Since my last post it has continued to remain extremely hot here on Crete.  Although other islands, including the mainland, have suffered even higher temperatures – Crete’s have hovered around the mid 30’s for what seems like forever!  It is officially the hottest summer on Greece’s meteorological records.  From my point of view, this being my 16th consecutive summer on Crete, I have certainly found it to be the most consistently hot one I’ve ever experienced.  It is, of course, absolutely fine if you are on holiday here, but it’s a different story when you have to live and work in it.

That being said – it’s all about keeping cool and the aircon in both my car and at home has become invaluable to the quality of my life here.  Yet despite my experiences of the extreme heat, my life continues to be quite wonderful on all levels.

My dear and close friends, Jill and Rick came to stay with me for a week, during which time we spent many happy hours chatting, eating, drinking, swimming and relaxing.  Apart from the two days I was selling in Almyrida, it was a kind of mini holiday for me too.  It was lovely to spend such quality time with them.  We ate out every lunchtime and evening, the evenings all at Elpis in Plaka.

The food there is so so good!  With the exception of Saturday, when we took a wander around Kalyves, browsing the shops and enjoying a tasty late lunch at Café Delight, overlooking the sea.  That evening we played cards on my balcony, whilst listening to music.

The week flew by as these wonderfully social times always do.  I was so happy to have hosted their holiday and return the favour, when on so many occasions Jill and Rick have had me over for dinner at theirs, when I’ve been in the UK over the Christmas period.

As far as selling my art goes – July was a little disappointing for sales, 29 Seashell Mosaic Paintings were sold compared to 40 last year.  I sold on 7 days instead of a possible 9, having missed 2 days because it was simply too hot to sit and work at my stall for 10 long hours!  However, so far August seems to be exceeding last year and sales are going very well.

Socially there continues to be many fun events to go to and among the most memorable of these has been ‘Kez ‘n’ The Band’ at Vangeli’s.  This Greek band had not performed there before and they were brilliant… churning out some great well-known tunes.  I loved the band as much as I do ‘The Lions’, who played there 2 weeks ago.  So two great evenings of live music and dancing at my local, just 5 minutes walk from my home.