First Poppy for Mama

I have to be the luckiest mother on the planet, I'm convinced. Last Sunday my kids took a walk with Kosta to visit neighbors. I have to admit, I almost pushed them out the door, I couldn't wait for some time alone, if only for an hour. I spent a whole hour by myself basking in silence while enjoying a coffee outside and checking my email without little people asking me how long it would be before they could have their turn at my laptop. When they wait for their turn, they hover and count the minutes.

 "Mom, you said five minutes." 

"Mom, you said five minutes ten hours ago!" 

"Mom, you're not being fair, you'll never finish!"

As the hour of my temporary freedom came to a close I could hear the giggles and squeals of my kids running home. The little voices drew near and by the time they reached our gate all I could hear was "Mama, Mama...come here!" My first thought was that they must have found another animal along the way. 

I opened the door, walked down the steps and Izabella was running up the walkway with a small bunch of flowers in her grip. She said, "Mama look! The first red poppy, we found our first red poppy of spring and picked it for you, I know you love poppies mom."  She's right, I do love poppies. 

I immediately put the flowers into a vase and on the coffee table. I looked at the sweet little bunch of flowers and naturally, had to take a picture. Foti watched carefully as I snapped the pictures and then tapped me on the shoulder. "Mama, can I hold the vase? I want to hold it so you can take a picture of me with the flowers...so you can remember that we picked them for you." You know what this does to a mother's heart, don't you? It melts it. My heart just melted. Of course my little monkey can hold the flowers. 

He was so proud to have helped gather flowers for me. After I took a few pictures he wanted to  have a look ( digital photography is the best thing that's happened to me and children's college funds!)  and the one above is the one he has approved for posting. Izabella & Alexandra had already taken the two laptops available while I was busy so they weren't interested in the flowers anymore. It's the little moments like these that remind me of just how lucky I am and also how wonderful my kids are. I am definitely the luckiest mother on the planet. 

Related Post:

 Looking for a Poppy

Tractor Traffic

μία από τα ίδια...

I'm always running late and I'm ALWAYS behind a tractor!

I know, my traffic problems could be worse so I won't complain too much. Tractors, city buses and trucks(or tractors) hauling boats seem to be the source of my stress when I'm driving. They're slow and I can't ever get around them. I won't even mention having to wait for sheep to clear the road. I'll take it any day over gridlock though. 

Spring...My Favorite Season

Spring is my absolute favorite season. It means that my birthday is near, days will be longer, the weather is getting warmer, I spend more time outside and I can start planting my garden. Most of all,  I love how colors- greens, yellows, purples and pinks emerge from beneath the brown and grey hues of winter. 

Even flowers that some may consider weeds are beautiful and vibrant. 

Our property turns into a spring wonderland that our children love exploring. Butterflies, hawk-moths and tadpoles keep them intrigued as they spend hours outside looking for them. 

Even cold, cloud covered days offer rich green views. 

The children love their independence- free of the cold, damp winter and not having to bundle up every day. 

As I look up through the blossoming trees the sky seems much brighter and  a bit more blue. 

Purple is my favorite color...

especially when it blankets the fields near our home. 

Wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a beautiful Spring! 

Almond Blossoms II

Almond blossom, sent to teach us

  That the spring days soon will reach us.

      ~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Wintry Monday

 I had another almond blossom photo lined up for this morning but we woke up to cold wind and a mix of snow and rain. I took these photos on our big snow day and decided to post them in honor of our wintry weather today. However, this much snow hasn't fallen, thankfully.

And WINTER by Tori Amos is one of my favorite songs...

Have a nice week! 

~~~

Καλή εβδομάδα!

Almond Blossoms I

Blossom of the almond trees, 

April's gift to April's bees. 

~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Early Morning Walk at the Marina

One thing I haven't done  in a while is post photos that I've taken on the same day as the actual post. I started this morning and I'm motivated to have this up before I go to bed only because today's weather is so spectacular and I want to share just how beautiful of a morning we had. 

Shortly after dropping Izabella off at school I was ready to turn the car around, go to the bakery and then head home. Given the fact that we've been stuck in the house for two days with another nasty virus and that the weather was so beautiful, I decided to take a ride instead. Foti and Alexandra were with me. Foti's school was closed for conferences today and Alexandra doesn't go to school yet.

So, we drove to a local marina to take a walk. It was around 8:30 am and the sea was calm... 

The sky was so blue. 

The kids loved to look at the geese & ducks that live at the marina. 

Fishermen cleaning their nets. As they tossed the fish & other creatures from their nets the seagulls were there waiting to collect. 

Alexandra  posing on a rock, squinting in the bright sunlight. 

A look off of the pier, the water was is so clear. 

I almost missed this as we walked along the pier...

I had to go back to look at it. Someone's boat has sunk!  I feel bad for the owner. We've had a boat sink once and it's difficult to recover and repair a sunken boat. 

Naturally, we were approached by a stray dog. This one was absolutely adorable and luckily I had some doggy treats in the car. This pup worked hard for a treat. It was so sweet and playful. 

The dog loved the attention from the kids. 

Beautiful purple flowers against the natural blue backdrop of the sea. 

And here's a very pleased Foti. He was so happy that he was able to see boats, fishermen, ducks, geese  and so much more this morning. He thought  we were only going to drop his sister off at school and return home, hence his outfit! I told him to get dressed and it's what her threw together for the car ride and I didn't have time to find him anything else.  Besides, it just doesn't matter. 

I hope that you've enjoyed  the photos from our walk. It was so beautiful and quiet. I plan on taking more morning walks now that spring is here.

Puppies at the Supermarket

Last week we as were leaving a supermarket, we spotted these two adorable puppies sitting near our car. They seemed apprehensive about our presence as they ran to hide as we approached. I could see their heads peeking from the other side of another parked car. Since we just bought dog food and treats I decided to share some with these sweet little faces. They were very hungry, so much so that they were shaking as I put the food down. Fed and happy I earned their trust and was able to get a few great photos of them. 

How can anyone not love this face? 

Hoping for more food.

 As I look at these photos I sense sadness in their expressions. Maybe it's just me, but that's what I see. 

After the food, we also gave them treats. Foti enjoyed treating these puppies and asked if we could take them home. I wish that we could as I do really hate seeing so many stray dogs here but we can't. I do hope someone takes these puppies in. 

Have a nice week and since it's already March...a great month!

~καλό μήνα kai καλή εβδομάδα~

Related Posts:

Scruffy Puppies

Tortalitza the Tortoise

Tortalitza  out of hibernation.

The weather is getting warmer and signs of spring are abundant. Almond trees are blossoming and my daffodils have bloomed. Another sign that it's getting warmer is that we can now find our tortoise "Tortalitza" roaming around the garden. She's come out of hibernation and is now ready to eat my lettuces once again. Whenever I plant any variety of lettuce she prefers it to the other green plants or weeds that I'm not growing to eat.  Izabella is so happy spending time with her tortoise and by now it seems the tortoise is happy to see her. Foti has a tortoise named "Skorouli" but he's a little more evasive and difficult to find. Maybe he's still hibernating, hopefully we'll find him soon because the property needs to be tilled. 

Izabella took her to visit the neighbors & she peeks from her temporary confines. I do think she's adorable. 

Tortalitza is a Spur-thighed/Greek tortoise. You can find tortoises wandering the countryside and often stopping traffic. We don't take special care of her since we let her live in a natural environment in our garden. Although, we do make sure that there's always water available and that she's locked safely in her portion of the garden. If she wanders away from her enclosed space, Tarzan gets a hold of her and chews on her shell as well as tosses her around like a ball. We found Tarzan with her last year and he seriously damaged her shell. You can see the damage that he incurred in the first photo. She's healed well and again, we need to keep her out of his reach. 

Izabellae enjoys Tortalitza's company

Our weather forecast for the weekend is fantastic (15 C/59 F) and we're planning to spend most of our time outside and Izabella will most definitely be enjoying the company of her tortoise. There's a lot to look forward to. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Related Posts:

"Tortalitza" the tortoise

Happy 101 Award

I can't think of a better way to start my  week than sharing an award that I received from one of my blog friends, Bhavesh Chhatbar.His blog is called chaukat.com Blog.  Bhavesh is an avid photographer as well as a fantastic blogger. His photos are amazing!  Recently he has started a new site where his photographs are available for purchase. I think it's a wonderful idea and I wish him the best of luck with his new venture! And there's more,  if you love his photos you can subscribe to Wednesday Wallpapers. Subscribers will receive one free wallpaper every Wednesday. Another excellent idea! Thank you for this award Bhavesh, you're an inspiration and I'm humbled by your gesture.

Now on to the formalities of accepting this award...

There are some rules with the award:

1. Copy the award image into a post.

2. List 10 things that make you happy.

3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day.

4. Link to their blogs.

5. Notify the award recipients.

6. Award recipients link back to sender's blog.

10 things that make me happy

1. My family & friends-a given. My family is my life & I can't imagine it without friends.
2. Photography-I feel like I can't breathe if my camera isn't with me. Seriously.
3. My pets-my 2 dogs!!
4. Traveling-love new people, places & experiences.
5. Gardening-love growing my own food & enjoying my flowers.
6. Music- would do anything for a live mariachi band right now.
7. Food-my favorite is Mexican!
8. The Arts-all arts!~ Especially the theater.
9.  The sea-a day on a quiet beach is so therapeutic.
10. Blogging-without blogging I wouldn't have met so many remarkable people or made such wonderfully,  fantastic friends!

10 Bloggers That Brighten My Day

1. Jes- Prospero's Cellphone
2. Liz- The making of cupcakes.gr
3. Jude- Caridad in Crete
4. Maria- Organically Cooked
5. Tobias- tobias cooks! 
6. Spuds- Carrying a Cat by the Tail
7. Gingeyginge- The Adventures of Gingeyginge
8. Krisno- My Life, My Sharing
9. Ivy- Kopiaste.. to Greek Hospitality
10. Phivos-Travelling-ταξίδια & Phivos Nicolaides

I wish I could have chosen more than 10!

Finally, here's the link to the post in which Bhavesh passed on the award-
 Chaukhat.com Blog: Happy 101 Award

Thank you Bhavesh!

Kozani Apokries/Carnival 2010- part 2

Our carnival adventures on Saturday were fantastic and the weather wasn't uncomfortable. For some reason, the weather forecast wasn't discussed before our trip and nothing was said on Saturday, which isn't normal. We're always talking about the weather and what to anticipate. I think  that we were so wrapped up in the event and keeping the kids entertained that we forgot about the weather.  The photo above was taken early Sunday as I was taking Gigi for her morning walk. The streets were quiet, clean and nearly empty. The weather was mild. 

I returned from our walk and sat down with a cup of coffee and the next thing that I noticed was that it was snowing. Fantastic! The kids love snow and so do I!

As the time passed and the parade was about to begin we were a little concerned only because none of us had the proper shoes for this kind of snow. It was coming down fast and it was a very wet snow, everything was getting wet. We didn't change our plans but we were worried about just how long we would last. 

 

 This is what it looked like as we ventured out to watch the parade. What a difference a few hours can make! It's the same street that I had photographed early that morning. 

Snow-covered carnival decorations. 

Nearing the center. 

A "big wig" enjoying souvlaki as he walks in the snow. 

 In the center just before parade time. 

A balloon vendor seeks relief from the snow. 

The first parade float...a giant cigar-smoking cupid. 

Children dressed as Christmas trees. The snow was a great prop for this costume. 

Cute costume! 

Despite the wet snow the dancing continued.

These women were having so much fun. They would run out into the street and dance during the parade. Their enthusiasm was infectious! 

The man in the pink wig is the last of the very few photos that I took at the parade because we didn't stay long since we were all soaked and my camera was getting wet. We left the parade early to go home and change our clothes and watch the remainder of the parade on TV. 

Having dried off,  we ate a great dinner and napped so that we would be ready to visit the Fanoi later that night. 

Fanos!

A man drinking wine that was offered at the fanos. He was one of many that led the dancing & singing around the fire. 

A little snow doesn't bother me and  I still  enjoyed dancing around the fire.

The band at a fanos.

Enjoying a complimentary tiropita while taking a break from dancing. See the man with the plate behind me? He was offering the pies. 

After dancing at three separate fanoi, we stopped for some souvlaki. 

While we waited for our souvlaki, I heard a "Ho Ho Ho" in my ear and received a nudge on my shoulder. Why, it was Santa Claus offering free wine. Thank you Santa, you are too kind!

Finished with our souvlaki, we tucked into a local bar filled with familiar faces for a few more beverages. Our coats and hats were wet and we were still shivering but we managed to enjoy a few more hours of carnival before we headed home to change into warm, dry clothes and finally, get some rest. Despite the snow we had a wonderful time. 

***

Watch this video to see how much fun it is to dance around a fanos!

***

Leaving Kozani ,we had a beautiful view of snow-sprinkled mountains. 

Related Links:

Weekend Carnival Celebration

A little more of last weekend

Carnival/Apokrias 2009

More Apokrias/Carnival

Carnival/Apokries Party