Having just arrived back in Kalamata, and beginning to settle in for our fourth winter here, we heard from the guy who bought Mike’s factory that he wanted us to clear out the container in which we had stored stuff from the house when we left 11 years ago. So, unexpectedly, we had to return to the UK.

It was a strange visit with most of our time spent selling items on e.Bay for next to nothing or taking things to charity shops. In retrospect I wish we had just taken the charity shop route because at least those are worthy causes. Having beautiful, leather settees bought for £50.00 to be used as dog beds was rather upsetting and having to part with my grandmother’s Victorian sideboard equally so – though at least that did seem to go to an appropriate new home.

But there were good times too, catching up with family and friends and visiting a couple of places we hadn’t been to before.

The Whittaker Gallery in Rawtenstall focusses on local heritage, exhibiting works by [mainly] Rossendale Valley artists to celebrate the community, environment and industry past and present and look to a sustainable future for the area.

The museum is in an old mill owner’s house with one room displaying a collection of his belongings – some of them rather bizarre.

It is set in a small park which was really lovely dressed in autumn colours.

We also went to Tatton Park which has been a deer park since 1290…..

We enjoyed a lovely walk with Chris, Dave, Maggie, Cath, Mark, Phillipa, Conor, Lesley and Jasper….

…. and, of course, Preston.

I think the most surprising thing about our visit was the relative lack of Covid restrictions compared to Europe. Mask wearing has been obligatory inside and outside here in Greece, but in the UK not only weren’t they worn – they were also unavailable to buy. From the UK we were travelling to Germany and needed FFP2 masks as these are compulsory there for all public transport [and in Greece for all shops]. We had bought two in Greece but they were a bit too small for Mike so we tried to get some larger ones in the UK.

We also needed to go to Liverpool for Mike’s passport renewal and in so doing came across a rather odd mural.

Unfortunately, it being a whistlestop visit we weren’t able to catch up with any of my previous colleagues who live there. Hopefully, next time.

So, on to Germany which we were delighted to be visiting to celebrate Claude’s birthday.

We were only there for three days but it was so lovely to be able to spend time with James, Polina, Claude and Coco…..

….and also find time to visit the only Christmas Market allowed to open in 2021 in Berlin, all others having been cancelled due to Covid.

It was then back to Kalamata and some rather odd weather. Overall, this winter has been cooler and wetter than the three previous years. Often accompanied by strong winds from the south it has culminated in some startling results.

The result of this was that a lagoon was created….

….and the rivers entrance to the sea changed course.

A long period of high pressure has also caused the water to drop significantly in the marina …..

…. so much so that our planned haul out at the beginning of March didn’t happen because we got stuck in mud before reaching the travel lift. In hindsight we are rather glad we didn’t get hauled out that day because if we had we would still be there – lots of boats wanting to come into the water ready for this year’s sailing season have been unable to do so and, although a couple of days ago it looked like the water was rising again, it is still too low for any boat with a draft greater than 2m.

More rain can have its up sides too. We recently took a trip to the “Polylimnio  [many lakes] Waterfalls”.

The sign at the car park….

…. was actually proven correct!

Whilst this was actually the only fallen rock we saw, caution was certainly needed along the path which got narrower and narrower and, at a point when I turned a corner to find an approximate 50m drop with a ledge about half a metre wide, I decided enough was enough!!

It was, however a lovely place…..

……made even more so by the spring flowers blooming everywhere……

….and the weather hasn’t been all bad as this photograph and the one at the top of the post, both taken on Boxing Day, show.

Although, as I said above, Covid restrictions have been in place, we have not been in lockdown and some celebrations have been allowed to go ahead. Unfortunately, “Carnival” was cancelled but all the other traditional Greek celebrations took place.

Firstly, Three Kings Day….

….. and, on visiting the above church, we spotted this map…….

……which Mike found really interesting. He has been taking part in an on-line music course and one of the lessons was about “modes” of all major scales. These seven modes are named after what were ancient Greek areas – Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Myxolidian, Aeolian and Locrian. Most are found on the map – though those of you with a good geographical knowledge will recognise that the areas are no longer in Greek territory – they are in what is now Turkey.

We had a great time on “Tsiknopempti” [Burnt Thursday] when we went up to town to eat the traditional barbequed meat.

On Clean Monday we strolled through the park….

….. went to the beach for a picnic and to watch the kite flying and later also ate the correct food for the day…..

…. washed down with wine bought from our friendly local wine maker Vangelis.  

You might notice that it doesn’t look much like the saloon on Owl and Pussycat [The food photo – not our mate in the market!]. Well, that’s because it isn’t! We had rented a small apartment for the haul out that didn’t happen! Not being able to get our money back we decided to have two weeks off the boat and made full use of the apartment facilities – in particular the washing machine. We needed new fender socks and as Brexit has resulted in huge customs charges for imports from the UK we couldn’t just replace the ones we had. Deciding that the custom-made ones available in Greece and Germany were also too expensive we bought some white towelling and dyed it beige to match the canvas work. This had to be done on a boil wash which the marina washing machine doesn’t do so four washes later we were ready to cut and sew.

We don’t have a sewing machine on board but, luckily for me, our friends do so thanks Steve and Gill – the wonderful heavy duty “Singer” was a godsend.

As well as making fender socks I have also replaced the lining in the hatch covers and made a new tablecloth. If anybody has a spare sewing machine please let me know.

This winter has been a bit of an expensive one as we have bought a new foresail, which I hope to show you in the next blog when we are sailing. We have also replaced our dinghy …..

….. and had all of the boat cushions recovered.

The most recent Greek celebration to enjoy was Independence Day which was the day we visited the falls followed by coffees in Pylos and then a late lunch at a small restaurant in Messini.

We have also joined Steve and Gill in celebrating the visit of Joanna….

….and had fun taking her to our favourite restaurants and watering holes.

When we first came to Kalamata four years ago and walked up to the market we saw and laughed at this mural….

…. well, what we actually thought was funny was the name of the artist.

We have since found out that he is prolific in his work throughout Greece and a large selection of his murals are on the internet if anyone is interested. This year we have found several more in Kalamata….

…. though my favourite piece of artwork was painted by someone else who only signed the work with the initials HR.

So, we come to the end of our fourth winter here as we hope to set sail in a couple of days’ time. We don’t know if we will return but Mr. Google knows we have been here!

Steve pointed out that the satellite photograph of the marina taken two years ago has “Owl and Pussycat” and “Coriander” on it. O&P is the third boat from the bottom and Coriander three boats further along. This year Coriander has been where we were then and, obviously we have been where the blue dot is!