Squeezing in The Last Few Beachcombing Days

Posted on May 24, 2026 by micmaryjo

It was so cold on the 1st May that there was fresh snow on the mountains. I didn’t see any Greeks picking wild spring flowers, as is their custom on 1st May and it was officially ‘the coldest start to May in 70 years!

Fresh snow on the mountains in May, as seen from my balcony

This year I planned to start my selling season in May instead of June. This is because for the last few years I have returned to the UK for the Whitsun school holidays in May/June. So consequently, I wanted to fit in as many beachcombing days as I could before I started selling.

Part of the enclosure of the castle at FrangoKastello

Debbie, Lisa and I have been back to Skaleta and we always choose warm sunny days for our beachombing, so it was indeed a lovely day to collect seashells from the beach that keeps on giving! We also returned to FrangoKastello and were pleased to see that they had opened the castle to visitors and tourists. Debbie has never been inside and was really curious to see it properly. I’ve been with friends a couple of times over the years. But we were disappointed to discover that the seahells weren’t on the beach below the castle this time. This is the nature of beachcombing…you cannot guarantee the ocean will give up its treasures on the days you happen to be there! Despite this – we had a wonderful day as it was really sunny and warm – so warm that Debbie and I burnt our feet as we were wearing our flipflops! We walked several beaches along this southern coastline of Crete and enjoyed our picnic on one of them. Debbie and I have also been beachcombing at Falassarna – which somehow nearly always has an abundance of beautiful seashells on its beaches.

Laden Donkeys artwork purchased from my stall & display

Tourists from The Netherlands took this photo of the Donkeys artwork they purchased from my stall & display

My first selling day in Almyrida was a bit of a disaster… I think I picked the wrong day! Since the start of May the weather has been very unsettled and although I had repeatedly checked all the forecasts for the day – no one can predict the sudden gusts of wind that are commonplace here on Crete. Everything was ok until about 1pm when a sudden dust storm from the south erupted out of nowhere! It blew down the display board leaning against my car and I had to lower the parasol as it would have just blown away. Dust and sand were everywhere and the temperature went up by about 6 degrees. I had no choice but to pack up my stall there and then. Unfortunately a customer asked me to keep an artwork she had purchased from me, until she collected it later and so this meant I had to hang around at Francoise in Almyrida for over 2 hours before I could return the artwork to her. I have learned that in future I will have to take a mobile number for any tourist who does this in the future, in case I have to pack up early due to sudden unsavoury weather conditions.

Rowboat under a Palm Tree in Seashells Mosaic on Sand

Sold from my stall in Almyrida this week – Seashell Mosaic Collage Painting – 30x50cms

That Monday morning was the only day I managed to sell last week because high winds prevailed pretty much every day. I do sometimes wish I had a more sheltered space to sell as the wind is my biggest enemy. Breezes are wonderful and welcoming in the heat… but the winds of Crete can be devastating. Luckily my art is built to last – strong and durable, so there was no damage done to any of the artworks that were blown onto the ground that day.
I have recently spent the extra free hours I had on creating a new Nautilus Shell Seashell Mosaic on Sand, which I am confident I will sell at some point during the summer season.

Despite the ongoing unsettled weather in May, this week I was able to sell both days but it certainly didn’t feel that warm sitting at the edge of the beach. However I was pleased to have made sales at the new increased prices. Everything keeps going up and so eventually my art had to follow suit.

Nautilus Shell in Seashell Mosaic on Sand – 30x40cms

I have had problems with my Etsy shop and am seriously considering closing the online shop altogether. Etsy asked shop owners to confirm their details and then wouldn’t accept/verify my identity, so they have suspended my shop. Aparently this has happened to hundreds of Etsy shops. I am not alone when I think Etsy is useless!

It has been fairly busy on the social front. My dear friend David returned from Scotland for a week and I enjoyed a lovely dinner with him at Dimitri’s in Almyrida. It was great to catch up and learn all about his new life in Scotland and to know that he has settled in well and is happy there. But I do miss him.

Part of the buildings inside the enormous Rethymnon fort

Some of the buildings inside the enormous Rethymnon fort

Occasionally I will take part in the Wednesday quiz at Vangeli’s and I nearly always try and get out on a Friday early doors and treat myself to one of Vangeli’s amazing burgers. I’ve also enjoyed quite a few lunches out lately as Solveig returned. It was Debbie’s birthday recently and so Lisa, Debbie and I spent a whole day in Rethymnon. We went to look around the old fortress in Rethymnon and were amazed at how expansive it is when you enter inside the fortress walls. It took almost 2 hours to see everything and although it was quite windy, (no surprise there!) it was sunny and warm throughout the day. We enjoyed refreshments in the old town and browsed the shops for a while until we had a late lunch at one of the charming tavernas in the old town of Rethymnon.

Easter in the UK for the First Time in 17 Years!

Posted on April 18, 2026 by micmaryjo

It was strange to return to the UK so soon after Christmas, when I’m used to going at the end of May. However now that 3 of my grandchildren are of school age, I want to be able to help out both of my daughters with child minding and that means it has to be at Easter. My previous trips in May only covered one week of Whitsun school holidays. This way I can cover a week each for both families. But there is a big downside to Easter as it means there are no direct outbound flights. It also means I had to book the dreaded red-eye flight from Chania to Athens again. But instead of my journey being over once I arrived at Manchester, I had a further 2 trains to catch over a further 6 hours of travel time, before my daughter Emma picked me up from Thirsk train station. The first early flight meant no sleep the night before and the ensuing total of 14 travelling hours was exhausting. So I picked up some awful bug/virus, probably covid and this considerably sapped my usual abundant energy.

Only part of the enormous gym on the military base where Emma and Ash live

Thankfully, I was ok after a couple of good nights’ sleep at Emma’s, with the added help of Nightnurse knocking me out! So despite my awful travel experience, I was able to enjoy a bike ride with Ralph and Neve and two trips to the military base’s enormous gym with Emma. Ralph and Neve absolutely love it there and I unexpectedly got to do my usual strength training workouts. Although I could feel my energy levels were not normal, I was pleased for the opportunity.

Ralph, Neve & Emma at the deserted Flamingoland

Emma secured some free tickets (again from the military base) for Flamingo Land Resort and so we all went there on the Thursday as Emma had the day off work. It was a beautiful sunny day and best of all it was practically empty of people! We walked all around the zoo first and before lunch, then left all the rides for the afternoon. The lack of visitors to Flamingo Land meant there were no endless queues for the rides. It was almost like having the place to ourselves. I doubt we will ever experience that again.

At the riverside where Ralph was brilliant at skimming stones

Another day we went for a long walk to a pretty riverbank where Ralph was truly exceptional at skimming stones! Again the weather was actually lovely and warm and we spent a couple of hours relaxing there. I had a wonderful week of quality time with Ralph, 10 and Neve, 7 years old and growing up so fast! The family have much going on this year so they are unable to come to Crete this summer. I miss them heaps but will have to wait until December before I can spend time with them again. Until then, regular face-time calls will have to suffice.

Beautiful day at the riverside with Emma, Ralph and Neve

On Easter Saturday, Emma and Zoe met half way between Thirsk and Golcar, for me to spend my second week at Zoe and Rich’s. Later that afternoon, Zoe and Rich went out to celebrate Rich’s birthday whilst I babysat Arthur, 6 and Ava, 2. We had a great time and they both enjoyed watching me cook their tea, haha! Bedtime with Ava was a little more challenging now that she is in a little bed instead of a cot. She kept getting out of bed but eventually stayed put and fell asleep at around 9pm. Zoe and Rich returned at around 11pm after several hours of much needed freedom!

Awesome photo of the Yorkshire moors on our lovely walk

On Easter Monday it was Rich’s birthday and he wanted to do a big walk on the moors. We drove and parked at the start of a popular route and I was shocked to see a roadside memorial for the moors murderers’ victim, Keith Bennett, whose remains have never been found. It is still so tragically sad and it made me really see the bleakness and remoteness of the Yorkshire Moors.

Stopping for a break on our Yorkshire Moors walk

Nevertheless, we all enjoyed the walk, even though it was a lot tougher and longer than we had anticipated. I think Rich found it challenging with Ava on his back for most of the time, even if he is used to it. The weather remained sunny and settled all day and parts of the moor did actually look really beautiful. We walked for about 4 or 5 hours with several uphill climbs and so we were all quite exhausted by the end of it!

The next day Zoe was off work and we took Arthur and Ava to a large park nearby, where we also had a lovely lunch in the huge conservatory café. There was a small fairground too and the kids enjoyed a couple of the rides. Luckily for the next 3 days I only had Arthur to look after as Ava was in nursery. What ever it was I picked up on my long journey here, certainly drained me of all of my energies and add to that my lack of sleep, well… I just didn’t feel my usual self. However I didn’t let this stop me playing with Arthur and the weather was so lovely on one of the days that we went for a long walk, looking for anything interesting for Arthur to collect with his plastic tweezers and petri dish, haha! I just love the natural and pure creativity and imagination of children’s minds…

Rich, Zoe, Arthur & Ava at our walk on The Yorkshire Moors

I had a wonderful, if exhausting 2 weeks of fun with all of my grandchildren this Easter. But it was definitely clouded by my outgoing travel experience. Next year I will have to look at alternate ways of reaching the UK and Yorkshire, that doesn’t involve so many hours of travel or such early flight times.

With Arthur & Ava in the ball[park at softplay

My journey home was so much better! Zoe drove me to Manchester airport for my one flight back to Chania, Crete. Since I’ve been home I’ve enjoyed a girly lunch with friends Lisa, Debbie, Chrissie and my dear friend Solveig and her friend Solvei are here for a week so I am pleased I got to see her too, even if she’s returning in early May. It was a very warm afternoon at Stella’s in Kalyves. Yesterday I went early doors to Vangeli’s to catch up with another dear friend, Patrick. Patrick very kindly took me to Chania airport for that awful early flight. We shared a pizza and all the news and stuff that happened whilst I was away, like how the Greek Easter was and including (as featured on the BBC) the crazy ‘red storm’ that turned the sky orange and made Crete look like somewhere on Mars instead! That’s twice I’ve missed these eerie red storms within only a year and I have a feeling there’ll be many more…

Beautiful Falassarna Coastlines Loaded with Ocean Treasures

Posted on March 25, 2026 by micmaryjo

The weather has been pretty awful the past couple of weeks and it doesn’t look like breaking anytime soon! So much rain.. but the Island really needs it as reservoirs are critically low. So it is actually good news… just bad news for beachcombing. February turned out to be very mild and you could tell just how mild it’s been because there was hardly any snow on the mountains and it is the snow melt that gives Crete much of its water.

The far end of the main beach at Falassarna

Luckily and before all this rain kicked in, we had some lovely beachcombing days. In February Lisa, Debbie and I spent a day at Agios Apostoli and visited several beaches on the outskirts of Chania. We’ve all been there before but not for a while. There are no seashells to be found but it was a lovely warm and sunny day and we all enjoyed our long walks on the various beaches as well as a picnic lunch on the sand.

The Pink Sand at Falassarna is as stunning as it is at Elafonisi

This month, before the bad weather arrived we visited Falassarna for 2 weeks running. This was because there was so much to see and collect that we ran out of time. Both days we had glorious sunny weather, warm enough to be in our shorts and strappy tops. I was thrilled with all the shells I managed to collect, including a record number of my ‘Turtle Flipper’ shells which are not normally found on Falassarna beaches. The sand in parts of falassarna was so pink it rivaled Elafonisi!

The Fortress at the top of Ancient Aptera

A couple of weeks ago, for a change, Lisa, Debbie and I went out for the day around Stylos and ancient Aptera. The main sites are not open yet but we visited a few small archeological sites and then stopped for lunch at a very busy taverna in the centre of Aptera. As it was a Sunday and the weather was nice, it was full of Greek families as it’s their custom to eat out on Sundays. After lunch we drove higher, up to the fortress and enjoyed a cup of tea whilst admiring all the amazing views up there!

One of the views from the Fortress

The rest of my time, as always, I’ve spent creating my Seashell Mosaic Collage Paintings, concentrating on the most popular designs that take more time and effort to produce. I am pleased with what I have managed to achieve so far.

Entrance to an ancient tomb which we explored

Socially it’s still fairly quiet but I’ve nevertheless enjoyed a variety of evenings out at different venues. A fish and chip supper at Bicorna in Plaka made a nice change. Dog Pound Blues played at a taverna in Exopoli that we’ve never been to before and where four of us had dinner and I loved my tasty seafood pasta… and I danced my socks off because the tunes the band played were so good! That was a great night! I also joined friends at a St Patrick’s Day gig at the Apokoronas Brewery in Plaka, where Jeffrey’s band were a blast. But sadly the bar is so small and it was packed so we couldn’t really dance. But dance again we did, a few days ago in Gyalos in Kalyves when The Vibes and The Lions played again. Yes…. I absolutely love dancing!

Popular Seashell Mosaic of Girl picking seashells, 30x40cms

I am excited to be going back to the UK early Saturday morning when I will stay in Yorkshire for two weeks over Easter. Greek Orthodox Easter is always a week later than Easter in the UK and I will be missing it for the first time in 16 years! However I will be able to help my daughters Zoe and Emma, with child minding over the school Easter holidays. It will be fun and games all the way with Ralph and Neve in the first week and Arthur and Ava during the second week. So bring it on!

Hitting The Jackpot at Frangokastello!

Posted on February 11, 2026 by micmaryjo

The weather has been quite different for January 2026 on Crete. Compared to the two previous years it’s been a fair bit colder with lots of rain and a lot less sunshine. The past two years we had very little rain and we really do need the rain here on Crete, in order to accommodate all the tourists during the dry summer months. Therefore we welcome the storms and copious amounts of rain that we have already experienced this year, because in between the storms we still have the beautiful warm sunshine. We plan our beachcombing trips around those sunshiny days.

A tiny chapel we found while exploring the coastline at Kissamos

Debbie and I and sometimes Lisa, have this year already visited Georgioupoli, Skaleta, Stavros, Kissamos and Frangokastello. All of these coastlines have yielded lots of beautiful seashells and I suspect the stormy weather is partly responsible. But last week I had a really strong urge to visit Frangokastello again. The last time we went there was in November 2024. There was nothing there then and there hasn’t been much along this stretch of southern coastline for a good number of years. Hence the reason we don’t often make the long journey there.

The majestic castle at Frangokastello

When I first came to live on Crete in 2009, I would often go beachcombing to Frangokastello, collecting seashells that I call my ‘Turtle Flippers’ These seashells were found all over the beaches there, but not anymore, sadly. Fewer and fewer seashells are washing up on other beaches too. The ‘Turtle Flippers’ are important in the creation of my best selling ‘Baby Turtles Race to the Sea’ design and at the end of last summer, having sold another 34 Baby Turtles artworks, I had run out of suitable shells to create more.

Amongst a vast pile of seashells and ‘Turtle Flippers’

However, last week my intuition told me that February was a good time to go back to Frangokastello. I visualized the main beach beneath the castle and imagined it littered with my turtle flipper seashells I did this several times in the days before we went.
It was a beautiful day last Saturday and warm enough for the first time this year, to strip down to our vest tops and later, to change into our shorts! I was so excited to get onto that first beach by the castle and I was not disappointed! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the piles of turtle flippers (among other seashells) and noted that they were scattered all along that part of the coastline. It was truly amazing and a visualization turned into reality and come true!

My abundant collection of ‘Turtle Flippers’!

The second beach we normally visit at Frangokastello didn’t yield much but the last and final long stretch of coastline was also abundant with different seashells, most notably the larger cowries, some of which were quite stunning! The whole of that long beach was interesting and we were sorry when time ran out and we were unable to stay any longer. It was a really fabulous day and Debbie and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

The shack on the far beach at Stavros

On the social front, January and February so far have been quiet with not much going on. But I’ve made the effort to go out at least every Friday, sometimes going early doors to catch up with Patrick and other friends and later, to spend time with Robert and his sister, Heleen, who has been visiting from The Netherlands for the past month. At Robert’s request I created a Seashell Mosaic Mixed Media Painting of Heleen’s beloved cats, Jackie and Bailey.

Heleen’s Artwork

At this time of year when I am not out beachcombing I am busy creating, to build up my stock again for this coming summer season. My landlady put my rent up again by over 100 Euros a month! Sadly it is not as cheap overall to live in Greece as it once was. I will have to raise my prices again, if only because I can never keep up with demand in the summer.

Accident Prone This Christmas in the UK

Posted on January 5, 2026 by micmaryjo

At 4am there was no sign of any angry farmers or a police presence, so thankfully my taxi made it through to Chania Airport for the first leg of my journey to Athens and then Manchester UK. Karen picked me up from the airport and I was back in Bramhall by midday. I didn’t sleep much the night before and so I was really tired but thrilled to be starting the Christmas holidays with my family in the UK. Continue reading →

No Clear Access to Reach Glass Beach on Foot

Posted on December 7, 2025 by micmaryjo

I really don’t know where the past month has gone.. but it seems to have flown by!
Another birthday came and went and I celebrated at my local, Vangeli’s on the Friday from early doors until late evening, followed on the Saturday by a wonderful day out with close friends Lisa and Debbie on Georgioupoli beach. It was gorgeous weather – warm and sunny all day and we rounded it off with dinner on the outside terrace of a lovely taverna just off Georgioupoli square. Continue reading →

Baby Turtles Hatch on the Beach in Almyrida!

Posted on November 5, 2025 by micmaryjo

On 6^th October I had the most amazing day! It was a usual Monday selling day and although I hadn’t quite decided at that point, it would be my last selling day this summer. Even though I could easily have extended my season for a few more weeks as there were still plenty of tourists in Almyrida and the weather remained sunny and warm. Continue reading →

It’s Been a Busy Summer for Almyrida

Posted on October 1, 2025 by micmaryjo

Despite all my best intentions to slow down on the work front this summer, a record number of visitors to Almyrida has resulted in increased sales, especially during September. I sold 43 Artworks in August and a further 40 Seashell Mosaic Paintings in September. Continue reading →

A Much Better Climate to Live & Work in on Crete This Summer

Posted on August 16, 2025 by micmaryjo

Apart from a few isolated days, the climate on Crete has been far less heat intensive than it was the previous summer. There have been far fewer heatwaves and we’ve all enjoyed lower temperatures to live and work in. During July I missed two selling days, one day when it really was too hot and another because it was too windy to set up my stall and display. Despite only selling for 7 days out of a possible 9, I am happy to mention that like June – July sales were up on last year. Continue reading →

Happy Times With Family & Friends

Posted on July 1, 2025 by micmaryjo

I had the best time with my daughters and grandchildren when I returned to Yorkshire for 10 days. I was at Emma’s for just over a week, whilst Ralph and Neve were off school for half term. I arrived Saturday night of the bank holiday weekend and so I had 2 whole days with Emma before she was back at work on the Tuesday. The rest of the time I had lots of fun with Ralph and Neve. Continue reading →

Michaela's Blog

Michaela's blog