Cretanvista Site News & Reviews - SEPTEMBER 2007 Issue 55 |
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No links to sites with adult content accepted. |
SEPTEMBER WEATHER ..... A
big contrast with last month - some quite cool days and nights, and even a couple of
showers of rain. Strong winds took the edge off the temperatures on many
of the sunnier days. The last few days of the month, however, were quite
perfect - back to summer!
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In the old
days of course, most people were fairly self-sufficient and there was little
need to travel between centres of population. Villages at that time seemed to
be mainly made up of one or two large families, so these church celebrations
were hugely important in the social calendar. They were probably the only time
you would be able to meet up with other people, so if you were young and on
the lookout for a husband or wife, this was your best chance! You have
to hand it to these nuns – they leave no opportunity for fundraising
untapped! Before we even got into the church, there was one there with a
collecting bowl, and after we had done the necessary inside and come out again
into the sunshine, another one was doing the rounds. It was
certainly a good turnout – tables were set among the rosebushes, and as the
crowds arrived, they put containers of food, paper plates and plastic beakers
out onto the tables. It seems the nuns only provide the location – the food
and drink is BYO. There was plenty of it – breads, cheeses, olives, broad
beans, sardines, two kinds of meat, cheese pies and lots of local red wine.
There were two kinds of bread – the ‘artos’, which is slightly spiced
and which is blessed by the Pappas – and the other kind which goes rather
better with cheese and sardines. (Did you know that blessed bread never goes
mouldy? I have a piece dating back to 2004, which is as hard as wood now, but
it certainly isn’t mouldy!) Much
chewing of the fat (in every respect) ensued as everyone chatted with everyone
else, munched their sardines and caught up on the news. However, we were
unable to stay for very long, as Mama had animals to feed, and none of us was
in the market for a new husband/wife, so we loaded all her booty into the car
and made our way home through the olive groves. Sardines, anyone? |
In the News Tour operators cancel trips ...
New Democracy returned to power... No change after General
Election...
Mystery of dead birds......
Hundreds of dead birds have been found at Lake Koroneia near Thessaloniki..... Link
to story Pensioners in suicide pact ...... Two pensioners in Athens killed themselves because of health problems.. Link to story Man killed on unlit national
road..... A man died while crossing an
unlit section of the national road near Chania... Link
to story Appalling figures in child health
survey..... 28 per cent of children between
4 and 7 in Chania are overweight and 20 per cent actually have high blood
pressure... Link
to story
Tax dodgers beware... The newly re-elected prime minister is to take charge of a new committee set up to deal with corruption and tax evasion... Link to story COPYRIGHT
INFRINGEMENT
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FREE... TWO HOLIDAY VILLAS... |
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FERRY SERVICES. |
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Moving to Crete - Practical Advice.. An e-mail copy is available as a Microsoft word file - a very fast email of very useful information. |
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Loaves and fishes |
A plate full of goodies |
Earthquake
activity in September:The month saw a number only a small number of earthquakes worthy of note which may be of interest to watchers of earthquake occurrences
in Greece:- 01 Sept:
4.1 Richter Scale, 12.48 am. Cyclades. The New Democracy party was re-elected, and the former Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis, returned to power. He was elected on a platform of promised changes, but we will have to see what happens..... It seems that autumn has come early this year, and English friends who postponed their holidays here until after the really hot weather in August, have been a bit disappointed by the weather. However, we always welcome the disappearance of the cicadas during September, because that means we can enjoy hearing the birds again. We have been lucky enough to have a couple of flocks of bee-eaters in and around the village in the last couple of weeks. They announce their arrival with excited "chirring", then swoop over and swirl around, filling the sky with their bright colours and hunting calls. Because of our annual summer problems of water shortage, we have organised a village petition to the local Mayor, asking her to intervene on our behalf to get us a new water main. Most of the village signed it, but we have the sneaking suspicion they have only done so to humour us, not because they think it will have any effect! We have been spared the epic pasta-making session this year because our Cookery guru has been having her traditional stone house renovated this summer and has been living in the middle of a pile of rubble. That has ruled out much in the way of cookery lessons, as everything has come served with a large helping of grit and plaster. We have to admire her patience - it can't be easy at 85 years of age to have workmen in your house every day for four months! ________________________________ |
A Little
Site News. (No Change this month).
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E-Mail Requests.. The
Cretan Vista Calendar Photos - Birds. Bird Watchers - Paul Smith.
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Best Books..
We will be updating the appearance of this section fairly soon - particularly
the Icons
leading directly to the bookshelves (maybe prettier than the ones above!) and perhaps the current
'new
book' review box below.
The 'Bookshelf' links (yellow) above contain all books.
Ann and Richard |