I’m sure I’m not the only one who got woken up at 03.30 this morning by the Greek government. A severe weather warning is in place for, as the announcement pronounced it ‘Rho-ades’, and that, I assume, means us. It wasn’t even raining, though it has been and may be later. It’s been a rather damp weekend all round, and Thursday’s washing is still trying to get dry in the lean-to. We did manage to get out though, in the brief interlude of Saturday afternoon when it was too warm in the sun to wear my Crombie and Austrian felt Hunter, but I did anyway, because there aren’t many days in the year when I can. And the outfit was useful on the way back after dark, least of all because, with the light behind me, it gave me the silhouette of Cary Grant. Obviously, that was only a shadow. Usually, it’s too wet or too warm for such an overcoat, and too hot or too windy for an Austrian felt Hunter, which, contrary to popular belief,sis not a newspaper headline. ‘Austrian Felt Hunter Shock!’ and in smaller letters, ‘Hunter Fires Back.’
Yeah, well, it’s the first time in ages I’ve not wanted to be woken at 03.30, and yet, there we are. I just had a look at my usual weather forecasts, and although they both show rain all day, the wind isn’t too mad, and there’s been no news of cancelled or delayed boats today.

So, what will the day bring? Hopefully, another chapter on the new books after the usual admin work is done. Admin, which includes spamming and deleting around 10 emails asking me if I’d like to discuss my ‘writing journey’ with total strangers who run spurious book clubs and pretend to work for book publishers and agents, who want to invite me to a non-existent book fair in Buttflock Idaho, or appear live on a Zoom to chat about my ‘writing journey’ with six blank screens, and whichever I choose, to pay good money for doing so. What the Hull is a writing journey anyway? I sit down, glower at a blank screen, think of an idea, and write it down. The journey here is a few paces across the hall (old towels down ready for the drips), light on, laptop on, a quick look at my ever-dwindling photo collection, a half an hour wittering this off the top of my head, and then taking a tea break…

But, in more interesting news, this weekend is the annual festival at Panormitis, and although we’re not planning to go, we may end up being taken there by our youngest godson who is coming back from Rho-ades on Wednesday in his car. Now, when did that all happen? He, like his brother, has just spent seven months working flat out through the season, though he got days off, unlike many summer workers. Mind you, on those days off, he went into work to cover as a swimming pool guard, for which the hotel gave full training. It’s going to be great to see this young person who we settled into his own apartment a year ago as a nervous 18-year-old, and whose first priority in life has always been to own and drive a car. He wanted to; he worked for it for a few years, and now, he’s achieved it. He did tell me what breed of car it was, and I think he built a model of it at the kitchen table a couple of years ago, but cars now aren’t what they were ‘in my day.’ At 19, I was driving a Morris Minor, and that had been an upgrade from a Renault 4 with a dashboard gearstick, a front bench seat, and a handbrake you had to pull out from under the dash and hope it never came off in your hand. The Renault 4 used to take hours to struggle up the Dover docks loop (Jubilee Way) and on up the hill to the Deal road, as it was only a 750, but when I upgraded to ‘Doris’, with the headlights operated by a foot pedal and a steering wheel the size of a hula hoop, it came with a huge engine (1,100 cc), and I fair flew along. Zero to sixty in nine minutes was a huge adventure.

And talking of flying along, it’s now 4.07 and I am late for work, so I’d best get on. It looks like we’ll have another couple of rain-bound days at home before the sun is back, but it also looks like it’s going to be fair for the festival weekend, which is good news. Except that good news means I’ll have to take the opportunity to get outside and cut back the vine, clear the courtyard and generally tidy up out there. More admin work, but of a different kind.