The world from my window

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 ...

Potholes, landslips, stray dogs. The grass is never greener, just a different shade. Here I am on the beautiful island of Corfu and still desperate to be at home in cold old Britain with my family and friends. I am beginning to understand how Odysseus felt in Calypso's thrall. It is a wonderful place to be but not when your heart is somewhere else. The mist sticks to your insides like barbecue sauce on spare ribs. The rain lashes down and down and down and down. It is cold and dreary and people huddle in warm coats and fleeces and shake their heads. But then the rain stops, the wind dies down and the sun bounces off the mountain and breaks through onto a terrace now bathed in heat and light. And the grass is not only greener, it's a completely different colour. Nature has not heard about the Greek austerity measures. Wild flowers pop up everywhere. Bumble bees the size of thimbles flit from bloom to bloom. Spring is here. You can tell by the carpet of flower...