Ashley Gets Lost

I am starting to feel very European friends. Let me explain. Before I start writing, I go through my recent photos and decide which to use and what to write about, and then I move them into a folder for easy access. I almost put today as 12/8 instead of 8/12, which my brain is starting to get used to. It used to take my brain a minute to remember to complete the swap, but after three months, I am getting there!

However, I decided to put my foot down and keep it American for now.

Anyway. Unlike this baby lizard that my sister Andrea has named Juan, which is not very Greek of her, life since we returned from Athens has been slow. Side note on Juan, he and his friend/sibling live behind one of the arches on our porch. They are tiny. Like an inch and a half (see, American. I don’t deal in centimeters yet!). Juan is very fast. He ran over my foot tonight and it tickled!

Back to business. And by business I mean naps, crocheting, and beach time. Sometimes in combination, although it’s been too toasty for beach naps right now.

I just realized it looks like there might be an out of focus dead body in this picture, but I assure you no dead bodies turned up last Saturday while I alternated between crocheting and getting my buns wet. Gabi and I spent the middle of last Saturday at Almyrida beach, which is shallow for a long way, so it’s pretty warm and swarming with small children. They are cute but loud, and I’m planning my next beach visit to be one with way less children and at least one less top (mine!) PAY NO ATTENTION TO MY TALONS! I need to get them done. I know it. You know it. We don’t need to talk about it.

Joshua and I tried to go do adult beach on Sunday, but it was windy as all get out. Zero percent relaxing. We sat on the beach for like five minutes before deciding the constant sand blasting was not chill inducing. I was going to read, crochet, nap if shade permitted, and frolic. Zero of those activities felt doable. The beach had a red flag, which means the sea is dangerous. I ended up doing all those activities at home instead!

Sheep have been grazing nearby, and we can hear them talking and jangling their bells. I can’t always see them, but occasionally they are just down the hill from our house. Can you see them? How about now?

Is that better?

Bowie is getting braver and adventuring into the yard! Also kidnapping Dr. Fish did not work out, but we saw this baby while eating dinner at the Italian restaurant in Plaka on Sunday.

It’s just a little baby like Dr. Fish. Unfortunately the kittens at these dumpsters are pretty feral. Felix spent a good hour or so sitting by the dumpster with wet food last night in an effort to befriend them. He was unable to snatch a puss, but the owner of the Italian restaurant supported him by bringing him free beer while he waited. This project might take several attempts.

I am not bad at summer mentally, but I might be physically. Makeup (aside from eyeliner) is a distant memory. If I put any on, it’s a recent memory as it runs down my face. I had to go do the watering this evening, which takes a good hour or so, and I was practically drowning in my own sweat. My life is very glamorous!

We spent several hours at the police station in Chania today in an attempt to get our visas extended. Since we’ve been here for almost 90 days, our tourist visas are expiring soon. Our lawyer is in the process of getting our golden visa application going, but it will take some time after that to become residents. We had to go get passport photos, then wait. A police officer came and took our photos again with his phone for their records. Then we waited. Then they came and took our fingerprints. And we waited some more. Eventually we were successful, and now we can continue to be here legally until the rest of our resident business is sorted. I got my first visa that isn’t just a tourist stamp!

I am currently waiting for it to be dark enough to go lay outside and watch the meteor shower. I don’t usually post at night, but I had to keep my brain engaged. I would most likely be either in bed reading or about to get to it, but my mission is to stay up later for space nature’s sky majesty.

I will leave you with a Friday night check in on Bobbi, who was doing a good scratch. Bobbi is part dumpster cat and part graveyard cat, so he/she probably has powers. I have not inspected Bobbi’s backside, which should be easy since they don’t have a tail. I have recently spent some time looking at cat asses on my phone, so I’m pretty good at telling them apart now. Will report back with my findings.

I’m sorry I lied. I’m using the word for graveyard as my final offering. It’s fun to say, and it’s what I call our front garden area because there is a cat grave out there. It’s the previous owners’ cat Schnapps, who I have promised to honor in their absence.