Cyclades Archives - Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades

Kea Spring in all its Glory

aglaia — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 13:55:28 +0000

Spring arrived in a hurry this year. Just as Kea was unusually cold for weeks in March, it suddenly turned very warm for a few days; then cooled again, to a British-like pleasant spring weather.

But not everybody enjoys these glorious days, especially the Greeks that celebrated May 1st on the island and expected to go to the beach (!) But the plants and flowers thrive now, before the sizzling sun dries everything…

Our pink Cistus parviflorus is in full bloom, and the Lomelosia cretica (above) is following along.

As our neighbor’s goats observe, Costas whacks the dried greens very carefully, among the fragrant thyme and savory bushes, and the vivid yellow blossoming phlomis.

Flowering plants are not many in our property, we only spotted four wild orchids under the olive trees this year. They seem as if they are speeding up their pace to catch up, blooming as fast as they can among the already yellowing greens.

We harvested the last tender edible winter greens and some fava beans, of which we still have plenty to last for a couple more weeks.

The many green almonds promise an abundant crop, and the quince tree is spectacular in its large pink-white flowers.

Our unusually plush rose bushes will flourish soon, and we are also looking and waiting for the budding wisteria to bloom. We had the first flowers around Greek Easter, Sunday April 24.

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Winter Cold and Spectacular Moon!

aglaia — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:42:20 +0000

January is cold, often very windy and it may even snow for a day or two. But we also enjoy some occasional sunny days, to do the needed garden work.

We also experience THE most spectacular moon this January, not just in the evening, but also early in the morning…

We may even get some snow on Kea this coming weekend!

People are often surprised to hear that we occasionally get snow on the island, but we do; not much, and mainly high, on the mountains. It only lasts for a couple of days at the most. But we do experience snow once a year, usually in January or February, as you can see in the pictures from previous years.

It gets quite cold –we expect high 20ies to low 30is F (about 5 to -2 centigrade) this weekend– and usually it is bitterly windy and humid, though it might be sunny.

These days the night skies were so clear, and at we had the chance to enjoy a wonderful almost full moon through the bedroom window.

Another thing that surprises people about our winters here is that the island’s usually yellow-brown dry summer landscape becomes totally green as the first rains begin in the fall.

In the heart of winter, and with stonewalls all over the hills and valleys, the island may look a bit like Ireland (!) This is the time for us to prepare the garden for the spring and summer vegetables, and do some much needed pruning and weeding.

The rainy and cloudy skies quickly turn to sunny again, and we look forward to the spring which will bring all sorts of flowers, and the first wild orchids that fill the fields under the big, now bare oak trees.

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Scenes from our Island

aglaia — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 09:42:45 +0000

During the first lockdown, a year ago, we started going on long walks either in the morning or in the afternoon. We take the paved road near our house, at Otzias, but also explore the paths and dirt roads around it. Each time we discover wonderful new angles of the island; we knew the place, but now we can appreciate it more, as we witness the constant changes in nature with the change of season.

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