As we are obliged to point out these days, ‘No filters were used in the harming of this photograph.’

That was the colour of the landscape yesterday towards sunset. I took the picture through the window, but although that might have been a little dusty, it wasn’t in any way pink. We also see the sea a different kind of red from time to time. Mainly, after we’ve had a heavy rainstorm and the surface earth gets washed down the hills and ends up in the sea. In those cases, the sea becomes a muddy, reddish-brown colour. When there’s a daytime storm, it becomes the grey of a battleship, darker in places, and highlighted with white wave tops. In better weather, it can be anywhere from dark blue to grey depending on the cloud cover, and on very rainy days, you can’t see it at all.

Yesterday was a sunny and calm day, so the sea was its regular blue and silver, as you can see.

The guys are working on the roof of a house that’s stood empty ever since I can remember noticing it many years ago. It’s a building that is on its way to becoming a classic Symi ruin, but isn’t quite there yet. The doors were open but hanging off, the place empty apart from a few rotting pieces of furniture, the windows and shutters long past their usefulness days, and the whole building is grey. It also has some very fine skeletons of trees around it, an overgrown terrace on the steep hillside, and an atmosphere worthy of a chilling suspense novel. It hangs off the hill above the harbour below, facing north and open to the elements on all sides, so couldn’t have been a pleasant winter house to occupy, and yet, it’s so romantic in a black-and-white Universal horror film way that it’s irresistible. I was interested to see work being carried out on it yesterday, and have to wonder if it’s about to be brought back into life, or if the roof was simply being weatherproofed to help keep it in limbo for longer. I will watch with interest because I’ve always admired the house, and next time I can, I’ll try and get another photo or two before it loses its mystery and charm.

That’s for another day. For this weekend, though, what’s planned? Not a lot, to be honest. I am passing out news about my latest story, which is now available in paperback form, and the link to here you can find it on Amazon UK is right here: Journeyman Joe. ‘Is it any good?’ Well, I am sure I don’t know. I know what it isn’t, though. It’s not an action adventure, mystery-driven story like the last lot. It’s quieter, calmer, more descriptive and slower, yet, I hope, still entertaining. You’ll have to be the judge.

So this weekend will be about thinking and plotting, and wondering whether I shouldn’t revert to vaguely plausible mysteries based on true events and a load of What if?, or try another village tale from the past. Maybe I’ll have a think when I take a stroll later. Perhaps the dilapidated house at the end of the lane will be the inspiration…

Have a good weekend.