The world from my window

The fields are full of asphodels.   The lines are full of washing.   The sky is full of blue.   And the aisles in Jumbo are full of decorated eggs and candles.           Easter is on its way. That's about it. Love Maddie x

It's Greek Independence Day today. More eloquent and knowledgeable people will have plenty to say about it, I am sure. But after a glass of tsipouro and my good friend Betty's chocolate cake for breakfast in the village plateia...   ...lots of activity during the day in the village, Corfu Town and then batter-fried salt cod and skordalia for lunch...         ...unusually for me, I'm lost for words. More videos at my Maddie Grigg YouTube channel  and more photos on my Facebook page. That's about it. Love Maddie x

The island is wearing a wonderful garland of flowers this spring. The grass verges look like they've been decorated for a rural wedding, with purple honesty and yellow mustard flowers  complimenting each other  obligingly , while white daisies act as ethereal highlighters, softly pointing the way. It's the most beautiful time of year in Greece and in Corfu in particular.      Greece has more species of flowering plants and ferns than any other country in Europe. There are some 6,000, six times more than France and making the British Isle’s 2,300 seem paltry in comparison.  According to Hellmut Baumann in his book Greek Wild Flowers and plant lore in ancient Greece , ‘nowhere in Europe have conditions been more favourable for the development of such rich flora. This is due to diverse combinations of geological, topographical and climatological conditions’. One of my favourite sights is of the olive groves full of the giant spikes of ...

The old man sat on a chair outside the kafenion, his face covered in blood. A small crowd gathered, one person stepping forward to give him some comfort. It was an Englishwoman, one of the most compassionate people in the village. Last year, she had even saved the bug-eyed cat from extinction. She soothed the old man the best she could, said a few reassuring words in Greek as another English person put something warm around the old man's shoulders. He was in shock, possibly suffering from concussion. He was gabbling away in Greek and then began to cry. An ambulance was called and took an age to materialise. In between times, the police came to the plateia twice, once to talk to the old man and the next time to come back to say the alleged assailant, who was said to have hit the victim on the back of his head with a stone, told the police he did not know what they were talking about because he was asleep when it had happened. But the old man's wound had come from some...

When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle... I love the Greeks. That's about it. Love Maddie x

This is a lovely piece of film promoting Cornwall, Dorset's bare-legged cousin. It reminds me of Bluebell Hill in Lush Places. A place where you connect with your spiritual side, especially in May. Enjoy. That's about it. Love Maddie x

A little bird tells me that swallows have been seen in Corfu. Deep joy. I love swallows, house martins and swifts. Always so happy, chatty and having lots of fun. Last year they gave us hours of  entertainment. It'll be a while before they're up here in Agios Magikades. But at least the rain's stopped and there's blue sky above the mountains. It's still cold but the washing is billowing and we've been able to get on with work around the garden. The vine's been pruned and the trimmings put back for barbecues in the summer. And Mr Grigg was last seen heading off with our neighbour in his truck to work in the olive groves. It's all go here. Tonight there'll be a coffee in the kafenion before heading back home for  Odysseus on Greek TV. With Armand Assante and Greta Scacchi, it's not exactly the poetry of Homer but it'll do for me. So, with the weather improving here in Corfu and a mini-heatwave predicted for the UK this we...

So now we're here, back in the bosom of Agios Magikades. And very chilly it is too. There's cloud obscuring the mountain and a thin mist of rain falling. The leaves on the jacaranda tree shiver while wisps of smoke from the village's chimneys trail across the rooftops. But even in the cold, it's beautiful. After the excitement of Clean Monday, where the beginning of Lent is marked by kite flying and the tavernas are full of people eating seafood, lagana bread and halva, things get back to normality. And for us, a self-imposed fast: no alcohol for forty days. No alcohol for forty nights. The rain gets heavier and the cloud over the mountain turns the setting into a scene from The Land That Time Forgot.                But still the sparrows chirp in the trees and the children yell in the school playground. And the bottle of ouzo sits unopened on the dining room table. Salvation is just around the corner. That's about it. Love ...

Achileos Street, Athens The Parthenon in the distance  Kostas, our taxi driver, looks like a younger version of Michael Douglas. 'Thank you,' he says, flicking his shoulder length hair when I tell him. 'He is more handsome than me. My wife, if I tell her customer say that, she kill me.' He drops us off at the Athens bus station after telling us the politicians are corrupt. 'We have same family, same bad for thirty or forty years. How can we have good with same politic?' He apologises for his poor English. 'It's much better than our Greek,' we say. The bus station is full of noise and lots going on. A gypsy woman tries to sell me tissues and points to her stomach saying 'baby'. And then an Asian man goes by, selling bagels. The only person to get any money is the man with his long stick of lottery tickets   There are whistles of guards, trundling cases and trolleys, bus engines throbbing, horns honking and people line...