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.  Karen and Mike would be arriving late the following day and frankly, I didn’t feel like missing a couple of days of their company for the sake of selling a few more artworks.  But hey, I definitely ended the season on a high!  I sold a total of 13 Seashell Mosaic Collage Paintings on that last day – 3 of which were larger and more expensive pieces.

Couple on Sunset Beach – sold on the last day of my season

This brought the total amount of artworks I have sold this summer to 165.  I am more than happy with this result, which proves that my unique style of art is as popular with the visiting tourists to Almyrida, as it always has been.  But to get back to my final day of selling… a tourist approached my stall and asked if I knew of someone who had a good knowledge of turtles.  Apparently a few baby turtles had hatched on the beach near the little harbour end of Almyrida!  I immediately left my stall and ran down to where I could see two lines of tourists standing on the beach. They had formed a protective barrier on either side of about 6 baby turtles.  These poor little mites should have hatched at night time.  Instead, the sun was beating down on them and I noticed that most of them had their eyes closed.  Everyone just wanted to pick them up and put them in the sea.. but most people know that there are many important reasons why you can’t do this.

One of the Baby Turtles that hatched on Almyrida beach

Anyway, to cut a long story short – I called the Turtle Conservation office in Chania and then put them on to one of the tourists who had taken charge of the situation a little, so that I could get back to my stall.  They gave advice and instructions on how best to help get the turtles to the sea.  I heard later, that all the baby turtles had made it to the sea safely.  However, a couple of days later, a lone turtle hatched – again during the day – and we don’t think it survived.  So so sad…

My sister Karen and brother-in-law Mike, arrived to stay at the Almyrida Residence hotel late the day after my last selling day.  I met them at the hotel the following morning.  It had been 7 years since they were last in Crete and that was for Zoe and Rich’s wedding in 2018.  We had the most wonderful week of great quality time together.  Apart from their first day when it rained heavily, the rest of their week was sunny and warm.  On that first day I took them to my local, Vangeli’s in Plaka for the weekly general knowledge and music quiz night.   It was early doors and the taverna was packed and we did reasonably well in the quizzes.  Afterwards we enjoyed one of Vangeli’s delicious and special burgers for tea.

Mike, after one of his fabulous swims at Almyrida

During the week we spent a few hours on the beach at Almyrida one day and we went to the far beach in Kalyves on another day.  The weather was perfect for both beach days and Mike enjoyed swimming in the sea…in fact I think he swam in the sea practically every day, whether we were on the beach or not!  Good for him!  He likes to keep fit and really enjoyed it!

Enjoying lunch at Surreal Sips ‘n Dips in Almyrida

We based ourselves for the most part in Almyrida, for a really chilling and relaxing week, which is just what Karen and Mike wanted and needed after a summer of hosting family and friends at their villa in Spain.  Anyway we always have so much to talk about!  Whether we were relaxing on the Almyrida Residence Roof Garden, at Surreal Sips n Dips, Francoise or on my balcony… we can always find interesting things to chat about.  It was proper quality time spent together.  And it felt like a real holiday break for me too… dining out for lunch and dinner every day.

Enjoying Happy Hour Cocktails on the Almyrida Residence Rooftop Garden

We had some delicious evening meals at Thalami and Umami in Almyrida.  After we’d dined at Thalami on the Saturday night, we went to Neisha’s annual Libra party held at Nikita’s.  This year it was 70’s and 80’s disco with a DJ and you could dress up accordingly if you wanted to.  But actually we weren’t that impressed with the DJ’s choice of music and so we didn’t dance much, which is a shame.  However we’d all had copious amounts of alcohol and so we were in high spirits all evening, haha!  All in all it was a truly wonderful week and I loved every moment of it!

High up on the plateau above Spilli on David’s last walk

My dear friend David has now left to begin a new life in Scotland.  I joined David’s walking group when I first moved to Crete in 2009.  It was a way of getting to know more people and familiarising myself with the local and surrounding areas.  Also, David is an artist like me and in the early years we shared 8 exhibitions over a period of 6 years in the mosque on Chania harbour front.  Happy days.. but sadly we had to stop the exhibitions because of local politics.  Anyway, David organised one last walk to the plateau above Spilli and last Friday we had a farewell lunch for him at Dimitri’s in Almyrida.  It was emotional for everyone and I will miss him lots.

We found a few odd seashells on the island at Elafonisi

Debbie and I have just returned from a beachcombing road trip.  We set off early on Saturday morning for Elafonisi and despite the Farmer’s strike closing off part of the national road at Chania, we made good time because they have opened up a brand new road that cuts out Topolia Gorge.  After passing through the pretty mountainous village of Topolia, the scenery is as wild as it gets and the precarious narrow roads run for about 5 kilometers, with traffic lights placed to allow one way traffic.  So although we missed out on the stunning scenery, this route can add considerable time to the overall journey.

On the island at Elafonisi late in the afternoon

After we’d dumped our stuff in the rooms, we walked down to Elafonisi beach and were able to cross over to the island with only one short stretch of water to wade through.   The last time we were at Elafonisi, the water reached up to chest height!  It was a mostly cloudy day but really warm and calm, without any wind.  So it was lovely to walk and explore as much of the area as we could, until it got dark.  Disappointingly, the seashells were noticeable by their absence, which is strange… For years, during my earliest trips to Elafonisi, seashells were absolutely everywhere.  But seawater is claiming more and more land and no doubt climate change is also affecting this beautiful natural environment… and it still is awesomely beautiful.

Fabulous Sunset at Elafonisi – as seen on our walk back to the rooms

We had a really lovely day at Elafonisi, despite the lack of finds and decided to head for Falassarna the next day.  We woke to warm sunny weather with endless blue skies.  After about two hours on the road we arrived at the far end of the main beach of Falassarna at around midday on Sunday.  Here we were rewarded with lots of the usual tiny colourful seashells we have come to expect at this stunning location.  We also explored the coastline further along and enjoyed another picnic lunch on the beach. On the way home, we stopped off in Kalyves to pick up our friend Ross, who has just arrived on the island.  We all went for something to eat at Il Forno on the beachfront of Kalyves.

The far end of the big beach at Falassarna

Upcoming trips planned include another trek to the glass beach, via a more doable route and we must first do a recky to suss out exactly which way to go, avoiding the gorge!  Ross will come with us this time but we are dependent on good weather conditions and around now is when the heavy rainstorms start to kick in.  Still… Debbie and I managed it last time and that was through the impossible gorge in November 2023.