Wednesday 31st October

Had a fantastic bonfire today and got rid of all my honeysuckle and rose prunings. The honeysuckle is so difficult to do anything with, the long tendrils wind round everything and are difficult to break. I burnt it all in the old oil drum we use as an incinerator. Lots of people around us have been having fires for a couple of weeks, but officially we aren't suppose to start until tomorrow, 1st November. Open fires are forbidden from April to November. Everywhere is still damp after the rain 10 days ago, and the humid southerly winds, but there could still be a risk.
John started moving the massive pile of prunings from when we cut back the right hand side of the front garden, ready for a fire tomorrow. He had stacked it all up against Andreas' wall. Koula inquired to see if the Council would collect it for us, but they were going to charge €60, so we agreed to move it all down onto their land, by the river, and burn it there. We will get rid of a lot of their rubbish at the same time.
It has been overcast all day today, but warm and completely windless. We could really do with some more rain, it's 10 days since it rained. While the nice weather is holding we decided to go down to the port for lunch. It really is wonderful sitting there, outside one of the ouzeries, watching the fishing boats come and go, the world passing by, Karystos just carrying on with its life. It has to be one of the things which make Karystos so unique, such a lovely place to be, a million miles away from the Greece that most of the tourists see. John had a plate of mussels in a mustard and lemon sauce. It's the first time he has had it, he liked the mussels but said it was a bit heavy on the lemon for him. I had a plate of the fish they call 'little cod' here, but whatever they are, they aren't cod. They are small white fish, about 16 cms long, and very sweet.
This afternoon we took a walk around the land above us, through the lanes of Palaia Khora, collecting a few walnuts on the way. It was interesting to see how things have changed over the summer. The lanes are even more overgrown than before, in many places we needed to duck down through the ivy and the brambles. It is all so quiet and protected here, we were walking round for over an hour and saw no-one. The bad news is that unless something is done to manage the area it will become even more overgrown, dry stone walls will collapse, trees will fall. We took a look at a piece of land which Effie told us has been sold to some Athenians who intend to develop it speculatively, houses to rent or sell. It's a lovely piece of land, with good sea views, but we think they must be crazy. The ground was scattered with shards of Roman pottery, and close to it are some really old looking walls and building remains. Considering that the archaeologists have been excavating a piece of land someone bought in Palaia Khora for about 3 years now and still haven't given permission to build, I think they may have to wait a very long time, and then may be refused if anything of particular interest is found.