Mother-in-law's advice

When drying your oregano, don't place it in the sun as it goes a brown colour. In order to keep it looking green when dry, the stems should be hung upside down in a well ventilated but shady place.
Sarah

Restaurants. Again

Somehow I seem to be writing about food rather a lot, but 'not so well known' restaurants definitely seem to deserve a mention. his one is Plori, just along from Paramonas beach near Agios Matheos. In fact when I say 'just along' this is exactly what I mean, the road goes down to Paramonas, past the little hotel, and you keep going, almost IN the sea, for about 40 metres, once you turn the corner, there it is, on its own, almost in the sea.

Since last year it has been one of our choices for those really hot nights, when you are just desperate for a cooling breeze, but the food definitely deserves a mention. As with so many seaside tavernas, their speciality is fish - but at Plori they also offer interesting variations - I had a massive stuffed squid, husband had a vast portion of beef in tomato sauce, and we had already begun with garlic bread, courgette and cheese fritters and super fresh gavros (sort of whitebait). Along with wine, the bill for all this was 35 euros - and there was plenty left to give bits to the little dog which adopted us as soon as we sat down, plus a little 'doggie bag' for the large dog at home.

This year, there are complaints generally about higher prices in restaurants, but our experience is just the opposite - of the 7 or 8 restaurants where we regularly eat, the prices still seem to be very reasonable - and the food wonderful!
Diana

Take your scissors!

If you are out for a walk in the hills and mountains of Corfu this month, remember to take your scissors with you. This is the time of year when the lovely, strongly scented herb oregano is ready for picking.

I keep seeing locals from my village with armfuls of oregano which they have gathered, and decided to have a go at collecting some myself while walking the dog. I hadn't realised how tough the stems are, so this morning I remembered my scisssors and picked this lovely big bunch.

Oregano (rigani) is one of the most popular herbs in Greek cooking, but my favourite way to use it is on the stem, as a sort of basting stick. Take a few stems of oregano, dip them in a mixture of oil and lemon juice and then splash the basting mixture onto the meat or fish. Messy but very tasty!
Sarah

When I woke up this morning ...

What strange weather we are having this year. More than a week of rain and low temperatures in June, to be followed by an early July that it more reminiscent of late September than full summer. Cool evenings, misty and damp mornings, it doesn't seem as if summer has started properly, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to open the shutters this morning and see - well, not much! We have a really nice view from our upstairs verandah, but this morning it was obliterated by thick, thick fog. Definitely autumn then?
Susan

Doing business - Corfu style

I bet if you said to someone "Just going to pick up my computer from the repair man", it wouldn't conjure up this picture. Only this is Corfu, and our computer repair man happens to live on the beach in Acharavi. In the bag is Sarah's computer de-bugged and ready for use.
Susan

Some Have Them and Some Don't

In the same way as the weather can be really good in one part of the island and pouring with rain in another, it appears that certain insects are common in one area and never seen in another.

It hadn't really occurred to me until a discussion arose over Sunday lunch in Antiperni. Admiring the abundant flowers in the garden, we asked our hosts how they dealt with the grasshoppers that have eaten the new shoots and tender flowers from most of our own garden just a few kilometres away. "Grasshoppers?" they said, "What grasshoppers?"

As far as we are concerned these green, slightly prehistoric looking insects are as much a part of our daily life as ants, wasps and flies, so how come they don't have them in Antiperni?

Apart from decimating our plants, they are also indoor visitors and leap from wall to floor and back again. Unfortunately they aren't particularly afraid of humans and quite often hitch a ride on a shoulder, head or leg. Most annoying of all - they don't sleep at night. If you make the mistake of going to bed without checking walls, floors, curtains, etc, you are likely to be jumped upon and bitten! Okay, so they don't draw blood, but they nip hard enough to wake you and once you are awake and know that one of them is around, you have to get up and hunt it!

So we have them in Skripero and I wish we didn't!
Susan

How perfect can you get?

Don't need any words to go with this photo, do we? This view can be
yours for 1,220,000 Euros, and a pretty splendid villa to go with it!
Susan

Homefinders finds a new home

So finally we moved and we are now at G. Markora 43, in between Xenoglosson and Moustakis book shops, just a few steps to the left after the San Rocco Square traffic police

We have been looking for new Corfu Town premises for what seems like ages, our original building might have been quirky and atmospheric, and it was very nice to have a garden, but unfortunately it was also ancient, damp and prone to flooding whenever we had one of those wonderful Corfu downpours.

We scoured newspapers, spoke to other agents, considered a total move out of Town, rang up about premises which were 'just about' suitable, to find that they carried vast amounts of 'key money' costs with them, to the point where we had just about given up for this summer, and resolved to start looking in the autumn. Susan and I decided to have one final walk around, and look at one of the 'possibles', and by chance took the road up towards the market - and there before us was an empty shop, in good condition, with a 'for rent' sign in the window. We phoned immediately and it transpired that the owner was, in fact, one of our shop clients, and was very happy to show it to us.

To cut a long story short, we decided it was practically a gift, and after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing and the usual bureaucratic morass, the builder moved in. First job to cover up the 17 holes in the ceiling left by the lights taken by the previous tenant, and after that a thorough paint and clean, our shelving was fitted, and we were ready to move.

The lorry came at 2pm last Wednesday and by 6pm, and 4 lorry loads later, we were IN! That is to say we were in in piles of boxes, bin bags, parcels tied with string, you get the picture. We were also in a complete state of exhaustion, and remembered why we always swore we would never move. The next morning, the shop took shape rapidly, although much of the methodology here seemed to be to move everything to the back into our (smaller) office.

OTE excelled themselves, and having told us originally that we had to wait in line after the 250 phone lines for the Foreign Ministers Conference, we actually did not wait at all and the wonderful OTE engineer connected not only phones but internet, so before we have one stick of furniture, we had our internet connection. The aircon people, not quite so fast, but as of yesterday, we pretty much have everything we need - that is not to say we have actually found everything, we still have piles/bin bags etc. in the office, but we will get there!
Diana

House looking for a new family

Sometimes when we are out and about looking at new properties just on the market, and showing houses and plots of land to clients, we come across old favourites and wonder why they haven't sold before now. One such is Francesca's House at the quieter end of Sidari - along the beach road in the direction of Agios Ioannis.

This is a much loved, but now outgrown, summer house, whose family spent many happy months there each summer. Close enough to the sea for the children to walk on their own for a swim, but far from the bustle with which Sidari is normally associated.

The house is set in large, fenced grounds, simply designed for ease of maintentance and child-friendly for playing and having fun. There is plenty of space for a swimming pool if desired, and the house itself is traditionally rustic in style, with four double bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The price is also very reasonable - just 320,000 Euros.
Susan

Midsummer's Day

June 24 is Midsummer's Day here in Greece - although you would hardly know it by the very unseasonal cold stormy weather we have been having!

In the village of Kendroma on the north-east coast, every year on the night of the Summer Solstice they host a Fire Festival; an ancient pagan festival to celebrate the solstice, and a great excuse for the village to party!

The pretty square at Kendroma was full of people, a mix of locals, curious tourists, and residents like me who have never been to a fire festival and wondered what all the fuss was about. As darkness fell, the three bonfires were lit, and the fun started. The tradition is to wear a garland made of wild flowers and grasses and then jump over each fire, turn around and do it again, and then place the garland on the fire. Although lots of people had their garlands on their heads, there were plenty who just ran and jumped the fires, and lots of small children too, lifted over the fires by their parents. It all looked highly dangerous to me, and I couldn't help thinking that this ceremony wouldn't be allowed in the health and safety conscious UK.

Once the bonfires died down, the dancing began, with a band perched on the terrace of a house on the square. Young and old got up to dance, led by an older gentleman who apparently always starts the dancing off. We danced around the fountain, and then returned to our seats to eat the souvlaki which were being sold to raise funds for the local community. It was a very well organised event, and I shall definitely be going again next year - I may even jump the bonfires.
Sarah

All change

There's not been a lot of spare time for blogging this last week. Susan and Diana have been busy running around getting everything ready for "the big move" which will (hopefully) be happening in a day or two. English Imports, together with our Corfuhomefinders office, will move from its present premises, to a new, more centrally located and easy to find location.

Organising new phone connections, changing the name on the electricity bills, getting the tax man to come and inspect the premises is no easy task, and sometimes it feels as if you are getting nowhere! Loraine and Wendy have spent the last week boxing up all the stock of the shop, and they are ready for off.

Meanwhile, I have been keeping out of the way as much as possible as I reckon we will be falling over each other until everything is set up and ready.

The new shop/office is in G Markora, the road which runs between the market and San Rocco Square, near to the Traffic Police Station. It's a couple of doors along from the bookshop "Xenoglosso" and opposite the "World of Slippers" shop.
Sarah

Do You Want Granny? Take her, I am going to throw her out!

In the very back streets of Ano Korakiana which must be one of the prettiest villages in north central Corfu, spread along the south-facing mountain slope basking in the sunshine, Sarah and I were being shown an old house for sale. Upstairs, living in a kind of third-world squalor, is an old lady whose daughter is keen to sell the house so that she can afford to move her somewhere more, well, habitable.

Downstairs, in a treasure-chest of a cellar, amongst discarded window-frames, wine bottles, ceramic plant pots and the like, all decorated with swathes of thick spider-webs, the daughter of the house pulled out an old wooden frame to show us. Much battered, with cracked glass and covered in thick dust, the touched-up, photographed face of an old lady stared out at us. "Look, look" enthused our vendor. "Do you want Granny? Take her, I am going to throw her out. I need to tidy everything in here and I am only keeping the pots and a few bits and pieces for our new house." Noticing our slight embarrassment, she continued, "Don't worry, she's not MY Granny, we found her when we bought the house."

"Granny" was bundled into a large black bin bag conveniently lying close by and is now awaiting some t.l.c. and a new elevated position somewhere in my house!
Susan

I saw it

On Friday evening, as our sons' visit to Corfu was nearing its close, we went en-famille to one of those favourite neighbourhood tavernas that Corfu so excels at providing. The sort of taverna where four people can eat their fill of grilled meat, salad, chips and retsina and still have change from 40 euros. In this particular case we chose "Strapunto" at the upper end of Kato Korakiana and we had just settled into our chairs when across the sky, slightly to my left, sailed - heading landwards - a large .......... well, here started my problem. What exactly HAD I seen?

It looked like a comet or a shooting star but it was far too large and far too low in the sky. It was also slightly greeny/blue with a bright yellow "tail". Since the whole sighting was over in a few seconds there was no time for me to say more than "Ooh, what was that?" and only one of our party had a slight glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. Thank goodness he did, because I can't describe the disbelief of the others, and I won't attempt to explain the "crazy woman" gestures aimed in my direction!

I drew it on the paper tablecloth and tried to estimate its size, but as it appeared just over a hillside and disappeared behind some trees it really was difficult to quantify. In the end the conversation moved on and I dismissed the incident from my mind thinking only that maybe someone had been having a party nearby and that it was some sort of flare or impressive firework.

BUT ...the following day, answering a "Susanna, come quickly", I joined the others around the TV where there was a whole panel discussion about the "Sighting"! Nobody, as yet, seems certain what it was, but it seems to have been some sort of space debris, either natural or man-made, and it was seen in various parts of Greece, though the Mayor of the Kato Korakiana area was on the programme describing his own experience, so our particular location was obviously a good view point.

Vindication! Son with the rudest reaction at the time is now remorseful (a bit) and saying "I wish I'd seen it. Why did I pick the only chair that was facing the wrong way?"

I'm off to check the latest News programme to see if there is any more information!
Susan

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First cicada!

Always a milestone in my calendar, yesterday we heard our first cicada (14th June) as opposed to last year when it was on 18th June. In 2007 it was earlier (10th), 2006 on 17th and in 2005 not until 28th June.
Susan

Dog disasters

We always used to have Labradors, usually two, to keep each other company. Then we didn't have a dog at all. Then we got the current monster (previously renowned for demolishing a 500 euro note).

I have always thought that he needed company and that this might stop him being so destructive, but husband always said one monster was enough thank you. However someone said the other day that they knew of a labrador needing a home, due to illness in the family of his current owners. To my surprise, husband told me to go and look at him. So I did, and fell in love. A 90% black labrador, with a white bib, in need of lots of love and attention.

A few days later I went and picked him up. Note, him. And of course that was the recipe for disaster. Two 'hims' vying for sovereignty added up to non-stop major fighting, with the poor little (by comparison) lab, mainly being the victim.

Since he also made the cardinal error of mistaking my husband for an intruder, he of course added to his sins, so husband, not being what you might call tolerant, insisted he be returned - a failed experiment.

I am still so upset. He is lovely - he sat in the car quietly, he came when I called him and he was thrilled to bits everyone time someone spoke to him or stroked him. He still needs a loving home, so if anyone has room in their house, garden and heart for a real sweetie - just get in touch with us!
Diana