Another year older.
And my body just had to rub it in when I woke up with a sore back.
I’m having fun despite it all. I had coffee and pavlova with mom and an aunt, and I’m having dinner with good friends.
What more can a girl ask for?
That was a rhetorical question cause of course there are a ton of things I COULD ask for…
But I won’t. Right now, I’m just gonna go put on a pretty frock (well, pants and a pretty top) and go have some sushi!
Yum.
z
You know how I said how impatient I was to get home and get stuck into painting again? How I was ‘in the zone’ after so long?
Ha. I jinxed myself, ’cause I haven’t touched a brush, pastel or bit of cardboard since. I haven’t even felt the urge to get up off the couch and touch my artwork… let alone tackle the paperwork I MUST do.
Mind you, Sunday was horribly hot. I groomed a dog in the morning, then rushed to the PAWS (Paros Animal Welfare Society) annual general meeting, then had lunch with friends and it was all I could do to get home and lie on my bed with the fan on. I got up around 6.30pm and did a few handy-type things around the house (maybe I’ll share one day, but they’re definitely ‘zefi’ things, ‘don’t try this at home’ stuff), before heading down to visit with my cousins for a bit.
Then today at work was a day from hell. Complete with a visit to the dentist at the end of it.
So, here’s something I prepared earlier. Prickly pear on marble. This is a larger piece than I normally do and right now its sitting in the office on the bookcase.
I should put a big sticker on it with a price. Maybe someone will buy it for the big villa they’re buying!
I mentioned the dentist, didn’t I?
You know how people are always saying ‘where did all the money you earned over summer go?’ (well, they ask me that!) ha. Today I paid 400e for a tooth. The one I had problems with before summer. I’m getting it crowned. The one I’d already paid 300e for previously for a root canal treatment. Whammy.
Next up: Implants – double whammy.
Unless I go for a dental plate. Great.
This post suddenly took a dark turn… time to get off here and do something useful. Maybe wash a dish or two. Maybe water the plants and fight the mosquitos. Maybe just lie on the couch and watch Netflix or Stremio.
Hey, now there’s a funner topic! What have you been watching?
Since I disappeared from blogland, I’ve watched a ton of stuff. I watched all of Chicago Fire till I ran out of episodes, and I have all of Chicago PD and Chicago Med on a hard drive thanks to a friend, so I have weeks and weeks of viewing ahead!
I watched Better Call Saul.
Misfits (an english series about people with odd powers).
I got caught up with Greys Anatomy and the Good Doctor. And the Walking Dead.
I’m currently watching Russian Doll, and started watching House of the Dragon.
Next will be the Umbrella Academy series 3.
I tried The Imperfects, but I’m not sure I like it.
See? I do stuff!
z
I know I’ve pulled the biggest disappearing act since Harold Holt went for a swim back in 1967… but I’ve had my reasons.
Did I mention I have a new job? Yeah, another summer, another job. But this time its a job that lasts all year round, not just the season. Which is good and bad. Good in that I have an income all year round. Bad in that I can no longer do what I please for the winter. No more galivanting to destinations near and far. No more free time to spend making art while the wind howls outside. No more time in Athens with mom. I have to go to the office every day, 6 days a week.
Yep. Not quite what I dreamed of. I don’t think anyone thinks “Hey, I’ll go live on a greek island and work in an office 6 days a week!” But I have dreams and I need the money. What little of it there is.
So, given the job isn’t going to save me, I’m still grooming. I bit the bullet and registered as a business – which basically costs me more than I make grooming in a year – but at least I am legal now and don’t have to look over my shoulder when I groom. And I can advertise and build up my business. So that one day I can quit my ‘day job’ and concentrate on the things I love: dogs and art.
I dream of a house with a studio on our land in a quiet area near the beach, where I can work with dogs and make art and make stuff and upcycle stuff and remake furniture and do whatever the heck I want to do in my own time far from the noise of the busy road and the obnoxious neighbours who have no respect for other people who may have to work the next day or whatever.
Remind me to tell you how much fun they are.
Its been a crazy summer. Working in for a real estate agency has been quite educational. I now hear someone mention a 250,000 euro budget for a house and laugh. I can’t help myself. Prices have gone so high that we have next to nothing (or at least nothing you would want to live in) for that much any more.
Sure, compared to other countries, we might still be cheap, but you don’t get much at the low to mid range any more. I’m so lucky I bought when I did. I’d be living under a bush on a blanket with Lainee if I hadn’t.
Rentals are an endangered species. It was already bad when I got here 3.5 years ago, now its impossible. Owners want to rent everything as an air bnb and no one wants to rent their property on a yearly basis. People are desperate to find somewhere to live that they can actually live in 12 months a year – not to move in in September and leave in June. Its ridiculous.
Anyway, I’ll get to a lot of that stuff in later posts. I have a ton of thoughts, criticisms, observations, social comments and other goodies to share.
For now I just wanted to show a sign of life to start with and share a couple of marble pieces made while my brother was visiting. Did I mention he came to visit from Australia? No, I didn’t cause I was in my disappeared mode at the time. Work, grooming, a visitor and the beach. How much more could I possibly do?
Turns out, I could do a few bits of marble. Not the best photos, but the are what they are. They are gone now – gifted.
After Peter left I went into a couch potato mode for almost a whole month. All I did was work/groom/eat/watch Netflix. Thats it. Oh, and go for a swim, water the plants and do the occasional load of washing. Having one of the hottest Augusts in living memory didn’t help.
Now, I feel rested and the weather cooled down a bit (though it will apparently heat up again) and I’ve got the itch. I’ve started painting again and suddenly I can’t wait to get home to get stuck into it.
Which is great!!!
Anyhow, its nice to be back! I’ll be sharing some stuff I’ve done over the last few months, but its not a ton.
z
I am vindicated.
Seems the new fashion is clutter! I’m way ahead of my time…
As you know, I live in a small apartment of 50m2 with one bedroom, kitchen/living room and bathroom and two small outdoor spaces. Uncovered, so useless for doing any work.
So, my home is a studio. I live, cook, and eat amongst my ‘stuff’.
A couple of weeks ago, in my efforts to get my art mojo back, I put away things I don’t plan on using again soon – ie all my sewing, textile and bead stuff. I still need to finish that job as there are still things around I can do without having at my fingertips. Plus, I’ll probably still need this and that again. Story of my life.
Anyway, all I want out at this time is my painting stuff: canvases, paints, pastels, easel, paper, marble pieces, rocks, etc. Anything I can paint on… or with.
The rest can all go in the wardrobe and outside in weatherproof boxes.
I really need more space… I sound like a broken record.
Anyway, my mojo is back. Where all I did for a couple of months after I got home from work or dog grooming was to lie on the couch and watch Netflix, now I come home and paint while listening to audiobooks (or watching Netflix). A much better use of my time.
I not only have my mojo back, but its a strong one. I WANT to paint. I love this feeling.
Also, its healthier… When I lie on the couch like a sack of potatoes all I want to do is eat and nibble… Not good. I’d lost so much weight after my surgery February last year I feel horrible about gaining half it back. Time to get serious about NOT nibbling.
So, I have stuff to begin sharing again now, its just a matter of starting to post again. Finding the time and energy between layers of paint or working.
Meanwhile, in the vein of a general life update, I’ve begun a new job… this isn’t what I really wanted, but its all year round so that’s good. Its an office job in a real estate agency.
The pros: They’re dog people and love Lainee, so she can come to work with me every day. I meet new people. Its a pleasant environment and I really like the other office girl. The boss is nice and his wife is nicer. Its airconditoned so I won’t melt in summer and its close to home. Plus its a steady income all year round. Its 9-3 every day except Sunday (having only one day off is a bummer), but then again, even most office jobs in Greece tend to be 6 days a week.
The cons: I really didn’t want an office job. Again. I’ve spent so much of my life behind a desk and in front of a computer. Oh well. A few more years… The pay sucks. I mean really sucks. But I’m meant to get a small percentage of the commission when a property sells, so let’s see how that works out.
And I have plans. Or dreams. Call them what you will, but I’m focussed on them right now. And hopefully, as Kevin Costner said, “build it and they will come”. We’ll see.
I’m putting it out there, envisioning what I want and if the universe hears me, it will happen!
z
I love the island when its quiet. When the only people here are those that live here. The streets are quiet and its a pleasure to walk around town. Some shops are already being renovated for summer but only those that remain open all year round are open at this time.
Later on, Easter and afterwards, there will be more happening with store owners preparing to open for the season. At that time the island begins to come alive. Its an exciting time – Its spring, the weather is better, people who’ve been away for winter come back to open up their shops… As the weather warms the beach bars start to put out their umbrellas and sun beds. Its a nice time..
Till summer really hits. The island fills up with tourists and visitors. The ferries start backing up in the port spewing out black smoke waiting to disgorge the masses. Cars jam the roads, the traffic becomes unbearable. The quiet beaches are quiet now more with blarring music and packed bodies, parking becomes impossible and all I want to do is hide at home. Or better yet, leave for a quieter place. Last summer I wasn’t working full time and was able to escape to Denmark for 10 days. This year I won’t be so lucky.
I am not sure what I’ll be doing regarding work for this summer yet, I have a few irons in the fire. Let’s see what comes of them… Meanwhile enjoy some quiet little moments of Parikia in winter, before the spring spruce up.
I do love my chippy doors and rust. And I love the little plants which come up in cracks on doorsteps and in corners.
I’ve needed a bit of beauty this week. Its been one bad week. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Well, ok. I did have one good thing come along this week. I took Lainee in for a wellness check and she’s all good. Needs to lose weight, but all good otherwise.
As for the rest… I’ve had computer problems: I couldn’t log on to my email for a few days, then it came right somehow and I’m not sure what I did or didn’t do which fixed it. My keyboard stopped working. My monitor became disconnected somehow. It all got sorted, almost without me doing anything but it was like I was jinxed or something.
Banking was another issue. I was having trouble logging onto my bank, then when I did I found my account was frozen… cause I wasn’t in Australia to provide all the necessary documentation for identification. That took some sorting and a couple of phone conversations with them. Now thats sorted too thankfully.
I’ve had a dodgey front screen door since I moved in and it finally gave up the ghost at the beginning of the week by totally coming off its track and off the wall. No mending it this time. The back screen has had a rip in it for about a year so it was time to get that fixed too. I called a guy and he came round and gave me a quote. More than I wanted to spend on anything right now, but I need fly screens… He installed them today (really good quick service!) and I have lovely new screendoors. The front screendoor is now on the RIGHT way so that it now opens in the same direction as the front door making it so much easier to go in and out. Obviously this wasn’t the case before. What on earth was the person who installed the first one thinking? Anyway, the back screen was a pull down sash type, was replaced by a sliding one as well. Now I can go out and close it behind me! Thus not let the 1,000,023 mosquitos in the back patio into my bedroom every time I go out. Seriously. There are so many mosquitos in that area and they all just buzz around waiting for me to open the screen! I have a back patio I rarely used in summer due to my mosquito phobia.
The air conditioner control began playing up and only worked intermittently, just enough so that while randomly hitting buttons to wake it up I managed to change the mode to cold air and not be able to change it back. I put in new batteries and it made no difference. Next day I bought newer new batteries and it works fine now. Go figure.
I swear… it just wasn’t my week.
z
The other day I woke up to find the council workers outside my place chopping away at the eucalyptus trees on the road.
I am a bit upset about it, I might admit. They really lopped them. I mean, I know eucalyptus trees have a tendency to drop branches and even fall over in strong winds, but this seems a bit drastic…
It feels a little naked around here without the trees. They were a barrier between our building and the busy road below. Now we’re more exposed to the noise and wind than we were before.
On the other hand, the view is better…
I no longer have to dodge leafy branches in order to see the sea (hahaha), which is probably a good thing… but I miss the trees. Its gonna be a lot hotter this summer without them blocking the late afternoon sun.
z
I forgot to share this little baby when I made it. I was putting away my crafty sewy stuff in preparation for going back home to Paros and got side-tracked – as you do.
I found a few baby safety pins I had in my collection and suddenly got the urge to make a brooch out of one of them. I’m actually really pleased with the result.
I also spent some time the last few days trialling a new shop on ecwid. You can visit it here.
I’m only on the free plan to see how it goes and that only allows 10 products at a time so I concentrated on a Valentines theme, but the paid versions promise big things like linking the shop to instagram and FB. It sounds good, but I’m reluctant to pay for a shop I dont know will do well.
I still have my etsy shop here and my CafePress shop here but neither of those are setting the world on fire. With Etsy I pay a small amount per year to have the shop opened and a percentage on sales. The CafePress shop only gives me a commission on sales. Its been a long time since I updated or added new products to either store.
Over the years I’ve successfully sold on ebay but it just got too expensive and compicated (postage has always been my downfall!) – however they do have a huge audience so I may give it another go one day. When I lived in Tasmania I also sold a lot of stuff on the local FB buy/sell pages, here I’m not sure how well that would go. Then again, in Tasmania I did the occasional market and sold things there so there was always a bit of extra $$ coming in.
My problem (I think) is that I don’t stick to one thing and dedicate myself to that. I see people who paint and who dedicate themselves to doing that and do well. I see people who make jewellery and do well. Or macrame. Or crochet. They pick something they enjoy and are good at and work hard at it.
Me, on the other hand – I do a little bit of everything. I have ADHD when it comes to creativity. I’ll be inspired to make textile jewellery and will do that for a while. Then I’ll get bored and move on to fixing up a piece of furniture. Or painting. Or sewing little zombie dolls or monster critters. Or make a curtain out of doilies. I love variety. And I love trying new things.
In the end I think markets and selling online through local channels worked for me cause the stuff I made in Tasmania was something people were into there. Here, I haven’t quite yet found my ‘niche’ creatively speaking.
Since coming to Greece I have made and sold paintings on stone and marble, spring wreaths and other decor, pet portraits on commission, textile items… so it hasn’t been a complete failure, but its not quite ‘there’ for me yet.
I wish I could afford to open a shop of my own. A place to work and sell whatever it is I get inspired to create.
Ah dream on…
z
I was going through a ton of photos that belonged to mom, my aunt, my brother and me – trying to sort them out and put them in some sort of order. I think I mentioned mom has so many photos in frames of all sizes, on walls and on every surface in the house. I needed to contain them somehow, keep her memories while limiting the need for wall space.
I spent two days on that project alone, finishing it this afternoon. Its not really finished either. There are still too many framed photos to decide what to do with. And I’m sure I’ll come across more in my sorting and packing.
I have 4 albums I’ve been putting photos in, divided more or less: one with very old photos of mom and dad’s family, their wedding, our early life in Australia. Another with my brother and his first family, Another with my brother’s yougest son, another for me and other random pics. They’re not in perfect date order either as that’s a nightmare in itself, but at least mom can now pic and album knowing what she’ll find in it.
I bought 2 pretty frames that hold 8 photos each, one has a small corkboard on the side so mom can pin up new photos when she gets them. I plan to buy a piece of cork to put in another frame to do the same, perhaps even adapt the Christmas frame with wire and pegs so mom has plenty of places to show new photos.
Anyway, while doing this I found a couple of small albums of my own. Most of my photos are in storage already, but I found these in the attic above the hallway. They’re from 1995 when I was leaving Australia the first time to be with my father who was sick. At the time it was like now: I came for dad and had no idea when, or if, I would return to Australia.
Looking back brings so many great memories, and I look at my younger, gorgeous self and wonder how I could ever have thought I was fat! I was perfect.
Before I left I had a couple of goodbye nights out – one with one of my favourite Melbourne country bands, Rough Cut and my cowboy hat wearing, two steppin’ friends:
The other night was with my most favourite Melbourne rockabilly band The Straight 8s.
A few pics from a holiday in Queensland, where I met up with some line dancing friends.
Some random rockabilly event pics…
Oh boy. Its bittersweet. I miss that girl. I realise I’ll never be her again, but I miss the slimness, the fitness, the lifestyle: the dancing mostly. I guess I could have that in Athens, more or less, as there’s a swing/jive thing happening here, but without a dance partner and with COVID… eh.
At least I have these wonderful memories.
z
One of the best (and worst) things about packing up a house you/your family has lived in for 50 years is finding things you held onto, thinking you’d value them so you couldn’t get rid of them.
Well, I’ve found a ton of stuff. Some mine, some my brother’s, a ton of mom’s. Not so many of Dad’s things.
Among my things was a little autograph book from when I finished Junior High – Ursuline School in Athens.
The poor little book was falling apart but I photographed the autographs for posterity. A lot of these people I don’t remember or have lost touch with over the years, some I’m lucky enough to still have in my life.
One thing I always say is that I never win things. As in luck. I have won lots in my life, but always for work I’ve done. This was the second thing I won in my life – an essay competition.
That same year I won a drawing competition for an animal welfare society with a poster showing a puppy who just wanted a loving home. We never got the poster back. Mom still laments its loss.
Today was another day of packing and stacking. Well emptying cupboards and piling up things for mom to sort through. I am trying to be ruthless but you know mothers… I have to make sure I’m not giving away anything she wants to keep. So I piles tuff for her to check out. And only toss out what is obviously not worth keeping.
z
Somewhere among all the sorting and searching and packing and getting rid of stuff, I took the time to make a little Christmas display for mom. I’d seen this on Pinterest and though mine is nothing like it, not vintage, just cheap dollar store decorations, it inspired me to make my version.
I added two photos of the grandkid/great grandkid for mom and voila, a little Christmas in our 70s kitchen.
The beauty of this frame is that it can be used for anything, any time of the year. All you need is imagination.
Meanwhile I’m working out daily. Up and down 2 flights of stairs countless times. With weights (bags and boxes). I’ll have a body to die for come spring. And no gym fees!
Today I went up and pretty much finished the laundry phase of the tidy up. My theory is that once the laundry is empty of stuff that’s been in there for decades, there will be room for newer stuff mom can’t bring herself to get rid of.
Actually, I’m still storing old stuff in there – stuff I brought from Australia that don’t fit in my little house, old photo albums and sentimental stuff my brother and I both left years ago etc. The only stuff I’m getting rid of is the stacks and stacks of old clothes, linen, towels and bags etc. Things which were stuck in there and forgotten. Some of the stuff is still in its original wrappers.
My pile of stuff to donate is growing. The pile of stuff for mom to sort through is growing. And I’m listing the odd thing on Facebook. A lot of stuff would sell well in a garage sale, but we don’t have those here, and FB isn’t a good place to sell things worth little money. Athens is too big for someone to drive to pick up something unless its worth it.
If the weather is good tomorrow I’ll have another go at the ivy. Well, after I finish up upstairs, photographing and listing.
For today I’m done. Tired. Sore. Worn out. But satisfied that things are happening.
z
Update:
I found some old baubles so I was able to give the frame a more vintage look after all!
junk4joy 