Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Dogs



After months of waiting, I am pleased to finally present to you a dog update. Many of my friends/readers have inquired about our canines since my post in January when I took in Tarzan & Asproula. I had originally tried to put Asproula up for adoption but I only received two phone calls from the rescue organization, both of which were inquiries regarding her status and whether or not she was still available.

So, here are some photos that I've pulled from my collection as well as a few words about each pooch. Enjoy.

Gigi


As Gigi is our first dog, she's the most spoiled of the three. She's the only dog allowed indoors and is always next to me. If I sit, she's on my lap, beside me or on my feet. She suffers from separation anxiety when I'm not available or if she can see me but can't be near me. It can be cute as well as irritating since her whining and crying won't stop unless she gets what she wants. I've probably enabled this behavior because she's so adorable.


She's much faster than Tarzan.



She has a bad habit of tearing through barriers that keep her from being near me. Above, she chewed through the plastic mesh on the gate while I was visiting our neighbors.

Here, she tore a hole in the screen. This happened when we had some neighbors pop in unannounced. As I offered them coffee on the balcony, Gigi was inside barking frantically. She wouldn't stop. Actually, all three of the dogs were barking. It was clear that these people weren't animal lovers and the dogs sensed that. The neighbors didn't stay long since we couldn't carry a decent conversation with all of the barking. As I walked them out to the gate, Gigi tore this hole in the screen in an attempt to save me from the non-dog loving visitors. She might be small, but she's mighty and relentless when she senses that we may be in any kind of trouble. I hate having to tell Kosta when she does this, but he just curses once and changes the screen as soon as he can. She's lucky that she's so cute.



Tarzan


Remember this puppy? Well, he's grown into a giant puppy. He's about 8 months old now and huge!

Handsome

Cute

It's this face that keeps him out of trouble. If there's something that you don't want or wouldn't mind having torn apart, send it to us. He's excellent at destroying things.

Here's a list of recent damages:
  • Alexandra's new shoes
  • A beach hat
  • A whole beach bag and its entire contents-flippers, masks, sunscreen, beach mats etc...
  • 2 potted plants...geraniums. He even chewed up the plastic planters and the plants were nowhere to be found. I hope that they were delicious.
  • Kosta's leather sandals
  • Yia yia's fuzzy slippers
  • The sprinklers in the front yard
  • All of the hoses that were attached to the sprinklers
  • Foti's plastic sword
  • Foti's sunglasses
  • Books
  • 2 door mats
  • 1 throw rug
...and much more. If anything is left outside unattended, it's fair game. So, everyone has finally started to pay more attention to their belongings. His habit of chewing everything in his path is beneficial by helping me instill personal responsibility in our children.


This photo is blurry because I was going to wipe his eyes before taking his photo and he ripped the towel from my hand and a chase ensued.

He thought he'd hide in the brush...

And then he stuck his head out to make sure that he could continue to taunt me.
I spend a lot of time chasing him!

Here he is about 6 months old.


Trying to share Foti's Popsicle.



Asproula

She's beautiful, sweet and extremely gentle.

Roaming & playing with Gigi.

Friends with Alexandra


Have a look at this face! This is my view of Asproula...she's always begging me for food & hugs. Her worst (& sort of cute) habit is jumping on me. Asproula is the type of dog that twirls and flips in front of you as you walk. Twirling, flipping and jumping with her tongue out is pretty funny to watch. I'd like to find a tutu for her one of these days and put it on video.

Asproula is fairly easy to have around. Our only challenge with her is trying to tweak the "street" dog out of her. Most dogs love to steal food at any opportunity that presents itself, but she's fast & furious and we can't leave food anywhere unless she's on a leash.

When she first came to us she was squeamish and would crouch and hide if we raised our voices. I think that she's finally realized that we won't harm her as we haven't witnessed this behavior for a while. I'm glad that she's comfortable.

Having the three dogs together has been fun as well as challenging. The fun outweighs the challenges and we love that our children have them to love and care for. It's evident that the love and care is reciprocated by the dogs as they keep careful watch over the them. I'll admit, once again, that I was never a "dog" person, although I didn't mind them I just didn't love them. Now, I couldn't imagine life without the love of a dog...they've won me over.
I hope that you've enjoyed this long overdue update.




A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. ~Josh Billings






Sunday, June 21, 2009

Friday, June 19, 2009

Have a Nice Weekend...












These photos were taken 2 weekends ago...our first visit to the beach this season. Looking forward to more of this in the days ahead.
Have a nice weekend!




Sunday, June 14, 2009

Heavenly Flamouri



Summer is almost here and that means that it's time to pick my flamouri blossoms(aka "linden" or "tilio") for tea . I've been keeping a close watch on the trees and their blossoms, listening for the low hum of the bees busily buzzing around them. I recall the previous owner of this property telling us that the trees usually started to blossom around the fourth of June each year. Like clockwork, they did. So, for the last two weeks I've been enjoying the sweet fragrance of our two flamouri trees.
Both of the trees are near the house so the light, warm breezes carry the fragrance of the flamouri to wherever I seem to find myself. As I sit here and type this post, the cool night breeze delivers a light floral scent throughout the house. Dreamy.


One of the trees is right near the balcony of my bedroom, which is wonderful as I wake up to the heavenly scent as well.

I've harvested some of the blossoms but not quite as many as I'd have liked to by now. The problem is that our trees were pruned a bit too high last year and even with a ladder, it's difficult to reach most of the flowers. What works the best for me is when I arm myself with kitchen shears and a bucket so that I'm not wobbling too much while on the ladder. It's a simple thing to do and the reward is priceless. Three years ago I couldn't have imagined that I'd be doing something so simple and rewarding...and loving every minute of it.



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Thursday, June 11, 2009

Pomegranate Blossom




Today I'm posting a photo of a beautiful pomegranate blossom in loving memory of my koumbaro, Dimitri. In autumn, when the trees were ripe with pomegranates he would come over and fill up a few bags of them in order to take with him on his fishing vessel. We lost him six months ago today.





Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Strawberries & Cherries




Over the last few weeks we've been enjoying fresh strawberries and cherries, two of my favorite fruits. Our neighbors have a sizable strawberry patch and when they're in town on weekends they're always willing to share. For me, there's nothing sweeter than a fresh picked strawberry. We'll venture to the strawberry patch with the children, pick strawberries, wash them and later, set them on the table in order to enjoy with coffee and fruitful conversation. No pun intended...

We've tried planting strawberries of our own, but they didn't produce much and half of the plants didn't survive their transplantation. Also, I just don't have the time that I need to spend in the garden so I think they may have needed a bit more care. I'll try again next year.

We've been gifted cherries by extended family and friends. I'm grateful for that because our cherry tree died over the winter. Last year, we enjoyed about one big bowl of cherries from our tree because we realized that they were ripe after the birds had already devoured their share. We'll definitely have to plant another one because cherries are my absolute favorite fruit, hands down.

Alexandra enjoying her share of strawberries

And below, we have a photo of Izabella modeling her cherry earrings. I suppose when you've had enough to eat, you can always wear them.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Spider on a Rose





"The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine! Feels at each thread, and lives along the line"
~Alexander Pope