The picture was taken in Limnonari and as you can see, it was a beautiful sunny day. Both Christmas and New Year were fine clear days but the rest of the time has been rain, wind and then a bit more rain.
Christmas was spent quietly as is the norm with us, just eating chocolate and not doing anything too strenuous! Before Christmas, Jasper, the wandering cat, wandered once more and hasn’t been seen since. We’ve been looking for him but before he left I’d sort of come to accept that he really wasn’t cut out to be a domestic cat. He’d formed no real attachment to us or his previous surroundings and didn’t really behave as the other cats did. We thought his wanderlust was down to his ‘manhood’ but even when we ‘dispensed’ with it he remained the same, so I’ve just come to the conclusion that he’s happier being a street cat.
So, then there were 11 cats but sadly, since yesterday, we’re down to 10 cats. Our beautiful Benjamin, who we’ve had since 1994, died in the early hours of the morning. He’d been out of sorts for a few days and was losing weight and we could see that he was ready to leave. It was definitely easier having him here with us when he died, unlike his brother who died at the vets a few months’ before we came out to Skopelos. He was a great cat, so particular and private, a real joy. We miss him dreadfully.

Today, the Epiphany, was the Blessing of the Sea in town so we braved the rain (as did Bonnie) and went to see a couple of foolhardy young men jump into the sea to retrieve the cross thrown in by the priest.

As you can see from the people in coats, it wasn’t a warm day! Apparently there are normally more people jumping in but I think the weather deterred quite a few (not surprisingly). Junior wanted to throw sweets in for them to retrieve but we explained that it wasn’t a free for all and they wouldn’t just fetch anything for anyone! She got a bit bored then and started looking for Dolphins (which you can see all the time it would seem when you’re 5 and have a rather vivid imagination).
Junior is back at school on Thursday (praise the Lord!!) so maybe I’ll be able to crack on with my New Year’s resolutions which mainly involve me getting everyone and everything organised so that work and things in general run a little more efficiently and effectively. The jury’s out on whether I’ll ever be able to organise Sean, I’ve been trying for nearly 18 years’ with no luck!

A whole month since my last vegan post! Shocking! Blame it on moving house, apathy or laziness, alternatively, blame it on all three!
So, it’s Christmas Day tomorrow and apart from making a nut roast earlier, I don’t really know what we’ll be having. I’ve never been one to decide on a meal weeks in advance as I don’t know whether I’ll feel like eating it in on the day. I know nut roast sounds a bit of a veggie cliche but I haven’t had one for years and they always taste really good cold (especially with the pickled walnuts I got from www.britishcornershop.co.uk). For breakfast we’re definitely having banana pancakes which have become an absolute favourite with junior since I first made them last week. They are just so quick and easy to do and junior likes to smear them with ‘Sweet Freedom Natural Sweetener’ from www.veganstore.co.uk

Something traditional that I always do at Christmas is the cake. Now, when living in England it was so easy to get vegan marzipan ready to roll out and place on my cake. Not in Skopelos. Was I able to find any almonds that weren’t still in there skins? No I wasn’t. Hence my fingers are worn to the bone from slipping skins of flipping almonds and then breaking them into pieces and trying to grind them fine enough to make into marzipan. You will therefore have to excuse this picture of my cake with the rather ‘rustic’ looking marzipan layer on top.

It may not look like the sanitised version of marzipan that I am used to but hey, it tastes fine (although junior declined to finish her piece earlier - fussy child). I dispensed with the icing because, who likes icing? I’ve always found that the icing on top pushes the cake over from sweet to sickly sweet.
Whatever you’re eating tomorrow (hopefully vegan!!) I hope you have a fantastic time and a very Happy Christmas.

Well it’s that time of year when you get a special dispensation to stuff yourself full of food and sweets, or is that just my idea of Christmas? I’ve never been one to go the whole hog with the big meal and Christmas pud - I’m not big on tradition. Apart from the fact that the weather has been better than it would be in England (although that has changed in the last few days), the fact that this is our first Skopelos Christmas hasn’t really seen us doing anything differently.
Junior finished school last week and the final day saw her school play being performed. She was very excited about this and had been practising her poem and Christmas songs for weeks. Dressed in a light blue smock decorated with olives, (she was ‘November’ - don’t ask!), she really enjoyed the performance although she pretended that she was feeling a bit nervous about being on stage in front of all the parents. This was blatantly untrue as the child is a born performer (I prefer the term performer to show off!) who told me the other day she’d like a twin sister, not because she wanted someone to play with, but because she wanted to see what she looked like from behind! I think it’ll be easier to get her a 360 degree mirror.
The following day was glorious and we sat outside the house having a drink with our sunglasses on, marvelling at the fact that it was the middle of December yet didn’t feel like it. Here’s a picture of the little Dot looking minuscule on the garden wall with an impressive backdrop.

The good weather was not to last and come Monday, cometh the wind. I’m not just talking a blustery gale, I’m talking lift you off your feet kind of a wind. Although the house faces the sea it seems to offer some form of protection from the worst of the elements so although we recognised it was windy (!) it wasn’t until we walked up the steps that we got the full force of the weather. Sean, being a tad heavier than I am, managed to retain his balance, whereas I had to grab hold of the walls to remain standing. Although it was exhilarating, it was also rather frightening and not something I would wish to repeat. On returning to the house I didn’t think I’d be able to make it down the steps and whilst Sean carried junior I had to grab hold of his coat to remain upright. Needless to say there were no boats that day! It’s still windy at the moment and the ferry is using Agnondas to dock in as it is a lot calmer than Skopelos port. Here’s the view from the garden wall on Monday.

I think we’ll have to scrap the idea of a picnic on the beach tomorrow and change it to a picnic in the house and a walk on the beach instead! Whatever you’re doing, and wherever you are, Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year from me, Sean, Junior and the animals.

Finally managed to sit down to update the blog after spending an age moving and sorting. You would think being seasoned movers that we would remember what a nightmare it us trying to do everything yourself and attempting what we laughingly call “an easy move” i.e. not packing everything in boxes - just sort of loosely putting it in a vehicle. Obviously we’ve accumulated a lot more stuff since our last casual move some years’ ago and also we forgot to factor in the steps. Oh yes, the steps down to the new house. Who needs a multi-gym when you’ve got a large flight of steps and a pile of possessions at the top. This picture will give you some idea of the task we faced although it doesn’t include the dirt slope before them!

Add to this the fact Sean had hurt his knee and I had blocked sinuses and conjunctivitis and you’ll begin to understand why it has taken me so long to do anything. Also this is the view from the living room window which tends to have rather a soporific effect when stared at for too long!

So, we’re mainly sorted now although Sean is currently in Ikea in Athens buying shelves and storage boxes so we can make everything appear just that bit neater (and so that we’ll be able to find things). He hasn’t made a special trip to Athens just to go to Ikea (he’s not that sad), he’s actually taken a dog to the airport! Ella (the dog) should have been on a flight this morning but Sean got a message yesterday to say the flight had been cancelled. Unfortunately he was on the boat at the time on his way to Volos so there really wasn’t much he could do about it.
On arriving in Volos yesterday evening he thought he’d go and see a friend and then head up towards Athens, however just at that moment people on motorbikes started throwing rocks through the windows of banks and shops along the road so he wisely decided to just carry on his way. On hearing about this, and the other riots throughout Greece, junior wanted to know when they would start rioting on Skopelos. I told her there weren’t enough people to bother rioting here to which she informed me there will be more people in the summer. True, but I can’t really see tourists wanting to hurl stones at anything but the sea!

Yes, we’re moving………….to the other end of town with an even better view of the sea.

Not bad eh? After much hair pulling (mine obviously as Sean has none to pull), and numerous offers from exceedingly generous people to let us use their houses temporarily, we finally found the perfect place. It’s perfect for quite a few reasons; the situation; the outdoor space; the peace and quiet. So how did we find the place? Well, it found us. The house belongs to friends who are having to leave for a few years’ and as they knew we were looking for somewhere else, they offered it to us. It’s a win, win situation as we get somewhere great to live and they get the house and gardens looked after, not to mention the seven cats. Yes you did read that correctly - seven cats, which with our five of course, makes the rather grand total of twelve! Apparently the seven at the new place are ‘mainly’ outdoor cats with the emphasis being on the mainly. The house isn’t big, so twelve cats running around inside is just not feasible if I wish to retain some vestige of my sanity.
Moving day is set for a week on Thursday and should be a lot easier than our last move which of course was over here from England. Having said that, the slope down to the house isn’t the easiest thing to retain your balance on, so trying to do it whilst carrying boxes and furniture could be interesting to say the least.
So that’s the major news of the moment and such good news that I feel a major weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Roll on Christmas!!

Since my last post Junior has metamorphosed into a child who will try anything. This sudden turnaround has been as welcome as it has been unexpected. The only explanation I can find for her change in attitude is because with Sean being away most of the time in Volos, I’ve been saying how lonely it is eating on my own with no-one to talk to and how much nicer it would be if we could sit down together and share the same food. Well, whatever the explanation, it’s worked and she is now prepared to try everything I put in front of her. She may not eat it all but at least she’s trying.
The potato I was going to try her on last time went down moderately well in the form of mashed potato (which is my ultimate comfort food), although the carrot with it went down even better of course. I’m pretty convinced junior is part rabbit! When Sean returned from Volos he witnessed junior putting a homemade vegeburger in her mouth without first forensically examining its entire contents. She just picked it up like she hadn’t been a complete foodie nightmare for the past 3 years’. Sean’s convinced that she’s been swapped with another junior but I don’t really care as long as I can keep this one!
Last week she was off all week with a stinking cold so I didn’t try and push too many new foods on her as I didn’t want her getting any more upset or whingeing at me any more than she already was doing. In situations like these you have to fall back on the old favourites like carrot, except this time I made it into a soup. Just what you need when the weather has turned a bit cold and miserable.

Very wholesome and nutritious and so successful with the small one that I’ve bought her a thermos flask so she can take some soup to school for her lunch. Less successful with junior was the marrow and tomato and the mixed vegetable stew with rice. To give her her due she did try both of them, no point blank refusing like she used to do only a couple of weeks ago. I’m still in a state of shock as to this dramatic turnaround so I suppose I shouldn’t get too blasé in case the old junior returns!

Following junior’s decision to try pineapple, Sean brought one back from Volos which was cut up and presented for her approval. Well, her face was a picture, Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ to be exact, you’d have thought I was trying to get her to eat poison from the pained expression on her face. The upshot of this was she licked a piece of pineapple and ate a piece the size of a hamsters toenail. Result (said in a sarcastic tone). Refusing to be defeated, I asked what she’d like to try next from the Vegan food pyramid. She picked a cauliflower. I dutifully made cauliflower cheese of which she ate 2 mouthfuls - well they would be mouthfuls if her mouth was the size of a pin head! So not such a great success then. Yesterday was lentil soup and crouton day

which I have to say was absolutely yummy. Junior was pleased with the croutons but less awed by the soup. She ate 6 croutons from her soup but refused to try any of the soup on its own. Defeated? Not yet! Today is potato day. I love spuds, especially mashed and so that is what junior and I will be doing later.
I made cinnamon and raisin bagels yesterday which are really not photogenic enough to be shown here. It was a different recipe to the one I normally use and I don’t think I’ll be using it again. They are edible though so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Junior ate half of one but when I offered her the other half, she politely declined. She’ll always try sweet things and give the impression of enjoying them and then won’t eat any more. Similar scenario with the fruit loaf below,

she ate one piece when it was fresh out of the oven but has refused to have any since. With Sean in Volos most of the time it has fallen to me to work my way through the loaf on my own. It’s been tough but I’ve nearly finished it
Talking of Volos, Sean came back on Saturday with a vegan treat for our dinner.

He even prepared it himself with artistic ketchup design. Oh it’s nice to have some fast food once in a while.

Well, things haven’t been great for the past couple of weeks, hence the length of time between posts, but things are starting to look up now so I thought I’d write something!!
The weather is still pleasant although we have had some wind and rain recently which helps to freshen things up and as we move in to winter the island takes on the appearance that I like i.e. things close down and there are less people about! Walking along the paralia which is nearly devoid of chairs and tables now, it is difficult to imagine how it was just a few months’ ago, and how it will be again come May. Obviously I like being able to sit at a cafe enjoying a drink in the sunshine but the heat in the high season makes that uncomfortable so I think I’ll stick with winter as being my favourite time.
In addition to the three cats we’ve added to the two we moved here with, we also now have a dog! I’ve always been a cat person and the thought of having a dog has never really appealed to me. However, it was the case, yet again, of not being able to ignore an animal in need. For quite a few weeks I’d noticed this dog hanging around and seen her sleeping on the beach. She started to follow me when I was taking junior to school and then following me back home where I would give her something to eat. This carried on for a while, with her just turning up for walks and food but the last week or so has seen her sleeping outside the door and not leaving until we go out for a walk. So, much to Sean’s despair (once again), I’ve given her a name (Bonnie), put a collar on her so people know she is being looked after by someone, and bought her a dog bowl. She is fine with the cats and has a lovely disposition but she is loathe to come in to the house unless I leave the door wide open, won’t get into the car and is rather wary of men. It all smacks of neglect and possible abuse but as I don’t know where she came from I guess I’ll never know!

Now if you’ve read this part of the blog before you’ll know that junior is rather particular (i.e. fussy) in what she eats. Unfortunately things seem to be going from bad to worse. I know they say when children are fussy eaters they’re merely seeking to exercise some control over their environment in the only way they know how, but as junior seems to control every other aspect of her life I don’t see why she has to control this one as well!
Yesterday morning she had the normal coco pops with soya milk and a drink of chocolate soya milk and then I packed her lunch and took her off to school. On her return over 6 hours later I find the only thing she’s eaten out of her lunch bag was a banana. In spite of only having her cereal and a banana all day she was bouncing around with energy and as lively as ever. Now, I like bananas and yes, they do give me a bit of energy but not that much. I wondered if she was eating other food at school but she says not, I even asked her if she’d like to try some food like daddy eats (i.e eggs or meat - showing how desperate I was feeling) and she just said “why are you asking me that?” I tried to explain that I was concerned about the restrictions she was placing on her diet (she’s a very wordy 5 year old with a large vocabulary so I can use bigger words!) and wanted her to try some new things. I then suggested we make some soup with carrots and lentils to which she did her usual thing of saying it sounded yummy and she’d be happy to help make it but she wouldn’t want any to eat. The conversation deteriorated after this and I ended up taking deep breaths whilst she sat in her room screaming. Oh joy!!! After a good 5 minutes’ of venting her spleen she decided she was hungry and I bribed her to eat grated carrot, sweetcorn and wholemeal toast by promising her a square of chocolate if she finished it all. Oh the depths I’ll sink to, they really know no bounds.
Later on we printed out a picture from the net of a Vegan Food Pyramid which we are going to study together later today. After a cursory glance, junior decided she’d try pineapple! Odd one I know but I think it’s because I love pineapple and she’s seen me eating it often enough. Next week I’m aiming for a vegetable!
With Sean working away I’ve not really been bothering much on the food front though I did make rice pudding last night as that is something junior will always eat. She won’t eat rice at any other time but stick it in a pudding and she’s happy! On Halloween (in lieu of a pumpkin, which we couldn’t find) we made some Zombie cupcakes with real zombie blood inside (aka jam).

Junior decorated hers with raisins and then ended up just eating the raisins because she didn’t like the jam inside! I tried to tell her it was only blood but that didn’t seem to help funnily enough. Never mind, I got to eat a lot of them so that was okay.
Due to my fondness for mushrooms I like to find different things to do with them (I mean edible things!!) and the latest favourite is a curried mushroom and tomato thing which reminds me of a takeaway dish I used to have in Blighty. As you’ll see from the picture I’m not heavy on the presentation side of things but as long as they taste good I don’t really care!

Sean will be back from Volos either today or tomorrow so hopefully I’ll have some more nice veggies to tinker with. If I make anything worthy I’ll let you know!!

I normally update this blog on a Monday but this Monday I was in no mood to post as little Jasper went missing on Sunday. This story does have a happy ending though so don’t be put off reading! He went out with the others as normal and they usually just scamper around outside, pouncing on leaves and chasing each other. When it was time for us to go out the other cats came in but not Jasper. We assumed he’d just gone to sleep somewhere and after a quick scout round we left. We returned later expecting to see him hanging around the door but there was no sign of him. I walked around shouting for him and banging a tin of food (which got every other cats attention) but there was no sign. Whilst I got junior’s lunch, Sean set off to walk the block looking for him.
The reason we thought he may have wandered away was because on the Friday before, taking junior to school, Smokey and Jasper followed us. While Smokey stopped at the end of the road, Jasper carried on following. I managed to pick him up and put him in my bag and when he escaped I carried him in my arms (being scratched all the time). Just near junior’s school he escaped once more and ran in to someone’s yard through a gate. I dropped junior off and then spent 5 minutes’ calling out for Jasper until he appeared. I carried him home and hoped that was the end of it. More fool me!
Sean returned from his walk without Jasper and so later on that evening we went for a family search, but to no avail. To say I was downhearted would be an understatement but I tried to convince myself that he would turn up sooner or later.
Monday was a celebration day at junior’s school to commemorate Ochi Day. This remembers the day in 1940 when the Greeks refused to let the Italians invade the country thus becoming Britain’s first ally in the Second World War. All the children had been given poems to learn and whilst a lot of the children refused to get up and speak, junior rushed up to the front when her name was called and gave a sterling performance (and no, I’m not biased!). This little presentation lasted about half an hour and then it was home time. So off we went, constantly scanning the area for a sign of a small tabby, and headed off for a walk up to Sendoukia where the pirate graves are - aha Jim lad. It was a very pleasant walk in glorious weather and when we got to the top I looked out at the view and thought what a marvellous sight it was to be looking at on a Monday afternoon.

It was one of those moments when it suddenly hits you that this is where we live, we’re not on holiday, and this is on our doorstep all the time. Brilliant!
The following day was Ochi Day and there was to be a parade in town, so hoping to get some pictures for the website, we headed down. I only managed a couple of pictures, this being one of them,

before I caught sight of the rear of a small tabby darting through the crowd. Just as junior was saying “look, a little pussy cat”, I was saying “that’s Jasper”. Junior and I set off through the people searching for him, thinking we’d never find him amongst the sea of legs, when suddenly we spotted him sitting down having a wash! I grabbed him and carried him to a flabbergasted Sean who got hold of him and escorted him home. He’s now sat next to me on the chair with little dot. From what we can ascertain he followed someone into town and just forgot how to get back home again. Needless to say that whenever we go out now, we make sure he’s safely locked up inside.