Interesting week .....

The winds of Crete struck up again and, having avoided  any damage so far, our luck ran out when a large branch fell from an olive tree outside mom's apartment and landed on the car. Thankfully it only broke the wing mirror cover but it had us worried for a moment.

The weather was weird. Like a nuclear winter.

We got 5 more chickens (for food) this week. We're trying to colour code them so we got white ones

The avocados are now in full bloom and the local bee population is busy cross fertilizing. Avocados are either  male or female and this is very critical to the trees. I thought it was a buzzing from the power cables at first but it was thousands of bees in the trees.

We moved the older chicks to the (disused) toilet block outside the house and let Banna wander around the "house field" for a bit of grazing. When Viki went to give him the evening feed his eyes were swollen and bloodshot. I went to Kalyves after the feeds were done to get saline to wash them the following morning but when we got there it had disappeared and he seemed fine. Viki washed his eyes with the saline anyway and we hope it was just some pollen or that he brushed against one of the flowering avocados. Avocado, and particularly the stone, are poisonous to almost all living things. It seems that its only us humans who can eat them. Thankfully pigs can eat them if they are boiled into a mush. Its the only way we can get rid of them at the moment and it does fatten the pigs.

There was a huge fire midweek in the area around Ramni. Force 10 winds swept the fire through a large area and there was considerable damage. Some people lost all their chickens and rabbits and many olive trees were severely damaged.

Having put some onions and potatoes in after we ploughed the vegetable patch, we now felt confident to add another row of onions and start planting the salad patch.

We bought some tomato seedlings from the suppliers and  made some supports from the bamboo which grows on the edges of the field. 

Viki made some more cages in the afternoon while I was at rehearsal with the band. We discovered that the old steel gate at the farm fitted perfectly as a support for the climbers (cucumber, courgette, pepper)

Nasurtians are planted as companions  for the climbers

 ... and French Marigolds for the tomatoes, along with basil.

And that is all we've done this week.

Its Saturday again. 

Gale force winds again

Its Friday. Again. Where do the weeks go since we took on the farm?

We still have very high winds and although the hen house (!) seems to have held up, one of the galvanised sheets on the stable came loose so we had to do a running repair with strong wire until I can (safely) get up on a ladder when the wind dies down. The weather forecast says that it should all be over by 02.00 tomorrow morning. It feels like its been going on forever, but its only 2 days. Every time I hear another gust, my mind goes to the farm and what might have happened.

The winds have caused all sorts of damage and have broken quite large branches from trees in the village. We have an avocado tree with a broken bough but seem to have got away without any major damage so far. 

No trouble getting the chickens in tonight. They were glad of the shelter. We let Banna out into the field by the house for some serious grazing today, which took his mind off the weather conditions.

Had a visit from our friends David and Elaine, who have a house in Armenoi, and took them down to show them the farm.

Egg mayo sandwiches for lunch. Very nice. This required 6 eggs, leaving just 15 to get through before we collect again tomorrow .............

Kafeneion time, methinks. 

Kaina and camels

We went to Kaina on Clean Monday for the camel thing. Possibly the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. It was all a bit "Wicker Man" and very obviously pagan.

I can't really explain it so its better to see the photos. The sheep in the cage was being raffled. The camel was made from a donkey skull, two baskets and an olive net, with mandarin oranges for eyes.

Weird !

More wind

It started at 9.00 last night and its still gusting up to 70 kmph at midday. The weather people say it will die off around 5 p.m.

Very weird. It is 26 C but it sounds like a winter gale.

The joy of being next to Africa.

This is my favourite girl in the world

When we got to the farm yesterday all of the new fencing was still in place

Unfortunately, Banna had tried to get to the fresh grass outside the main gate of the top field and we spent an hour repairing the old fence. We let him out into the "house" field for the day.

In the afternoon we went to Kalyves for the carnival parade. Had a bit of meze and a few beers and watched the mentalness of it all ....

Back to the kafeneion in Stylos for a beer and then (naturally) back to the field for the afternoon feed. For those of you in Northern Europe, the dark patch behind Banna is called a shadow and is caused by the sun.

Round to Mom's for a big roast pork Sunday dinner and then home for Viki and watching PAOK beat Panathanaikos for me.

Camels today, apparently.

Windy (part 2)

Another strong wind yesterday, from the south-east (or Africa, as we call it). Gusts up to 105 kph.

I spent last night talking to (and paying) Andreas the tractor. He gave me a lot of advice again and agrees with Viki that we feed the clover to the sheep freshly cut during the summer. We should be planting in early April although one of the farmers has already planted his, which sparked a kafeneion debate (a.k.a shouting match). 

Viki had a lie in this morning and I got up late (i.e. not before 7 a.m) . Flo ran off. Did the feed for Banna, the sheep, the chickens, the chicks. Flo came home. Fed the pigs, walked Jaco, did some office work for our real business www.simplycreteholidays.co.uk . A fair amount of bookings and enquiries to deal with in addition to the farm. 

Everything at the field seems to still be in position this morning. I discovered that turning the pallets on the chicken house upside down reduces their similarity to an aircraft wing.

Still waiting for rain and it is forecast for today. That should kick off the animal feed crop.

7 (!) wildfires in the area yesterday with the wind fanning fires on the parched grass.

Rob from the band Molon Lave called this morning. We haven't got together for about two weeks and its probably my fault. Hoping to pull a rehearsal together next week after Apokreas (Carnival) and Clean Monday.

I understand its snowing in England .......

We have a cat. Well, sort of. It arrived a few days ago, then disappeared, was there again this morning and has disappeared again. Weirdo.

Yesterday we bought some chicks to fatten up. 1.80 euros each. Bargain.

 This was Banna after Viki took him for a big ride. Sweaty

Always got his nose in some food, our Banna

This is being used to feed and water the new chicks while they are small. With another tray on top it stops predators getting to them (I hope). They were in the spitaki with the cat all night last night and survived that, so I suppose it must work. And no, I didn't know the cat was there.
. 

Put a bit of spinach, some lettuce, and some celery in to keep the onions and spuds company. Need to look at the fencing around the animal feed crop and irrigation before it starts sprouting. We think a spray will do the job  there, but I need a drip irrigation system on the food for us.

Oh, and the pump for the river water has decided not to work.

Still 22 C today. Spring has sprung.

Wow, what a day.

Did the feeds, met Andreas the Tractor at the kafeneion and then went to Nikolokakis agricultural supplies in Agoii Pantes to get seed, fertiliser and some planting potatoes.

We were delayed a little by a funeral in the village at 11, but Andreas turned up on the dot at one o'clock with the tractor. 

We had some wheat to mix with the alfalfa so the first job was to mix the seeds together ...

And then sow the seeds by hand from a bucket ( nicked from the sheep). It was about this point when the wind from hell hit us and the chicken shack needed repairing and also the stable. 

Then plough them into the soil .......

And then some more

And a bit more

Until we had sown about 55 kilos of seeds ! Job done in the big field.

And then Andreas turned his attention to the vegetable patch, by the house.

The middle section has already been fertilised and there are three rows of potatoes in there. We have three patches, so one for salads, tomatoes, etc., one for spuds, onions, etc and one for everything else (Viki has some purple oranges/white strawberries or something that she wants to grow).

Isn't it great to have such helpful friends? This place really is quite special.

Oh yes, and we got 6 eggs today, which means we only have 4 freeloading chickens now.

It is Tsiknopempty today ( a bit like pancake day, but with meat) and we have been told by Gavrili that we are going to Manitakis kafeneion for food and drink. No excuses.

Tomorrow the horse dentist cometh. Watch this space.

Finally located Andreas (the man with the tractor) yesterday. He has suggested growing alfalfa on about 1/2 an acre for a few months. This should provide huge wodges of winter feed for the sheep and horse. Andreas also informed me that my mate Takis has an industrial baling machine. We can start planting veg at the end of March/early April and then some clover in the big field and then plant corn after the alfalfa is harvested. We should get at least 5 cuts of clover which we can bale and store, and then it grows for about 5 years every summer without re-seeding. Result.

Great news for Banna. The dentist and equine vet are coming on Friday. Well done to Viki for chasing that down. Just looking forward to seeing him be able to eat without dropping half of it. Poor old Banna can't even eat a polo mint without dropping it. Bless.

We now have an extra laying chicken, and as the gang of 7 are all the same age, we should be up to 10 eggs a day fairly soon.

We would have already been there, were it not for Jaco ........

All quiet on the western front

Well, no sign of the dogs so far today. Sifis was up all night with his shotgun in case they decided to pay a return visit, but no sign of them. Have spoken with a few of the farmers and there were no more attacks

Hopefully, they have left the area. Banna and the sheep seemed calm enough this morning when we took the feed so, fingers crossed.

Guard Horse Parade