Beachcombing Season Off to a Great Start in 2024

The weather for the remainder of January was mostly fine, sunny and warm and so my beachcombing season has started with much enthusiasm.  Having said that though, Debbie and I were disappointed to find very little at Georgioupoli in January.  However I did stock up on the specific small flat grey pebbles which I use for the walls and steps in my cat designs.  Last summer alone I sold 25 of them!

The beautiful pastel colours of dusk on Kalyves beach

The beautiful pastel colours of dusk on Kalyves beach

We had a wonderful day staying local in Kalyves where we found lots of lovely seashells on the first beach and glass and more pebbles for my cat designs on the long far beach. It was sunny and hot all day long and as the light started to fade, we sat on a bench at the edge of the beach and watched the moon come up over the sea.  The colours were spectacular and my photo doesn’t begin to capture the sheer beauty of it all.

When Ross came over for a visit he joined Debbie and me for a full day at Stavros and also at Bali.  There wasn’t much to collect at Bali but it’s such an

Late afternoon on Stavros Beach, Chania

Late afternoon on Stavros Beach, Chania. One of Debbie’s beautiful photos.

interesting place and Ross had never been there – even though he has been coming to Crete regularly for 18 years.  So we showed him all around, taking in the four beaches and enjoying our picnic lunch at the little harbor.  In the afternoon we decided to see if we could find some new beaches to explore on the way back.  Halfway between Bali and Rethymnon, we took a turn off the highway at Skaleta and came upon a strip of sandy coastline we’d never seen before.  It certainly was a long, sandy beautiful beach and about halfway along it – we started finding lots of beautiful seashells and ocean finds.  Unfortunately we ran out of time and daylight to complete our search of this beach and vowed to return to it soon.

Our new beach discovery at Skaleta

Debbie’s photo of our new beach discovery at Skaleta

A recent trip to Falasarna with Debbie also proved to be a bountiful one.  Falasarna rarely disappoints and there are several beaches to explore on this coastline – all yielding a huge variety of seashells, so many of which I use in my Seashell Mosaic Painting Collages.  It is great news that there are many more seashells on the beaches this year, than were there last year.

Starting to loose the light, collecting seashells on the beach at Skaleta

Starting to loose the light, collecting seashells on the beach at Skaleta

From early January I have been working on my stock in earnest.  I didn’t produce anything in November or December last year and I cannot hope to replace all the artworks I sold last summer.  But I am just happy to put in all the hours that I have and create what I can until my summer selling season starts again.  A relatively new design of a young girl picking seashells off the beach, has sold well on Etsy and even better as a new design from my beach stall last year.  So instead of trying to produce this larger design during my already busy summer months, I am aiming to create at least 3 of these artworks during this winter.

Shells I collected at Falasarna

Shells I collected at Falasarna

Debbie and I have booked to stay in Elafonisi for a night.  Early March is the earliest we could find somewhere open.  We never have enough time to explore the whole of Elafonisi because at least 5 hours is taken out of our day in travelling to and from this beautiful and unspoilt paradise on the southwest coast of Crete.  The last few years we haven’t been able to visit it until May and by then it’s already really too late to collect the best finds.  I was desperate to go during the winter months and we are both very excited to be able to explore Elafonisi for 2 days.

Sunset at Falasarna - another of Debbie's fab photos

Sunset at Falasarna – another of Debbie’s fab photos

Socially there have been one or two really good nights out during the past month or so.  I had a great evening at Vangeli’s a couple of weeks ago, a New Moon Charity Dinner with live music at Gyalos in Kalyves and an ‘open mic’ night at The Donkey Café in Vamos, where Ross played.  Almyrida might be like a ghost town in the winter, but there are still plenty of social events being organized in the surrounding areas through the winter.

Seashell Mosaic Painting Collage - 30 x 40cms - available to purchase from my Etsy shop

Seashell Mosaic Painting Collage – 30 x 40cms – available to purchase from my Etsy shop

We have had one or two storms and heavy rainfall so far in February, but not much really… I think we’ve had another mild winter so far.  Saturday is forecast to be 18 degrees and sunny again, when it looks like we will be revisiting our newly discovered beach at Skaleta.  Tomorrow may not be so good as we are expecting rain for the next 3 days.  But I am still going on David’s walk from Stylos and will no doubt enjoy a hearty late lunch afterwards.

 

 

A Memorable Month in the UK as Granddaughter Ava is Born

This Christmastime I booked an extra week in the UK in order to be there when my fourth grandchild was born – due date 11th December.  However, babies have a habit of coming into the world when they are good and ready… and little Ava decided to keep us all waiting…

When I arrived in Manchester on 2nd December I planned to stay a few days with Karen and Mike and visit some friends in the area too.  We had dinner in Bramhall Village that first night and then on Sunday evening I went to Caroline and Tony’s for dinner.  It was great to catch up with them after goodness knows how long… a natural consequence of choosing to live my life on Crete all these years.  But it does make these brief get-togethers all the more poignant and precious.  It was  the same with Gill and Rick the following night.  Dinner at theirs was lovely and full of all the news we each had to impart.  But more importantly – these are friends who make no demands and who – despite the few and far between visits – slip in and out of my life effortlessly, yet without losing any depth and meaning to the long history of our friendships.

With Arthur enjoying brunch out at the Farm restaurant

With Arthur enjoying brunch out at the Farm restaurant

Karen and Mike are also like this for me… and so much more…not just family but close friends too.  This is why the first few days of my stay in the UK every year at Christmastime, will always be spent at their home.  These 5 days were filled to the brim with the hospitality and kindness of my wonderful friends and my dearest sister and brother-in-law.

With my daughter Zoe’s due date looming, I left Bramhall for Golcar in Yorkshire on the 7th December, thinking that if the baby arrived early, at least I would be on hand to take care of my Grandson Arthur.  I was at Zoe and Rich’s for 12 days and still my unborn granddaughter was in no hurry to come into the world.  It was reaching the point where – if I didn’t go to Emma and Ash’s soon – I would not be seeing my other 2 grandchildren, Ralph and Neve.  They were all going to Shrewsbury to spend Christmas with Ash’s parents.  So I took the train to Thirsk on the 18th December.

In the woods with Ralph and Neve

In the woods with Ralph and Neve

I was at Emma’s less than two days when Zoe finally went into labour.  Luckily they had a back-up plan for Arthur and beautiful baby Ava was born on December 20th , weighing in at a healthy 8lb 5oz.  In the end – as with all things in the Universe  – Ava came into our world at the absolute perfect time.  It was also right and fitting that Zoe and Rich should have those first few days together, alone in their little family unit.

Love this filtered photo Emma took of us!

Love this filtered photo Emma took of us!

So I stayed on at Emma and Ash’s until Christmas Eve. Although Ralph and Neve were at school right up until the Friday, we still had plenty of time to play.  I went to their little primary school to watch Ralph in a dance and mime presentation and the local church where the school held a special service, with all the children from reception class upwards taking part in the singing.  It was lovely to watch and listen to and the atmosphere was very Christmassy!

Newborn Ava with her big brother Arthur

Newborn Ava with her big brother Arthur

On the Saturday we all went for a long walk through the woods.  Luckily it wasn’t raining and the fresh air was a welcome change to being indoors.  It is quite bizarre but I have noticed that the weather in the two parts of Yorkshire where my daughters live – is different in so far as it appears to be much nicer in North Yorkshire than it is in West Yorkshire.  Afterwards we went straight to a charming pub restaurant for an early dinner.

Emma, Ash, Ralph & Neve

Emma, Ash, Ralph & Neve

Following day was Christmas Eve and in the morning I caught a train back to Huddersfield.  I was so excited to meet my 4th and last grandchild.  Ava is just perfect… so beautiful and so cute and I just could not get enough of her!  Arthur was wonderful with her… gentle and so loving, happy to be her big brother.  We had a quiet Christmas Day apart from a walk to the local pub for a glass of wine whilst the turkey was in the oven.  The next few days I spent playing with Arthur and enjoying baby Ava… just being in my arms or sleeping peacefully on my chest.  I’d forgotten how relaxing and calming it is to have a sleeping baby on you….

At the local pub on Christmas Day

At the local pub on Christmas Day

Rich drove me back to Stockport on the morning of the 28th.  My brother and his son, Ted were driving up from London for a flying visit.  I had not seen Mark since he came to Crete for 10 days in September 2020 and it’s even longer since I saw my nephew Ted.  As is usual at this time of year, Karen and Mike had a houseful of family guests and so the atmosphere was buzzing!  Mark and Ted arrived not long after I’d returned and we all spent the rest of the day and evening chatting, laughing, drinking, enjoying  a huge Chinese takeaway and playing Sjoelen – a Dutch game we used to play as kids!!

Mike drove me to Manchester airport on 30th in time for my flight back to Athens at 12noon.  Karen and Mike were also flying out of Manchester later in the day, to spend New Year and a couple of weeks at their villa in sunny Spain.  David picked me up from Chania airport and I arrived back home for just after 11pm.  We went to the New Year’s Eve party at my local Vangeli’s in Plaka and had a real blast!  It really was a great night with everything thrown into the mix….lots of people/friends, food, bubbly, live music, dancing, fireworks…the works!  Couldn’t have asked for more.

At the small port in Almyrida - Greeks celebrating the Epiphany

At the small port in Almyrida – Greeks celebrating the Epiphany

The next afternoon, a little hungover from our New Year’s celebrations, David and I went for a walk along the beaches in Almyrida, to clear our heads and the cobwebs away.  Since my return to Crete, the weather here has been wonderful, just as it was this time last year.  Every day so far has been warm and sunny with bright blue skies.  Today the Greeks celebrate the Epiphany in a special and unique way and it is called ‘the great blessing of the waters’.  At the little port of Almyrida, the Padre throws a cross into the sea and some of the local men and boys dive in to retrieve it.  I was doing my power walk and of course I got side-tracked as I reached the beach in Almyrida and saw all the people who had gathered to watch this traditional spectacle.  It was 22 degrees and felt really quite hot while we all chatted in the sunshine.  Afterwards everyone headed to Hassan’s or Franscoise for coffee and finally I power walked back up the hill to Plaka, some two hours later!

View from my balcony every day since I returned to Crete!

View from my balcony every day since I returned to Crete!

 

 

Spending Time with Visiting Friends and Making Some New Ones!

I am sitting comfortably on my balcony writing up this post and reflecting on these past weeks.  It’s the middle of October and it’s a gloriously sunny and warm day.   October appears to be making up for the disappointing weather we had in September, as it has been like this for most of the time so far.  During September I had 2 ‘no sales’ days because of the weather.  On one particular day I went down to set up my stall only to find the sea had flooded the centre of Almyrida!  Consequently and for various other reasons, September sales were as disappointing as the weather. Continue reading

August is Always a Good Month for Sales

We have been very lucky not to have experienced any further serious heatwaves since I last wrote in this blog.  I know other parts of Europe and particularly Spain, have suffered with very high temperatures during August.  For the most part though, I have been comfortable on my selling days at the edge of Almyrida beach and this is all due to the constant breezes coming off the sea. Continue reading

The New Norm – Learning to Cope With Frequent Heatwaves

We are in the middle of a heatwave being experienced all over Europe and other parts of the world.  It seems to be dragging on and on…  My heart goes out to all the people and wildlife affected by the wildfires raging across the Greek islands and other parts of the world.  Sadly this is going to be normal from now on, as the direct consequences of mankind’s total abuse of our planet and world governments’ refusal to do anything or make the necessary changes – despite knowing about climate change for many many years. Continue reading

An Old & Dear Family Friend Comes to Crete for a Visit

It’s no surprise that I had a really lovely time in the UK.  The first week of my two week visit  I stayed with Emma, Ash, Ralph and Neve in Thirsk, Yorkshire.  The weather was OK this time – better than last year with more sunshine and higher temperatures.  The weather I left behind in Crete was still very unsettled and unusual for the time of year.  So I was most pleased and surprised that for the duration of my two week visit, the sun shone for most days and we didn’t get any rain! Continue reading

My Blog is Now 10 Years Old.. But I’m Too Busy Living my Life to Write About it!

It’s been a good long while since I last entered a post and the best excuse I can give is that I’ve been too busy living my life to find the time to write about it!  Apart from when I first set up this blog in 2013 and wrote many shorter but more frequent posts, my life here on Crete is so chocker block full that it sometimes feels like a chore that needs to be fitted in somehow, like cooking and cleaning.  I can’t believe I’ve been writing about my wonderful life on Crete for 10 years!  The thing is that once I start recalling the events of the past weeks, it’s like I am appreciating my life all over again.  Believe me when I say that I am always grateful… Continue reading

Putting All the Hours into Creating my Art

We were so lucky with the weather in January.  It was sunny and mild for the whole month but in the first week of February it turned cold and stormy with lots of heavy rain – even hailstones!  And suddenly the mountains were full of snow!  This lasted for about two weeks and now, for the past week the warm sunny weather has returned. Continue reading