organising and cleaning (my house, my brain etc)

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I spent the whole of last week house/dog/cat sitting where I’d spent a month a couple of months ago. It’s nice, kinda like a holiday, but I sure do miss being home. Here is Lainee enjoying lying on someone’s couch for a bit:

So, when I got back home on Saturday I immediately began picking up where I’d left off in my organising and cleaning stint.

I’d already cleaned the living room and put down the rug for winter, cleared out and organised my kitchen cupboards, put away almost all my summer clothes, moved my outdoor furniture and fans to the basement for winter, and swept and threw out all the accumulated pine needles from the back courtyard and front patio.

This time round I did some laundry, a ton more dusting, put away the rest of the summer clothes which had been washed and were piling up in the bedroom, went crazy with the hammer hanging a few odds and ends on the walls and re-arranging others, found a home for some vintage encyclopedias I was unable to resist when someone was giving them away, and began a pile of ‘take to Athens’ stuff. Oh, and threw a big bag full of crap from the bathroom.

It felt great! I minimised all the products and crap I had in there, no more holding onto things I don’t use or things past their use-by date.

Did I mention we’d had another blackout while I was away? Well, second one in the last month. My freezer is now totally empty since I had to toss everything out. But I got some frozen Korean dumplings on the way home. Dinner! Yum.

Since the weather wasn’t too bad and I was in a working rather than lying-about-watching-Netflix mood (I did that too!), I trimmed some of my plants back for winter, checked on others and when I checked the dead lavender bush I had in a huge pot out the front, I found it came out in my hand without so much as a tug… It had virtually no roots at all. Strange I thought. So I began to dig at the soil thinking I’d put something else in the pot.

This is what I found:

EEEEWWWW. There were TONS of them. Big, round fat grubs, squirming and disgusting. I’m sure they might be full of protein and taste great if you tossed them in a bit of flour and shallow fried them… GAG.

I did a google search and I believe they are some kind of beetle larvae which eat plant and grass roots. YUCK. They were just horrible. I put them in the rubbish bin. I now have to throw out the soil as it may have more eggs in it (and it’s not cheap filling that pot) and treat all my other plants just in case.

Eeeewwwww. I’m still cringing.

Other than that, while outside, I checked the outdoor fairy lights and found they no longer worked. I guess leaving them outside for 2 years will have that result. Oh well. I got a new, smaller strand today … I won’t leave that one up for years. Or so I say now…

Other than that, I’ve been THINKING creatively but not actually put more than a few strokes on the canvas I’ve started or the two pet portraits I’m working on. Maybe tomorrow. I have a dentist appointment tonight. Nothing dramatic, but I’m sure my tongue can feel a hole which wasn’t there before… I probably lost a filling and didn’t notice…

The weather has been a bit erratic lately – warm and sunny one day, windy and cold the next, then warm and sunny again. However I think it may have finally settled into winter mode now… As long as it’s not raining I’m fine with it cause I don’t like walking Lainee in the rain.

Work has been busy, grooming has slowed down, so hopefully I can get back into my art in a real way soon.

z

just wasting time

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So, not much is happening. The guys came to work Thursday and Friday as well but knocked off early to ‘buy buy materials’ both days… Mom said that’s bull”$*&, they could shop early in the morning.

Sure. I know that. But what can I do?

Now, this is a long weekend, so nothing will be done till next Tuesday. If they come on Tuesday, of course…

I’m keeping myself busy by trying to get some stuff checked off my list. Yesterday I tried to clean the brass plate which was on the front of our fireplace. Lemon and baking soda Dr Google suggested. It kinda worked… but not really. Next is cleaning the fireguard, but if that also fails I’m just gonna spray paint it with fireplace black. No more messing about.

Mom wants me to finish the last of the 4 chairs I re-covered for the kitchen, so gotta get onto that… A job for tomorrow.

I spent 2 afternoons sorting through Dad’s slides… Over 1000 of them! I’ve sorted them into general piles: Australia, Greece in general and Paros. And a box of slides to give away or throw away… unless I can think of a recycling project for them. Yes, I’ve done things with negatives and xrays before so I could do something with slides… but do I really want to hold onto a ton of stuff I might on day have time to do something with?

Up till recently, that was my life… Now… I’m not sure.

So, that’s my exciting life. Hope you all are having fun!

z

social butterly-ing

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I seem to be on a social kick lately.

In just a couple of short weeks I’ve gone from  a strictly ‘work/home in pjs couch potato’ to ‘Ms Out-Way-More-Than-Is-Good-For-Me’.

The downward slide began last Sunday when, on the way home from visiting my newly widowed aunt, I was hailed over by a couple of guys I’ve known for years who were sitting on their patio enjoying the weather with a glass or five of tsipouro. (Think greek homemade hooch similar to italian grappa.)

I spent a pleasant couple of hours with them, getting home too late to do any housework and too drunk to do much else.

Did I mention I’d walked to my aunt’s? Driving may have saved me from drinking, but the way my day was going (too much beautiful weather to work) I doubt I’d have gotten much done anyway.

Monday I had a haircut… perhaps not a social occasion for most people, but my hairdresser is also a grooming customer and we’ve become friends, so our tongues got as much of a workout as the scissors.

Tuesday after a grooming appointment (which doubles as a visit to a friend, and her owner – haha!) I caught up with ‘the girls’ for drinks at the bar where we usually meet. That is a pretty much standard ‘every Tuesday night off season’ thing, but a lot of the time when its cold and miserable out and I’m snuggled on the couch with my poodle, I don’t feel like going out, so for me its more like every 2 weeks.

Wednesday I was invited out for dinner with friends I dog-sat for on top of the mountain… incidentally, where I am again right now. For a few days only this time. At least thats the plan…

Thursday is, from this point, on quiz night at the Jolly Roger in Parikia. Went with a friend last week and we came in 2nd. Of four, but hey, we still came in second. And I actually helped by answering FIVE whole questions she didn’t know the answer to. I just LOVE quiz nights so I think this will be the one thing I brave the weather for weekly!

I’ve joined a writing group called Bell Book & Candle which meets once a month on a Sunday evening, where we write to a theme, read our efforts aloud then share dinner and drinks.

I’m still waiting for info on some pilates classes I want to join, and I’ve been invited to join a couple more things.

There is a theatre group which does plays in winter (before COVID and again this winter I hope). There are dance lessons for tango in Parikia I hear, a greek dance troupe and latin in Naousa. There are a couple of art groups.

I would love to do a ton of stuff but I must remember that I need to work on my art as well, and in order to do that, I need a few restful evenings a week.

Who said there is nothing to do on Paros in winter? People think its dead once the tourist season ends and the shops close, but that’s when the permanent residents begin to get a life.

Life is different when you live on an island, or any tourist place I guess. Everyone is too busy during the season to have time to do much of anything but work. Then in winter, when they have the time, there is a ton to do if you want to do it. However a lot of people either leave to go to their ‘real home’ or go away for a holiday. And holidays can be long when you work in tourism 6-7 months a year, then have the rest of the year off.

That makes it hard for some of the groups who need to have a steady number of people showing up.

Still, its one thing I love about living in a small place – the fact that I know a lot of people and that there is always something to do if I want to.

And I love the peace and quiet here in winter compared to the crazy hell of summer.

z

all is quiet on the western front

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So, no major disasters since my last post.

In fact, other than the usual chasing my tail, I’ve had time to clean the house and cook a few meals. Woohoo!

I’ve been tackling the house tidy/clean/organise issue with a plan. With being so busy for a while I was way behind on my housework to the point where I had no idea where to start. My plan is simple: divide and conquer.

I’ve broken the house down into areas and am attacking them one at a time. I began one afternoon while I still had energy after work. I started with the upper kitchen cabinets, inspecting, re-organising to make sense of things and tossing out anything I don’t use or had expired, putting things to give away into a box etc.

Then I moved on to other areas.

In-between I washed tons of clothes and dishes, swept, mopped and put down rugs for winter, made a vegetable stew and a spanakopita (spinach pie for the non-greeks).

So far I have a stack of clothes I don’t wear, and some odds and ends I don’t want. I’ve filled a box with crafty stuff to give away but have more to sort, so nothing is gone just yet… Things always get worse before they get better – and this is no exception. I have a stack of stuff to go to the basement and stuff to give away, all placed judiciously next to the door, within easy reach should the mood hit me to actually move them on to their eventual location.

My bedroom cupboard and wardrobe are organised, but the bookcase in the living room is still stuffed full of stuff ‘to do’ which need sorting into “Yes, I will do something with that one day in the not too distant future” from the “Nope. I’ll never use in this lifetime” stuff.

However, it was one step forwards and two steps back in the plan… Somewhere along the line I saw some very old books being given away so I collected them… hm. The packrat in me never seems to stay quiet for long… My excuse? They’ll come in handy one day – either as decor (who doesn’t love old volumes?) or craft projects for the too far gone ones.

Its ok. I’ll throw out some old stuff to make space for more old stuff!

Of the stuff I was going to get rid of, I decided to make a knife block a la pinterest – it’s not good for the knives to be tossed into a drawer – it dulls the blades, not to mention you risk losing a finger every time you reach in to grab a whatsit from the drawer.

The usual: I simply chose the books I wanted to sacrific use, painted them with some offwhite chalk paint I had, tied them together with some twine I had, and voila. Instant knife block. Done. One small thing achieved in a mess of things to do.

See? Made from things I’ll use “one day”. I knew I was right to keep them!

Yes, its hard to get rid of stuff when you live to make things, but some days I just have to take a good long hard look at myself and face it. I can’t do everything, no matter what my business card says.

Catchya later.

z

so, how are things – you ask, not really wanting to know the answer…

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Breathe….

How did I go from ‘things are settling down now summer is over, and I can finally get back to being creative’, to total silence again… ?

Let me see if I can put it in a nutshell:

Mom things to deal with, a death in the family, a ferry almost disaster, absent gas, an appliance put on this earth to test me, a thunderstorm, power outages, and a flat tyre.

And now for the nuts sans shell for those who want to read on…

October 28th one of my uncles died. He was the second youngest of my dad’s brothers. He was 82 and hadn’t been really well, but he wasn’t like, real sick either, so it was sudden and a shock. He’d been the Don Corlene of the Famelis family for so many years I guess we thought he was not just omnipotent, but immortal too…

On the up side, since October 28 is a public holiday, I got a 3 day weekend.

On the down side, it wasn’t a fun weekend.

Mom was due to leave on Saturday. When she told me about my uncle’s passing I picked up her tickets on the way over. Like… was she going to leave right after he died? Stupid. But then I also left home without my bag, my wallet and wearing my incredibly sexy pink crocs with striped socks.

Whatever.

That evening my brain kicked in and I called the travel agency to change mom’s ticket to open so she could travel on another day. All good.

Sunday, before the funeral, I went past and picked up the new tickets for Monday.

Monday morning mom called me at work from the port, distraught. The ticket was wrong and they wouldn’t let her on the ferry. Her sister was already on board. Mom was in a panic but the little Hitler at the port was hell bent on not letting her on.

The ticket had the correct time and ferry name but instead of ‘Paros to Pireaus’ the ticket said ‘Pireaus to Paros’. What? There are no ferries from PIR to PAS at that time, any day of the week.

Especially that particular ferry which was, at that very moment, loading cars, trucks and passengers the wharf on Paros.

I called the agent, the woman who changed the ticket, demanding she fix it. She said what could she do? she was alone in the office… the ferry was due to leave in 5 minutes! I suggested she lock the office and run to the port and sort it out. Mom is an old woman with a heart condition, and this was too much.

Back and forth calls – me trying to find a solution and mom telling me what I should tell say and do. Like I’m 10 years old…

The story? The tickets were originally for Saturday but when they printed out, the date and time was correct but origin and destination were wrong for some reason. Computers, right? You know what they say? “To err is human. But to really F#@K things up takes a computer”.

The little fuhrer could have just looked at the old ticket and said “Hmm.. the old ticket was correct and paid for. The new ticket has part of it right, but there is no ferry from PIR to PAS at this time, so why don’t you drive on in and totter up to the the purser to sort it out like a good little old lady?”

But no. His brain was so wrapped in ‘by the book’ that there was no room for out of the box thinking. Or common sense.

I had asked the lady at the agency to just issue new tickets and run them to the port. When she tried to issue new tickets for mom she couldn’t cause mom was apparently already booked in for that trip! (duh) So she issued them in my name.

Of course, the genius port officer refused to accept the new tickets those cause they were in another name!

In the end someone was able to argue mom onto the ferry. Last vehicle on.

Sheesh. And me at work, in a meeting, trying to sort this out.
 
Later that evening mom called. She didn’t have any gas. Everything in the new house is on natural gas… No gas to cook with, no hot water, nothing. Wonderful. And I’m meant to help how? Being millions of miles away and having no idea what to do?

After over an hour on various calls to the gas provider – who politely told me that their job was just to bill us, they had nothing to do with any issues we might have – i called mom and she said it was working again. One of her neighbours said she had to run water in the sink and it would then turn itself on. So it was working fine…

Thanks mom.
 
Next morning, another distress call from mom. The oven wasn’t working.

I bought this whiz bang oven at a great price from a place in the north of Greece, a display model top of the line Gorenje oven. It came with a manual in some unknown language. I was able to find and download one in English and when the oven was put in place around May/June this year, I tried to set the clock. It began flashing PLOC which I take means the oven is locked, and I never managed to unlock it, no matter what I tried.

At the time I called the Gorenje distributor in Greece. Nope, they couldn’t send anyone out as I was not reporting a fault and their service department only deals with faults. Besides, he said, they don’t support that particular model as they weren’t the distributor of Gorenje products at that time.

They gave me a number for an uncertified repair company, who said no, we can’t fix that, call the distributor. I called the same guy back and finally he told me the name of the old distributor.

He could have started with that.

Anyway, I called and booked in a demonstration and service/repair if needed. another load of calls yesterday. The repair man. Mom. The repair man. Mom. Mom. Mom. Telling me what to say. What to do.

This is not over yet… chapters 3, 4 and more are coming. The oven is either faulty or broken cause it wont unlock but we don’t know why. I’m speaking to the seller and they are no, apparently, going to try to send someone to fix it or diagnose the issue and will replace it if need be.

This weekend I’ve had two power outages. One for 12 hours and one for 24. Everyone in my area, in the same building – right next door and above me in fact! – had power after a few hours but I had to wait 24 hours and 2 visits from the electricity company to get it fixed.

I can’t explain it… but somehow I’m getting power from somewhere else, like, perhaps the moon, cause they came and checked the building and pronounced it ‘fixed’ when I still had no power.

Being at home in the dark without internet and a flat kindle sucks.

But its fixed now.

And this morning I get up to go to work and find I have a flat tyre.

Ain’t life grand?

Anyone want to trade a life on Paros, complete with a mom who cooks great greek food, for an isolated farm in Australia?

z

 

catching up – a mixed bag

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Its been a long time between posts. I have a good excuse or three. I’m still working, still grooming and still house-dog-cat-sitting.

The ‘sitting’ job has been extended due to health reasons – basically the owner needs surgery so I am staying another 4-5 days, past the already more days I have done.

I don’t mind, seriously, it’s just that having to do stuff after work becomes difficult when you have to drive up the mountain on a dirt road which only fits one car at a time (ie you/they have to back up to a spot in order for both of you to get through… not fun!) and then back down and back up again.

It means that (since I can’t take two dogs to work with me, or on grooming jobs) I have to leave said dogs at the house and drive up to make sure they are ok after work, feed them etc, then drive back down to go grooming or whatever. A lot of driving in a crap road.

I’ve had quite a bit of grooming lately. Not enough to give up the day job, but I’ve had some new customers and it’s still hot enough that people are wanting their dogs groomed regularly. Good for me… better if I wasn’t also house/animal sitting.

I keep telling myself I won’t do that again, but I’m a sucker and I say yes to everything. All the time. I love to be helpful. I need to learn to say no. I have stuff I need to do for myself. My own work, my grooming, my art. I can’t give up my time like I tend to do. Even for pay. I need to put my work first.

Anyway, did I mention my aunt got sick? Aunt #1, the one in the nursing home. I don’t think I did. During my busiest time, I had to spend some time in the health center here on Paros with her. Mom and one of my other aunts did too cause the health center is not a hospital and isn’t staffed at night. We are so lucky she didn’t have to go to hospital. There was no way I could take time off from work and leave the dogs/cat/house job either.

Thankfully she’s better and back in the nursing home where she has people to care for her round the clock. She looked awful though and we were really worried for her. She is 94, almost 95… declining health is inevitable, but still…

Work has been just as busy as it was all summer. Though September is over, tourists are still here, its still busy and there is still no parking.

The weather has been great mostly. Hot in fact, for the last 3 days. I finally managed to get a quick swim in today between work/picking up dogs/grooming. It was lovely. The beaches are nowhere near as busy as they were a month ago and I like that.

Hopefully things in my life will calm down soon and I can get back to sharing projects…

z

house/dog/cat sitting

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I’ve been staying at a friend’s house since yesterday, looking after Indy and Maya.

This is Indy – I’ve looked after him before.

No, its not a perspective thing… Indy has next to no legs. He’s a dachsund. How cute is he all stretched out!

This is Maya – a cat they found as a very sick, tiny kitten, and nursed back to health, who is apparently very scared of strangers.

As you can see, Maya is terrified of me.

So here we are, me, Lainee, Indy and Maya, on top of the world, overlooking miles of sea and Parikia bay, listening to the cicadas and wasps and NO traffic!!!

The photos don’t do it justice. I’ve been sitting out here watching the sunset and reading Where the Crawdads Sing cause watching Netflix just doesn’t seem right somehow. Its more a read and listen to nature sort of place. I may only be here for a week, maybe 10 days, but its lovely. Its what I dreamed of when I dreamed of living on Paros.

z

happy birthday to me!

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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

i jinxed myself

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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

finally, a bit of time to make art

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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