Sunday, August 19, 2012

Calendar pictures


Some time after Ian decided to work in Greece, I started looking at the calendars
in the bookstores that had pictures from Greece.  They all seemed to look like the one
above and most were taken in Santorini.  Surprise, surprise, on our first trip, to visit Ian,
we didn't see anything like this in Thessaloniki!  This summer, however, we visited our
first "blue" island.  Astypalea is like Santorini, sort of like Outter Banks is like Hilton Head.




Most of the buildings are painted white with blue trim on the doors



...and garden gates.  And on any given day you will find someone, usually several,
people out whitewashing buildings or walkways.




The village is located between the port and the top of a hill where
the castle ruins are located.


 

So, no matter what you need to do, you will either need to walk up the hill-


 

or down the hill...generally several times in any given day.
On a hot day, you needed a couple of showers and changes of clothes.


 

This was a doorway near our apartment - not blue - but really pretty.


When I reached this spot on my walk up the hill, I knew I was going to make it
to our apartment.  The geraniums were beautiful!  One of the 365
churches on the island is in this picture and the balcony
is ours.





All over the island there are artifacts imbedded in the buildings and
obviously ancient pots and urns sitting on steps and porches.

More to come....


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Shall We Dance!

My pictures are exactly in the reverse order of what I wanted.  I am blaming it on the heat.
Please start at the bottom and work up, OK?


 
The Bride and the Groom
Well into the evening-
The Bride, having changed into more danceable attire
and
The Groom, having somewhere, lost his coat.
What Fun!!

The Aunt of the Groom and the Mother of the Groom
The music was GREAT!!

The Groom dancing with his Grandmother.

Dancing in the Street
waiting for
the Bride and the Groom

Dancing the Dress -
The Groom's Father is tripping the light fantastic!

Dancing in the street
the night before the Wedding Day


The Ladies practicing some tricky dance steps.

 Bella thinks it is getting a little late for all this dancing!

Nikko, Evangalina and Eleftheria show us their best dance steps!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wedding Day


                          While Eleftheria'a friends and family helped her prepare for the big day....


more family and friends waited excitedly......


                                                         ...dancing in the street!

Ian's family and friends helped him get ready....


...and finally we all walked together to the castle.


Eleftheria's brother and father escorted her to the church...


where the service was conducted by the priests...


as they were surrounded by their families and attendents...

and witnessed by more family and friends.



The wedding cake - complete with hand painted bride and groom
 and hand made bells by G'ma Nancy.


The bride and groom welcome their guests and make their vows.


Three beautiful women.


Two handsome groomsmen-
and
lots more pictures to share.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Big Sur, California - April,2012

My second post-retirement trip (first was to Ithaca) was to the Big Sur coastline of California via Blue Diamond, Nevada to meet up with Adam.  We had good weather, good food and most of all a good time.
Definitely a place to return again (without leaving with a sinus infection and poison oak!)


 Monterey Bay/Harbor

Monterey Bay Aquarium (shale reef display) 
                           My driver, guide, cook, travelling companion, photographer and son!
Fisherman's Wharf 



 Redwoods!
Bixby Bridge on Highway 1 


Banana Slug 
                                       Sunset above the cloud deck, Big Sur coast                                    
 Sunrise

Thanks again Adam.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Easter in Ithaca 2012

Last Thursday before Easter, Pat and I headed north
and east to Ithaca for an early spring visit with
 Sarah and Keith.

The weather was cool, crisp and sunny most of the time.
And, a little windy also.  We went on a couple of leisurely
hikes, this one with all 3 dogs who seemed to be
as delighted with the outing as we were

I am always hoping to see the beaver but haven't
had any luck yet.
They are obviously there and very active.  This
is just one of many examples of their work.

 We were a little early for the first of the spring wild flowers
except for a couple of hearty specimans.
We thought maybe 2 weeks difference in the plants
from Medina to Ithaca.
  
 On Saturday, we visited a wildlife preserve call Montezuma.
This is the nest of the local Osprey which we eventually
saw in the sky.  The trail was blocked off, but this
view from the road was still pretty impressive.
In a different location we saw a pair of bald eagles
tending their 2 eaglets.  There was a man at this location
sharing his high powered scope.  We could see the
bands on the Eagle's legs! 

 Sunday was a bad day for pigeons!
Sort of like golf...we went from location to location
but with explosions. 

 ...the guys shot pigeons from various and sundry
heights and distances and speeds, etc., while
Sarah and I enjoyed a walk in the woods.

And of course, we ate well.  Both at home and at
a couple of new restaurants that we tried. Good
pickin' guys!

 Just in case it slipped by, G'pa celebrated his
82nd birthday on April 6.  We got together with them
and Andy and Gayle for pizza and strawberry rubarb
pie and ice cream.  They are doing pretty well,
although something about G'pa's leg is not
working quite right.  He's been in PT for about 3 weeks
now, so I am hoping that they will get an
MRI pretty soon so we can find out what's going
on.  He's mostly upset because he can't ride his scooter :-(

Love you all, Mom  xxxxxxoooooo