Emma, Ralph and Neve arrived in Almyrida on Monday Afternoon and came straight to my stall and display whilst I was selling.  Then they crossed the car park to the Almyrida Beach Hotel and had a late lunch there, Ralph and Neve heading straight for the pool.

 

It was really great to have them staying with me again and because Ralph and Neve are aged 10 and 8, they didn’t need constant supervision and were off swimming and playing in the water during the day, which left Emma and I plenty of time to chat and relax on our sun loungers.

Emma was happy for this holiday to be a chilling one… so no trips to the water park or boat trips to Balos this time.  She has had quite a spectacular year so far, graduating with First Class Honours in her Bachelor of Science Degree in Operating Department Practice.  Also, Emma and Ash celebrated 10 years of marriage with a short trip to Rome and Emma also celebrated her 40^th with a visit to Croatia with her close friend Hazel.

So a relaxing week in Almyrida was all that Emma wanted and we didn’t even venture out much in the evenings – apart from dinner at Elpis in Plaka on the Saturday night.  The rest of the time we were quite happy to chill on my awesome balcony.  We all love the beach and so most days were spent at the little cove area of Almyrida beach, near Tsunami, where the water is really shallow but abundant with waves that Ralph and Neve loved playing in.

One day we visited one of the beaches at Kalyves and enjoyed a tasty lunch at Kohili taverna there.  For two other days we based ourselves at the old ‘Swedish Hotel’ or what is now known as Almyrida Water Park – even though it’s only got one main slide and two baby ones.  However the pool is huge and Ralph and Neve spent most of their time going down the main slide.  Sadly there are no facilities for lunch at the poolside and so we had to return to the centre of Almyrida for food.

The weather turned a little ‘iffy’ for the last couple of days, with lots of cloud and consequently cooler temperatures.  There was a heatwave going on in the UK and it always has a direct affect on our weather on Crete.  For those of us who live on Crete, these kind of days in the height of summer are blissful – a respite from the heat.  But for tourists, including my daughter and grandchildren, it was too windy to enjoy the beach,  therefore a pool day away from the coast was a good idea.

On Sunday 16^th August, Emma and the kids walked down to Almyrida whilst I stayed home to catch up on stuff and pack for my trip to the UK.  I picked them up at lunchtime and brought them back to mine for a lunch of leftovers from our dinner at Elpis the night before.  They give you such huge portions!  Afterwards I dropped Emma, Ralph and Neve back in Almyrida and returned home to finish getting ready for my flight.  It was weird not to be with my family whilst they are here on Crete.  Weird to be flying to the UK before they do!  But hey, everything was happening at the same time!

Patrick picked me up at 7pm and Chania airport was rammed!  I have never flown in August and probably won’t again if this latest experience is anything to go by.  My flight was delayed by two hours which meant I arrived too late for Karen or Mike to collect me.. it was 2.15am UK time but in reality it was 4.15am for me!
Still! Here I was, back in the UK in August for Hannah and Matt’s Fabulous wedding in Congleton, Cheshire.

Karen and Mike’s Lifelong friends, David and Deborah were staying at their house too so there was a party atmosphere from day One!  Karen, Deb and I went shopping after lunch so that I could kit myself out with the shoes I didn’t have to go with my outfit.  That Monday evening we enjoyed copious amounts of Villa Maria wine (which I dearly miss on Crete!) and we all had such a good laugh discussing all manner of things – half of which I can barely remember!

The next day it was Karen’s birthday and we had an excellent meal at a restaurant in Cheadle Hulme.  On Wednesday morning we packed for our two night stay at the wedding venue – Sandhole Oak Barn in Congleton.  After we’d checked into our rooms we helped to finish off all the tables with decorations, although there were plenty of people from the florists and staff from Sandhole Oak Barn there and all we were doing was the finishing touches.

Sometime in the afternoon we walked to the Wagon & Horses public house, which was situated within walking distance of the wedding complex and was where we joined all Matt’s main family members, Hannah and Matt, Sophie (Hannah’s sister and chief bridesmaid), the other 5 bridesmaids and best man etc for a family meal.  There were about 30 of us all together.  We spent a lot of time outside in the grounds so that the children could all run about and play and we were lucky that the weather was relatively warm with periods of sunshine… although I felt chilly later on.  It wasn’t a late night – it being the eve of the big wedding and we were all in bed shortly after about 10pm!

On the day of the wedding we were all woken up at 6am by a torrential downpour but it later brightened up and stayed mainly dry for the rest of the day.  It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because the whole of the ceremony and reception were held inside the enormous barn.  It was only for the photos that nice sunny weather would have been a bonus.

The rest of the guests started to arrive at around 1pm and I was happy and excited to see my brother Mark, his partner Emma and my niece and nephew, Honey and Ted – all of whom I’ve not seen for about 18 months.  It was great to see my dear friend Caroline (Mike’s sister) and we were able to chat and catch up so much on what’s been happening in our lives because we were seated next to each other at the reception.  Emma and Ash were there of course but sadly, Zoe and Rich were unable to attend the wedding.  There were so many other family members there that I don’t often get to see but there’s nothing like a big family wedding to bring everyone together again.

Karen and Mike hosted a truly wonderful and memorable wedding for their daughter and twice gymnastic olympian, Hannah and Matt.  The venue was perfect, the flowers were awesome, the food was top notch as was the wine.   Every moment of the day was thoughtfully planned and beautifully executed.  There were canapes and prosecco after the wedding service and pizza served during the evening when live music played non stop.  Even after the speeches, when there is normally a ‘lull’ before the evening guests and music starts up – these two guys burst onto the scene, one of them collapsing in front of one of the tables, making everyone think that one of the guests had had a heart attack!  They were so funny and they could sing, getting everyone up and dancing at the tables to Andy Williams’ beloved hit single “Can’t take my eyes off you”.  This talented couple of comedians/singers got all of us in the right mood to party on into the evening and dance the night away.

I wish I’d taken more photos but the truth is, I was totally living in the moment all day long and too busy socializing to even think of taking photos most of the time.  Anyway, the professional ones will be much better.  It was a quiet next couple of days whilst we recovered from all the partying and excitement.  I did manage a brief hour or so with my dear friend Gill when we had afternoon tea in Bramhall Village, before flying back home to Crete on Sunday evening.

Would you believe I was out partying again on Monday evening at Stuart’s 60^th Birthday celebrations in Almyrida?!  A lovely meal and cocktails followed by live music from the very talented ‘Lions’ and dancing in the street until midnight.  I was all for going home after that.. but was persuaded to go up to Vangeli’s karaoke night where the party continued on until God knows when.  I stumbled home just after 2am!

The next day I collected 15 blank canvases I’d ordered from Papyrus in Vamos and then popped in to collect Debbie and head for Kalyves where Lisa had set up her stall for the first time.  I only stayed for an hour, needing to get home and prep up some canvases to work on during my selling day last Thursday.  I needed to catch up on my strength training too!  There’s just been so much going on this August and socially it’s not coming to an end anytime soon!  Next weekend it’s S’agapame on Saturday night and another music festival held at a large Amphitheatre is happening on the Sunday evening.  Bring it on! 🙂