Quick blog today
I opted for the slightly lazy approach to taking photos of the parade yesterday, the March 7^th parade. Actually, it wasn’t being lazy as I was still working at midday when the parade started, and I’d been at the desk since six, trying to finish off some articles for a travel blog site. I managed to get everything done in the end, even down to their finickity formatting rules, only to find the piece rejected as there were no H2 Headings – and yet there was no place on their system where I could insert them; they had missing icons. I’ve contacted them so expect I will have to redo the whole thing tomorrow. If they still reject it, I will share it with you instead. It was about Romania, but who cares?

The cat is fine, thank you for your enquiries. We are probably not taking him to Rhodes on Wednesday after all as the wind is forecast to be gale force eight (in gusts, and there is heavy rain on its way). Friday looks similarly wet, but maybe not as windy. We’ll keep an eye on him during the meantime and maybe take him over if things get worse – with the cat I mean, not the weather. You don’t want to be on any boat out there in a force eight, let alone with a heavy cat attached to your arm. In all probability, the wind won’t be as bad as forecast, but it’s still not worth getting stuck in Rhodes for two nights with a cat in a box.

It’s clouding over now, as I write, following a few days of brilliant sun and great walking weather. I managed a three-mile stroll through the Pedi valley the other day, which I will write about in more detail another time as there are some photos to sort first. I went out to see if I could see any interesting birds. I only saw a blackbird and lots of chickens. I don’t think the migrating groups have arrived yet, perhaps there will be something more interesting in a few weeks. But then again, what do I now about birds? Not a lot.

So, it’s now six and a half hours since I sat down to work and I’ve had enough of it. I am going to see what Neil has rustled up in the kitchen while listening to Evanescence, and then chill out this afternoon with some trash TV, and a good book for when the adverts come on.

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All around my cat
I will wear the green ribbon and all around my… And so on. A vague reference there to a Steeleye Span song from 1975 which has nothing to do with today’s blog or its pictures – which, themselves, have nothing to do with the update on the cat.

There was a visiting vet from Rhodes on the island on Sunday, a regularly, monthly visit, when he is able to. So, we got Jack into his box with only a little bit of fuss and carried him down to the pet shop. He was third in the queue but didn’t have to wait long and was vaguely interested in what was going on, though he made a lot of noise about it. The vet gave him a quick check, as detailed as possible considering, and we’ve come to a plan of action about his ears. They are not cancerous yet, but what he has could lead to it and so, here’s the plan: We will take him over to Rhodes, and the vet’s father will pick us up from the Plaza, or wherever, when we are there. He will take us to the surgery at Kremasti, as he kindly did before, and the vet will give Jack a proper check. He will need a course of injections for 14 days to clear up his missing fur issue. Plus, he will need something special for his ears, some cream to go inside and some to go on his damaged ears (not looking forward to doing that), we may also have to give him antibiotics and put one of those collars around his neck so he can’t scratch at his black bits. Also not looking forward to that and I doubt the cat is going to have it, like it or put up with it at all. The vet’s father will then drive us back to wherever – all part of the service. He also offered the service of: we put the cat on the boat, he collects him in Rhodes and sends him back on the boat later that day. But, tempting though that is for us, it doesn’t seem very fair on Jack, who hates travelling at the best of times.

So, the visit done and dusted, for now, we (mainly Neil) carried him in his box back up the kali strata where Jack decided to show his contempt by giving us some extra, rather smelly, weight to carry. We tried to avoid passing anyone in case they thought we had something to do with that, and threw away his travel towel from the box when we got home, deposit included. He wasn’t too upset by that short time in his cage, which is the biggest box we can find without using one suitable for an Alsatian, and settled down for the rest of the day.

Now we have the standard, Symi in winter, issue to consider. The best boat to get is on Wednesday when we can go to Rhodes and back in one day, and where the cat will only have to be in the box for 14 hours. If we went on Friday, it would be about the same and we wouldn’t have to get up and pack him up at 4.30 in the morning for the 5.30 boat as the Friday one is later, so that’s option number two. But, the weather looks foul for Wednesday with force six winds (not a problem) but with rain and storms. We don’t want to be carrying Mr Six-Kilos around in the rain, but the forecast often changes. So, we will decide at 4.00 on Wednesday morning if we are going to go on that day or try again on Friday. It’s not an urgent case, and we could have gone on Sunday night as the vet was more than happy to take him overnight, but we would then have had to stay until Wednesday evening. So… boats and cats, don’t mix much in the winter. But at least, after two weeks of collar, injections, creams and attention, he might be a bit healthier. As for us? Well, ordering some iron foundry gloves and a ‘hazmat’ suit might be in order.

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Symi weekend
We took one of those impromptu walks on Saturday. The kind of walk where you say, ‘Let’s go for a walk before lunch. Let’s go now.’ And, an hour later, you’re almost ready, and ten minutes after that, you set off.

After stopping briefly for a quick hello in the village, we headed out up the donkey path towards Ag Paraskevi, and on, following ‘the Wall’ to the top of the hills behind Yialos. From there you can see the other side of the island and Turkey (when it’s not so hazy) and the monastery at Roukouniotis. We followed the main road back to Xissos and then took the donkey path back down to the village. Two hours, including stops for photos and views. Along the way I saw lizards, a buzzard (?), a few chaffinches, blackbirds, sheep and lambs, goats, turkeys in mating season and other assorted wildlife, some of which I caught on camera, others were too fast. It was a warm morning, layers came off the higher we climbed, and my face was a little pink come evening.

The earlier part of the morning had been spent setting up another blog and twitter account. It’s still in its very early days, but it’s at this address if you want to follow it: www.jamescollinsauthor.com and there are links there to the new Twitter page and Facebook page. This doesn’t replace Symi Dream and that site’s Twits and Faces (or whatever), but it’s going to be about the writing side of things in more detail than I post here.

On Saturday evening we gave ‘Chess in Concert’ another viewing. If you’ve not seen it and you’re a fan of musicals, Time Rice lyrics or music by the Abba team, then you might be interested to see it. I saw the original show when it was in preview (rushes away to check the day of that…) It opened on May 14^th, 1986, and so I guess I saw it on May 12^th, 1986, or sometime around then. I then went back to see it again after it had opened, and when it was a little shorter. Little did I know that one of the dancers I was watching I would meet, in person, on Symi, some ten years later; Jane, who used to have the Sunflower café in Yialos. I also saw her in ‘West Side Story’ which I thought I’d seen at Her Majesty’s before ‘Phantom’ landed and stayed there. It was the last night of a run and must have been in the 1980s as well, but I can’t find a reference to the actual date. Anyway… That’s what we watched on Saturday, and very good it is too.

Sunday…? Well, I’m preparing this for Monday’s posting before we try and squeeze the cat into his box to take him down to Yialos to see the vet who is visiting from Rhodes. He needs a quick check up on his ears (the cat, not the vet) and his bits of missing fur. I’ve been putting athlete’s foot cream on the patches, as we have done before, and I think it is working, but as the vet is here and we need the exercise of carrying six kilos of cat up and down the steps, we thought it would be a good idea. He’s currently asleep at my feet by the heater and has no idea that in a couple of hours, he’s going to be going to the doctor. As long as we can get him in the box.

And that’s the weekend that was. I am checking the diary to see what lies ahead in the week to come and, so far, it’s one invite to tea only, so it looks nice and clear to work on pieces for the new blog. Don’t worry, I’m only going to use it when I have something interesting to say (and to publicise the novels), so Symi Dream will be here, as usual, Monday to Saturday unless I am away with my usual posts about nothing I particular and my photos.

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Saturday Symi photos
As it’s Saturday, here are a few more photos from the last week or so. I’ve also added a note about a new competition offered by Amazon and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) which may be of interest to some readers. So, a mix of author stuff and Symi photos is what’s offered today. The note at the end, by the way, is a serious one. If anyone would like to make me a proposition (or the correct kind), then please send an email; the email address is at the very bottom of the blog page.

Amazon has launched a Kindle KDP competition for new writers and their books. The details are on this page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=12061299031

I think ‘The Saddling’ should fall into the timescale (published before 19^th May), but it will take a lot of publicity work to get the ‘customer ratings’ up. Looks to me like Amazon are only looking for books that will sell (obviously) which is a bit unfair on some. Authors will need a lot of friends to review and rate the book, and also this part of the judging makes me feel it’s more to do with selecting books where the author has a good publicity machine behind him/her. That’s something I don’t have.

Unless someone wants to become my publicist for a share of profits made or some other deal…?

Meanwhile, photos:

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Sunshine and rain
For a change, it’s today as I’m writing this as I didn’t get around to it yesterday like I normally do. So, I’m up early and putting this up, and I can tell you that the photos today were taken yesterday – a bit of rain, a bit of sun, some more rain, a bit more sun, and then some rain followed by a bit more sun. It was an ‘on an off day’, you might say.

The question was, should I wear my coat when I go to town or should I not bother, as it’s quite warm? In the end, I took it (even though by then the sun was out) because it’s got good pockets and I can fit my camera in one of them, and that saves me carrying it in my hand. I was quite glad I did, in the end, as the rain came back and we had to dive for cover. (Actually, we were already covered when the rain started up again, but it sounds like a better excuse.) We waited it out in Pacho’s after going shopping and collecting some parcels for a friend. They were too heavy to carry up, so we dropped them off at the household shop and Michaelis said he would deliver them to the house they were destined for. That’s kind of how it works around here.

We also called in on another Michaels, at the pet shop, to check on vet visit arrangements. The vet from Rhodes is coming over on Sunday, all being well, and will be at the pet shop from 10.00 a.m. onwards. We will take Jack down to have another visit as he’s got a missing fur thing happening now, and his ears need looking at again, as a check-up. He’ll love that.

So, just three more photos and then I must get on.

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