Now I’m in seventh heaven. It was delightful last year to find a new supermarket opening just on the outskirts of Thassos Town, just beyond Theogenis football ground that had a nice if somewhat limited range of provisions, but more than anything, in my book, it sold dry fruit and nuts by the kilo and… wait for it... a strong, but delicious and a mild tasting, locally produced... Tsipouro..... BY THE KILO. An offer you couldn't refuse. And now, on my return this March, I find that there is a branch of the same supermarket which is opened just on the corner before the old harbour, and has exactly the same range of goods and prices.

So, I am not advocating shopping at any particular store nor undertaking any promotion, (we all have our own favourites) for any particular reason other than the fact that I myself find great joy in having one of my particular indulgences available near to where I'm living, and at a price which is so economic to me that I can't help but host small gatherings every afternoon or evening, before everybody goes home to eat, so that we can eat our local tasty snacks, mezes, and indulge in this delicious drink, brought to us from paradise, which is not only good for the soul but also good for the heart!

Thankfully we have the Thassos VI ferry (the only covered ferry boat), which can come and go in up to gale force 7 Beaufort winds, and it is very rare indeed to find oneself stranded on either side of the small strait which separates Thassos island from the mainland at Keramoti. However, it does happen periodically, especially when it is very windy. When it happens and you only have three ferries running that day, the only thing you can do is settle down with a coffee and brandy as well as a good paperback and wait for the Thassos VI to arrive.

This happened last week, when we had two days of winter, gale force winds, and downpours which seemed to grind Thassos to a halt. The coffee bars at Keramoti are modern, comfortable, warm, very well stocked, have very affordable prices, and are never very busy at this time of year; so it is quite a pleasure to sit there for an hour or so to watch people come and go...

Wow! Spring time on Thassos seems to be almost upon us. It is the middle of February and the sun is shining with an unbelievable temperature of near 20 degrees centigrade. “A few hours in the mountains is the order of the day.”, we thought.

So we set off with two of our friends and headed for Kallirachi village. Knowing that mountain tracks can be quite an ordeal for a normal car, our friends followed us on their motorcycle which can easily navigate Thassos' lovely mountainous terrain...

One of the most wonderful things about winter in Thassos is that one's friends have time. Both Greeks and ex-patriotic friends, many of whom work in seasonal employment, have time to spare and thoroughly enjoy including other friends either for their wintertime activities or for just chilling and chatting over coffee or drinks.

Having organised my new SIM card, and with the batteries returned to their rightful place in my drawer, and having worked out how to tell my Thassian friends of my new phone number, (Αυτό είναι το νέο μου ελληνικό αριθμό, afto eine to neo mou elliniko arithmo!!), I was having my early-morning (actually late breakfast) coffee on my balcony, gazing out across the bay to Kavala and beyond, when I was pleased to get my first text message.

“The fish are nibbling not biting” might seem like a code message to many, (think of Rene Dubois, ‘Allo, ‘Allo?) , but in my reply ”to where are you”, “ between the ferries”, I realised it was no code, no joke, and I grabbed my rod and tackle box to join a couple of friends who were as they said, “between the ferries”...

Carnival has come and gone yet again on Thassos, and another fantastic day was had by all who came to participate at one of the many carnivals around the island. I had the pleasure to partake in the festivities that were jointly organised by Agios Georgios and Rachoni. These two mountain villages have lived harmoniously in co-existence with each other for a long, long time, and they've learned how to throw great parties together!

The day began with all of the figures eloquently positioned onto the relevant vehicles, the adults dressed up and the children wore brightly coloured clothes and face make up. The atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation for what was to follow throughout the day...

I have always prided myself on my ability to understand and to be understood in Greek. I visit Thassos frequently, throughout the year, often for a short period of time admittedly, but my Greek friends are very kind indeed and always communicate with me in Greek. They allow me to speak to them in Greek and I have on many occasions been praised by the Thassians for my ability to speak Greek, which is not a usual trait found in tourists who visit this beautiful island.

Most likely I don't really have a great skill, but the fact that I am not easily embarrassed and don't mind making mistakes probably goes the long way in enabling me to continue talking Greek even though I'm probably making really no sense at times. It's probably a lack of self-confidence and a wish not to seem daft (and thus say inappropriate things) that the majority of other visitors to Thassos actually have in abundance, and thus will be more careful than I am when expressing themselves in Greek...

So, it's mid-January. Europe and the east coast of America are under metres of snow, and here I am in Thassos Town, looking across the harbor with my very good friends, eating the most glorious char-grilled octopus which literally until four hours ago was minding its own business and swimming around the rocks and stones in front of my apartment here in Thassos Town.

During the summer, my husband and I had often wondered why the snorkeler that we could always see had only one arm. I now realised that the other arm was underwater holding his spear, and he only really ever goes in and among the rocks and stone up to about 10 or 15 metres offshore. Now I understand why! For early this morning, at half-past eight, there was a ring on my doorbell, and my neighbour presented me with a small plastic bucket (why is it always a bucket which at some time has held paint or something equally inappropriate) containing my strangest present yet...

What did I do that was good in a previous life to enable me to be so lucky in this one?

Here I am in Thassos town, midwinter by anyone's calculation, standing on my balcony overlooking the whole of Limenas bay and opposite to Keramoti and Kavala, drinking my coffee, basking in mid-January temperatures of 15° whilst back in the rest of Europe everyone is knee-deep in snowdrifts. The air is still, the sky is blue if somewhat watery blue in comparison to the deep azure of Midsummer, the perfumed smoke from the log fires where the local people are burning their surplus olive and pine logs, rises lazily high into the sky as there isn’t even the slightest breeze.

The ferries come and go with precision and majesty as always, the local people stroll by, stopping to chat or popping in for coffee into the local bars and cafes, as January is time for relaxation and just be and enjoying the beauty of Thassos Island in winter...