Giving Names and Boxing Out The Devil

so, eleftheria and i spent a good bit of our weekend in and around churches and monasteries as we attended vaftisis (orthodox christening) on both saturday and sunday.

yianni was the god father (nono) for dimitri's baby, angelos. since yianni moved to germany about 3 years ago and i have had very little contact with him over the years so it was really great to see him, he was a good friend when he lived here.

angelos cried for the majority of the ceremony, but a brief flight settled him down after his christening.

the ceremony was very nice.  there was a bunch of support from school which was really cool.

the second vaftisi, on sunday, was a bit further away, near lake kilkis in northern greece.  i would like to go back because of the wildlife, the first i have really seen in greece other than in the sea.  there were birds everywhere, and while this is not a wild animal, i was about 5 seconds from scooping her up and stealing her from the monestery.

this one was for a set of twins (one of which is pictured here with her father), despoina and dimitra.  Their parents worked with eleftheria in the office where she had been employed most recently

the monestery was super old and really fun to see; however, with all the people it was hard to get clean shots, so i took these picks of the cross beams in the ceiling, and a plaque that was laid into the structure next to the enterance.

after dinner niko, dora, eleftheria and i all when up on the hillside for a coffee. it was a wonderful spot.  we sat under a huge oak and talked about things in the past, present and future.  niko and i have a lot in common; both similar life goals and outlooks, it was fun to see him (he works in london), and to put some things in perspective.    

Happy B-Day Dad!!!

Here's hoping that your love of life, fun and family continue for years to come.  Thank you for all of your love and support.  

We miss you, love you and can't wait to see you,

Ian, Eleftheria and Artemis  

Back To Work and The Economic Crisis

welp, the school year got off to a rip roarin' start on wednesday.  as usual i have kept up the family tradition of the first day shoot.  as mom is not working and keith is not teaching, i have to hold up the flame all by myself for a while.  no worries, i look good enough for everyone.  

as you know we are in the middle of a crisis over here. while ya'll are whippin' up another war, we didn't have a scale to measure out our mint for the homemade pesto that eleftheria wanted to make.  so, mr. inginuity to the rescue.  through my mastery of both simple machines and gravity, i cooked up a makeshift balance and got to work.  

a bit more than half a chocolate bar . . .

uh oh!  a lot less than a can of tuna . . .

ahhh, Okay.  just about perfect.  roughly equal to 100g of a 74% cacao chocolate bar (yeah, we have a lot of chocolate).

the pine-nuts you ask?  a bit over the 71g garlic powder shaker.

my measurements must have been spot on as we ended up with two beautiful vases of dark rich green pesto.  can't wait for pesto chicken pasta.

hope that you are all doing well and having fun.  the new blog is linked to the right and going strong if you are interested.  

love luck and lollipops

A Little Side Project

in my never ending quest to be a bit more organized, i have decided to start yet another blog.  i find that the format and ease of use makes them (blogs) perfect for consolidating information.  so, if you are interested check it out.

http://anotherblogforkillingandcreating.blogspot.gr/

Gogol Bordello YES!!!!

mainly this is for keith, but i believe that all can appreciate its beauty.

The End Of Summer And A New Day Begins

we spent some time out in silata after we returned to greece.  it was great to see everyone, and relax a bit more before the school year started.  

this is the best picture of the girls that i have, eleftheria has been struggling to keep her eyes open for pictures lately, but that's alright, they all look cute with their flowers.

the girls went to town on eleftheria's mane with the flowers that they picked from mom's garden.

no one gave me any flowers.

just yesterday it was eleftheria's b-day.  so, we decided to not be home all day.  we left the house and never looked back. basically we walked the length of the city, as the weather was beautiful and neither of us had been around much since our return.  if you haven't visited yet, the paralia is a walkway that runs next to the sea with a number of gardens running along it.  this is my favorite, with lily pads, frogs, coy and dragonflies like the red one below.

it was just a wonderful day, absolutely.

we ended up sitting for dinner at one of our favorite place.  a great salad and some risotto made for a wonderful meal.

perhaps the best new bars in town, it lies in the middle of one of the main city park, open air with good music. dora came down to meet us for a drink.

I am pretty psyched about how these two pictures turned out,  11 o'clock at night, completely open shutter and no tripod.

our night ended perfectly.  the old dock has been turned into a pretty hip place to hang out, and it was absolutely packed, but eleftheria and i found the very corner of the pier to sit on, busted out our picnic blanket, profiterol (the chocolate dessert) and candle lighting supplies.  it was such a wonderful day, absolutely one of the best.  we are hoping that as the years change, that we continue to find ourselves together and happy.

on a side note, these two seem to have taken up housing outside the main door of our apartment building. pretty fun to have some urban geckos.  these two belong to the species known as  mediterranean house geckos (hemidactylus turcicus)

Ohio: Part 5 (Actually From Ohio)

the grandparents threw eleftheria a wonderful baby shower with all the fixings.  mom was so proud of her cut flower centre pieces, i just had to post a couple.  they really were wonderful.

these are probably my favourites.

we really had a wonderful time.  the party was great and the hostesses were simply wonderful.  picture here are four generations (if you include the unborn).

eleftheria took up residence in dad's shop as she worked on her glass piece (pictures to come).  the drawing aspect was wonderful, but the intricate cutting proved to be maddeningly frustrating.  No worries though, with dad on her side the piece was completed.

it was really cool to see her back in a bit of her own environment, drawing and creating.

despite my yearly wish i continue to get older and older, this year was number 28.  crazy.  it was a cool party though, very low key.

the highlights were that eleftheria made a super tasty berry cake, and i didn't burn my beard off as i blew out the candles.

so we are beginning to pack to head for home.  this bag is filled with baby stuff alone.  CRAZY.  so we have three check bags (yes that is one more than we are allowed) weighing in at 22, 24 (yes 1 kg over), and a stroller that clocks in at around 20 kilos.  then we have two carry ons that are closing in on checked bag weight and eleftheria's new purse looks like she is going to need a new one as soon as we get to greece.

all these guys waited very patiently as we tried to find space for them.  sadly some will have to wait for my parents to arrive in december.

so . . . this is about as good as it gets these days.  as if i needed more to do, i am going back to school for my master's this year.  this is a photo that eleftheria took so that I could submit something for my student id card.  my beard appears to favour the right side of my face, my teenage acne is still problematic, and my hair is at a weird stage theses days . . . eh, whatever.

in the closing days i have been seeing important people one last time.  steven came over and we spent a solid 4 or 5 hours around a fire chatting and telling stories.

it has been such a wonderful trip.  it was so great to see so many people and to actually spend enough time at home to relax.  school will start soon so the amount of posting is going to take a dive, but i will do my best to stay in touch and up to date.  

Love Luck and Lollipops