ParoBQ

After the girls had gone to catch fresh octopus with Lambis, we had a fun BBQ planned for the rest of the evening. A number of people came throughout the night, but for those of you who know the island, we had Jen, Jillian, Aaron, Liam, Larn, Will, Ramona, Riko, Lambis of the regulars, and some new faces to Paros, Ben, Charlotte, Sarah, Kasey, Rachel, AnnMeade, Wendy, Pat and a few more that only stopped in for a quick bite. It was a fun group of  Americans, Parians, British and some mutts. 

Sarah, Charlie, Aaron, Liam, Rachel, Ben, Will

Rare Photo of Lambis

Octopus!

We began with a grill full of octopus, about 5 in total. While I had no option but to turn each piece separately, I faced my greatest grilling challenge yet, turning some 40+ pieces of slippery, curly octopus legs in a timely manner. Without the aid of a grill rack, this was no simple feat with a pair of tongs and skewer, but fortunately they turned out alright and they were enjoyed by all, even the few octopus virgins we had at the table nodded in approval. Fresh over frozen octopus really makes the difference and this was about as fresh as they come.

From there, we had lamb sausages from Lambis, marinated chicken souvlakis, beef souvlakis, watermelon and feta salad, beet salad, tzatziki and lots and lots of red and white wine sangria to go around. Having a grill that could handle the job of cooking for so many people finally came in handy.

Everyone roamed around in groups and were having a great time; towards the end of the night, there was swimming, guitar playing, music and all kinds of uncoordinated dancing (mostly me). Riko had announced that it was his birthday tomorrow, so we waited until midnight and presented him with a watermelon bowl cocktail with a number of straws in absence of a cake, and he was equally thrilled.

As the night wound down, we cleared the tables and made our way into town to meet some others, which quickly turned into a beach party and even more swimming with only the moonlight to clothe us. At last, we eventually made our ways home as the sun rose to send us off to bed. A great BBQ and certainly not the last. Next up, Crayfish Party? 

Ketchup: Aaron

Aaron came a little under a month ago and has been wonderful to have here. He is willing to try and do almost anything and adds a dynamic element to the household. Aaron hails from Long Island and is a lifelong New Yorker. He was a photographer at Jen's former company and they have a thriving relationship that surrounds scooters, fashion, indulging in new cuisines and much more. Aaron is Jen's "Other boyfriend", while I am assured that I am still her favorite... most of the time. :)

Aaron also happens to be a top notch photographer and lugged a number of tripods and camera gear (along with fresh NYC bagels, I might add). He has a very professional small digital camera to accompany his larger camera with exchangeable lenses. He has waterproof gear, polarizing lenses and a hundred  little cloth or caps for everything. His cameras certainly make our typical handhelds look like a thing of the past. He has a variety of new ways to capture the beauty of Paros.

Long Exposure

Long exposures give me a new view of the sunset I've seen thousands of time. 

15 second exposure and me writing backwards with a flashlight. Aaron and I, had a lot of fun with this and kept at it until the flashlight batteries died. 

Dance off! Hold the pose, flash the flashlight, off, move to the next pose, and so on.

Like disco in slow motion..

The Ghostly Trinity of Stu

Long exposure of Parikia's ambient light from the roof

Waterproof shots

Jillian and Jen model their bikinis

House from the water

Aaron

Still life

Panoramic

Kolympithres beach

Kythnos

The man at work

The photographer becomes the photographee...

Ketchup: Louloudi

I know some of you are eagerly awaiting this post. While my sister Julie has the trump card with 3 cute kids; I know that a cute puppy can pull out the "aww's" and "ooo's" just as strong.

Playing and napping at Langeri

Little Louloudi, or Loulou, has taken our hearts by storm. She is simply too cute and cuddly for words. She sleeps most of the time and only wants to cuddle with us. While Jen and I are trying to keep her out of the bed, sometimes we spoil her like a little baby and take a snooze with her tucked into our arms or on our chest. When she is awake, she is full of energy and wants to play. She has a very affectionate personality and loves everybody. When we take her to art exhibitions and beaches, she is an instant magnet for everyone and is gladly passed from person to person for some snuggling and puppy licks until she is exhausted and finds a little corner or sleeps in my arms. She is an excellent conversation starter and has helped us to get introduced to some people on the island that we would have never normally talked too. Everyone loves a cute puppy.

She generally keeps me company while I work and is never too far away. She is genuinely tail thumping happy at the sight of any of her favorite people, especially Jen.

Time to work!

Pretty easy to bathe, but fights against the water going over her head. 

She is very well cared for and is walked multiple times a day and is already house trained! Lots of treats, toys and affection. Certainly a step up from the motorcycle junkyard that she lived in before!

Ketchup: Jillian

My dear sister shames me into being a better blogger. She has 3 kids, numerous other activities and still can find time to enthrall the masses with her "kiderary" prose. And yes, that was an awful attempt at a pun.

What have we been up too? Well, since coming back from our trip to Syros, Kythnos and Sifnos, we have been going at quite a busy pace that I have to remind myself to go give Jen a kiss here and there. Between a number of pressing things at work for me, tons of art openings, beaches, walking tours and a whole slew of errands, the day can go by pretty quickly.

Probably the biggest news is that Jillian arrived (a day late due to another Athens strike, does this ever get old to the Greeks?), who is Jen's childhood friend who might as well be her adopted sister. They are two peas in a pod as they seem to finish each others thoughts, cook together, laugh at the "boys" together and snuggle up in the morning to watch their TV dramas while wearing matching pajamas.

If only Lifetime were available in Paros...

Out on the town

Sangria at Magaya Restaurant

Tossing the frisbee with miss Jillian

Jen being cute

Separated at birth?

And in more exciting news, Jillian is currently a student and while she has completed all her major work, she is stuck with a couple of filler elective classes that she passed on long ago. We are exploring options for her to possibly get her necessary credits at the local art school and perhaps stay for the remainder of the summer. Some class work and a part time job in exchange for a magical summer in Paros? Not a bad deal at all. We can only hope we can get it all done in time as the clock is ticking. 

Before and After projects

Life isn't all beautiful sunsets, wine, swimming and delicious food (ok, maybe like 50-50), but we do work a lot while we are here.

The first month was particularly treacherous as Jen and I aimed to get the most of it out of the way, so we could relax, but the endless stream of projects has only been slowed somewhat as we catch up on our to-do lists.

De-rustified tools, new drawers for small stuff and consolidated all paints.

Jen hand washing wool pillow covers. 

Painted ceiling beams, sanded shelves and repainted the pantry.

Times like this is when I am glad I purchased the power saw.

                                         Seaside arches                                      Fresh cement

Aaron finishing up with some painting

                             As we found them...                                     New patching and paint

                                     Sans Clutter                              New shelves and cleaned beach stuff

Fine Sanded and double varnished this lovely table.

 (Shadows from bamboo roof make it hard to tell)

About a 1/4 of our major IKEA shipment,

Resulted in us fixing up some rooms...

Some of our new appliances

My old room that used to be two single beds, can now double as a king with a new mattress.

This only covers about half of the things we have done, not including new lightbulbs everywhere, cleaned cushions, new laundry lines, fixing slatted beds, cleaning the roof excessively, not to mention, lots of gardening. We are quite proud of all we have done so far, but know we have got plenty more to do. For those of you visiting for the first time, we hope we will have it as nice as possible, for those who know the place well, we have made every room quite a bit more comfortable and hope it only entices you to visit more frequently. :)

Happy Birthday Mom! Look forward to seeing you soon!

And forgot to mention we added a guard dog. Isn't she ferocious?