It is amazing how quickly weeds grow - unbelievably annoying actualy!  Sometimes doing the garden feels like painting the Forth Bridge - no sooner have you reached the end then you have to start from the beginning again.  Lots of flowers or suprises spring up from under  the weeds - flowers you had forgotten and you think "wow - just look at that".  Today I found three cacti that I had forgotten all about and they are not exactly small either.

The ground is still manageable at the moment but it is definately getting harder so have to get plants and cuttings in as soon as possible otherwise I will need a pick axe to dig a hole.  That is the thing about gardening in Greece the ground literally becomes rock hard and impossible to dig.  Now is the time to do all the weeding again (probably for about the third time) and, hopefully, it will not be back this time.  My mother and I have a thing about plants - we do not like throwing them away - sometimes they do not do well in her garden but they will in mine.  Today I planted two half-dead bushes from my mum in the hope that they will grow - I told them that this is their "last chance"!!!  Not that I meant it,of course, as I always move them around to different positions if I find they are not doing well and then - if it all fails - I then reluctantly throw them away.  I really do not like being beaten though.  However, there are certain things I can not grow in my garden - pansies, primroses, antirinum (snap dragons), fuscias and bougainvillea believe it or not.  Bouganvillea grows everywhere in Greece - grows out of pavements - hangs over castlesand archways - people chop it or hack it down - but, it will not do anything in my garden - I have tried it everywhere - and I can not understand why?

I started preparing some easy pots - cages I call them - with climbing cacti that only flower once a year on a full moon, sweet night jasmine, clematis and ivy.  These should last all year round, look impressive and be mega easy to manage - we shall see - lets hope my experiment works.  The cages are my invention - they really do look good and better than anything, they keep the cats/chickens from destroying the plants - by the way, cats and chickens just love sleeping on newly planted plants or bulbs.....so beware!!!

It is the time of the year when you should check that your first aid kit is up to date,,,make sure that things are not past their use by date - make sure you have "bentadine" or iodine, cotton wool and plasters - that is always a good base.  Do you know how many accidents happen in the garden?

I had a couple of visitors which was nice and they left with a bunch of flowers each which is even nicer and you would not even know that they are missing (the flowers not the visitors!!!).  I have completed about 3 mtrs of garden borders today so there is about another 247 mtrs to go - and the gravel needs weeding again - and all the borders need strimming....as I said before neverending - very theraputic though.  The only thing I think about when gardening is the plants - feels like being free - no phone calls - no housewoork or cooking - no problems - if only that could be life - it is like being on another planet.  Sometimes I wish I only had to talk to plants!

Well, tomorrow is another day and I will continue along the bank - re-pot a few more plants - put a few more cuttings in - continue to weed the gravel and try to borrow a strimmer to do the edges.  Once that is finished (probably about 2 weeks the way I am going) it will then be time to fill my ceramic pots with some "pretty spreading" flowers.......oh and I still have to prune some olive trees and prune the grapevine..... 

It is the most fantastic time of the year - the sky is "Greek"  blue - the sea is like glass - the temperature is about 22 degrees - heaven on earth.  The colours of Greece from the flowers, the sky and the sea over the next few weeks can not be seen anywhere in the world ............The colours belong to Greece - if you visit you will realise what I mean - and those colours will stay with you forever - so you will have taken a little bit of Greece with you.......

Well, the last few days have been amazing - I love waking up in the morning, having a coffee in bed and looking across down to the sea at Tingaki - as calm as anything - beautiful!  The twittering of the birds is incredible at the moment as soon as the sun rises - it is almost like living in an aviary - apparently it is the birds' mating season now so the males are singing in their best voices to attract the females....  Where are Ramazzotti and Rod Stewart???? 

While the birds are signing away and calling to each other, the rams have been separated from the ewes.....  Most of the ewes are expecting lambs at the moment so the males have been sent elsewhere - my mother has four of them in her field at Lagoudi - they really are the most amazing lawnmowers and have made a wonderful job of getting rid of all the weeds!  They are very quiet - all you can hear now and then is the crashing of their heads as they head butt each other - determining who is the strongest - waiting to get back to the females........

It is the fasting period now for lent so a lot of people do not eat meat.  We try to cut down as much as possible and spend time going for walks gathering wild mustard, lambs lettuce, rocket, chicory, fennel and dandelion - these are known as "horta" in Greece and are wild salad vegetables - we either eat them raw with "a little bit of extra virgin olive oil" (as Jamie Oliver says) or lightly steamed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice - absolutely delicious - accompanied with homemade bread and whatever else is available - the odd fish if we have caught one or fresh sheep or goat cheese. 

I have been picking olives again - a bit late you may say - these olives are the ones that have fallen off the trees into the flowers beds and gravel at the front of the house.  They make it look so untidy so I pick them up one by one - I must admit this type of olive picking is not my favourite but the garden terrace looks a lot better when it is done.  I also pull up any weeds from the gravel and go round all the edges of the flower beds - a long job but once it is done it does not need doing until next year....

I have been getting ready for the table sale at The Sunburnt Arms in Kos Town tomorrow and then later on in the week at The Carvery in Kardamena.  I am doing a table with natural things from the Olive Grove.  Apart from plants I have made bags of mixed mountain tea (sweet marjoram, clover flowers, mallow flowers, sage flowers, mint, lemon balm, lemon geranium and rosemary), freshly cut herbs (sage, rosemary, sweet marjoram, mint, lavender), homemade washing detergent (ecological made from our soap from the olives and cleans absolutely everything), facial soap - olive oil with sesame, olive oil with milk and yoghurt, and olive oil with St John's Wort and last but not least St John's Wort oil - also known as Magic Oil......

St John's Wort is an amazing herb and has been used as a herbal medicine since the year dot!   I make St John's Wort Oil - it is blood red (if it has been made properly) it can be taken externally or internally.  Internally it is used for ulcers - stress (actually used as a replacement for PROZAC), irritable bowel system, stomach problems in general etc - externally it is magnificent for the scalp - (psoriasis) and the skin in general, for burns, for wounds that will not heal etc - it has so many uses that is why it is called Magic Oil.

Let's hope the sky stays blue for tomorrow and it does not rain - Greece is heaven on earth at this time of the year - the sun is brilliant and puts a different perspective on anything and everything and the male birds are singing their best songs.....