Well I suppose it is winter after all...

Hail stones like tracer bullets!

 We have been having some rare weather this last week, over the weekend we had a savage hail storm complete with high winds which gave us quite a battering.  Some of the hail was the size of marbles and I was surprised that there was no damage sustained by cars etc. given the ferocity of the storm.  Fortunately Sanny was out swimming in the pool at the time it happened so she didn't have to feel the boat lurching around like something with a touch of the devil embedded in it.

Looks like fish food in the water.

The pictures don't really tell the story very well as there was no way I was actually going to go outside in it and be battered by damn great lumps of ice. 

The only good day this week was Wednesday and we took the opportunity to go to Ioaninna with Gerhard and Cherie who are in a boat just down the pontoon from us.  They had never seen the capitol city of Epirus before and, I think, they had a wonderful day out.  Although that might have been because we called in at IKEA and Practika as well while we were passing.  Coming home we called around at Jorgos and Mantha place in Assos to wish them happy new year and saw our old landlord and his wife from when we lived in the mountains.  They seemed thrilled to see us again, although this always seems to be the case when we go back to our first Greek home.

Sandra with Deb & Jez in Indian with no power.

The reason for the blog being a little late this week is twofold, one, I forgot until just before we were due to go out last night, and Two I thought it may be an ideal opportunity to tell everyone how we spent the money that was collected for us after the new year bash   Amidst all the Thunder and lightening last night we set off with Jeremy and Debbie to Paleros to the Panorama Indian restaurant to spend our ill gotten gains on a curry.  We had a couple of drinks at the yacht club bar in Paleros and whilst there all the lights in the region went out, adding considerably to the ambiance of the evening but it also begged the question would we be able to get anything cooked to eat!  Debbie got out of the car outside the restaurant to make sure that we were going to get fed and promptly stuck both thumbs up in the universal "everything's OK" type sign.  The only lighting was candlelight but fortunately Sanny had a torch in her bag so we could get to the loo OK. The food was cooked by gas and charcoal and the kitchen lit with more candle's.  We had a great night out but we always have a good laugh with those two anyway.  The only downside to the night was that the candle in the picture somehow set fire to the tablecloth but San tipped a glass of wine over it and normal service was quickly resumed.  The power was restored mid way through the night but by then we had got used to the idea of not having electricity anyway so it didn't really make a difference. Thanks to every one who contributed in the collection we all thoroughly enjoyed our evening.