Monday, January 26, 2015

Adorable Edibles, A Pearly Prize, and Poppy's I.D. in Disguise!


This, 
 is how I see the world sometimes: 
a charming, little village, that has slowly
  s                  p                  r                  e                 a                  d   
its way across this giant globe of ours, so that really, we are all neighbours, if you will, connected by one, long and winding road.  And, even though many of us  happen to live at opposite ends of that road, we feel that, if we did live next door to one another, we would surely be borrowing a cup of sugar at a moment's notice, (for that cake we're suddenly craving), picking up each other's kids from school, (when we're running late), going on power walks together, (huffing and puffing and finally stopping - at the nearest  donut shop), or promoting each other's junk at our annual garage sale, (then cry into our wine, panicked, that we just sold our treasures for a pittance!) - ah, yes, if we lived nearby.
 

So, surely, you can understand that, when a lovely parcel leaves a friend's home, and travels all the way across the planet, to finally arrive at my home, here, in the hilly, Cretan countryside, it is, at least for me, a most wonderful thing! 

 

Prince Richard, I take it, thinks otherwise.


It feels very special to know that, even though I have never actually met my friend in person, nor have I ever spoken to her, for that matter, the contents of that parcel, two of her very own culinary creations, came from her home, where they were so carefully wrapped, packed, and addressed, in preparation for their many airplane rides, to mine, in the faraway land, in the small world.  From her kitchen, to my table, that parcel of seasonal treats, represents a 'taste' of her presence, in my own residence, as if she brought them here, herself! 


This is my sweet and pretty friend, Doreen, hostess at House Honeys, with whom I was supposed to be exchanging Christmas cards. Little did I know, that she had contacted Kris, (as in 'Kringle'), and sweet talked him, (literally!), into the following scheme:


 


Yes, dear readers, Doreen got Santa to deliver her world renowned Chocolate Dipped Walnut Biscotti and gourmet worthy Jalapeño Pepper Jelly, a dynamic duo of delicious, sweet and savoury goodness, all the way to Greece! And that's where this story turns sour, before it once again, gets sweet. You see, the parcel took 12 days to reach our designated post office, located in the next village over, which is normal for Christmas correspondence. What isn't normal, but rather completely unacceptable, is that it sat there, for another 33 days due to a case of 'mistaken identity'!


According to them, they could not 'find' me, after 'searching' for weeks, because of a discrepancy regarding my last name. I use both my husband's last name, and my maiden name, since Greece allows the two, but because my Greek I.D. is in my maiden name, and I had given Doreen my husband's name, things didn't add up. I was told that they  were ready to throw out (!) the parcel, if it weren't for a fellow villager, who recognized my husband's name on it, while there one day. He contacted my husband immediately, who called me right away, and that's when I instantly knew it was Doreen's parcel, which was M.I.A.! The thing is, they didn't even bother to come to our village at all, and I can prove it, since, if they had, they would have left a notice in our mailbox, located in the square, (which, by the way, has both last names on it),  informing me to pick it up. In addition, it is customary for postmen to leave parcels at the main cafe, in which case, everyone would have confirmed my existence!!




This pretty, pearly necklace, a giveaway I won at Art Decoration and Crafting, authored by my talented Athenian friend, Christina Makri, had a similar fate. It was lingering in limbo land for exactly one week, when I went to pick up both parcels, a few days ago. I found them sitting together on an old chair, looking very lost, poor things. What an adventure they'd had on the island of labyrinths and lazy mailmen! 

What about you? Have any of your letters or parcels
left their departure point, only to disappear, then
reappear, before reaching their final destination?
Do tell!

Doreen's cute envelope

 Thank You,
Doreen and Christina!
I'm so sorry for all the drama,
but after all, this is Greece, 
the birthplace of the arts,
and the land of odysseys!

 Before I go,
A big welcome to
 my new followers!
Thank you all for visiting!
 Wishing you a happy week!

xo
Poppy

48 comments:

  1. And our lovely Poppy turns every ordeal into a fun story.

    And, I agree with you that the blog world has turned globe into a village and we are friends with people we many never meet in person.

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    1. Loving your pictures and the original and beautiful way you have put your story across - you're an inspiration and I am following your journey - awesome work!

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  2. No one could have written a more engaging post about MIA parcels, Poppy. You really are an exceptional writer, and always have great images to go with your words. Love coming here and catching up on the latest news. Your quote about drama and Greece being the birthplace of the arts and land of odysseys is priceless! Well said. xxx ~ Nancy

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  3. What a sweet story! And the pepper jelly jar was no worse for its long journey! This made me oh & ah, both the charming tale from Poppy and the gifts of friendship from Doreen and Christina.

    All's well that ends well in the Island of Labyrinths!

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  4. What a fun story. So glad all your goodies arrived safe and sound . A long trip for sure.
    Our postal service is just as bad here.
    Beautiful landscape picture.

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  5. You are so gifted with words! I loved reading about this journey.
    Brenda

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  6. Well, better late than never I guess. At least the mystery is solved about what happened to it. I send Brenda from Cozy Little House a present and she never got it and it finally came back to me 2 months later. I enjoyed the mystery and finding out your finally received it, and safe. That view is enough to make me move!

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  7. I'm glad your parcels finally arrived, Poppy. What a strange adventure they had. I love the arial photo of the vineyards. It's so beautiful. Have a wonderful week. Pam

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  8. We have terrible mail service here in Fullerton also. know now why they call it snail mail. So sorry that your sit so long in the post office. They are just plain lazy. Very nice gifts.
    I had wondered why I didn't receive a Christmas Card from my cousin and I thought that maybe she stopped sending them due to being expensive. Much to my delight I received it on Wednesday and she ailed it on December 18th. I am sure it sat in our post office.
    I am really happy that you did finally receive your gifts.
    Have a wonderful week.
    Mary

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  9. Lovely gifts, and so nice that someone recognized your spouse's name! xoox

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  10. I was beginning to wonder if Kris had sniffed the box and decided to steal it's contents ;).

    Now I do hope your teeth are intact if you attempted to eat the six week old biscotti. Perhaps the Prince would like to have a taste? I do believe his molars could handle them, no problem.

    I had to laugh about power walking and then stopping for a donut! I'm not ashamed to say that would SO be me! lol

    xxx

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    1. Hey House Honey,

      I am hooked on your pepper jelly! I like it with a thin slice of Cretan farmer's cheese, or simply on a fat slice of French baguette; délicieux! I am so lucky to be the only one on this island to be indulging in such a simultaneously sweet and savoury treat! Bet the gods up there on Mt. Olympus are just oozing with envy! Thanks, again, my friend!!

      xx

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  11. Poppy,
    What a delightful and entertaining adventure and what precious friends as well.
    Your tale reminds me...many years ago when we were young and lived on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii, my dear Mother sent me homemade cinnamon rolls. Little did we know they would travel by ship. Arriving to my door step-6 weeks later with green(moldy) icing!
    Take care dear Poppy,
    xx-
    Jemma

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  12. I love your first paragraph...it would definitely be the case for all of us! And you made me laugh!

    I love Doreen (I have to check out the other blogger, so sweet!). And the story! I think the Pony Express might have done a better job. Still, it was very thoughtful of Doreen and I hope you and your family are enjoying her culinary delights!

    Thank you for a fun post, Poppy! :)

    Jane x

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  13. Hello Poppy, I am so happy your packages finally arrived..What a story, I do love reading your post.. I love your cute PR posing with the packages.. Have a happy day and week ahead!

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  14. OH GOOD GRIEF CHARLIE BROWN!
    this read like a little agatha christie murder mystery only with no heinous crime! LOL.
    the vistas from your villa are staggering. i forget from post to post that you live in heaven!
    and YUM. now that i've discovered house honey . . . i could just taste that delight she sent to you.
    do you put the pepper jelly over cream cheese the way we do here? a simply and beautiful way to serve it! HA. at least for non cookers like me it is. :)
    please give the prince a treat. he's looking very grumpy. we don't want him wandering for love again. LOLOL.
    XOXO♥ you never disappoint my poppy. never. xo

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  15. I am glad that the parcels arrived after all. Just recently I won a giveaway from a lady in my own city and it never arrived. So now she is going to send me another one!Isn't that awful?
    Anyway I have to tell you those the funniest of mail stories. When I was 18 my dear grandmother died. We had the same name. The mailman arrived in the entrance of our block of flats and seeing that I had died returned the mail and parcel I had that day with the title "Deceased" on them! The fortunate thing was that he saw just after the funeral and realised his awful mistake so we went together to the central post office and found all the returned mail before it had left to their destinations. Can you imagine the surprise of my friends? And it wasn't the time of e-mails to inform them at once!AriadnefromGreece!

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  16. Well what an adventure this post had within it! Thank goodness they finally made their way to you!

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  17. Wow...what a story! So glad you were able to finally receive those lovely gifts. Although I can somewhat understand this happening between countries, I learned the hard way a few years ago to NEVER mail another gift card through the mail in a heavy card and envelope....and this was just one state away. When she received the card, a slit had been cut in the envelope, just big enough to retrieve the gift card and remove it...seems that someone who worked for the post office decided to help themself to her gift!!

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    1. I forgot to say this was for my DIL's birthday.

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  18. I am glad your lovely packages finally arrived. Something similar happened to me when I moved. My daughter's birthday was only a couple of days after we closed. I had her gift shipped to our old address because it was to be delivered while we were still at the old house but very close to the move. However, the post office held on to her package prior to the date I had listed for our mail to be forwarded. It was so weird. It was three days before our address change took place and there was no reason they couldn't send it to the old home. It took another two weeks for it to show up at our new house. Womp womp. Thankfully, I had other gifts for her but still.

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  19. I think that it's ironic that you are known so well, by so many, who live so far away and yet, in your own hometown you are an enigma! You are truly an international lady of mystery...see another book idea! ;)

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    1. Hi Kim,

      Actually, as I said in the post, I am very well known, here, in the village - EVERYONE is, as it's tiny, with only about 250 people! So, if the postman had come, like he is supposed to, all he would have had to do was to show the parcel to the first person he saw, and they would have pointed him straight to my house! The post office is situated in the next village, and we, unfortunately have to depend on it and its workers, for our mail.

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  20. Well, it's nice that you finally got the parcel! And I do feel like we are all neighbours and worry for each other rather than thinking "I don't care it's far away!"

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  21. What lovely gifts from sweet blog friends. I've been blessed to receive things from far away places and it's always so exciting. One time a few years ago, I sent me sister a package. Her neighbor was nice to take it off her front porch because she wasn't at home at the time. But then she forgot to give it to her for over a month. We were sure it was lost forever. Better late than never..... lol Sweet hugs, Diane

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  22. What wonderful lovely gifts to have received - eventually! All very confusing about the names isn't it, glad it all got sorted out though. xx

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  23. What a treat to have such friends from across the globe! And do I know about package soap operas. One took 6 weeks to finally get to our post office box! A couple moldy items later and we were still happy that it finally came through :) Thanks for sharing at the Art of Home-Making Mondays Poppy. I like the way you look at the world! :)

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  24. Oh, my! What a long journey!! So glad your goodies arrived....it's Christmas in January :) Don't you love blog friends? Glad you are one of mine. And we go way back, don't forget! xo

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  25. Well I have a happy Greek Mail Tale! After I wrote in our blog that we were the Americans on the hill in a house with no name and no address, I listed how to mail to us. And one lone friend out there sent us a note from the suburbs of Seattle and within a week it had arrived at the café where we pick up our mail. I was dancing in the street with happiness!

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  26. That is a very interesting story. It's strange how mail works...around here it can day a day to a few weeks and there really is no explanation often..(not that I hear anyhow!)
    About a year ago I mailed a loaf of homemade bread to daughter in TO thinking it would arrive quickly like aprevious package...anyhow this loaf of bread ended up sitting too long somewhere and when she got it it had started to mold. But what really threw me was when she texted back and said " I can just cut that off, Right Mom?" I knew then that my little girl had grown up somewhere there and wasn't ready to throw out a whole oaf of bread because of a little mold which I am certain would have grossed her out at home:)) oh yes good times. Thank you Poppy, for being such a good neighbour:) xo

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  27. That is quite a story. I'm so glad it worked out okay. You are certainly a much-loved and treasured friend to many.

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  28. Quite an odyssey for those two packages! It's so much fun to receive a package in the mail isn't it? Even if it takes a little longer than usual! My brother, who lives in Hawaii, sent me some flowers once, and on the package it said 'TROPICAL FLOWERS -- DO NOT FREEZE." And where did the mailman leave them? Stuck in a snow bank right outside our garage door!
    And yes, it's wonderful how this blogging world can bring us all together from all over the world!

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  29. Lucky you!!! So exciting to recieve all those goodies from abroad. No doubt that you are a treasured lady dearest Poppy. Experiences with parcels during Christmas can frequently go wrong...Happy you and how sweet from those persons...
    Wishing you a lovely new week,
    Olympia

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  30. What wonderful gifts, Poppy, and I'm glad you finally received them. Yes, our blogging world has certainly brought us such kind, thoughtful friends that we may never meet, but know in our hearts.

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  31. I am so glad that your parcels FINALLY reached you! That would've been terrible if they had met a different fate. What sweet friends you have to send you such lovely gifts. Prince Richard doesn't look too thrilled though. He was probably wondering why there wasn't a parcel for him!

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  32. How sweet to finally receive the parcels! Too bad it took so long for them to get to you. I have had some mail I sent seemingly disappear between continents, but I don't mail intercontinentally often--it's wonderful to have email which gets their instantly!

    I really like your photo of the countryside! It would be nice if we all could be neighbors; I hope there's a special place in heaven for all of us bloggers to meet!

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  33. Hello Poppy,
    I can understand one parcel going astray but two! I join you in saying " a lazy postman"
    It is exciting to receive your parcels in January when few presents are given or received.
    It truly is amazing how packages can travel such distances and reach us.
    Helenxx

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  34. Hi Poppy, I'm way late in catching up on blog reading, and reading your post today brought a smile to my face, just as it always has, always does. I love that the parcel story had a happy ending, and that you are enjoying the contents. I had a similar story - I had sent a package to a winner of a giveaway, which took two weeks to arrive. I found out that it sat here in the Post office in NJ for a week, before moving on!

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  35. What wonderfully sweet gestures from your dear friends! Better late than never, right? Oh, the stories those parcels could tell!! I always enjoy coming to your dear blog, and I leave here inspired and refreshed. God bless you!

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  36. Sweet Poppy, you are a master at writing and you have a gift for making your readers smile :)

    I am so glad your pretty parcels made it safely to you. The items you received are truly lovely. Hugs and blessings to you, dear friend!

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  37. I bet those biscotti taste delicious with your morning cup of coffee.
    Receiving gifts from faraway friends really does bring one closer, and reading all your lovely comments almost feels like we're all sitting down for a cup of tea together discussing the trials and tribulations of the postal service.
    Thank heavens you received those yummy goodies and that gorgeous necklace in the end.

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  38. This proves that life is an adventure, even our everyday lives. Our global community has the distinct honor to share this adventure in living with you through your beautiful witty prose and the lovely photography that has visually joined us together so that we may share and enjoy your life in your wonderful countryside village. It is good your friendship gifts finally made it to their destination and even better that we got to share them too. I love pepper jelly warmed and drizzled over cream cheese with crackers. Heaven!

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  39. That was a good story, "The Christmas Package and the Lazy Mailman" I would call it. Thank goodness it had a very happy ending. I have experienced many interesting mail stories over the years, and some of them are stories of kinder people going out of their way to get the mail delivered. Thank you for sharing your treats and your story!
    Your words about how we are all neighbors connected by a long winding road - well, they are very heartwarming. My husband and I had a trip planned for last Sept, 12 days to be spent on Crete, which is, I think, how I discovered your blog. But we had to cancel it, and I don't know that I will ever get there now, but I am glad to be your neighbor anyway. God bless you!

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  40. Hi Poppy,
    Wow! What a story! I'm glad your packages finally reached you. I have a similar story only mine took longer....
    The very first Giveaway I ever had went to Australia. I live in PEI, Canada as you know. It took three months to get to my winner's home! Three months! I was certain it had gotten lost and perhaps it had before it finally showed up. My hubby insists on only North American destinations from now on because of it. And he is a postman! I have to admit that ever since, I have been nervous about overseas destinations for parcels. I'm glad not everyone has that kind of experience. Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I'm always happy to hear from you. Have a wonderful weekend, my friend.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  41. PS~ I really enjoyed your post about us all being neighbors. It's like we are one big friendly village!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  42. Hi there! What a lovely story! The views are just beautiful...I really miss Crete...
    Have a beautiful weekend, take care!
    All my love,
    Titti

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  43. As usual, Poppy, I am blown away by your beautiful photography and your perfectly-written post. You have such a gift, dear friend! I am so glad your little treasures finally arrived. Things like that can happen here in the states, too. We have even had some UPS drivers try out their football passing game with parcels & go a bit "postal" during some of the more stressful times of the year (not us personally).....lol! So I think it was very lucky that you finally received your package and nothing was broken.

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  44. I loved your thought about being neighbors - and how those you've not even met can feel like forever friends! I do feel that way about you, and am glad to have your blog, such a happy spot! Glad that you finally got your package after what an adventure. I love surprises in the mail - nothing brightens your day like happy mail! Have a blessed day!

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Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate hearing from all of you! Have a great day!