Summer Journal, September 1

Yes, it is September and it feels like Indian Summer here at Stavraqu.  Lots happening.  I just read delightful stories of tofu, eating rats, martinis, ketchup, and more in Secret Ingredients.  I loved this line:   "How can anyone expect to govern a country with 246 cheeses?"  Charles deGaulle

Maria Karavilisis has phoned and wants to meet with Stell.  I will not attend the meeting, because I absolutely don't want to talk about property.  Costis called from Thessaloniki, and he and his family are on their way.  They should be here in about an hour.  Paniyotis also phoned to say the  marble slat for the Parents' Temple has been engraved.  It has those words in English and Greek and the date 2012.   Doors with stained glass and a stained glass window are yet to be installed, and Foras will plant grass around the  place and secure the stone path.

Parents' Temple near completion

 

Stell also has started a small museum inside the house with old tools, pots and pans, and tapestries:

 

 

 

We had lovely messages and photos from our Georgia neighbor, Chris Franklin.  She has kept our lawn mowed, sent me a picture of a pink rose from my flower garden, and definitely showed us that we aren't returning to a drought like we did last year.  I have about 200 pages to go in my penultimate book, then I will start Fareed Zakaria's The Future of Freedom.  Stell is really appreciating Tony Judt's Ill Fares the Land. 

 

In addition to the phone call from Maria, Stell's young protege has just phoned.  It seems everyone needed "time" to absorb the sober messages.  I forgot to mention that young Spiros was accepted to study mechanical engineering in Thessaloniki which means his folks won't have to shell out an extra hundred euros a month for him to study in Xanthi.  This is good, but it would have also been good for him to have a chance to live on his own.  He's bright and will do well no matter where he lives.