All the pretty flowers

The red ones are poppies, that much I do know.

Regular readers of this blog - that is most of you, isn't it? - will know that I do bang on about the beautiful flowers of Skopelos and how summer visitors to the island will miss a lot of that floral beauty.

Over the years I've taken pictures of flowers on Skopelos in an attempt to show some of what is on offer, the photo at the top is one such example. However, my efforts are neither very systematic nor informative.

The truth is I'm not very knowledgeable about wild plants. I just go around saying: "Look at them, they're pretty, aren't they." While strictly accurate, my enthusiastic assertions don't really take people very far along the road to enlightenment.

However, help is now at hand. In fact, it has been available for some little while. Ladies and gentlemen, please get ready to enjoy a website called Wildflowers of Skopelos. No prizes for guessing the subject matter.

The website is the work of Dr Susan Warren, who has a house here and who is, I understand, a retired medical doctor from the UK.

Her website offers a large, and still expanding, index of flowers that are found on Skopelos. It's well worth looking at and I would think most people would learn something from it. I know I have, namely that a plant that Mrs C and I keep anxiously looking at to see if it will flower soon is in danger of being an invasive pest throughout the Mediterranean. We promise to keep it under control.

Dr Warren says on her website that her interest in the flowers of the island has also led to her taking an interest in geology. There is a section on that, too, on the website.

On the website she says: "The site is not intended to be a work of botanical reference but to interest people like me, who love flowers and love Skopelos. I don't want it to be too serious." I think she achieves her aim.

So to see more of the Wildflowers of Skopelos website click here and make sure you bookmark the site. Before you go, though, here's Flowers in the Rain by The Move, a genuine piece of flower power.

O Sleep, where art thou?

For years I've been a champion sleeper. I'd go to bed, turn off the light, put my head on the pillow and within seconds I'd be asleep. And that would be it until the morning.

But lately things have changed. These days I normally turn out the light at about 1am and I can still usually get to sleep quite easily, but then I find myself waking up at 3am or 4am and there's no way I can get back to sleep.

If you're having trouble sleeping try to avoid
having a musician at the foot of the bed.

It's then that my mind goes in to overdrive. Rather than remain semi-comatose so that I can slip back off to sleep, my brain decides to run through all sorts of issues.

I spend a surprising amount of time thinking of things to write on this blog. Next month, I'm taking part in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge so I can also find myself pondering that during the wee small hours. And then when I've done all that I might well find myself thinking about my family and hoping everything will be all right for them.

Sometimes I start constructing imaginary dialogues with famous people I'm never likely to meet or characters from TV shows or films I've seen. I know this latter activity sounds particularly demented, but my brain seems to be intent on showing me all the things it can do when I'm not actively using it.

By this time it could be that one or other of the cockerels, or more likely both of them, begins their morning crowing routine. Because they've decided to live so close to the house following the New Year's Eve massacre their crowing is particularly insistent.

Soon after that it begins to get light which in theory should mean I get up and start doing things, but in practice can often mean I fall asleep again and don't wake up until 10am. Having been a habitual early-riser all my life, getting up as late as 10am seems utterly sinful to me.

If it were summer I'd get up in the middle of the night and read, but just now, particularly with the weather we've been having, the prospect of leaving the comfort of a warm duvet is distinctly unappealing. In the meantime I suppose I'll just have to keep on having those conversations in my head with all those famous non-existent people. Oh dear, that really does sound bonkers, doesn't it? I need to get some sleep.

The song I've picked to go with this isn't an entirely accurate description of my situation, but I like it, which is probably all that counts. Please enjoy Sleeping with the TV on by The Dictators.

* Painting by unknown master (book scan) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Not your average bucket and spade holiday

What did you get up to on your holiday? If you're asked that question after a break in Greece you might soon be able to reply that you'd been working as an amateur tax inspector.

Apparently, the Greek government has come up with the idea of taking on a whole host of people - some of them holidaymakers - to help sniff out businesses that are evading paying tax.

By virtue of who these amateur tax inspectors are, they won't be so obvious so the dodgy businesses will be discovered more readily.

Yes, I thought it sounded a bit bonkers, too, but then tax is a BIG thing here. Or more precisely the non-payment of tax is a big thing.

I'd be surprised if people in Greece didn't try to slip through the tax net. Partly it's human nature - it's almost inevitable people feel they'd like to hang on to their money - and partly I suspect it's a feeling that a few euros here or there aren't going to make much difference to a government that's got its back against the financial wall.

I would guess that's been the view for many years. Greece is a very bureaucratic country which seems to have trouble enforcing its red tape so tax collection must be difficult.

Pretty well every business you go in to in Greece has a notice which says something along the lines of "customers are not obliged to pay if they do not receive a receipt". I've never actually tried to follow the letter of the law and not pay because I didn't get a receipt and yet for so many low value transactions I never see a receipt at all.

Do I care? Not a bit. I pay my few euros for bread, coffee, newspaper or whatever and the shopkeeper can do as he or she pleases with the money. It is probably that attitude that causes the Greek tax authorities such a headache when it comes to collecting the money.

Incidentally, there are times when I have receipts thrust at me and the person giving me the receipt will say with a grin: "The taxmen are about".

You certainly shouldn't go away with the idea that it's only small businesses that work a fiddle. The story below was told to me by someone who lived in Greece, whose word I would never doubt and whose circumstances I knew, which is why I am sure the story is true. I will not put names in order to protect their identity.

So, this person needed an operation and elected to go private rather than go through medical insurance because to go private would get the relatively minor procedure done more speedily. There was a consultation with the surgeon who agreed to do the operation. The surgeon then named a price for the work which would be if my friend had a receipt. However the surgeon offered a reduced price if there was no receipt and the account was settled in cash.

As my friend said: "You feel you should do the right thing and pay the official price, but you know you'd be a fool because nobody else does." Therein, I think, lies the problem for the government.

Anyway, until the Greek government works out a way to solve their tax problems here's Income Tax Blues  by Ralph Willis.

Sings can only get better

There's a lot going on in May, a General Election in Britain, my birthday, and...oh yes...the 60th Eurovision Song Contest.

Eurovision is one of those things that's easy to make fun of, but difficult to stop watching once you start as you try to work out if what you are looking at is for real.

This year, the contest is being held in Vienna from May 19 to 23, and 40 countries will slug it out with strange songs and dubious voting practices.

Most of the countries taking part are members of the European Broadcasting Union, although this year Australia is a guest entrant. Yes, that Australia, the one that's as far from Europe as it's possible to get.

The reason that I'm writing about Eurovision now is that participating countries are going through the process of choosing their entries and I happened to notice that Greece had made its choice.

This year Greece will be represented by Maria-Eleni Kyriakou, who is singing One Last Breath. I can't help feeling that's a slightly unfortunate title for a song, particularly from Greece bearing in mind the countries economic woes. Having said that, I should point out another of the contenders was a song called Crash and Burn.

Maria-Eleni Kyriakou will sing One Last Breath.

Maria-Eleni will be familiar to Greek TV viewers - not me, I don't have a telly. She also took part in The Voice of Greece.  How she will do is anyone's guess. I wish her well, but maybe not too well. Does Greece really need the burden of having to stage next year's Eurovision if it wins this year's? This year will be the tenth anniversary of the last time Greece won the contest so maybe it is time for another taste of success.

In other Eurovision news, Germany - funny how often they crop up on this blog - chose its song and singer who promptly stood down and said the second-placed song should vie for honours in Vienna. Andreas Kummert, a slightly tubby gent with a beard and glasses, something which I would have thought would guarantee success, said he wasn't ready to do vocal battle and called on second-placed Ann Sophie to do the honours. Her song is called Black Smoke.

And the dear old UK has made its choice. The cynic in me wonders what the point is because other countries in Europe seem to have made it their mission to find ever more amusing ways to humiliate the brave souls representing the UK as a form of punishment for Britain's part in the Iraq war. I concede that could be me being paranoid, but as I don't really care who wins Eurovision it doesn't matter..

Anyway, this year the UK has pinned its hopes on musical duo Electro Velvet - Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholas - who will be singing Still in Love with You.

Conceivably, I could have put music from all three countries on this posting, but I thought that might be a bit much so I've opted for the UK entry. Apparently, it comes from a genre known as electro swing....yeah, me neither. See what you think and post a comment with your thoughts.

* Picture of Maria-Eleni Kyriakou by Mad TV from the Eurovision Song Contest website.

Come on. spring, you can do it

Slowly, slowly σιγά σιγά the signs are there that spring is getting in to its stride. It certainly seems to have been a long, cold winter (for here) although I'm beginning to wonder if that perception is to do with increasing age.

Does the cold bite a little harder as you get older? Maybe, but whatever, as you look around you on the sunny days you soon notice the increasing profusion of flowers coming out and pointing their faces at the sun. I have said before that visitors to Greece miss one of the glories of this country - certainly this island - by only ever coming here in the height of summer.

From now until about early June there will be an increasing abundance of wild flowers on show. They delight the eye until the intense heat of summer forces them to give up. A few of them put in a return appearance as the cooler weather of autumn arrives, but that's some way off.

Anyway, enough words, time for pictures of flowers. I've not identified them because to be truthful I'm not positive about the names. Just enjoy the pictures. What I will say is that the last picture is of part of Mrs C's garden, all the others are wild flowers. I took these pictures on Wednesday, which as you can see, was a lovely day. Today is cloudy and wet. Ah well...

You nearly ended up with Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth singing We'll Gather Lilacs, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead I'm putting up a pretty little song called Flowers in Your Hair by an American group called The Lumineers. I hope you like it.

To bead or not to bead, that is the question

Day by day, the weather here is improving which means you see more people going out for a stroll or βόλτα.

Generally these are single sex groups of Greek people. Why? I don't know, I suppose it's a cultural issue. One thing I notice in the groups of men, particularly if they are slightly older, is that very often some of them will be carrying κομπολόι. What you might call worry beads, although that does seem a slightly trite term for them.

No need to worry when you have these beads.

The  best κομπολόι are things of great beauty. They can be made from a material such as amber and are not cheap. Once the tourist season gets going, inexpensive sets of beads are sold in many shops and probably end up gathering dust in people's home all over the globe.

As an ex-smoker I appreciate the value of keeping your hands occupied. Part of the pleasure I took from smoking was having a variety of items to fiddle with, something I still feel the need to do despite giving up smoking more than two decades ago.

That's where a nice set of κομπολόι could literally come in handy. Skilled practitioners have a variety of methods for counting off the beads, which do not have a religious purpose like rosary beads. I'm sure I'd be quite happily occupied with a set of beads, even though I don't need them to stave off the temptation to light up.

But somewhere in my head there is a niggling doubt about using them if you are a ξένος, a foreigner. I suspect it might be slightly affected to use such things which are so deeply embedded in Greek culture. While some expats seem to be determined to be more Greek than the Greeks, I feel not unlike Popeye who famously uttered: "I am what I am and that's all that I am". In my case, a Brit abroad.

In any case, tucked away in a drawer with all the things that mean little to anyone but me is a set of beads which are arguably infinitely more precious than the finest κομπολόι. These beads were made from modelling clay by my eldest daughter when she was little. None of the beads is the same size or shape, some bear her fingerprints and they are threaded on a tatty piece of red cord, but I love them and that is all that counts.

Songs about beads are hard to come by, but if the purpose of κομπολόι is to help stave off worry then the Beach Boys singing Don't Worry Baby should also do the trick. They don't look much like surfers, do they?

* Beads picture by Dimitris Arvanitis and used under a Creative Commons Licence.

Is your journey really necessary?

You hear that sound? Yes, a small car engine being thrashed within an inch of its life. And that other sound? Yes, that's right, a small motorcycle which has had its exhaust modified to produce an ear-splitting noise.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of the Skopelos branch of the Pointless Driving Club going out on one of their daily runs. Members of the club - motto: Who cares as long as we're speeding - love to drive fast along the few tarmacked roads this island has.

The problem is that broadly speaking there's nowhere for them to go. They go up a road, reach a certain point and then turn round to go back the way they came. And all this at a time when the state of the Greek economy is such that you'd think drivers would be keen to conserve their precious petrol.

Where shall we go now?

I know, I know, I'm being a bit of a killjoy, particularly as I suspect that most of the drivers in question are young people with a lot more energy than me. But aimlessly driving around in the manner of a goldfish in a bowl will always be aimless driving.

And before you accuse me of picking on the Pointless Drivers of Skopelos, I should add that where I used to live in England has its own branch of the Pointless Driving Club. Keen members of this club used to perform what I am assured were known as "Twat Laps" - just going round and round, following the same circuit through the town.

Will they grow out of it? Will I become more tolerant? I think the former is more likely than the latter, and even that's not very likely. So until I do find hidden reserves of toleration I would just appeal to Pointless Drivers everywhere to ease off the throttle a bit and maybe even consider going for a walk. Just joking, lads...

Only one piece of music to go with this and that is Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads.

* Picture of car by Luftbildfotografie Von-Oben (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons