The Christmas festivities have begun here on Symi with a week or more of events in Yialos, including concerts on the stage, a Christmas market, and celebrations. Yesterday, I watched and heard a brass band parade play Jungle Bells all the way from the clock tower until they were out of sight, though still playing. I took a short and distant video from the balcony which you can find on the Symi Dream Facebook page. (I can’t upload videos here, because I’ve never worked out how.)

Up here in the village, things are quieter… Until you’re invited to a party or gathering, and we’ve been to two over the weekend, including a birthday dinner at Georgio’s. On the way there, we stopped to say hello to Yiannis at Rainbow, and again, admired the fridge.

Giorgio’s is only using its inside for tables at the moment, but still, I reckon you can get around 30 people in there if not more, and it was just about full on Saturday night, which was good to see. Passing it on Sunday early evening on the way to the great Woodhall Lightshow Extravaganza, I noticed that the tables were again all laid and arranged as if more large parties had booked in. Also good to see, but it does make me think if you’re planning to go there it’s worth booking.

We’re still keeping an eye on the Blue Star booking pages to see if/when the rest of their usual journeys will come online. We need to get a boat back from Athens in 18 days’ time, and the expected sailing isn’t yet showing. Apparently, the company will be sailing, but it’s waiting for some authority or paperwork, or something, before it can start selling tickets. My only concern is that the cabins get snapped up before I get a chance to book a couple, and we end up camping on deck on the way home. That wouldn’t be so much of an issue for our party, I’m thinking more of the safety of other passengers. The last time was all sailed back together, we had a three-hour picnic on the stern deck. Imagine if that went on all night.

I’m heading off into the week now, and it’s a week where I have told myself I am winding down before taking two weeks of work. A few things to type up, some chapters to write, some housework to get done, a piano lesson, a concert rehearsal (for my pupil’s first recital), some singing, the oldest godson is cooking for us one evening later in the week, and coming to do some chocolate tempering with Neil on another afternoon (or some other mystery of the kitchen), and there’s one awkwardly shaped present to wrap… and I think that’s me done.

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The period of ‘getting into the Christmas spirit’ has started up here in the village and in our house. The sitting room is festooned (kind of) with lights which looks cosy after dark, and we’ve started wrapping presents. For the first time in many years, everything I had to order from off-island has arrived in time, but there has been a three-month battle with one item that I’ll tell you about after Christmas. We’ve had invitations for Christmas and New Year events, but we’ll be in Athens at those times. All the lights are up in the village and in the harbour, and some shops and bars have been decorated.

Yesterday afternoon, we called into the Sunrise for a quiz, which was, as always, good fun and good humoured, and with all the lights twinkling and the cats curled up on laps, it was all very cosy. The weather has remained mild though not always warm, and it’s been calm. Hopefully, it will stay that way today as several folks we know are heading to Rhodes for the day, as the big ferry comes in a little later on a Friday, so there’s no need for a 5.30 start.

My piano student is gearing up for his first recital; a performance of three solo pieces and two duets to be given on Boxing Day to his mum, brother and other goddad, and that’s all coming along nicely. Our lesson yesterday consisted of practising the ‘bastard bars’ of Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, and then running through the whole thing followed by some work on a duet and some improvisation. Also included was a short video given by a music teacher explaining his method of practice, and why he uses it. All very helpful, I hope.

Today in our house…? I have a writing for myself day planned, or at least about six hours of it this morning, and Neil will be going to the gym. After that… not a lot.

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Today’s first couple of photos are from yesterday evening, when the sunset was so pink, even the sea changed colour.

This isn’t an unusual sight, but it is a brief one as the colours change so quickly. Like most of my photos on the blog, they were taken on my phone, so are not the best quality, but I haven’t used any filters. We took an early evening walk around the village, and settled on a couple of glasses of wine at Lefteris Kafeneion before heading home, and on the way, we caught rush hour at the supermarket.

It was even busier inside, but at least the queue was moving.

Then, in the evening, we settled in to watch a film or two, and Neil put up his new special effects lighting to lend some atmosphere. This is the kind of world we’re living in at the moment; all pink skies, seas and twinkling lights. Not complaining.

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I was up early this morning, so I was on the balcony with a cup of tea when the Blue Star came in around 5.30, gliding gracefully through the dark on a flat calm. The night before, we’d seen a helicopter come in more or less at the same speed. It seemed to take forever to approach the island over the water, then it glided over Evangalismos at apparently no speed at all, hovered over the helipad a while, and then painfully slowly descended to land. All very impressive. We often see these practice runs at night, through the winter months, and sometimes the summer too. Of course, if there had been an emergency, the speed would have been somewhat faster. Maybe as fast as the cars racing down the hill this morning to reach the boat before it set off again.

It’s mildly chilly in the office this morning, but the heater is staying off as long as I can bear as we had the electricity bill in yesterday. I’d been into my account about ten days ago with our self-read meter reading, and in between times, I’d had a letter from the company telling me the subsidies would no longer apply to mere mortals, or something similar, so I was expecting a not-so-cheap bill this time round, and although it could have been worse, it could also have been better, seeing as how we’ve hardly used any heating, hot water or the oven for the last two months. But, I was prepared and had saved for it, so with loins girded, I will get that paid today.

As for yesterday… A quick walk around the village in the morning while Neil was off down to the gym, followed by some writing, reading and TV which included a very good film called ‘Children of Men.’ This, to my mind, is one of those films with a strong message that is clear to ordinary viewers. It should act as a warning of things to come, and although fiction, shows those in power (in the UK in this case) the way the country and world are heading. However, it’s a film/message which will be taken as entertainment, not prophesy. That’s a shame, because like the other great social comment of the past year or so, ‘Don’t Look Up,’ the message is powerful, and a warning to us all, but one which will be ignored by those who could do something about it. It was a good film, but something of a scary one because it could easily be true.

Today, I have my usual kind of day with writing, walking, piano, and TV watching in the evening, because we’re saving the going out until later in the week, and there aren’t that many places to go out to anyway. I also have some serious writing to do because my cosy Christmas read, ‘1892’ is now published on Amazon in Kindle format (the paperback version will take a little longer), and I must move on back to where I was with the previous work in progress before the idea of the Christmas collection got in the way. This is the Amazon.com link, but you can find the book through most other Amazon-dot addresses.

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Continuing the Christmas build-up theme, here’s a photo of some of the lights in the village square. The ones I showed you yesterday, going along the lane, now go all the way to Taverna Zoi, so we have a twinkling path all the way from Georgio’s to the ‘American’ supermarket. Walking that way last night, Neil reflected on how many businesses there used to be along the lane, what with the bookshop, clothes shop, seamstress, cobbler, toy shop and others all now gone. Only some have been replaced by new businesses, while other premises stay closed. There’s some work going on in what was the household shop run by Mr Plastic as some called him (because of the things he used to sell), which then became the butchers’ shop (not the new one, the boys are still there and doing well), but I’m not sure what the work will be leading to.

As for everyone else, the bars are open, Scene is the place to be if you want late-night live music at the weekend along with a pizza, or a film on Tuesday night or just a place to meet while your children play in the park beside the café. Work continues in the new car park below, while everything else chugs along nicely.

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