Thursday 1st November

It's been one of those days which we sometimes take for granted, but as I've had to think about it in order to write this blog I realise how lucky we are to be here. John cycled into Karystos this morning to pick up a new wheel for the trailer and while he was gone I sat outside in warm sunshine eating my breakfast. I was suddenly aware of the sound of the birds, chattering and chirping all around me. I suppose it's a bit like we don't hear the cicadas in the summer any more, they are just there. Once I heard the birds the noise became almost deafening, a whole world of activity going on all around me. It seems as if in the last few days all the migratory winter birds have arrived, finches and tits of all sizes and hues. There are also lots of butterflies.
When John came back we lit the bonfire down at Koula's and between us carried all the prunings and garden rubbish from the lane. It was a really good blaze and we got rid of it all by one o'clock. Still thinking about background noise, I noticed the constant buzz of the bees, hundreds of them swarming all over the ivy hanging over the trees in the lane. The ivy flowers are inconsequential, a pale yellowy green colour, and their smell is quite distinctive, not so much perfumed as aromatic, a fresh sharp smell.
It was hot, the thermometer read 24C in the shade, and the sky was almost completely blue, so we decided to go to the beach. We looked for wild mushrooms on the stretch of land behind the town beach, and they have started to come properly, we got a good bag. We sorted and peeled them sitting on the beach and then I washed them all in the sea and laid them out to dry in the sun. We stayed on the main town beach rather than go on to one of the bays and it was deserted, we had over a kilometre of beach all to ourselves. We sat in the sun, reading, for a while and had a swim before coming home, the sea was not cold.
Back home we fried up our mushrooms with eggs and baked beans and the potatoes I had baked in the bonfire yesterday. A real gourmet meal which we ate outside on the patio at a quarter to six, it was still warm.
The nights are getting cooler though, we have both started wearing socks in the evening.