Ohhh, Daisy. What an adventure! I cannot imagine living in Crete, but it is certainly full of history. I agree that I would prefer a smaller house with less to clean AND I think Manolo could drive all by himself. Just follow him in another vehicle. I hope you show us pictures soon.

Sammy

What an incredible story, Daisy! Talk about shifting gears! But you are apparently weathering the transition well, Manoli notwithstanding. After one of your last posts I "explored" Crete via Google Earth. It's a very amazing place. I know exactly what you mean when you say "I would have hated that!". I could never move back north after tasting Florida. I'm guessing it's a similar thing for you. With all those trees where will you put all your roses? Hmmm, I just had a thought. Is your actual garden space 2,700 sq meters? That's definitely doable. That would make all your fruit trees, etc icing on the cake. To sum up, I'm very happy for you and your DH that you're getting settled in, and I'll really be happy when you send lots of photos. Get a Photo Bucket account and load up tons of them!!!

Sherry

So glad to hear from you Daisy. I was wondering how you were. I think the new(old) house will work out. Thank goodness you didn't have to give up. I'm looking forward to photos.

Daisy, I'm so happy that things worked out for you after all and that you'll be able to stay in beautiful Crete. With a garden of so much potential and with the beautiful weather, I doubt you'll be spending too much time in your house. Perhaps later on you can add to the living space with some sort of covered veranda. The fruit trees sound wonderful and I'm glad the roses weathered the move well. I wish you the best of luck and hope the house will be ready for you soon. I can just imagine the relief you must be feeling that you found a new place, and at a good price too. Now you can buy more roses!

Your account of Manolo's driving was hilarious. He must be a lucky man since he's not dead yet!

Ingrid

Daisy, Thank you!
This report was better than any travelog!

I wanted to tell you, re. your lovely fruit trees, that friends of ours grow a variety of rare and heritage fruit trees in Santa Barbara, CA. (That's just a few miles north of us.)
Our climate is more or less Mediterranean, so their experiences should be relevant for you.
They are growing roses in and around (and in some cases UP) their fruit trees. So far, this seems to work very well for them.
They're planting mostly Teas, Chinas, and Noisettes (those mild-climate staples) and a few others. And they are harvesting gray water.
It sounds like your new garden will be a WONDERFUL place, and I hope you'll keep is all posted on progress and results.

Jeri

Daisy,
Good to hear from you! I'm glad you've weathered this nasty affair gracefully, from the sound of it. Could it be that you'll love having a small house in the end? Ours isn't big, but I dream about a very small house for my old age: the challenge and joy of simplicity. The garden sounds wonderful. I wish you luck.
Melissa
P.S. Sounds like Manoli attended the Mediterranean School of Driving.

Daisy, Why Crete? If you posted it before, I missed it. From what I know of Mediterranean drivers, especially in rural areas, Manoli's driving is standard procedure. With little traffic and no such concept as highway patrol, it's just step on the peddle and go. You will end up driving like that, too.

Good luck.

Daisy---good luck with your new venture----I feel sure you will come to love your new little house surrounded by gardens.

Can't wait to see the pictures.

Florence

Sammy.It is definitely an adventure. So far one that is working out okay.
I will post some pictures, as soon as I can.

Sherry. I'm afraid that it is only a tiny garden. Only 300 square metres!
Some of the trees are self seeded saplings. I will take most of those out to make room for the roses, and leave the mature trees.
I am glad that we found this little house. It feels like home already!

Medicino rose. Thank-you. I am sure we will make a go of it.

Ingrid.I have a confession to make! I spend most of my time in the garden. Luckily, my D.H. is much better at cooking and housework than I am! At least that is what I tell him.
I have plans for a covered terrace outside. I am still thinking which roses to grow over it.

Jeri. It is good to hear about your friend's fruit trees.
My newly acquired fruit trees seem to be very robust. They have been neglected for some years, but are still very productive.
We have just had our first rain since early May, and they all sat up and took notice!
I have earmarked the golden gage tree nearest the house for Aimee Vibert to climb up. The almond tree nearby will host The New Dawn.
As for the others, I need to clear some brambles away, before I can reach them.

Melissa. Thank-you for your good wishes.
I am very happy with a small house. Just at the moment storage is a NIGHTMARE. Once we've got that sorted out, I will be even happier.

Catsrose. We have been in Crete now for almost a year. We had planned to build our own house on some land we bought, but now that not possible. However I am happy how things have turned out.
We move in completely on Tuesday. Manoli is coming to take the furniture to the new house. It's about a four hour drive from where we have been renting. That journey should be interesting!

Florence.Thank-you for your good wishes.
I already love the new little house. I am looking forward to making a new garden there.
My poor roses have been in pots for almost a year now. However they look very happy still, and have been blooming all summer long.
Daisy

Crete is a wonderful place, with a sea of unbelievable beauty set within an incredible all-around archeological site, stemming from the archaic pre-greek (and still very misterrious) remains of around 2000 b.C up to the venetian rule ended in the XVII century (crete was an outpost of Venice, that controlled all mediterranean sea). That's about 35 centuries of history and art...
An island soaked in history, a bridge between the near east (bizantium) and the west (Venice).
It also has beautiful "rough" mountains... and terrible roads :-)

You'll love it.

Daisy, I love it when there is lemonade made and you have done that in spades. Congrads on your new place. Small is good and cozy.

I think Manoli was a New York City cab driver in another life. Tell your DH never to take a cab in NY, he would not 'fare' well.

Looking forward to those pictures.

Carol

Daisy so happy to read your new post-----Looking forward to your progress with your new precious little home surrounded by roses.

I'm excited about your future and can't wait to see pictures

Florence

Daisy, sounds like you will be creating your own little paradise in beautiful Crete. You must be very excited now that everything is finally coming together!
I'm also looking forward to all those pictures....
Judith

Sounds wonderful! Is there a well for water?

You don't miss all the clouds and cold and grey of the UK? ;^)

Daisy, congratulations on your new smaller garden! You'll be able to make this one perfect, or nearly so as no garden is ever perfect in the eye of the owner. I sometimes miss my patio garden, that small space was perfect in a way my present larger garden is not and never will be.

I have friends in Aegina with a small garden that sounds much like yours. They have fruit trees and olives and roses, tomatoes and lemon verbena, not much of anything but quite enough for two people. And they have enough water for whatever they want to grow, a big problem for their neighbours with larger gardens.

If you collect water remember to add a little detergent or soap to stop mosquitos from hatching, the only problem that prevents me from visiting my Greek friends in summer.

Mariannese, having just sprayed myself with "Off" to go outside to piddle in the garden (the gnats will drive you mad!), I would happily bring a can with me for you if that was the only problem preventing me (and you) from going to Greece. Even better if the can contained some $$$.
:))
Sherry

Sherry, I didn't mean to sound stuck-up! It's really quite cheap to go from Sweden to Greece on an off season package tour. If I leave for the island of Zakynthos tomorrow it will cost exactly 100 USD for a week's stay without accomodation. But as I' d prefer to go to Athens it will be a bit more expensive, 403,70 dollars with "unspecified accomodation" but as I'd stay with my friends I won't have to worry about the standard of the hotel. I almost wish I could go...

I'm sure your new house will be molto bella e romantica when you transform it. I am so happy for you to live in such a dramatically beautiful place and whether the garden is small or large, you have the chance to make it special and memorable. Buona fortuna!!!

Juliet

Mariannese, I am so sorry. You didn't sound stuck-up at all. I was just joking about the mosquitos. Poor joke, not funny.

Sherry