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I wonder what is happening to 'time' on Crete. As most of you have experienced during your holidays here, time seems to disappear much quicker than everywhere else. 24 hours in Crete is like 8 hours elsewhere. At least, this is the only explanation I can find to the fact that it feels as if I have just arrived here, but now my 2nd winter is approaching already, I just can't believe it!
I really like the winter here, I like the quietness that falls on everything, I like the absense of people and tourist buses, I like the empty beach and the high waves. And I especially like that the 'cold' period is so short and still blessed with sunshine. I must organize to get a load of wood for the fireplace, though. When it's chilly outside, a stonehouse can feel real damp and cold if you don't have a good fire burning.
My Greek has not improved much over the last year, so this winter my friend Christine and I will attend Greek courses for foreigners in Pombia, a village nearby. And we are firmly determined on speaking only Greek together from now on... I fear a big silence will fall upon us!
In other ways I am very, very Greek. I never 'get organized', I never get to do the things I plan to do, always postponing... because I would rather just stay at home with all my animals, do a little work, take a walk to the platia in the afternoon for a chat with friends, just living life siga-siga.
An update on the animal situation: Bella is now quite big, some 12 kilos I think, but when I saw her together with her mother the other day I realized that there is still room for growth. The mother is about double her size, and the father even bigger. Eight cats have now obtained the degree of 'housecats', they just seem to 'happen' without anybody planning it. It started with Mis Daisy, Bernie Bumbleleg, and Billie. If you have followed so far, you will know that Mis Daisy was poisoned and died, Bernie has disappeared also, and only Billie is left from the original bunch. So Billie is the matron of the house. She decided to get pregnant and delivered 5 kittens, one died and the rest are still living in the house: Frenzie, Silvie, Minimis, Niko. Happy about this development, Billie decided to get pregnant again! Three kittens, of which 2 died almost immediately. The last one, Cookie, lives in the house, naturally. One of my 'outside cats' got pregnant and had 5 kittens, and I simply refused to get involved!! Determined to ignore them, the outside cat took care of them as best she could, but three of them died within a few days. One of the kittens, however, decided that it seemed much more comfortable to live in a house than in a box on a terrace, so he grabbed every occasion to sneak inside whenever a window or a door was left open, just placing himself gracefully on the couch and pretending to belong inside. Finally, I gave in, and promoted him to official housecat with the name Fuzzy. Last one to be accounted for is Leo, a beautiful red longhaired kitten, which had more or less the same attitude as Fuzzy: I like the house, so why should I remain outside?
Last winter I was feeding some twenty cats on the terrace, but I think this winter will show that the number will be restrained to approx. 8 cats. Simply because Bella is governing the area severely, she accepts 8 cats outside, all friends of hers, but whenever some intruder tries to sneak in to get some food hell breaks loose outside until the stranger disappears, sometimes Bella gets a scratch on her nose in the process.
This 'family tree' of mine explains in some way while I never get anything organized and done: I simply have to stay put in front of the computer to do all the work I can get my hands on, because every penny I earn is spent on feeding myself and the animals. But I don't mind at all. When the evening falls and I start a nice fire in the fireplace I enjoy being surrounded by well-fed and happily sleeping animals.
I really like the winter here, I like the quietness that falls on everything, I like the absense of people and tourist buses, I like the empty beach and the high waves. And I especially like that the 'cold' period is so short and still blessed with sunshine. I must organize to get a load of wood for the fireplace, though. When it's chilly outside, a stonehouse can feel real damp and cold if you don't have a good fire burning.
My Greek has not improved much over the last year, so this winter my friend Christine and I will attend Greek courses for foreigners in Pombia, a village nearby. And we are firmly determined on speaking only Greek together from now on... I fear a big silence will fall upon us!
In other ways I am very, very Greek. I never 'get organized', I never get to do the things I plan to do, always postponing... because I would rather just stay at home with all my animals, do a little work, take a walk to the platia in the afternoon for a chat with friends, just living life siga-siga.
An update on the animal situation: Bella is now quite big, some 12 kilos I think, but when I saw her together with her mother the other day I realized that there is still room for growth. The mother is about double her size, and the father even bigger. Eight cats have now obtained the degree of 'housecats', they just seem to 'happen' without anybody planning it. It started with Mis Daisy, Bernie Bumbleleg, and Billie. If you have followed so far, you will know that Mis Daisy was poisoned and died, Bernie has disappeared also, and only Billie is left from the original bunch. So Billie is the matron of the house. She decided to get pregnant and delivered 5 kittens, one died and the rest are still living in the house: Frenzie, Silvie, Minimis, Niko. Happy about this development, Billie decided to get pregnant again! Three kittens, of which 2 died almost immediately. The last one, Cookie, lives in the house, naturally. One of my 'outside cats' got pregnant and had 5 kittens, and I simply refused to get involved!! Determined to ignore them, the outside cat took care of them as best she could, but three of them died within a few days. One of the kittens, however, decided that it seemed much more comfortable to live in a house than in a box on a terrace, so he grabbed every occasion to sneak inside whenever a window or a door was left open, just placing himself gracefully on the couch and pretending to belong inside. Finally, I gave in, and promoted him to official housecat with the name Fuzzy. Last one to be accounted for is Leo, a beautiful red longhaired kitten, which had more or less the same attitude as Fuzzy: I like the house, so why should I remain outside?
Last winter I was feeding some twenty cats on the terrace, but I think this winter will show that the number will be restrained to approx. 8 cats. Simply because Bella is governing the area severely, she accepts 8 cats outside, all friends of hers, but whenever some intruder tries to sneak in to get some food hell breaks loose outside until the stranger disappears, sometimes Bella gets a scratch on her nose in the process.
This 'family tree' of mine explains in some way while I never get anything organized and done: I simply have to stay put in front of the computer to do all the work I can get my hands on, because every penny I earn is spent on feeding myself and the animals. But I don't mind at all. When the evening falls and I start a nice fire in the fireplace I enjoy being surrounded by well-fed and happily sleeping animals.
