A couple of cards and more holiday photos

I've finished one of my card orders - actually it's the cards I posted on here the other day, but I'm really bad at getting the boring stuff done - you know, doing the inserts, bagging them up and getting them parcelled up and posted. Anyway, 'tis done now so I feel much better. I've another order to get done, but I have a few weeks in hand for that one - obviously it'll still be done at the last minute, despite having lots of warning....
I thought I'd post a couple of birthday cards I've made recently, one is from a couple of weeks ago but I've not shown it here, the second went in the post yesterday so I hope it gets there in time.



I've now made a start on my cover for the new Anglo-Scots-Irish CJ starting soon on Beckie's fab Bumbleberries forum. I've also made a start on decorating my notebook for the swap on Bubbly Funk, so this is good - I like it when I actually feel I'm achieving something - my list of "to do's" is still long, but just making some headway on these projects makes me feel so much better.
Maybe I'll even get them all done on time.
Or then again, maybe not!

I've been meaning to put some photos up from our holiday in Crete, so today is as good a time as any. There was a car included with the villa so we did quite a bit of touring the area. it takes a long time to get anywhere in Crete as there are so many mountains to negotiate once you get away from the east-west main road, but the scenery is beautiful and exploring is well worth the effort. This is a mixed bag from all over the place;


some of Frangocastello and Sfakia right over on the far south side of the island, some from Phalasarna on the far west coast and some from a drive through the Therissos Gorge
















The giant feet are from a broken statue in gardens just above Hania town, the other two were taken at a monastery quite close to where we stayed.












We drove up through the mountains to visit Sfakia and Frangokastello on the far south side of the island. It's absolutely beautiful over there, so quiet and peaceful. The castle looks magnificent standing right next to a lovely beach - the walls are impressive, but it's really just a shell now.

The mountain drive is so pretty - lots of hairpin bends but nowhere near as scary as some we've done! I guess they take the tourist coaches over there so they need to be able to cope with them. All the same, I'm glad we didn't get stuck behind any coaches or those incredibly slow trucks they seem to specialise in over in Greece!
Photos just never manage to show how awe-inspiring mountain views are. Sometimes I wonder why we bother even trying to capture them as it never seems to work!




We weren't mad enough to attempt the Samaria Gorge hike - I'm sure it's breathtaking, but we were on holiday after all!
There are lots of gorges on Crete, and conveniently the Therissos Gorge is one you can drive through - and it's lovely. You criss-cross the stream by way of lots of little bridges, the flowers and shrubs are beautiful and all the time you can hear the birds singing.
We saw this plant growing by the road, if anyone knows what it is we'd love to hear from you!








Phalasarna is on the far west coast of Crete, there's a beautiful bay with turquoise water. On the rocky headland is an partially excavated ancient site. One of the things we love about Greece, and Turkey too is that there are so many archaeological sites to explore and whilst it's fantastic to visit the well-known places like The Parthenon, Knossos and Ephesus over in Turkey, it's also great fun to visit those sites that are just a few stones or holes in the ground - they bring out the esplorer in us! We went to Knossos last time we were in Crete and it's amazing but too far from where we stayed this time to make a return visit. So a little rummage around the overgrown and probably mostly hidden remains at Phalasarna had to do for us this time.