Ashley Gets Lost

I have been meaning to get out into nature and get more exercise for a while now. It’s been in the 50-60s almost every day lately, and last Sunday was a beautiful 60 degree day. I asked Joshua if he’d be interested in a forest walk, and he was! I did some research on local trails and found a three mile walk in the forest near Douliana, a beautiful little village about 15 minutes drive from our house.

After a short walk through what felt like a magical forest, we stopped at Agios Ioannis Chapel, which is a cute little church built into a cave!

This was inside the chapel itself.

The mossy courtyard in front of the chapel was a great place to stop and water your dog. And yourself!

BMO required a bit of direction for our mommy and me photo.

We did our best!

My best friend since seventh grade, Laura, lives in the mossy rain forest in Washington state. She is a bit of a moss lady, and she spent a lot of time teaching me about moss on my trip to visit her last year. I was excited to find some good stuff to show her here!

This looks like springy turf moss to me, but I’m no expert and definitely looked this up. Haha!

I’m just going to throw some photos up here. It was so beautiful that I will present several without comment.

If you look close you can see the snowy mountains in the background.

The cardboard taped to this fence says “Lady NORMAL”, which is totally me. The normalest.

I can’t even tell you how thrilled I was about our first little forest adventure. I am now all jazzed up about exploring the area. Today I had my husband drop me off in a town several miles away so I could explore my way home. I ended up eating a sandwich I bought in town on a secluded beach alone, soaking up that January sun. It was actually a bit strenuous, but I know I’m going to sleep well tonight!

My friend Simona introduced me to a restaurant called The Jar, which is in the Park of Peace and Friendship in Chania. They do really, really good croissants. Joshua and I each ate half of our main dishes and traded, splitting a pistachio croissant for dessert. 10/10. Highly recommend. And there’s a pond in front with turtles!

We stopped at a grocery store to charge our car, and I popped in for a look around. I saw a whole bunch of books that I’ve read in Greek! I did not read them in Greek. I read them in English. I bought one that I previously enjoyed as a future translating project.

Let’s see. What else is going on?

We got an electric gate opener installed and no longer require a gate bitch to open and close the gate when we come and go. It’s pretty luxurious if you’re on your own especially. That’s probably the most exciting thing that’s happened in the last week or so.

I went to Monday karaoke in the village as per usual. I’m on a big 90s country kick lately, which has been pretty fun. I got a package from America that filled me with joy. I got some spices and seasoning blends I miss from America, lots of candy, lipsticks (they are expensive here!), and some gifts from my sister and mom. Plus a bunch of stuff for Felix. My stepmom Kris is a master at stuffing a box. I can’t even believe how much stuff she can get in there. I’m so grateful to her for her service!

Alright well. My brain feels like soup right now. I’m going to go crochet and watch tv and snuggle with my furry friends.