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Tuesday 18th - It's been a long while since it's rained non stop, day and night. Who knows, today may be the first day of 40, but with our small population and no shortage of boats we won't need an ark. Yes folks, nothing to be envious of now. It's wet and cold here just like most places around Europe at this time of year. Nothing stirred today. No car sounds, no building sounds, no voices echoing out of the olive groves, just the sound of rain and lots of it. Left - Exoghi was in and out of low cloud from morning to night, as it got battered by todays' relentless downpour and the horizon, all but disappeared. It seemed we were on a lonely rock, floating in the clouds far away from the rest of world. For some on the island, this feeling of isolation can get a bit much so they escape to the city, but personally, I love it. I can turn the music up and sing into my hairbrush. Below - Rain drops on the gate.
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Ithaca has two oil presses, one in Frikes and one in Vathy. There was a time when there were many, many more, but most now stand in ruin. The Frikes olive press produces around 250 kilos of oil per hour. No wonder. The donkeys that once turned the grinding stone have now been replaced by modern machinery that keeps the golden liquid flowing from 5 pm through the night. |
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Thursday 20th - We haven't had a special in awhile so I thought why not do it on what seems to be the one thing that almost the entire island is participating in at this time of year. Olive oil production. whether you're growing olives, picking olives or eating the oil, olive oil has a part in everyones' life here. |
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Ithaca oil presses are not 'cold press', but still make some very tasty oil. Nothing seems to go to waste. The pulp from the first press is then pressed again and the final pulp is what fuels the boiler for the water that separates the oil from the fruit. |
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Locals bring in their bags of olives to deliver them to the press and come back at a later stage to collect the oil. There's alot of coming and going which really puts some life into the usually abandoned corner of Frikes. |
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Word is that oil production is up this year, so I guess we can look forward to more delicious Ithaki food, all prepared with our locally pressed olive oil. |
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So, today was another mostly sunny day with only a little drizzle early in the morning and in the evening, but the weekend is touted to have more dramatic weather conditions with forecast winds of up to 10 force. Ferries stop with 8 force winds so if you're planning a trip to the island, check with the ferry co and the weather bureau because a forecast isn't always gospel, especially where Ithaca is concerned. We have been known to have our own little micro climate which often escapes the predictions on the Tvs weather spot. |
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Friday 21st - Well, the predictions for wind may be right. It's pretty windy today. The wind started in the early hours along with some rain, but the rain has held off for most of today, even though the sky looks quite threatening at times. Something dramatic (weather wise) is definitely rolling in as you can see by the pics. There are, at least for the time being, a few sunny patches too. |
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| The changing skies over Ithaki |
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A special hello and thank you goes out to Lesa C. in the UK who has been an avid and dedicated fan of Ithaca the island and ithacagreece.com. Thank you for the presies! Hope to see you on Ithaca again next year. |
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Sunday 23rd - The weather bureau forecast turned out to be an understatement. Yesterday we experienced the most extreme weather conditions. Some people say the winds got up to 12 force. They howled from just after midnight and continued to around 6pm. Horizontal rain slashed across the island causing havoc from south to north. A tanker even came into Frikes harbour for shelter. Mid morning the power went off ... on ... off... on and finally off for most of the day. If it wasn't for the high bills we pay, I'd swear we were only hot wired to Cephalonia for our electricity, as it seems each time there's a drop of rain of a bit of wind, we're left in the dark. Anyway, today we have electricity, it's calm, albeit quite grey, and life goes on. |
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