Doomsday?

 Poros is hit by an apocalyptic Saharan dust storm tonight. Day has turned into a spooky orange twilight.

It got so dark I had to turn on the lights. It's the sort of scenario where you expect to hear the town crier singing out

'Repent ye sinners. The end is nigh'

Tomorrow there should be a wind change which will blow the dust wave away to the east over the islands of the Dodecanese.

Athens. 

Taken by grandson this evening on his way, with his army squad, to lower the Greek flag on top of the Acropolis

The Dragon Slayer

 There'll Always be an England. 

 This song kept on coming up on my youtube list today and I've just realised why.  Tomorrow, 23rd April, is the Feast Day of Saint George. Saint George the Dragon Slayer is the Patron Saint of England.  

 

It did cross my mind that maybe you're not allowed to celebrate this day any more with all the religious turmoil over there.  But I see there was a parade by the Kings Guard and Horse and Cavalry on Saturday. There will be parades and celebrations all over the country, including Morris Dancing and Punch and Judy, they say on the net. You eat Toad in the Hole, Fish Pie and Fry-ups it seems.

Happy Name Day England.

The song 'There'll Always be an England' is a good stirring piece of music.  A good old  patriotic tune from days of old.  Britain has a few of those.  Britannia Rules the Waves comes to mind, and the hymn 'Jerusalem'.   

23rd April is also the Name Day of my grandson George, who is, at the moment, doing his military service in the Greek Army. However this year his fiesta falls during Orthodox Lent so we'll be celebrating with him on the day after Easter, May 6th.

Age Old Ceremony

 The Olympic torch was lit at Ancient Olympic in Greece today. The torch will be carried by relay through Greece for 11 days and then  to Marseille on a French 3 masted barque.  The French relay will last for 68 days until it reaches Paris on July 8. There the torch will light the flame in the Paris stadium, opening the 33rd Olympic Games. 

In 2004, for the Athens Olympics, the torch was brought to Poros and the relay went around the island, being met by one of our Olympic rowers.    We will not be seeing it this year though we now have an Olympic silver medal winner.  And a few up and coming rowers who could quite possibly compete in the 2028 Olympics.

Greek journalists, news readers, are on strike today but it was covered by the BBC and then I found it on the national channel. The ceremony is a piece of well rehearsed greek theatre and at the end of the performance the High Priestess lights the sacred flame.   I watched the flame being lit but couldn't hear the commentary which was in reverently hushed tones.  I wouldn't have heard anyway as K was on the phone next to me talking reverently in loud tones about the price of a pig.

The first modern ceremony of the lighting of the Olympic flame took place in Ancient Olympia in 1936 before the Berlin Games.  The ceremony takes place in the ruins of the stadium where the  games first began in 776 BC.

Over the years the flame has been around the world, into space, travelled underwater and even scaled Mount Everest.

Lets hope the torch travels safely to France and into Paris.  

1. These are the 1st games where there will be equal numbers of male and female athletes

2. France has hosted the summer Olympics 3 times.  In 1900,1924 and now in 2024

3.  There will be 32 sports contested including breakdancing, surfing, skateboarding and sporting climbing, whatever that is.

4. Neither Russia nor Belarus will be competing in these games because of the invasion of Ukraine. 

Spring Clean Up

 I got some help this weekend

Pruning the thorny white bougainvillia

Nels and Poppi replanting celery.  We will have celery coming out of our ears soon if we don't start eating it.  Celery, the leafy kind, called selino here, is sold with the roots still attached.  We have 3 pots of the stuff now. This 'pot' is an old washing up bowl.  It grows very easily, as does the parsley which has turned into a bush

K got the annual clean up of his back yard over with. An able bodied Albanian lad did an excellent job.  He filled up 14 huge black rubbish bags with weeds and plastic rubbish hidden in the jungle.

Before

After

The front yard is my domain.  The garden is still nice and green.  The clover/sorrel is starting to wilt a little but the nasturtiums have begun to flower, yellow and orange blooms, the mint is taking over the bed by the entrance .  And there is no rubbish in my territory.  

What was left of the big winter wood pile has been taken to the back of the house, and stacked.  Slowly I'm sweeping and cleaning chairs, tables and shutters ready to arrange our summer sitting place

The front roadway should be weed-whacked but in the meantime the knee-high weeds have been cut back.  In a month's time they'll probably be knee-high again.  Unless this heat continues and dries them all out.

Now that wall needs white washing for Easter

Sunset

 Poros at dusk.  Photos taken by another granddaughter.

This is taken from the car ferry.  Looking towards the main town.

And from  their balcony looking over the strait to the hills of the mainland

And here she is.  Or isn't.  

This child does not like having her photo taken.  Obviously

Thanks Natali. See, I didn't put your photo on the blog!

Or not your face anyway

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

Nels

 

Just boasting.......

Nels. No, not Poppi this time. 

Nels. Sister of Poppi.

Dietician. Nutritionist. Beautician. Athlete. Rower.

She has put many family members on weight losing diets. We're a family of losers thanks to her

This is the granddaughter who runs 15ks, phone in one hand, taking photos without breaking stride.

She has dozens of medals and cups for rowing but gave it up to study.

A few years ago.....

Rowing for Poros

All the grandchildren have tried rowing and they've all won medals. It's naturally a popular pastime on a Greek island.

Her hobby is hair styling, fashion and beauty.

For friends.

And her grandmother

I got my nails done.

Poros island, permanent population around 4,000, has many talented young people and has produced a few world champions.

An Olympic silver medalist for rowing at the Beijing Olympics.

Poros also had rowers at the 1960, 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

 European and Balkans Triathlon winner. 

European and Balkans WaterSki champion.

European and Balkans Kayak and Canoe gold medalists

Nels will be working on the island of Lipsoi this summer .

Give it a Google. It has been named the best holiday island in Greece.   It's an island of unspoiled beauty, not a party island.

Lipsoi

Tiny island in the Dodecanese

Population 800

 Crystal clear waters 

Sandy beaches

Fresh seafood from the Aegean

Homegrown lamb and goat

Thyme honey

Local cheeses

Fokiano - sweet local red wine

3 day Wine Fest every August

                    

Phenomenon

 Sea Fog.  

 Formed when very cold air moves over warmer water.

Sea fog is a very rare occurrence. 

I've never heard of it before.

We noticed the other day coming down to the harbour that there were strange clouds hanging low on the hills opposite. Fortunately a friend of ours took photos and a video.

A thick cloud of Saharan dust covers the city of Athens.

Not my photo

182 million tons of dust (sand) is carried away from the Saharan desert every year

How long will it take to empty the Sahara???

The dust can be carried as far as Europe, the UK and even the US, depending on wind patterns.

It is full of minerals and is good for the garden. However it can cause breathing difficulties, heart congestion and eye irritation.

The present dust storm seems to be going on for over a week. I've got stinging eyes and a headache.

The dust is very hard to get rid of. Our car, which is not under cover, has to be well soaped and rinsed. Flagstones have to be cleaned with soapy water too but often there are orange stains which only disappear with time.

It's supposed to dissipate tomorrow. 

Did anyone hear of a decent April Fool's prank?

In years gone by there were always a few joke news reports. I've heard nothing so far.

Is the world suffering too much to stop for a few minutes of light entertainment?