The weather has gone crazy. In January, we had seriously sub-zero temperatures – almost unheard of for our part of the world. The last week has been warm and sunny, with temperatures up into the low 20s during the middle of the day, and guess who came to visit? I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard him chirping away and he stayed for most of the afternoon – probably with one of those beady eyes on our fireplace, wondering whether he could get inside and claim his seat on the sofa. Continue reading “Jumping Jiminy” →

Right outside our kitchen window is the Greek island of Kastellorizo – known as Meis to the Turks. It is less than 2km off the coast at its nearest point and sometimes it appears so close that I feel I could touch it. When we have bad weather, it disappears altogether, only to reappear magically as soon as the storm has passed. (The photo left was taken from behind the harbour on Meis – you can see the hills of Kas in the background).

Luckily, the locals here rub along pretty much with the locals over there – as long as our two national football teams aren’t actually playing each other, we root for the Greek team and they cheer for ours in every major tournament. Our harbour in Kas is full of Greek boats on a Friday – our market day – and regular ferries ply between the two harbours. A day on Meis is one of our favourite excursions – it may only be a couple of kilometres away, but the food is entirely different, both in the tavernas and in the little supermarket. Obviously we would never consider using the trip to stock up on bacon and ham. Or Parmesan. Or decent coffee. Or Mr Muscle oven cleaner (banned here, ahem). Of course not. Never. Banish that thought. Continue reading “Not so sunny times” →

The Turquoise Coast of Turkey basks in sunshine for more than 300 days every year. But not today. Today, we could be renamed The Grey Coast. Or the Perfect-for-Ducks Coast. Or the Ooo-Err-Here-Come-a-Couple-of-Water-Spouts-Heading-Straight-For-Us Coast. You get the idea.

Yesterday was sunny – a rare event this last week – so we were up sharp and early, walking boots at the ready. Unfortunately Harry was missing.

Harry is the Pooh Bear of the feline world – a cat of little brain. We checked his usual hideouts and did a reluctant search of the ditch that runs along the side of the road for the length of our village, hoping NOT to find a fluffy tail poking out. Nothing.

Abandoning the search, we opened the tailgate of the car to throw in the backpacks and there was a loud and indignant meow from the front seat. Cat of Little Brain must have sneaked into the car when Robin had been unloading coal the previous evening. Little tyke had made a nest with the window dusters and settled in for a very long nap. Lives remaining: not very many.

Today, we could have been in a different country. No sign of the sun, not much sign of Meis either, come to think of it – the Greeks have rather disappeared behind a big cloud. So, shutters closed, hatches battened, fire chuntering away – a perfect day for baking bread. Continue reading “Missing cat, missing sun” →

Picking basil on the third day of January seems a crazy thing to be doing, but the weather has indeed been crazy this year. We finally had our first frost last night, so I was out there brandishing my scissors pretty smartly this morning, before any more of the leaves succumbed to the cold.

A few burned leaves, but enough of a bunch to make a final batch of pesto, to be stashed in the freezer for a hint of summer on miserable January and February days. I am not a great fan of the freezer (at the minute, mine boasts a stock of breadcrumbs, pesto, frozen peas, 18 vats of turkey stock and some precious English bacon and sausages, and that’s about your lot), but pesto is one of those things that still tastes just as good when it emerges from its frosty quarters. Continue reading “Pesto in January?” →