It’s June and it seems that for half this year it’s either been raining or I’ve been poorly with colds or flu. No surprise then that our super large garden has gone a bit rogue with giant nettles and endless weeds invading the borders.

The worst borders are near the house on the dreaded slope. No problem says I, I’ll sort a gardener to come do a full clear out and to strim the bank. Great idea…..

I’ve called 5 local gardeners who advertise their services. No response. I’ve called a further 3 – oh you are 10 miles away, that’s too far for me, sorry nope. I’ve actually had a gardener come round who even lives in the same village. Got a quote, agreed to proceed and then……silence. I’ve tried a further 4 leaving messages and sending texts and still no replies.

So, it’s a do it ourselves job then. On the warmest day of the year so far I donned long sleeved stuff, long trousers and gloves and set to work fighting 6 foot nettles and thistles. I’ve stretched and stings everywhere but after about 3 hours I can see progress.

The border is not yet finished and the worst bit is yet to come. Where the spring ends up is an utter quagmire. I stuck the garden fork in to dig out a persistent sucker of a weed and it almost sucked the fork in with it.

Wellies required then. I’ll have a go another day. But, progress is progress. Who needs a gardener eh??

It had to be done….we found a Harley Davidson garage in Crete. Well, a Harley Davidson chop shop so we had to go to try to get a Crete Harley T-Shirt. So a 2 hour drive to Chania this morning.

Chania is lovely! It was first taken over by the Ottomans in the 1600s and then by the Venetians who wanted a ship building area so they built a huge set of warehouses large enough to build their ships in – a few are still there. The ancient Ottoman walls and mosques as well as Venetian architecture are all present and it has a feel or Venice or Rome about the old town.

Food was pleasant down in the harbour and a great spot to people watch. Although it was our first cloudy day temperatures are still really high and well into the 30s

With a 2 hour drive back to the villa it was my chance to practice Greek driving, Nigel Mansell style….such fun apart from the bits where I closed my eyes.

Who knew that when we made it to Crete, that we would be so close to our last destination

Today was my turn to drive. We opted for a mini road trip up to a couple of mountain villages I’d read about. The first one was Tylissos which is a very old village with an impressive set of excavated ruins of a large Minoan town. Unfortunately despite it supposed to be open every day it was all closed up and locked. However we wobbled around the village and enjoyed the small square.

The old fountain and church in the village square are beautiful and even better – not a tourist shop or tatty tourist gifts in sight. This is just a local village with at least three old coffee shops and about 50 cats. Peaceful

On then to Rogdia or Rodia, another village based in the mountains with incredible views of Heraklion and the sea (and equally perilously narrow winding roads that snake up the hillside). We hoped to grab a bite to eat at a couple of Tavernas I had read about but unfortunately despite the views they offered they were closed. However, we had a peaceful day driving around

And that bloody cough of mine is back again. Today I’ll be mostly sounding like someone trying to kick start a seal.

Quaint little seaside town approx 50km from the Villa with some of the most bonkers car leap frogging drivers ever.

We is Here

Lunch courtesy of Steve’s Pub….or was it? Sadly Steve cannot cook or figure out how to serve warm or even edible food. So a sharp stage left for us and on to the beautiful Venetian harbour for a meal watching the little fish and the big tourists!