New homes for all

So our time in Paros has come to a close. As Jen and I finish this chapter of our lives, we are starting again in a new place. After much anguish and several tricky situations, we have decided to stay in the US after our holiday visit. The job economy in Europe was too tricky for US citizens to break into.

So we have decided to relocate to San Francisco! San Fran had always been an option if we couldn't do Europe and now it seems to be happening. I'm going to look for places to rent or sublet and soon Jen should be able to join me.

So everything changed at the last minute and Louloudi is no longer going to stay with a dogsitter and will be taking her first airplane rides for a total of nearly 12 hours. We hastily got a carrier and her a ticket. Our two foster puppies must go back to the kennel until a new home can be found for them. And I am busy closing up the house and repairing some of the damage that happened after the worst winter storm in years has just passed over.

The storm took out several large branches and littered the yard with debris from the sea. Waves were crashing up over the 8 meter wall and into our yard. A portion of the path near our neighbors collapsed entirely and the area where we normally walked the dogs is no longer accessible.

Perhaps it was a sign that maybe we should take off?

In other news, I wanted to provide a little shelter for our little guys who must go back to the kennel. The reason we had them in the first place was because there simply aren't enough dog houses for everyone. The puppies have been such a joy to have here and they will be missed dearly. I was feeling crafty, so I found some old shipping blocks, saw them in half and assembled a sturdy tent. I made the rest of the planks into a floor to keep the dogs dry. I stapled an old paint tarp to make a rain proof tent and used a rug that was on the way to the trash as the cover.

The end result was a not too shabby, very greek looking dog house that can easily fit two little puppies or one big dog. So hopefully, this will make some dog a happy little camper.

New homes for all!

What makes Jen happy?

Sorry for not posting more often. Life tends to get in the way of documenting our lives.

So what makes Jen happy? Here are a few things.

Waking up with some puppies climbing in to bed.

Her friend Sarah

Freshly painted and cleaned kitchen cabinets

Fresh Naan on the grill for Indian night

Not having to do any of the cooking.

Musical entertainment

 Sleeping puppies

The Thanksgiving Spirit

While being on Paros during such an important holiday had its appeal, it also meant this would be the first time we would be without any immediate family members. The Metaxa family had invited us to a great dinner with about 20 or so. Everyone was asked to bring a dish and we all ate fabulously. This marked the first time I've ever been indoors for a party at the Metaxa house and it was very festive. 

Before the dinner, we were graced with the Thanksgiving Spirit (Petros in drag) who told of Thanksgiving and the American passage of gobbling food.

He went around the table asking if you were American, while about 3 quarters of the table were not, he would then baptize them with their new American name. Theodore became Johnny, Maria became Sally, Hufwost (sp?) became Roger and so forth.

Jen, Sigrid and myself, represented the "real" Americans in a way (we got to keep our names), as we have done this tradition all our lives, while the rest had maybe a distant connection to the country. It was such a fun evening and there was plenty of laughs and high spirited conversation to last the night.

We ate clam chowder to start, followed by a wonderful meal that had sweet potatoes with marshmallow, stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and home made biscuits. Jen made the mashed potatoes and biscuits, which we now have enough leftover mashed potatoes to last us til Christmas!

To all the family and friends we could not see yesterday, we wish you a happy holiday and many belt tightening recipes!

Aero & Mika

Some new house guests have landed and they are pretty damn adorable.

Aero

Mika

Wonder twin puppies, Aero and Mika, were from an abandoned litter of 5 and the local animal shelter had reached its capacity for storing stray animals, so we were asked if we could care for them until they are old enough to be shipped to good homes overseas once they are found.

They are incredibly soft, lovable and inseparable. Both are deep, deep black with little white paws and patches on their belly. They follow Louloudi around like she is the greatest dog in the world. They love belly rubs and will stretch and stretch to get as much belly love as possible. Aero is the adventurous one and charges head first into all the activities and is constantly trying to steal our clothes on the floor, but is quickly learning what is a toy and what isn't. Mika is the sweet, quiet, gentle one who prefers to watch a little before jumping into play. She is not the one to fight for her food, so we have to give her a space to eat in peace, lest her brother hog the whole thing to himself.

They are absolutely lovely to have and are well behaved. It shall be hard to say goodbye to them when the times comes, but its such a pleasure to have them here.

 Belly rubs are a must

 Barking at the boats

 Mika

 Jumping on the Lou

 Is the new big dog in town

 Puppy swarm!

 Lots of napping

Dog squad

Almost done with all the house repairs!

Haha, of course not, that is impossible, but wouldn't it be funny. This house is in constant need of attention. It's almost like the Golden Gate bridge where there are painters who paint the bridge and by the time they reach one end of the bridge, it's time to start again on the other side. 

BUT...

I have made considerable improvements that should look nice and new for some time. While lots of little things are improved and cleaned, the big milestones recently are finishing all the shutters in the house. Peeling the paint, filling cracks and holes, sanding, de-rusting the hinges, fresh coats of paint and a little extra to help it all keep their luster in the treacherous salty air. 

Before

After stripping the paint

Several new coats of paint

Glyn who has been sanding for about two weeks straight now. I couldn't have done half as much on my own and he is very good at sanding. Everything looked newly cut from the carpenter's by the time he was done. 

Glyn

Sanding the hinges

We got some great new little gadgets to do this right, and I'm sorry to my dear sister Michelle that I didn't have this sooner when she helped me earlier, but we can make dirty, rusted hinges, look like new with our drill bit sander and wire brush cups.

I have a paint gun now, so I can do shutters in 30 seconds and then just brush up the drips. What a time saver!

Dog

After

 Small guest room shutters

 Living room shutters

 Studio wall

Studio shutters

That's just a couple of the big projects that take about a week to do right and I'm glad to say there are no more shutters to do in the house. No longer will I be permanently covered in blue specks of paint and smell of turpentine. Now we can finally focus on fixing a few things like some doors, lights, walls, toilets, cabinets, tool room, stairs, gates, chairs, ceiling beams, etc. etc. etc.... Sigh. It's going to look good.