From the Passenger Seat...

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce."

~ Karl Lagerfeld ~ 

When I'm a passenger, I'm usually quiet and I keep busy.  My camera is always on my lap. I captured this beautiful moment while riding along the seafront in Thessaloniki. 

Bird & Clouds

Look up, take a deep breath and never stop dreaming. 

~ 

Curious Kittens

Our neighbor's cat recently had kittens and as you might imagine, the kids love to spend time with them. Here are a few cute shots of an evening with the kittens as they begin explore the world around them. 

~ 

                                                             

August Sunset

 

The winds have changed and the temperature is bearable which means that summer is coming to a close. Although, I refuse to admit that it's  almost over because I don't think I've had enough. It's never enough.  I hear friends and neighbors wishing one another "Καλό φθινόπωρο" (Good Autumn) and I refuse to accept that another beautiful summer is near its end. I took this photo just a  little over one week ago and it was comfortable to be sitting on the beach after the sun had set. As much as I love autumn, I'm hoping for another short heat wave. 

~

Old Building

Looking up when I spend time in the city is always intriguing. 

Pella

This summer has been so beautiful and memorable. Having a friend visit from home has given me the chance to share what I love most about living in Greece and also, the chance to explore places I've never been to. One of those places I'd never been to before this summer is Pella. This is a photo that I took as the sun was setting beyond Pella. There's a little lens flare here,  but this is one of my favorite photos from our evening at Pella... it reminds me of how magical the site is. 

Summer...

Just a quick hello from the dog days of summer. It's been hot,  but yet so lovely. The sea is beautiful and it hasn't rained in weeks. Had some friends from the U.S. stay with us for one month, we traveled, ate and laughed over drinks.  Wishing that all of you enjoy the rest of summer!  

Be back soon...

Almost Easter...

Easter is almost here and we've been very busy enjoying spring and preparing for the holiday.I'm posting a few photos to share some of what we've been doing with all of you. 

Alexandra picked wild flowers when we visited the archaeological site, Dion. 

You can see her "Martis" bracelet.  The bracelet is made of red and white thread symbolizing a white complexion with rosy cheeks. The superstition is that children wear these bracelets so that the sun of early spring doesn't burn their cheeks. 

Alexandra's wild flowers. 

Some Easter Candles(Lambathes) on display. 

 One of my oldest and dearest friends, Brian,  came to visit and was impressed by all of the lamb he saw in the Kapani Market downtown. 

 Alexandra enjoys a koulouri while shopping.

We always get koulouri when we go downtown. 

 A little Easter shopping downtown. 

Yia Yia visited and made stefania(wreaths)  out of spring wild flowers for the kids. It's traditional to hang them on the front door of your home. We have one on all three doors  of our right now- one for each child. 

Foti  coloring Easter eggs.  

My lilacs are ready to blossom. 

The white lilacs seem to be a little bit ahead of the purple ones. 

                                                                       Apple blossoms. 

The kithonia(quince) blossoms are just about ready to open. This is one of my favorite blossoms. 

My friend Connie made tsoureki and gave some to us. Very delicious! 

This is the ultimate tsoureki made by Thia Nitsa.  We look forward to this every year. 

We'll be hosting dinner at our house this year, I have a little more shopping to do and a lot of cooking ahead. 

I'd like to wish everyone celebrating this weekend a very Happy Easter ! 

Καλό Πάσχα!

Easter Cupcakes

 My oven was out of commission for a while but now it's fixed. I had baking withdrawal, sort of. I'm aware that I bake a lot but wasn't really aware of how much I took having a working oven for granted. I missed baking cookies, cakes and brownies for the kids. I had to buy most of the sweets, which are ok, but it's hard to beat homemade baked treats. So, I'm back to baking regularly. 

Cupcakes are one thing that the kids love to have because although they're gaining popularity in Greece -they're not easily found. I whipped up a batch yesterday and they loved them. Here's the recipe that I used and have been using for a while. 

 For all who celebrate Easter this week...Happy Easter! 

We'll be having our Easter next week and I'm looking forward the feast. 

Have I Told You How Much I Love Spring?

Spring is officially here and I'm thoroughly enjoying all of beauty that comes with it. I started this post a few days ago- on the official first day of spring -but I never got around to posting it. As I love spring so much - my blog is bursting with photos of blossoms, bees and other flowers. Last year I barely blogged, I felt that the blog was getting too repetitive and predictable. Well, this is my life, sort of repetitive and predictable(and that's ok!) -always anticipating the arrival of what each season brings and sharing it with all of you. I've also heard from many of you, asking what I'm doing and where I've been and I appreciate your comments and emails because they do inspire me. Thank you. 

I'd like to share a few photos with you, all taken within the last week.   

~

I love photographing bees & flowers. I have a new macro lens that 

I haven't used yet- can't wait! 

Gigi gets to spend more time outside, since it's not muddy anymore.

Tarzan can be found napping or relaxing anywhere within the olive grove at any given time during spring since the undergrowth is soft.  

Zoumpoulias make the front walk smell amazing. Also, we fill vases with them and the house smells wonderful too. 

This last Sunday was absolutely gorgeous. I took the kids for a picnic seaside and we spent the entire afternoon outdoors. Because the weather was so magnificent everyone seemed to have the same idea, so we had to drive a bit to find a quiet place to enjoy ourselves.  It was our 3rd picnic so far this spring. 

Salad- feta cheese, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. Sandwich- turkey, lettuce, tomato, and  Milner cheese. And, of course- potato chips. 

The view from our picnic spot.

After lunch, we walked along the beach. 

It was the perfect day for a seaside walk. 

 Beach art. 

♥My three little munchkins ♥

After a perfect day we enjoyed a beautiful sunset as we headed home. I took this shot from the driver's seat of the car- hence a slightly slanted horizon. 

I'm looking forward to more picnics and spending as much time as possible outdoors. 

Happy Spring!

 (to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere)

and I will say have a lovely Autumn to my readers down under! 

~ 

Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day. 

~W. Earl Hall ~

Rainy Day in the City

Artist - Czizek Karolos 

Μακεδονικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης

It's been raining for a few days...a day planned  in the city turned into a few hours at a museum. I had a lovely day despite the horrible weather. 

Alexandra's Kite

My little Alexandra flying her kite on Clean Monday. 

Carnival/Apokries 2012

Carnival season is over once again, it has passed quickly. It seems the older the kids get, the more hurried my life gets...I know, it's inevitable. This year we had several parties to attend so the kids were able to wear their costumes more than once. 

Alexandra's first costume- she dressed as a princess- not a particular princess- just a princess. She became irritated when people would ask her which princess she was. 

The wigs don't stay on long once they get to the party- we're quite familiar with Princess Alexandra. 

Izabella's costume - the package said that it was a rock star of sorts, but no one could figure it out. She's not interested in anything girly so this was perfect for her. 

Alexandra as Hannah Montana. 

Foti dressed as Anakin Skywalker again this year, he loves Star Wars. He had a fantastic time throwing confetti and other party paraphernalia at me. 

***

Clean Monday

First Day of Lent 

  After all of the parties and other carnival activities we always look forward to Clean Monday/Katheri Deftera so that we can fly our kites and eat lagana. Traditionally, lagana is only eaten once a year.

The forecast called for rain, and it did rain all morning. The picnic we planned to attend was scheduled for 11:00 am but we decided to forgo the picnic and just wait for the rain to stop so that we could fly our kites. 

It turns out that it stopped raining around noon so we decided to venture out for our lagana and also pass by the picnic. Lucky for us, the picnic was still in progress-although there were very few people out. We tried to fly our kites before we ate our food but funny enough, there was hardly a breeze. So, we ate. 

Enjoying our fasolada. 

The fasolada at our local picnic was made by my friend's father. It was delicious & warm, perfect for such a gloomy day. 

Foti loved the fasolada. LOVED it. 

Someone brought an empty yogurt container so that they could take some fasolada home- what a great idea! Anyway, look at those huge pots of fasolada and that beautiful, homemade Imiglikos. The wine was sweet and went down easy- too bad I had to drive and fly kites or I might have indulged in a second cup. 

Picnic fare...taramosalata, picantiki salad, olives,  Makedonikos halvas and lagana to accompany the fasolada. Everything was tasty. 

After the picnic we drove to a different beach to try flying our kites again. It was a little easier to get the kites up in the air this time but much more difficult to keep them flying because it became extremely windy. 

Crash. 

Iza's kite flew very well. 

***

After spending a few hours in the cold wind we returned home to eat more of the traditional foods. I originally planned to make more salads but since we had already eaten a little at the picnic, we didn't need much. I made fasolada early in the morning and it was simmering for hours. I've been using my friend Maria's recipe for the last few years and we love it. Although, I have to add that I didn't use celery in this batch and I was worried that there might be a difference in taste. It wasn't a noticeable difference and it turned out absolutely delicious. 

Alexandra loves lagana! 

***

~Kali Sarakosti~