Ice, Ice Baby

Almost half way through March and it is bitterly cold.  We had plenty of sunshine today but the wind was bitter, having said that if you could get out of the wind and in a sheltered spot it was quite pleasant.  You can see though that our mound of snow (which had fallen off the conservatory roof) wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.

I ventured out first thing to check on the garden - I particularly wanted to make sure that the hosta are surviving.  I realised that my little pond was frozen over - I have given up hoping that the mosquito fish managed to survive but the water lily looks to be ok thankfully.  I removed the ice - it was over a centimeter thick and looked amazing.  It has been replaced with a tennis ball just in cast fishies are still in there.

This morning I had arranged to go out for a coffee with Ellen - she had asked if I fancied going out to the Garden Centre at Agia Marina and I am always up for that so we set off together.  I know she is itching to start her garden but has to reign back her enthusiasm because the pool works are not starting until next week - I do hope Manni at ShipShape isn't spreading himself too thin as he is mid project at George and Pam's and I heard the workers having a massive argument a day or so ago and today John saw them picking up their cement mixer and buggering off (John is going to call Manni to ask what is occurring as he is trying to keep the project on track for George and Pam).  After the pool works Ellen is having the surrounding area crazy paved and then she will have areas set aside for her garden.  

Ellen says she likes going to the garden centre with me because I know my plants and after 11 years know what will and what will not survive in Droushia although as I said before this year has thrown a real spanner in the works with this late cold spell so that things which were surviving are in danger of not doing so.  What I have learned though is that you need to be patient to see if things survive.  One year I was about to dig out a bald bougainvillea in June or July only to notice the tiniest of new growth appearing.  It got a reprieve and has been fine ever since - or at least until this year.

There is so much in the garden centre and Marinos is very honest about whether or not he thinks things will survive so you can buy and feel relatively sure that you aren't wasting your money.

Anyway we had a good look round and discussion on plants and what Ellen was looking for and where they were to go before retiring to the cafe for a cup of tea and a bacon buttie before making our purchases.  I really enjoy Ellen's company - she is lovely and very interesting.  I am only sorry that I didn't get to meet her husband Ricky because he sounded fascinating and a right laugh.  Sadly her son Richard has put his shoulder out helping Ellen's friend so is rather incapacitated at the moment and wont be able to clean Argy's windows before she arrives - although to be fair it is a bit of a waste of time at the moment with the weather being the way it is.  Ellen and Richard's container is due to arrive shortly so John and I have offered to help with the unpacking - there are some items in there for us anyway so it is the least we could do.

Back home John was tackling the tree in the field which, over the last 11 years, has grown massively and we are worried that in one of our storms might just do some damage.   We contacted the owner of the field and explained the situation and he was happy for us to do some sympathetic pruning.  John doesn't want to kill it off  so wanted to do something before it starts to put on new growth.  The weather has hardly been conducive to some tree surgery so today he did some of the minor growth.  He thinks we may have to call in someone professional as the large branches are exactly that and he doesn't want to spoil the shape of the tree as they come down.  He had managed to tackle the other tree (mock pear thing) earlier - that one we have always kept under control so it isn't too much of an issue and in fact it has benefited from us taking it in hand.

Whilst John was doing this my job was to net the pool and remove any debris which had been blown inside.  Even though it is cold it is time to start preparing it for use.  John thinks he has dealt with the leak which was either from the skimmer or from the join we had to do by the pump house - time will tell.  Apparently the cost of chemicals has rocketed.  It does make us question the benefit we get for the 5 months we generally use the pool.  John has tasked me with investigating what people have done to hide the fact they once had a pool when they have got rid of it.  He is suggesting a hot tub but I think they are really unattractive and I know that when it is baking hot we will be so grateful we have somewhere to cool down but we have to be sensible.  Prices are rocketing - Ellen had mentioned that the weed killer she had purchased previously had increased in price from €25 to €95 - that is daylight robbery.  The trouble is we don't know which items on the island came from Russia or the Balkan states and are now not available.  Certainly we know that one of our suppliers of burning wood used to source it from the Ukraine.

I did my pool cleaning exercise.  I know it looks quite pleasant, and out of the wind it was but I cannot begin to tell you how cold my hands were - so cold that they hurt!  The garden doesn't look too bad really if you think it was covered in snow yesterday morning but we really could do with some sustained warm weather to bring it all to life as it seems to be in a sort of suspended animation.

We decided to have an early tea tonight.  If nothing else we can still, currently, eat well at home for a reasonable price and have a nice wine to accompany it.  We always think that if you sit down and make a bit of an occasion of any meal it feel better.  We try and make sure we sit down at the dining table to eat all the time.  

That harks back to when we were first married and Mum and Dad bought us a dining table and chairs for our house in Hill View.  It was regency reproduction and we thought it was the bees knees.  It had a lovely round table with a piece to extend it and chairs that were upholstered with a deep red stripe. We looked after that set and cared for it for years and two house moves until we moved from Fennel Way to the married quarters where we no longer had room for it - it was a reluctant sale I can tell you - and I remember that the table we had prior to that had been a solid wood one which had belonged to Mum and Dad and we gave it away to a friend of John's who stripped it back and refurbished it (along with the chairs) and it looked amazing.  I am guessing it is probably still in use by someone now.  

I know fashions change but I can't begin to calculate how much stuff we have got rid of over the years to replace with something which cost more, was lesser quality and never lasted.  I am happy now to mix and match, have what we want and not follow trends!