Skopelos cats

Cats abound on Skopelos. They are everywhere! Now if, like me, you are a cat lover then that is a good thing - I have no problem with them cadging food from the tables in the pavement tavernas. I guess some people may not like it, but it doesn't bother me. What does worry me is the huge number of kittens on the island - I guess they keep the mice and rats down, but I wonder what the mortality rate is amongst kittens - I suspect it must be huge. Anyway, no kittens, but here are some of the cat photographs I took whilst wandering round the streets of Skopelos Town in August.

The one in the right hand picture above is coming through my kitchen window, which is at street level.









I am sure you will agree that, although most of them are 'street cats' and pretty feral, they all seem to be reasonably well fed. I wonder though how they will survive a harsh winter, because there can be some pretty nasty weather on Skopelos during the winter.

Sartorial Elegance

I think sartorially challenged may be more accurate. Anyway, here it is - cold weather gear in South Africa!

OK, maybe, just maybe, I look dreadful! But, two things, 1) it's comfortable and 2) it's warm. Given that I have lived in Dubai for 11 years now, you will, of course, understand that I have very little that can be described as warm weather clothing!

I also have the other tracksuit to this one, the yellow top and orange pants - that one has a hooded top, but I don't have any pix.

Why these colours? That was all they had!

Back in Dubai

Well, that is it, the holiday is over and we are back, hard at work, in Dubai. We got back on Friday, had Satruday off (What a great time to get back - just in time to watch Bolton thrash Stoke 3 - 1 in the first game of the season!)

This is my first post since getting back and I probably won't do any more until the weekend.

Everybody wanted photo's so I have spent a few hours stitching this panorama of Skopelos Town and Harbour together for you:

I have got a nice set of pics of Greek cats which I shall put up later and I will also be posting some pix of the inside of our little island home - not forgetting the promised picture of me in my dead posh track suit with an orange top and yellow trousers! Watch this space!

Skopelos

At last! Here we are! For the first time since starting this blog we are back on our beloved island of Skopelos! Wonderful!

It seems so long since we were here last - and it won't be long until we are gone - but it is great to be home!

My God, though, what a journey. We left Aunty Beeb's house in Somerset west at 3pm (CAT)on Monday and opened our front door at 4 pm (CET) on Wednesday. For those who are time zone challenged, CET is 1 hour ahead of CAT so our journey took exactly 48 hours door-to-door, remarkably, to the minute! At least on my watch anyway. And guess what, 24 hours later, the bags arrived! Clearly a 5 hour transfer in Dubai was just a little bit too much for the baggage handlers in DXB to come to terms with! We were smelly when we arrived, but we did have clothes in our Skopelos home to change into. Sadly, since last year when we left them, the Dubaibilly's have put on a kilo or two and an inch or two - fortunately there were a few things that still fit us so we could shower and change! It was a relief when our bags finally did arrive though.

An update on Uncle Sam... he is now sitting up, eating, talking and having physio - great news, he is well on the way to recovery and I am sure he and Aunty Beeb will be with us on Skopelos next year.

Gotta go - Mrs DB is lying by the pool and I have been summonsed! Catch ya later!