Christmas in the Village

Ano Korakiana - Άνω Κορακιάνα (photo: Γιάννη Ματθεοφίλου - Yiannis Mattheophile)

In Ano Korakiana, Christmas is a celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, in fulfillment of the divine will of God, to save us from sin....Γιατί ο Θεός αγάπησε τόσο πολύ τον κόσμο που έδωσε τον μόνο γιο του... John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son...

12/12/17 Ολονύχτιο Βράδυ, παραμονή της εορτής του Αγίου στο χωριό, οι «επιτελούντες» της Λειτουργίας (πατέρας Ευδόκιμος, παπα-Βασίλης, ψάλτες και λοιποί ενορίτες) αποχωρούν από την οικία της Έμμης και της Κατερίνας Σαββανή μετά το καθιερωμένο λιτό δείπνο, επιστρέφοντας στη μικρή  εκκλησία για το Ολονύχτιο και αφήνοντας πίσω τους το σαββανάτικο «κοκκινέλι» συνοδευόμενο από μήλο και κουμ-κουάτ.

12/12/17 In the village, on the eve of the feast of the Saint, the 'performers' of the night-long service (Papa Evdokimos, Papa Vasilis, chanters and other parishioners) had a simple supper at the home of Emmi and Katerina Savvani, before leaving the warmth of the Savvani home with its apples and kumquats, returning to the small church for the 'Overnight' service, το Ολονύχτιο'.

Με το πέρασμα της ώρας η μικρή εκκλησία γεμίζει από κόσμο που παρακολουθεί με προσήλωση την ανάγνωση από το Συναξάρι του Αγίου με τα αποδιδόμενα θαύματα, ενώ οι ψάλτες στα αριστερά και στα δεξιά του ναού δίνουν το δικό τους τόνο, συνοδεύοντας τους ιερείς.

Over the night, the small church fills with people joining in reverence to hear the recital of the Holy Story, while the chanters - left and right of the church - play their part accompanying the priests.

Τις πρώτες πρωινές ώρες η Ολονυχτία θα λήξει με άρτους και σπερνά που μοιράζονται στους παρευρισκομένους και ανταλλαγή ευχών για την εορτή της ημέρας.

Early in the morning, the 'Overnight' ends with bread and collyva, shared with the congregation, and the exchange of good wishes for the day.

Εορταστικό κλίμα...21/12/17 Festive atmosphere

Γιορταστική ατμόσφαιρα στο χωριό καθώς πλησιάζουμε στα Χριστούγεννα...
Η Χορωδία πραγματοποίησε την τελευταία πρόβα της πριν από τη χριστουγεννιάτικη εκδήλωση που θα πραγματοποιηθεί με τη συμμετοχή και της Μπαντίνας στην εκκλησία του Αγίου Γεωργίου την Παρασκευή 22 Δεκεμβρίου 2017 το βράδυ.
Στον Άη-Νικολόπουλο, η ενορία του Καμπουλιώτη τοποθέτησε φωταγωγημένο καράβι με επιμελημένη πινακίδα, ενώ αναμένεται από στιγμή σε στιγμή η «απάντηση» από την ενορία του Αγίου Γεωργίου.
Και στο πλαίσιο των εορτών διοργανώνεται από τη Δημοτική Κοινότητα το Σάββατο 23 Δεκεμβρίου στις 5.30 το απόγευμα στο «Luna D’Argento» χριστουγεννιάτικο πάρτυ για μικρούς, αλλά ...και για τους κάπως μεγαλύτερους και μάλιστα με μπουφέ από σπιτικές φαγώσιμες δημιουργίες...

A festive atmosphere in the village as we approach Christmas ... The Choir had its last rehearsal before the Christmas event that will take place with the participation of the Bandina in the church of St. George on Friday evening, December 22, 2017.
At St Nicholas, the parish of Kambouliotis displayed a floodlit boat with an elaborate sign. A 'reply' from the parish of Saint George is expected in due course.
And as part of the celebrations, the Municipal Community is organising a Christmas party for young people on Saturday 23rd December at 5.30pm at Luna D'Argento, and, for the slightly older ones, a buffet of homemade creations ...

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                                                       ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ
Σας γνωρίζουμε ότι την Παρασκευή  22.12.2017 και ΩΡΑ 19:30 θα πραγματοποιηθεί στον Ιερό Ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου  η καθιερωμένη Χριστουγεννιάτικη συναυλία των τμημάτων της Φιλαρμονικής μας. Διευθύνει ο Αρχιμουσικός κος Κώστας Ζερβόπουλος και ο μαέστρος Γιώργος Άνθης.
Επίσης οι μαθητές της Φιλαρμονικής μας θα παιανίσουν τα κάλαντα  στις γειτονιές του χωριού μας το πρωί της ημέρας των Χριστουγέννων μετά τη θεία λειτουργία. Τους μαθητές θα συνοδεύουν και τα μέλη του Δ.Σ. για την καθιερωμένη οικονομική ενίσχυση.
Ο Πρόεδρος και τα μέλη του Δ.Σ. εύχονται ολόψυχα σε όλους τους κατοίκους του χωριού μας Χρόνια Πολλά, Καλές Γιορτές και Ευτυχισμένος ο Καινούργιος Χρόνος.

                                                       NOTICE  21.12.17
Our Philharmonic students will also play carols around the neighbourhoods of our village on Christmas morning after the divine service. The students will accompany members of the Board for the traditional collection. The Chairman and Board of Directors extend their wholehearted good wishes to all inhabitants of our village. Happy Nativity, Good Celebrations and Happy New Year. We know that on Friday,  22 December 2017 at 19.30,  the traditional Christmas concert of our Philharmonic departments will take place in the church of St. George, led by Archbishop Kostas Zervopoulos, conducted by Giorgos Anthis.

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Προεόρτια Χριστουγέννων 25.12.17
Παρασκευή προπαραμονή των Χριστουγέννων πραγματοποιήθηκε στην εκκλησία του Άη-Γιώργη η χριστουγεννιάτικη εκδήλωση του Μουσικού Συλλόγου, με τη συμμετοχή της Μπαντίνας και της Χορωδίας.

The Musical Society's Christmas Eve event took place on Christmas Eve at the church of Agios Georgios with the participation of the Bandina and the Choir.

Ο Πρόεδρος του Συλλόγου που προλόγισε την εκδήλωση εξέφρασε τις ευχές της Διοίκησης και στη συνέχει τα δύο σώματα παρουσίασαν ένα ωριαίο πρόγραμμα με χριστουγεννιάτικες μελωδίες. υπό τη διεύθυνση του Κώστα Ζερβόπουλου και του Γιώργου Άνθη αντίστοιχα.Ειδικότερα, όσον αφορά στο χορωδιακό μέρος, η Δώρα Μεταλληνού προλόγισε κάθε κομμάτι της Χορωδίας με γνωστούς ποιητικούς στίχους. The President of the Association expressed the good wishes of the Administration after which the two groups presented an hourly programme of Christmas melodies. under the direction of Kostas Zervopoulos and Giorgos Andreas, the music and singing interspersed with familiar poems recited by Dora Metallinou. Το απόγευμα της ίδια ημέρας, στο Νηπιαγωγείο έλαβε χώρα η χριστουγεννιάτικη γιορτή των μικρών μαθητών με την επιμέλεια των νηπιαγωγών τους, ενώ το Σάββατο το βράδυ, παραμονή των Χριστουγέννων πραγματοποιήθηκε το χριστουγεννιάτικο πάρτι για μικρούς και μεγάλους στο Luna d’Argento. On the afternoon of the same day, after a Christmas Eve celebration for Kindergarten pupils in the care of their nursery nurses, there was a Christmas party, for all ages, at Luna d'Argento. Υ.Γ. Το τελευταίο κομμάτι της Χορωδίας, τα «Κάλαντα» αφιερώθηκαν στο Γεράσιμο Μαρκορά (επτανήσιο ποιητή και δημοτικιστή), η εγγονή του οποίου είναι μέλος της Χορωδίας Κορακιάνας.Y.K. The carols in the last part of the concert were dedicated to the poet Gerasimos Markaras (a Corfiot folk poet), whose granddaughter is a member of the Korakiana Choir.  Christmas in Thessaloniki - until I see a photo of Ano Korakiana's boat *** *** *** Πρωτοχρονιά 2018 Το βράδυ, για μια ακόμη χρόνιά, η γνώριμη φιγούρα του Άη-Βασίλη θα κάνει τη γύρα της στα σπίτια, προκειμένου οι μικροί φίλοι του Αγίου να λάβουν τα δώρα τους και να ακουστούν για μια ακόμη φορά τα Κάλαντα «εν χορδαίς και οργάνοις». New Year Day 2018....In the evening, for one more year, the familiar figure of Santa will make his round of the houses, so that the little ones receive their gifts from the Saint, and once again hear the 'tunes and songs' of Carols. Note: The words in Greek are copied from the Ano Korakiana website administered by Thanassis Spingos who also took all photos, except of the boat. It is a privilege to be able to copy them to 'Democracy Street'. The English translation is entirely my responsibility.  *** *** *** We had Christmas in Birmingham. When the grandchildren came round they extracted small felt velcro'd toys from a sequence of 25 pockets and stuck them on the tree. We've had this Advent Calendar for over 30 years - a present from the Greek side of the family, that we can use over and over.

On Christmas night I strolled up Hamstead Road to St Mary's. Bells were pealing for midnight mass; candle flames glowing through ogive windows; inside was warmth and light. On the way home I heard a few fireworks...

...a fox, sat in the grass beside my path. She turned around and around and strolled ahead and disappeared up Wellesbourne Road, sweetening the temper of the moment...John who'd swung the censer during mass had given me his key.
"I've got to put away my kit. Come and have a drink. Ask Lin too. I've got a bottle of Jack Daniels to open"
He went into the vestry. I went on up Beaudesert and opened his house. He soon followed. Lin, from our home, three houses up, joined us, and later John's wife, Gill, who dug out the bourbon.
"I liked the service" I said "but even Father Bob's quite conservative liturgy is a little remote...in words and tunes from what I know. What's engrained. I was glad to be there...I struggled to follow...except the carols. The church was beautiful, and so warm. I liked Father Bob's sermon...the defacing of the celebrities nativity at Madame Tussauds. He understood. Almost approved."
On Christmas day we drove across town to Amy and Guy and the grandchildren, with presents and some dishes Lin had cooked overnight, stopping on the way to collect Dorothy from her care home - rehearsal for more continuous care when she comes to live with us on a day not yet fixed. How incredibly disabling it is to be unable to walk, or indeed to have any traction in your legs. Moving Dot from place to place, especially in and out of a car, entails playing push-pull with a beloved being who, against every inclination of conscience, evokes in me the frustration of manipulating a sack of potatoes. I’ve become uncomfortably aware of my bounded charity. I suppose this is why love delivered as ‘professional care’ is expensive. I’m better at dealing with small children - my grandchildren I mean. I can wipe bums, clean off dribble, sweep up scattered food and take careless spillage in my stride, but messy vulnerability in old age repels me. I was fine taking my aged mum out shopping and for walks in her wheelchair. We talked and talked, and gazed at the landscape with such shared pleasure, but my mum’s intimate husbandry was in the hands of professional carers, behind curtains and doors; woman’s work, though of course there are men as good. I strive to choose words to protect my conscience.

Christmas lunch 2018

Christmas holidays

A strong wind blows; nothing to what's happening in the Highlands, but enough to blow even more glass out of a rickety greenhouse on Plot 66 on the Victoria Jubilee Allotments.  Being there, I picked it up, piece by piece, and put it in the back of the HHH van. Later I wrote a note to the site secretary:

Dear G. Don’t read this until after Christmas, but I popped up to the VJA to check that these high winds hadn’t blown away the polythene sheet we spread on Plot 78, and found yet further panes of glass shattered and thrown over the ground from the frail greenhouse on the neighbouring plot. Shards had been blown almost as far as the entry gates (see attached photo). This structure is a hazard. I ask the VJA committee to let me and Winnie remove its glass, ideally with the permission of the plotholder, but otherwise without.  I collected the shattered glass ... glad no-one was around when this glass went flying.  I could do this work  - removing the glass from the greenhouse - on the same basis as we are doing other work with Committee approval. It would hardly take 10 minutes ... anytime after Christmas day. Happy Christmas. S 

At last I have a brief to start tidying abandoned plots on the VJA.  Phil, our Hon.Treasurer, agreed to let Winnie and I clean up Plot 78 opposite the site gates. A week ago we set to with a will.

Plot 78 Victoria Jubilee Allotments - before tidying

The plot had been abandoned after its tenant was evicted for leaving his tap running overnight in the middle of the summer, a breach of rules that brings penalties at any time of the year. I'm pretty sure this tenant was glad to see the last of the plot anyway. They left owing a year's rent.
I was ranting away to Vanley about why 'some people' treat their plots as tips.
As I recall, the person working plot 78 was working happily away some two years ago, building terraces to accommodate the gradient of their 200 square metres. Something went wrong. They lost interest. Not just like that; rather a gradual decline of enthusiasm, during which the site accumulated the detritus of waning intention; a mess, whose detail became more unpleasantly clear as we began tidying the vacated plot. Soft drink, beer and cider cans, plastic and glass bottles, sacks of domestic rubbish, broken glass mainly from discarded window panes brought in to build a glass house that didn't happen; spare off-cuts of wood, brought in for a purpose, allowed to rot; pointless levees of soggy plastic sacks filled with clay-mud and roots, entwined with lugs of couch grass from which extend rhizomes fatter than spaghetti, beneath which, embedded, we find more rubbish, flattened seams of black polythene that have to be scraped up to get closer to the earth.
"You know" I said to Vanley, who stays calm on these things, but listens attentively, as I stoke pious frustration at other people's errancy, their downright feckless lack of talent as gardeners
"You could donate someone a studio, give them paints, brushes, linseed oil, palette knives, canvases, size. Everything a painter needs. Come back in a year and all you have, instead of a parade, as you hoped, of creative work, of art - chaos! The materials not just abandoned, but squashed, mingled, smeared, with unrecognisable pieces of rubbish that might have been easels, chairs, frames...."
Vanley, who's famous, said to me ages ago "Allotments are a metaphor for life".

Embedded black sacks overlapping the plot boundaries

Odd-and-ends to no purpose

A cleansing fire for combustibles

Half a ton of rubbish to go to the tip

Well how did someone manage to leave an original plot in such a mess? It's not just fallow. It's a tip. Instead of  being cultivated, it's been used. With the worst and most of the waste removed Winnie could strim the plot to about 6" all over and then I spread 200 square metres of black polythene held down with bricks and stones. The uneven ground, caused by the terracing and the original intention of divided-up beds, made it tricky to keep our footing.
There had been an attractive small oak tree at one corner of the plot; killed after a heap of fresh manure was dropped on a corner of the plot. I left the manure uncovered, so other plot holders could help themselves. The trunk of the oak made a good stake. Someone will use it.

Plot 78 Victoria Jubilee Allotments - after tidying

Phil and the VJA Committee were pleased with our work on Plot 78 and have now asked us to tidy 11 more vacant plots.
On Friday we began on four of these - 54 to 57.

Tidy all the plots that have a tick on them

By midday the van was half full of cleared waste. There's more to come - a large pile of red bricks and over twenty five sheets of double glazing stacked at the bottom of the slope between the allotments and the houses.

Starting on the tidying of plots 54 to 57

The most visible rubbish was consigned to cleansing flames - the smoke blown north by a steady breeze. Later the wind changed direction, blowing smoke towards one of the houses. I knocked on the door, apologised and found it was someone I knew and was 'forgiven'. The wind changed again. As the fire heated up, the flames grew stronger, the smoke lessened. Winnie strimmed, I carted rubbish, again having to work through a blanket of couch grass to ease out layers of plastic sacks, lino, carpet and chipboard, in one area a layer of broken glass...

...to be picked up shard by shard by hand and dumped in the van...

The four plots are already looking better ...

Plots 54-57 strimmed

...but there's more to be done, before we can finish ...

...by laying the weed suppressing fabric which Phil has managed to buy in volume on ebay.

The trickiest stuff to clear as there's so often more plastic sacks beneath, usually falling apart

I suspect those bricks were collected to help terrace the plot's slope.

Glass intended for a home-made greenhouse

Later that evening I dropped by to make sure the fire had died down to embers. In the morning I picked out metal parts and raked the ashes flat, while Winnie with the brush-cutter cleared all four plots down to 5 inches, leaving a few fruit trees and a line of broom between two plots.
"We've got a lot of work done today" she said.
"And we've done lots on Plot 14!"

Meanwhile Plot 14 is being prepared for 2017

Last year and a few months we'd made the plot manageable by making more, and wider, paths between smaller beds that could be dug from all sides without need to tread on the working soil. Now I'm reclaiming some of the walking space for beds at the top of the plot.

We needed a mattock to break up boulder-clay soil in an area of our allotment that had been used for parking cars and a van. On the rest of the plot - except the paths - I can get a spit's depth with even a spade. Getting closer to the original soil back in 2010 when I signed up to rent this plot, even a fork wouldn't go down more than inches. Winnie and I, with Dennis helping, used the mattock to get some depth, removing a familiar collection of glacier-smoothed stone embedded in clay. Picking up a fist sized piece, it squeezes together and stays that way. After we'd got the depth - about 18" - we mixed the soil with 'black gold' compost making the beds a little higher, and loamier. I sprinkled and raked in several handfuls of garden lime. Worms aplenty in the compost continued our work.

Bed E0 - planned for main crop potatoes

In two beds I planted garlic in early November - breaking into cloves garlic bought at a local grocers. They've benefited from frost, and should be ready to harvest when their beds are needed for broad or runner beans.

The shed veranda has been leaking. I repaired it on top with a patch of felt over a thick coat of bitumen...

My grandson was wondering where I'd got to

 ... cutting a rectangle of plywood to sit underneath, held between the supports with brackets.

Redrafted bed plan. 'E' stands for 'English side', 'G' for 'Greek side'. 

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Christmas day in Ano Korakiana....Χριστούγεννα! ... την ηρεμία του πρωινού, the tranquility of the morning...

Χριστούγεννα με ολίγη συννεφιά...Αρκετός ο κόσμος στη Λειτουργία στον Άη Θανάση. Η συνέχεια ανήκει στα παιδιά της Μπαντίνας που θα περιδιαβούν τις γειτονιές για να παιανίσουν τα Κάλαντα, ενώ την ίδια ώρα τα μέλη της Διοίκησης θα αναζητήσουν την οικονομική ενίσχυση του Συλλόγου στις οικογένειες του χωριού. Τα εορταστικά γεύματα μεταξύ συγγενών και φίλων θα ακολουθήσουν...Και οι κάπως μεγαλύτεροι σε ηλικία απολάμβαναν την ηρεμία του πρωινού.

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27th December - work continues. Was someone planning to build a house on one of these plots?

...and another load of rubbish. On the weighbridge at Holford Depot it was 3/4 of a ton

...and to finish off four more plots, two large rolls of ground cover...