Catch up time...

Ah a nice quiet Sunday morning... looking out the window I can't help but notice the sun is rising in a very RED sky. What is that old saw "red sky at morning, sailors take warning... red sky at night sailors delight"? Hmmm.

So. This is going to be a longer post than normal, as I am catching up...

This evening it's time for another birthday party - my friend Sammy- only THIS one is at the beach in Avlaki (a 40 minute drive from here, near Casseopi.) It doesn't start until six, so this whole day is for puttering around until we have to leave.

The past few days have been strange for me. I am sure it's partly because grandson is gone and we really enjoyed having him underfoot. Partly it's because the Belgian cousins are still here (for another week- they leave next Saturday).

I feel lethargic and detached from myself, like I'm going through the motions of hospitality. I think that must be because we've just had people in the house with us for more than two months, and for two people who spend most of the year pretty much alone, that change is enough to fry the 'be nice' circuits in the brain, causing a lot of second guessing and self doubt ie: "am I being nice?", "was that sarcastic?", "why did that just piss me off?" etc.

This too shall pass.

As for a catch up: Benoit and the diving fiasco-

Sadly, there would seem to be NOTHING to recommend the dive school in Nissaki to ANYone who is interested.

The Greek divemaster is pompous, overbearing and even more subjective on time and space that most other Corfiots. (ie- the promised dive that Benoit showed up for at 10 AM that was to take place at 11 AM ended up taking place at 6:30 PM!)

As far as I am concerned however patient and understanding I could try and be, nothing made sense about this situation. And from everything I know about diving when you are licensed and certified - as Benoit is- it should have been a simple situation of renting equipment, going out for a dive with a boat and possibly a few other licensed divers and - 3 hours start to finish, done and dusted. [As Benoit did exactly that last year in Italy, and previous years in Thailand, Viet Nam and Mexico, I find it difficult to understand the challenges imagined by the Greek divemaster that caused this mistake.]

So FYI- and of course a note penned to my future referrals for guests... "Do not book diving for Nissaki. EVER."

~~~


On a lighter note, T and Jenny spent the afternoon Friday making free-hand designed lizard cookies (biscuits) for friend Sammy's b'day. (She loves lizards, what can I say?)

At some point the sugar must have gotten to them because things got a little strange for a while ... Suddenly it seems we were confronted with "the afternoon of the living cookie lizards"...

Fortunatly eating a few of them caused everyone to lose their panic and laugh at the strangeness of it all. (Which just caused more maniacal laughter due to sugar overload...)

~~~

Friday evening we went to Kontokali (Gouvia) near the marina and had a fish dinner at Takis and then went to listen to Roy and his band play Blues music. A nice mellow evening. We got there early when the band was just setting up in order to get a seat! Once they start playing, people are standing in the street (or dancing, as the case may be!)



A good time was had by all.

~~~

Yesterday was the day T took the cousins to visit to Paleocastritsa, and Angelocastro for the afternoon, while I made a birthday cake (actually TWO cakes as I dropped the first one and it broke beyond repair when I burned my hand whilst I was getting it out of the pan. grr.) I also made some Blue cheese salad dressing (sauce) as that was a special request by the birthday girl.

We finally have a picture from the mens bathroom at the Panorama restaurant --- the most beautiful view of the west side of Corfu!!!

Needless to say I will only include a picture of the window, and not the rest of the room!

They had a good time visiting Angelocastro which for some reason now charges a nominal fee to climb up to the top of the fortress, but ironically closes on Saturday in prime tourist season at 2:30 PM! Sometimes I just do NOT understand the Greeks love/hate relationship with tourism.

Another view:

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Then last but not least it was time for us to have dins at home. I made BBQ'd ribs (did them Friday and left them to marinate in the sauce for Saturday dinner) And Jenny set about making her special Dauphinois potatoes. They are her unique creation. It's basically garlic, potatoes (sliced very thin w the mandolin slicer and layered), cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper and LOTS of cream - then baked at 170 for about an hour.

Last nights dinner was a feast. The potatoes were delish, the ribs addictive, and for dessert we had the broken b'day cake! I don't think we'll have to actually eat anything else til this evening!

So that's my catch up. I really can't afford NOT to write every day! Ah well.


[NOTE: Blue Cheese Dressing recipe posted in comment section]

~~~

Monday, Monday...

Tea on the terrace, and a slow morning for me. T and grandson are off exploring the island today and I am simply vegging out after my mad spurt of energy over the weekend.

Very nice gathering yesterday. About 30 people came and went. Some ate, all drank something. T's brilliant idea of a kiddie plastic inflatable pool the same diameter as our round table, filled with ice and covered with a blanket proved an excellent solution as a self-serve drinks cooler large enough for all the beer, wine and soft drinks for a large gathering.

My Mahogany Chicken Wings (in spite of being a tad too "mahogany" due to spending a bit too much time alone in the oven!), and BBQ'd Beef was a grand success and now I will have to remember how I did it all well enough to write it down as five people asked for the recipes. Also requested: Boston Baked Beans (a la Corfu) and My very special Mocha Chocolate-Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting...

There are plenty of leftover sausages and hot dogs (and lots of melon) to keep grandson and T. happy. I may not have to cook for the rest of the week!! (they were vastly disappointed that nothing remained of the chicken, beef, beans or cake tho)

Still I do have to figure out what to do with the 3 lbs of hamburger I got as back-up, Plan B, though. Maybe I'll make Chili, as it's supposed to go very very warm by the end of the week ("feeling" over 114 F! 45.5 C!!) Mexican food is hot food for a hot climate.

NOT looking forward to the weather past Wednesday- and those hot temps are supposed to last at least a week. Obviously, it IS summer. Still it makes me think longingly of when we lived in Denmark. Summers were lovely and cool! (sadly also rainy more frequently)

Currently it's gorgeous. It was lovely and cool all day yesterday (25C/78F hottest) and it's supposed to be the same today. Last night I slept with a blanket! (it got down to 61F/16C.) It was soooo nice.

Well, enough babbling about the weather for now. Must try and get something done so I can be smug when T and grandson return this afternoon.

~~~
They've returned from Hydropolis.

Grandson had a marvelous time and made a couple of friends. (His only comment about his new friends: "Their accent is really hard to understand!" They were British.)


T. found things bearable. The tequila was in the "sunrise". He also remembered my rant over the lack of photographs from the other day, so he dutifully took some.

Best additional discovery: A GREAT Fish 'n Chips place called Flannigans, in Sidari, open year round- AND they have Guinness! (true, in cans...) Bad news, of course is that it's a 45 minute drive from here. Still, we will be making that trip come the winter time!

Can't pass up a night of Guinness, fish and chips and darts!


[NOTE: Recipes are posted in the comment section.