Starting Lent

Today is Clean Monday here in Greece, by tradition a day for flying kites, gathering with families and friends to barbeque seafood and mark the start of Lent. That, as you know, means 40 days until Easter. Of course, the mardi gras didn’t happen this year. There was no gathering in the village square with food, wine and Silly String, and, like last year, carnival time passed by in a mainly silent lockdown. For me, the weekend was a weekend at home with a walk in the morning while I wrote the next part of my next story. I tell myself the chapter, or part of it, as I wander the lanes, and then, once I am back, I try and remember it all. It was perfect in my head when I thought of it, of course, but once I start to write it down, it slips away like a dream after waking.

Still, what comes out is then generally good enough for a first draft, and once I’ve bashed out the 3,000 or 4,000 words, it gives me something to go on when I start on the next draft. That’s my routine before lunch. In the past, I’ve returned to the desk for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but I’ve not been in that habit this last six months or so. The sofa calls me, and there I tend to stay. With the weather now warming, that might change as it feels odd to be watching films where the sun is shining outside, and it’s still light until the early evening. But, like the other day, when it’s wet and thundery outside, the television becomes one’s best friend, especially if you’ve found an old film to watch…

So, to the week ahead. Well, the usual for us, I guess. Working at home, walking not too far away, attending to housework as and when, maybe some more baking for Neil, and another attempt at DIY for me as there’s always something to be done, and while that’s going on, we’re waiting to hear about vaccinations. I believe the 60 + group has or is being done, but I am not sure when us 50 + folk are to be called. I’m not worried, just happy to wait my turn. The weather for the week so far is forecast as cloudy, sunny, and sometimes wet, so a bit of everything, plus some high wind on one day, so that’s all pretty standard for the season.

Friday Photos, Names and Trains

To end the week, here are a couple of photos I took yesterday while trekking all the way to the bin store about 20 yards away from the house. As you can see, the harbour remains empty, though there are rumours of opening the tourist season not long after Easter.

There are only a few photos today, and I notice that one of them shows some of my reference books. I took this because, while setting up an interview on my other blog, Jenine asked if I had read a book titled ‘The Railways, Nation, Network and people’ by Simon Bradley. You see, one of my Clearwater Mystery series has a scene set at Kings Cross station (in 1888), and she is arranging an interview with a historian of the London underground railway. As part of that, it was suggested she also speak to Simon Bradley, and lo and behold, I have his book. It’s very exciting (for me) to have such names attached to my blog, and handy that I use his book as a reference from time to time. My other great source of historical railways information is Andy, who runs the Symi travel blog. I’m always asking him things like, ‘London to Oban and back to Bodmin, January 1890?’ And he sends me the actual timetables and routes. Again, for me, that’s thrilling, and I owe him several dinners when the tourism season does start, and we can see friends again.

But I digress… Here are a few photos to launch you into the weekend. By the way, the toilet pan box has nothing to do with me, though someone has clearly fitted a new one somewhere., I am still at level one; sink waste pipes. There is a story about how I fitted a new WC pan when I had a flat in Dalston, London, and it does happy a happyish ending, but I will save that thrill for another day. Have a good weekend.

Spring Shots

After all the plumbing news excitement yesterday, I thought we’d calm things down a little with some general photos of the island. Neil took these recently, and they give you an idea of what spring can be like on Symi. This year has been unusually calm and warm so far. We’re usually battening hatches, rain-proofing rooves and staying home more. Apart from a few cold snaps, it’s been glorious weather, and I’ve only once had to wear fingerless gloves to work. I think I’ve only worn my jacket twice since last April, and I’ve not had a chance to wear my posh overcoat or leather jacket because a) the weather’s been so good, and b) there’s been nowhere open to wear them to. Ah well, not complaining. Here are your photos.

Plumbing Challenge part two

You know that scene in Cast Away, where Tom Hanks finally manages to light a fire? He’s beating his chest and doing the victory dance, it’s all very tribal and a little cringeworthy? Well, that was me yesterday morning, and my rite of passage involved the same torture, but without the plane crash and bad tooth. I would illustrate today’s chat with photos of my plumbing, but no-one likes to see the underside of someone else’s scabby sink, so I thought we’d have some random Symi shots instead, just to break up the tension.

So, after doing my morning work routine and trying to write a chapter that just wasn’t coming for a reason I couldn’t understand, I took the bull by the horns, collected my trusty adjustable spanner and headed to the bathroom. Bucket at the ready, I removed the waste pipe from the sink with ease because it had never been sealed into the wall, and emptied the pipe into the bucket. Thinking it was just clogged, I found a cane from one of the courtyard plants and an old toothbrush that I knew would come in handy one day and joined the two with some cure-all gaffer tape. I was now armed with ‘the spear of cleaning’, the kind of thing you win at level three of ‘Scrolls’ or other fantasy role-playing video game.

A few scrapes and dig-abouts later, and it was clear the pipe wasn’t blocked by gunk at the parts I could reach, and so I tried bending it a bit to free things up. It was one of those concertina pipes which allow you to do that; I wasn’t bending iron or copper. However, I was bending old plastic, and it broke into pieces, so that pipe was now unusable, and it wasn’t blocked anyway. Taking my screwdriver (I have three!), I unscrewed the plug guard in the sink to reveal the after-effects of X years’ worth of who knows what and used my spear of cleaning to clean up what lay beneath. That was where the blockage had occurred, but now the water was free to flow… directly onto the floor. ‘Okay,’ I thought, ‘I need a new pipe.’

But… How to remove the old pipe from the sink? It seemed attached to the ceramic by some invisible force, and the plastic end of the bendy tube wouldn’t come free. Neil had a go, and hey presto! The whole contraption came away, leaving a pristine ceramic bowl with no discernible way of attaching a new pipe. A quick call to big-sis Jenine up the hill and she explained to a dumbfounded fledgeling that what lies beneath is held in place by what happens above, and everything made sense. Armed thus with knowledge gifted from the high priestess (it’s a ‘writer’s journey’ stage in the classic Hero’s Journey structure of storytelling and comes in the third act), I set off to B&Q.

That’s is what I lovingly call Nellie’s Hardware Store up here in the village, the nearest place to me for DIY bits. I took the old contraption pieces with me so I could compare, but Nellie knew exactly what I wanted and found exactly the right thing. She even told me how to attach it. I also wanted a cap for the dripping washing machine inlet, and she gave me something which appeared to be the right size, telling me to try it before I bought it and bring it back if it didn’t fit. (It doesn’t by about 2mm, which is annoying, so I’m off there later to see if there’s a replacement.) Back home, I did a dry run putting the contraption together to make sure it fitted. My non-existent gymnastic skills came in handy as I contorted myself into all manner of positions to fit into the six-inch gap between pedestal and wall. Pipe fitted, U-bended, and plugged into the wall, and all was well. Except it wasn’t because it leaked at the top. I took it apart, shaved off some excess plastic with my modelling tools, and fitted it again, but still, the pipe was wobbly where it shouldn’t be, and another internal operation revealed it needed a washer… Found the old one, a bit manky but still intact and attached that… Still a drip, though less than before… Found my handy ‘fix everything’ mastic, bunged some of that around the washer and screwed the contraception together through the plug hole… Held my breath… Turned on the tap and… Bob’s your uncle, Fanny’s your aunt, and everyone’s as happy as a pig in sh… It worked! Thus, followed the victory dance with the unneeded adjustable spanner in hand, and all is right with the bathroom world (apart from the dripping washing machine tap, which can wait for the sequel). It will take me a while before I stop checking under the sink every time I run the tap, but I will learn to accept my new-found skill in time, and meanwhile, the water drains away so well I could stand and watch it for hours.

Plumbing Challenge

It’s Monday, and we’ve started with a mildly blustery day. The Blue Star came in at around five, and I thought of those who were due to catch it because they must go to Rhodes for the first of three appointments to get their biometric residency permits. If only they could be done here on Symi! It’s not so much the cost, as the Bule Star is that that costly, but arriving in Rhodes at six in the morning for an appointment that shouldn’t last any longer than 20 minutes is a trial. That done, you’ve got to wait until the return boat in the evening, with more or less everything shut and in a deep red zone… When I am due to go in April, there is, currently, a morning Blue Star but no return boat until Wednesday. I’ve not checked the Stavros sailings yet, but it might mean a two-night stay to add to the cost and possible danger. I’m hoping I’ve had at least one vaccination by then, but who knows?

We also need to have our annual health checks done. We usually do these in February or March to avoid the pre-season workers’ rush, but that’s not going to happen this year, not until later, possibly. As for today, my plans for the week are to turn my hand to some light plumbing. The bathroom sink needs its pipe cleaned out, and there’s a permanent drip from a washing machine feed tap that we don’t use. (The washing machine is in the other part of the house, and I plumbed that in myself. Well, I stuck a pipe onto a tap and plugged it in.) The sink waste pipe is one of those flexible things, and it’s never been properly fixed into the wall, so that should be easy. The plan is to take it out of the wall, fiddle about with it and flush the gunk out into a bucket. That done, it shouldn’t be too hard to refix into the wall, maybe with a little filler if I am feeling adventurous, and then all should be well. I’m fed up with using the plunger on it at five in the morning, only to free it but have it slow-drain again a few days later. Knowing my luck, it will all go horribly wrong, and I’ll have to call someone. I am to DIY what the yUK government is to giving pay rises to nurses.

I am building up the confidence to attack the washing machine tap as that, to me, has no discernible way of detaching from the wall. I mean, I can’t see a nut, and as I only own three adjustable spanners and a blunt screwdriver, who knows what will happen? I’ve tried fixing the drip with silicone – messy, but it has stemmed the flow – but it looks like a complete transplant will be needed. As the tap is ‘live’, it also involves turning off the pump, emptying the pipe, trying to get the tap from the wall without damaging the pipe, finding a replacement tap, attaching it with my spanner, and hoping for the best. I’ll see how the sink adventure goes first. If you were wondering why I have three adjustable spanners, the answer is, I have no idea. They multiply in our house like coat hangers. So, wish me luck, and I shall report back on the progress of this, the most exciting thing to happen in our bathroom in the past several months.