to see if she had found her way there.

I stood outside the gate praying for her return. All sorts of things were going through my head. The dogs down the road kept barking, they normally only bark when someone goes by. If Lucky was about she would hear them and know which way was home.

Ian came back from Limnes. Nothing. He stood outside the gate and whistled on her and called here name. The neighbours dogs where still barking, then in the distance we heard a small bark. It was coming from the olive groves above us. We took the torches and went along the top road calling her name, we could hear her barking up amongst the trees.

Ian had to climb up the steep slope in amongst the olive trees. She was barking more now which helped him locate her. There she was trapped by a fence. Ian found an opening and coaxed her to come to the gap, which see eventually did and he got hold of her and carried her down to the road where I was waiting.

Was she pleased to see us. When we got her home she drank loads of water and was ravenous. She had been missing for about five hours. The other dogs must have known she was up there and kept barking. They stopped soon after we got home.

If you read my blog you will know that she was a stray that we took in and she was named Lucky because, she was lucky to find us. She has changed from a terrified thing into a lovely pet. We would not know what to do without her now. She is so funny and has become a big part of our lives. We are so relieved to have her back home safe and sound.

Any one seen a tortoise?

 

This is Sandy our tortoise. However I think we should have named it Rambo. I say it because we are not sure whether it is male or female. Personally I think it is a she. So she is into everything, barging her way through. Boy has she got some determination. She only became active again after hibernation the end of April. Don't let anyone tell you that a tortoise as a pet is boring.  She climbs up places that you would think impossible, she can get up the first 3 steps up to our roof. We have seen her vertical against a wall and fall over onto her back and she doesn't take long to right herself. However she does get herself into some situations.

So last night I looked to see if she was tucked up in her house that my hubby made for her. NO SANDY!!!!  I looked high and low for her. Under her house, behind the blocks, in the pile of rubble, but to no avail. Then I remembered that hubby had been out to the car and left the gate open in the afternoon, but not for long. Now whatever you do don't let anyone tell you that tortoises are slow because, boy can she shift when she wants.

I went outside thinking "well if she's out here she has gone." I looked under the neighbours plants, all the nooks and crannies and nothing, not a trace.

When my hubby came in it was dark. I announced, "Sandy is gone". He got the torch and he looked everywhere that I had looked, nothing!    

"I was only out for a minute." he proclaimed, "she would not have had time and anyway she was asleep" So he started looking again.

And then we found her fast asleep under her house where we had already looked more than once, but she had climbed onto a spar of wood so we could not see her or her feet. The little so and so.

We both breathed a sigh of relief that she was safe. I was having visions of her been squashed on the road and that doesn't bear thinking about.

Oh no! Got to go just heard her falling over with a crack, Judith to the rescue again.

Mish Mash

My post today is a bit of this and a bit of that. Just to keep you in the picture as to what we have been up to in the last few weeks.

This is my kitchen that is in the making.

Wow!! Look I have a kitchen sink! Isn't that great!

Very small, compact I think they call it. It still needs the doors fitted yet, but at long last I have somewhere to put dishes and food stuff. That's some more boxes that I have emptied.

The door that Geoff (Jude's husband. cariad in crete)made for us complete with handles.

These next 5 photo's are from my walks with Lucky, just around the village.

Someone's lean-to built into the rocks.

This is the seed head of one of these flowers. They look so pretty and they are quite big.

My quilt that I hope to finish this year!!! Just about 40 cms to go so it will fit our kingsize bed.

Remember the walnut photo's I posted a while back? Well just look at the size of these walnuts now.

The tree is covered in them, as you can see from the above photo,but the fact still remains, the tree is just far to big for this small garden and it still has loads of growing to do yet. Think I can see the chainsaw coming out after the harvest!

These are pumpkin seedlings that I have just planted. Notice the sticks? Cat protection.

I am using black polythene to try and save the water from evaporating as much. The above are courgettes. I am not sure how things will grow in this garden but if I feed them well I am hoping for quite a good harvest.

Sorry about the quality of this photo, but these globe artichokes have very, very sharp spines. In fact the whole plant has spines all over. Definitely a case of using gardening gloves when doing anything near them.

Sadly the beaches are no longer like this, alas the tourists have arrived.

That's it, I think I have brought you all up to speed on what's been happening here. Got to go, have some more boxes to empty.

WILL IT EVER END???????????