Good morning. Just one image today, and not much news. The discussion in the café yesterday was about the new marina, as it will one day be, apparently. There’s been work going on opposite the garage at Petini for some time now, and I believe the idea is/was to strengthen the quay or expand it and to prepare for the building of a new marina. Well, we’ve been watching the crane and digger shift seabed from A to B and back again for some months now, and we’ve watched concrete blocks going in the water, and more seabed coming out, and… Well, now, part of the road has fallen into the sea, or is in some other way impassable for larger traffic. Mopeds and feet can get by, but any lorries and cars must currently use the Panagia Skiadeni, which is docking at the clocktower, because Blue Star can’t drop off such vehicles at the Petini port.

Bad news for the garage too, and for anyone wanting to drive on/off the Blue Star ferries, unless the company decide to dock at the clocktower like they used to. For now, though, according to kafeneion chatter, that’s the situation. The work is going on right where the barge is in this photo, so now you know.

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It’s one of those mornings where nothing springs to mind except: I had something to write about today, and now I can’t remember what it was. So, I’ll just have to let my thoughts wander free. Now, what did I get up to yesterday?

Not a great deal. I did some editing in the morning, and now only have a little way to go before sending off the current MS to my proofreader, while Neil is reading the same thing to comment on story, flow, continuity etc. I know my back/hip was less painful in the morning, and looked like it was getting better at last, but then went wild again in the early afternoon, only to settle back to being acceptable later, so there surely is some kind of good sign there. I also heard from the landlord about signing contracts, which will either be tomorrow or Friday, and then I went looking for hotels in Rhodes. I started looking yesterday and found one close to where I needed to be, but their small print said they took a €250 deposit against damages (for a €40 room), so I want to investigate that further today, because… Well, if that’s true, you wouldn’t want to stay there, would you?

The day itself was a pleasant one, warm, with sunbathing taking place on various beaches, which are soon to close. I think I saw Nanou beach was closing for the winter around now, as was the taverna at Marouthunda. The taxi boats were doing a reduced service, I was told, and I’m not sure when the larger boat trips stop. There were several day-trip boats coming in, and someone told me Rhodes was ‘rammed’ the other day with four cruise ships in port, so it sounds like Rhodes is still going strong. Mind you, I’ve seen cruise ships there in the winter, with some summer tourist shops opening up in the Old Town for the day, because you never know your luck. So, the season isn’t quite over yet.

Now, upwards and onward to finish this book, book an appointment or two for next week, find a hotel, get some washing done, do some tidying up, and, hopefully, be able to walk up to the end of the lane and back if the back will allow me back on the road. Back tomorrow.

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You know how it all comes at once… Yesterday was one of those days, what with the electricity bill coming in, our new house contract arriving, the rent going up to 63.5% of my pension income (but at least it will be the same for the next two years), and the website registration up for renewal. It is a good job I am what my uncle would have called a wise virgin (because he was always quoting from the Bible as a way of raising a laugh). In other words, I was prepared for all these things.

In other non-news, the physio continues, and here has been some slight improvement, but I might see if I can get an appointment with the chiropractor when I am next in Rhodes, which will be next Monday/Tuesday, as I help the H monster settle into his new room/life as a college student.

I was looking around for a hotel nearby to his new place, and my Booking.com searches kept coming up with silly prices, such as €150 for a night, breakfast not included. When I mentioned this to others, no-one seemed at all surprised, which is a sign of how we all just accept that ‘everything has gone up’, even, it seemed, hotels that are way off the beaten track, and not near the sea, nor in the Old Town, but over at Ag Nikolas. I returned for another search later, only to notice I was trying to find a room for five people and not one. Changed that… €40.00 a night. Much better. This is off Kanadas St, though, and not the New Town where I usually stay, but Kanada’s where I need to be, so that’s something else to do; book a room for Monday night. (And no, I can’t stay with the H monster, because he only has one room and a bathroom (no kitchen), so it’s not big enough.)

Anyway… The sun is up, the hills over the water are briefly pink, the sea is calm, there is some cloud about to make the sky more interesting, and I have things to be doing.

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Here’s a thing. We were invited to a very special birthday party on Friday night, as were about 70 others, by the looks of things. After meeting up at the bar, we went to George & Maria for a meal. Had a lovely time, but I didn’t stay around for long afterwards. Apparently, the party went on until the early hours and was a great success. I heard the fireworks as I was dozing off later, but I missed the cake. My loss.

That was Friday. Saturday was a quitter day, and Sunday was a windy one, but we met up with godson H for lunch at the Trata in Yialos, caught up with news, and made plans for moving to Rhodes next week. (Him, not us.) That, and some mild editing, were the highlights of my weekend, although here was some excitement on Saturday when the mains water was turned on and we could fill up the tank, so we didn’t run out on Sunday. Yay!

As for the rest of the week… Very little planned. Some writing, of course, some piano, and hopefully, some walking in the morning. With the season easing off, things should become quieter up here. Although the day boats continue to come and the visitors are still here in droves, I expect long-stay visitors will become fewer, and evenings quieter, but you never know.

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I have scoured my backup files of photos to produce a gallery of ten, which should see us through the weekend. These were taken at different times over the past few years, as you’ll see. I hope you enjoy them.

We have a couple of special events to attend this weekend. A birthday party at the taverna tonight, which promises to be a fun event, and lunch with the godson on Sunday.

Other than that, I intend to get on with the usual editing and take care of my ache. I can’t remember if I mentioned a hip thing going on, but there’s a hip thing going on, and we’re working it out through physio, rest, and some tablets, and it feels like it is starting to improve. Still very painful to stand or walk for any length of time, but fine when sitting. As that’s what I do most of these days, work isn’t a problem, but anything else is. Still, I managed to fix the leaking water tank, and I can do the washing up standing on one leg. Yay! What fun, but you don’t want to hear about all that.

The ‘hip thing’ reminds me of a scene in ‘Jason and the Sargonauts,’ where the two old theatre ladies are waiting to go to Symi and are on the tour bus, and say something like, ‘Oh, yes, your poor knee.’ The other old bag replies, ‘I also have a hip.’ It’s better to read it in context.

You can read all about it here.

But now, the gallery and the weekend. Have fun!

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