Where have all the cicadas gone, long time passing...

Apologies to Pete Seeger for the misquote.

Two days ago suddenly almost all of the cicadas in the trees near us have either vanished or just ceased to "sing" to one another. There's just one or two that occasionally chirrup, but it's now quiet all day. The weather hasn't changed appreciably, it's still very warm, in the low/mid 30's, so that doesn't seem to be the reason. A search through internet articles about cicadas hasn't given me any clues about their "singing" season. Do they know something about the season that we don't?

Cheap phone calls FROM Greece

Here's something new we learned a few days ago (thanks to CM), you can make "cheap" calls to international land lines FROM Greece without having to buy a pre-paid card.

The cost of a call to a UK land line for example is quoted as " 0,0364 € / minute pay-per-second (including VAT)", the cost being charged as a call to the land line from which you make the call.

OTE is currently (as of 17/08/2008) quoting a price of 0,004155 € per second to phone a fixed land line in the UK. That's 0,2493 € per minute!!!! So it's certainly cheaper than OTE, but possibly not as cheap as some pre-paid cards you can buy. It does however have the convenience of being available without needing to buy a card.

To use the service you must first obtain a PIN code, there are two ways to do this. Either dial 210 6007920, this call is a standard long distance call within Greece, or visit their web page www.ifree.gr. The web page is only in Greek so be prepared! The page seems to just give you this code: , which after it expires (100 hours usage); you must call 210 6007920 to obtain a new one.

Once you have the PIN, you make calls by dialling 801 2000 802. You will be asked for the PIN code, and this is valid for 100 hours. When you need more hours you simply call 210 6007920 to obtain a new PIN code.

This is my understanding from reading the web page, and the costs I've quoted are what I have seen today. Please be aware these may change so you need to read their pages to be certain of the service.

Hot summer

Firstly and update on the telephone line. Last week OTE returned with a more cable and replaced the knot holding our connection together. Almost sad to have it repaired, how many people can boast that their telephone connection has a cable with a knot in it?

After weeks of constant sun with temperatures in the low 30's, the weather yesterday was quite cloudy and the temperature dropped to the high 20's. Just as it was getting dark we also had a quick shower of rain, the first for over 2 months. Our olive trees are suffering from the lack of rain, the olives are quite small and some are turning purple and falling from the trees. Sorry to any tourists, but we need a few more showers very soon to help the trees and garden.