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.....
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.....
ROSEMARY SAGE AND OREGANO
THE RAMS
BRUTUS - LAGOUDI CAT
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