Well – the end of February and it feels as though hints of summer are breaking through. The Winter is short here. We woke up to indoor temperatures of around 16C in the living room, probably kept up to that level by the log fire, left burning at night behind its glass shield. Probably 2-3C cooler in the bedroom, so we added an Indian padded quilt to the light duvet we use in Spring and Autumn.
It came off again yesterday, a real sign that the weather is changing. Today the wind is strong and from the South. We had planned to go out to see the carnival, but the wind is so strong that we don’t even think that it will be happening. It’s part of the pre-Easter religious cycle in the Greek Orthodox calendar, so no idea if it can simply slip into tomorrow. Clean Monday is a bit like the English Ash Wednesday, marking the dietary run-up to Good Friday (Μεγαλη Παρασκευή)
Wednesday 12 April
Bloggery has been given a short shrifting during March. We have had a few medical and now dental appointments. Nothing serious, but thanks for asking…
Actually finding a dentist was quite tricky – there are several, but how to choose? We do want someone who is at least Covid conscious. The day before yesterday I found what felt like Fingal’s Cave in a precious left lower molar. So this afternoon off to Chania to a dentist who at least wore a mask and had a HEPA filter. He took an X-ray and judged the result unpromising. No, not just a filling that had dropped out, as I hoped. We discussed. Extraction was mentioned. I got a bit emotional (cf Freud, S. Interpretation of Dreams). He said he would drill down and have a better look at the damage. I asked him to treat me like a child and anaesthetise the gum before the numbing injection. And told him I was a screamer. Do you really want me to go on? I thought not. Next instalment next time. Maybe.
What’s Al been up to? (I think I need to start referring to my husband as AL, otherwise people will think I live with a super-intelligent robot!)
So, during his ‘recovery year’ in spite of Greek restrictions on noise making between 2-5pm, various semi-agricultural activities, me, the cat, and a room that’s not really suited to his needs for recording, he has managed to bring out 4 albums in the last year.
Here are some links to the work. Look out for The Hospital Tapes, and Guitar Ripples – the latest ones.
https://www.earthmusic.online/
He’s also got a couple of albums released with Universal.
https://www.universalproductionmusic.com/en-us/discover/composers/1379/al-lethbridge
You might want to read what AL has to say about The Hospital Tapes:
“I wrote ‘The Hospital Tapes’ while in bed, on an iPad, in Heraklion University Hospital, Crete, while waiting for completely unexpected heart surgery.
I was on the cardiology ward for five weeks, as Covid patients reduced the availability of ICU beds, and I would need one after the op. I was an emergency; I could have had a catastrophic heart attack at any moment, so a strange time.
When I finally got a slot, the operation was difficult. The principal surgeon told me afterwards it was the most stressful operation he had ever performed. I went into cardiac arrest twice. My exposed heart was manually massaged while I flatlined for a total of twelve minutes. I was brought back, but the team did not know if my brain had been damaged until I had been held post-op in the ICU for 36 hours, and they were able to see my responses were normal.
My experience of the ICU was strange and hellish. I was intubated (on breathing apparatus), kind of awake, but could not communicate, paralysed by drugs. Time came to a near standstill. It felt like an eternity of being “locked-in”. I saw nurses checking monitors, but no-one looked at me, and I could not attract their attention.
Of course, I realise I’m lucky to have survived, and to be alive. A brilliant team of surgeons made some extremely fast decisions, and thanks to them I’m still alive. I owe them a big debt of gratitude.
Perhaps best described as tense, ambient electronica, the music is simply the raw ideas as they came out. When listening to it now, it still mirrors my feelings of the nightmare that was to come.”
The Garagemen of Europe
I have been wanting to write this for a while. I don’t have a lot to draw on, but here goes. Starting here in Greece. Since we bought a second hand high mileage (yes, kilometres don’t have the dame ring) SKODA YETI at an eye-watering price, we have seen a lot of Adonis (Antonis Aggelikh Kalamaridi). In Greek his name is ΑΝΤΟΝΙΣ and in the Greek language NT is pronounced ‘D’, hence Adonis but that maybe doesn’t play so well in English. Adonis (let’s be brave) told us, when we brought the car in for an evaluation before buying, that if we bought this car, we would see a lot of him! He was right. Clutch, air conditioning, a new back axle assembly and 4 new tyres later, we can see he was absolutely right. But when he could see we were fixated on buying it, he also said that it was a good car, and so it is. Part of the VW family, it is strongly built and has survived a few scuffs at our hands. It runs on petrol and LPG (oh yes, we had to re-build that system too). The LPG (liquified propane gas) is economical, but sometimes lacks power, at which point it’s a good idea to switch to petrol. At around 1 Euro per litre, it takes the sting out of our frequent (at the moment) trips to Chania.
Adonis is generous with the plastic bottles of raki that grateful clients give him. So for we have benefited from around 2 litres of the clear spirit. He’s the epitome of the open-hearted, generous, down to earth, family-oriented Cretan. He appears to know everything that is going on in the workshop and co-ordinates everything himself by conversations in person and with his bluetooth earpiece & phone.
The Garagemen of France,
I have found a completely different experience there. France seems to have been consumed by the concept of The Dealership. No longer the friendly ‘garagiste’ who fixes up the car and then asks you out for a date, the modern version can only fix your car with brand specific tools and a computer. You don’t even get near the ‘grease monkey’ end of things, as you are only allowed to interact with chic, slightly over-made-up, spike heeled receptionists.
Last year in France we attempted to fill the LPG tank. No success. Tried another pump, same result. Head scratching. We filled in Greece, Italy – no problem. Could the French pumps be different? Wouldn’t put it past the French! We tried to get to see the only LPG fitter we could find in La Rochelle. ‘Sorry, booked up until August. Yes, but we only want to ask a question! Sorry, booked up until August. Absolutely impossible. Really? C’est absolument impossible, Monsieur.’ At this point AL gives up. (Actually there was a problem – even the Greek pump gave up eventually so back to Adonis for a new valve and another bottle of tsikoudia.)
I am casting back for Spanish memories but draw a blank. I took the Citroen DS there and back at least twice, and I remember them as trouble free trips once in Spain….
Here’s my Mum and Dad on practically their only trip abroad. I drove them in the DS to Vilanova-i-la-Geltru, where I kept my boat, Kiwistar, via France, Costa Brava, Barcelona. We didn’t know how little time we had left together, but it was a great trip. They flew back to the UK – also a first.
And now, here we are, on the threshold of another European summer! Two nights ago we moved out of the duvet and into a thinner Indian quilt, the first of several adjustments to our bed linen as the temperature rises. Next the quilt goes in favour of a cotton sheet, and we also cast off any nightwear, and eventually the sheet goes too! We have installed an Air Conditioner this year and we hope to add a ceiling fan very soon. Last summer the temperature under the bed was a steady 28C through July and August. (Under the bed so OC couldn’t indulge his favourite occupation of knocking things off other things.) It seems to me that the warmer weather is delayed this year. Although the summer is lovely with balmy evenings and late swims, the day has to be worked around the heat, taking advantage of mornings and evenings, and avoiding the middle of the day. We miss the swimming pool at Pasiphae – our 2020 rental AKA Tina’s House.
Actually 2020 stands out as a bit of a halcyon time as the Pandemic meant that we learned our local area during lockdown, and the absence of summer visitors gave us empty beaches – some of the best ones in Crete.
So this blog is sort of random. Our lives also feel quite random at the moment, as we continue to wait for the definitive paperwork that shows ‘our’ plot to be buildable. Just in case you’ve forgotten why I love it so much, here’s one I took earlier. More soon on the ‘will we, won’t we build’ story.
