The Old Grape Press: A Boat on Stormy Seas, a Safe Harbour on a Cold Day

In midwinter when the feeling of juicy grapes being squashed between tiny toes is but a distant memory, the old grape press becomes a boat, sailing on the stormy waters of the sleepy fish pond nearby.

Our schoolroom is situated at the very edge of the vineyard, so getting there is quite a treck for little legs. There are a couple of small fish ponds and above them stands the old grape press. The press (linos in Greek) itself is about 200 years old but the tradition of manually (or is it podally?) pressing grapes in Greece was wide spread well into the 1970's and continues today in smaller villages and as part of festivals at the height of the grape harvest.

Today was cold. So, having fed the animals and checked on the herbs in our vegetable patch we hurried along the forest path back to our shelter for a warm cup of tea and freshly baked bread with tahini & honey (our usual snack).

The children were soon done and ventured out again leaving the mothers in the (relative) warmth of the schoolroom.

Next up was mud cooking: mud pies and mud paintings on paper, trees and anywhere else muddy hands can reach. Nothing but the usual on a day like this.

Thankfully the children decided to put the little water tank to good use, spray bottles soon materialized and the whole place got a good scrubbing down!