family and other critters

Chris, Kate, Alex and Zylie arrived monday a.m. after spending a lot of time touring around western Crete trying to find the road to Vamos! it's wonderful to have them here!! they over-lapped one day with Judy and she got up at still-dark-o'clock for taxi ride to Hania airport.

Kate gathered up a bunch of the snails that hang out around here and we had snail observation for awhile. then went to Bloumosifi taverna for dinner. as always, there were many cats and kittens hanging around looking for handouts. animals of any kind are Zylie's bliss in life... so a tiny kitten which ended up crawling into her lap was perfect... for both of them. her daddy looks pretty happy about the kitten, too.

Chris's reintroduction to raki seems to be going well. he's been throwin' em back with a Mythos chaser. bravo... your dad would be proud of you!!

life is good and all the sweeter with this branch of the tribe here to share it with!!

see next post for details of cooking class...

the feasting table with zucchini fritters and dolmades.

Patty .. our friend from Holland who has been living in Crete for a few years.

tzitziki and kalitsounia .

Elena, Toine, Tatiana and Aristotle.

our class after enjoying our work.

Greek Cooking Class

Judy and i took the class here in Vamos, which takes place in the reclaimed ruins of an old olive oil factory. Koula, the cooking teacher, has published a book on cooking in Crete and has an incredible extensive cooking experience. it's a hands-on learning with a feast at the end. my most favorite (hard to choose) dish for both making and eating is kalitsounia, a small pie filled with mizithra, a soft cheese, then fried. we learned how to make the dough and do it all! also, made dolmas, zucchini fritters, greek salad,

tsitziki, and rooster cooked in a pot with pasta. there were 8 of us in the class (4 from LA, 2 from Holland plus Judy and me). here's Judy chopping up something. did you know you can grate a whole tomato (rather than chopping) and you end up with the tomato skin left whole.. really! then we finally sat down to a fabulous meal, drank a lot of wine and raki, and had a great evening!!

here's Koula.... and the Greek salad and the site of the class, Fabrica.

hania harbor

We took the bus to Hania on Wednesday. across the street from the bus stop, we noticed a kitten who'd been locked inside the taverna the taverna the night before. she looked quite pleased with her place on the table sitting in the warm sun!

THE BUS RIDE! this is an experience of a life-time.... and i always go with the devout hope that i will come back in the same condition in which i left. the public buses are actually quite substantial Mercedes Benz and look like tour buses.. but then there are the roads which are narrow, windy, many hairpin turns, and on-coming traffic includes huge cement trucks and construction trucks, cars which are no real threat to the bus as they move as far off the side of the road as they can. did i say that Vamos is high up in the rugged foothills of the White Mountains. where i was sitting on the bus i could see the driver in a mirror. after i saw him talking on his cell phone with one hand and navigating with the other, i tried really hard to not look in that direction again! we got there safely ( didn't need to reach for the Depends)! and enjoyed going thru the huge market which covers at least a 1 block area. there's lots of stuff to please tourists and Judy bought a few things for her grandkids. one aisle of the market is devoted to fresh fish and cases of meat (and carcasses of lamb, rabbits, chickens which you can buy whole or have the butcher custom cut for you). there are also fresh fruit and veggie stands and a few places to sit down and order food and drink. and even in Oct. there are still quite a few tourists milling about. outside of the market and down the street, are some narrow streets/alleys with many little shops selling lots and lots of leather goods (sandals, belts, purses etc), jewelry, table linens, more touristy crap. esp. at the jewelry shops there are very aggressive sales people. i've learned not to stop and browse there or i'll have someone trying really hard to sell me something!!

from there we went on to the harbor, a very interesting place... tavernas, g

lass bottom boats going out for an hour for 10euros (we didn't). we sat at a table on the sidewalk and had wine and eggplant salad and watched the world go by for awhile. there was an old man standing at the edge of water throwing out his fishing line over and over. finally something got the big piece of bait off his hook and he gave up and left.

during the Venetian times in Crete, they built a huge wall around the city to keep their enemies out. parts of the ruins of the wall remain out in the water and around the "old tow

n" parts of Hania.

it's a facsinating city, full of traffic and honking of horns, lots of people and busy-ness. i'm convinced that driving in Greece requires attitude and lots of it.... you gotta get out there with attitude all revved up... no place for the timid!

the bus ride home was quite nice... instead of going straight down the highway, the route went up into the hills and thru several small villages, winding around til we got back to

Vamos.

last night we went to the Greek Cooking class. i'll put up photos next time i have a connection.

you can check out the temperature here in western Crete in the right column above the links.

more adventures in Vamos, Crete

It is almost midnight here and i'm on the patio under a full moon. Life in the village is starting to quiet down, except for a few heavily testosterone-enhanced teenagers still racing their old cars and motorcycles up and down the main street! Judy and i went to the beach in Kalives today. still a fair number of tourists around, but the season is winding down (thankfully!!)

the photos here are from a grape crushing a few days ago at Elena and Toine's. the crusher was borrowed from a friend, the grapes were from their yard and from friends. this grape juice will be fermented for a few weeks, then distilled into raki (fire water). I may still be here for the raki-making party... sure do hope so because that's a real event!! also at the crushing (or smashing) was Berend, another Dutch friend, a Brit couple (ex-pats living in a nearby village) and Tatiana who came with her young son, Aristotle.

i'm hoping the taverna does not shut down the wireless before the pictures are loaded.... anyway, there's more photos on flickr... link in the right-hand column.

happy in Crete

Judy and i are here, our lost luggage was delivered to us the day after we got here, and we are happily settled into our house. Elena who runs the rental office really chose a wonderful house for us! it appears to be recently renovated, is spacious, patio at front and one side with lovely plantings and big Greek oil urns. and it's next door to the taverna we love. they even had live music there last night, so we had Greek music with dinner.. mmm!

we sort of sometimes have a wireless internet connection here... when they have it turned on at the taverna.

have spent some time walking around the villlage, meeting up with old friends, stocking up on essentials from the "super-market" ( luscious tomatoes, fresh bread, coffee, wine, raki). Judy and i have decided we don't want to cook, so will snack along all day, then go out for dinner.

sometime soon i'll spend some time at the taverns where i'll have a good connection and can get photos and words on the blog

OFFF - first day

today was one of those perfect days! we had a booth on the lawn at the fiber festival, a warm and sunny day, lots of happy people, saw lots of friends, we were very close to the live music which was great, good booth location... and i was able to spend lots of time spinning... and we sold lots of fiber!

more photos tomorrow.

sock

here's one of (how many??) works in progress... a sock to display at OFFF with other of this BFL yarn which i dyed. maybe i'll get it finished... and if not, it will be displayed anyway.

Autumn Equinox at the Oregon Coast

We were at Cape Meares on the oregon coast yesterday and overnight with some friends. it was glorious weather... esp. for the first day of fall... sunny, slight warm breeze and temp. in the 80s. their house is in the woods about 5 minute walk from the beach. i didn't take any beach photos, but the link will take you to some nice beach scenes. had a lovely time, Deborah fixed a great salmon dinner, then we sat around drinking wine and solving all the problems of the world. we spent some time looking at the structures all around their property, including the Poetry House, a couple of world class tree houses, his workshop, her workshop, some works in progress such as decks and porches which Deborah is roofing and closing in to have a dry place for re-finishing and painting things. all of this is very photo-worthy, but lame-brained me didn't think to get the camera out til we were leaving Roseanna's in Oceanside where we had lunch before starting home. a funky looking place, overlooks the beach, serves fabulous food~

simple gifts

Jim has 400 (yes, that many)wine grape plants growing in various locations around the queendom. looks like it won't be long now til harvest of these gevurtztraminer (my fave wine), with the pinot noir not far behind!!

autumn is not my favorite season only because it means the dark days of winter will follow close behind. i do love the crisp mornings, clear blue skies, and the bounty in the garden... and the ripening of the grapes in the vineyard. i cannot get enough of the sunflowers!! as evidenced by my iphoto album.

Dancer

this is Carol our neighbor and her miniature horse, Dancer. Carol works in Mental Health and plans to use Dancer as a "therapy horse". this is the first time i've met a miniature horse and i was impressed with how sweet (and how small!) she is. she would have loved to follow me right into the garden when i went to pick some of our abundance of green beans for Carol. it was a hoot watching Dancer push the newly spread gravel aside so she could get at the weeds under neath. poor thing must have callouses on her upper lip.

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
-- Unknown Author

new yarn

this is called Baby WooBoo and it's baby alpaca/merino/bamboo boucle with nylon binding. it's luscious and lustrous and soft and delicious... just might end up in the booth at OFFF!!

lunch at Maggie's Buns

belatedly, i took my brother, Bud, for his birthday lunch today at one of our favorite places.... a small funky eatery in lovely downtown Forest Grove, OR! It started out as mainly a place to have really heavenly cinnamon buns and other yummy items baked right there on the premises by... of course... Maggie. it has evolved to include a large menu of excellent (really!) and unusual food not usually found in small town America. you can select from the dishes shown in the case... from sandwich wraps to lasagna to pasta dishes, greek salad and several varieties of salads, and too much to even begin trying to name. i've never had a bad meal there. and in the winter they make Hungarian Mushroom soup that is the best EVER! the decor of the place really appeals to me (but then i adore anything with pink flamingoes theme...if that gives any clues to my "taste"). it's funky and kitsch and must be seen to believe.

and in honor of the birthday occasion, i got a photo of Bud, known affectionately by me as "Curbhead", and yes, there is a story behind that.

fiber dyeing marathon

Kate came down for a few days this week to do some intensive dyeing in my studio. The necessary amount of water involved in dyeing massive amounts of fiber wasn't available at their house because the well they share with 7 other households was dry for a couple of days, then they were limited to 200 gallons/day, which doesn't even begin to cover showers, laundry, dish washer etc. But first! we had to go to the wholesaler's warehouse to stock up on lots of yummy fibers and yarns. i thoroughly enjoyed helping Kate spend her $$ and did a bit of damage myself, even tho i kept reminding myself that i'm "sort of retired" from all this now. mostly, i bought yarn to dye... including one very promising new one called "Baby WooBoo" which is baby alpaca, silk and bamboo and is kind of a chubby boucle. i have some in pre-dye soaking now and hope to get it dyed tomorrow. we are expecting cool and rain for the next few days, which is perfect dyeing weather in my studio (it gets blistering hot in there on typical summer days). anyway, Kate got an awesome amount of fiber dyed, and together with what she has already done at home, will have a booth at OFFF totally filled with luscious spinning fibers!!