Bit of a grumpy mood today
A bad mood and some photos today, as promised. These were taken by Neil on his way back from aerobics at the gym the other day. You will be able to see the barge and other machinery working on the new jetty and the access road, the view from the road as you walk up and shots of the harbour between rain storms. We had another one pass over on Thursday morning, so the sterna is now well and truly full with free water.

Meanwhile, up at the house, winter continues as per. We are looking forward to the presidential inauguration (not) and it reminds me of the time when Obama was sworn in. Well, it makes me remember where we were: at Brian and Marj’s house watching it live with a bottle of wine. I expect, today, we will be ingnoring it and hoping it goes away, a bit like the mess the yUK government seem to be getting themselves into. I know some of my readers don’t like to hear it, but I still say that whole referendum was not democratic, even though I still have people sending me rather patronising messages saying ‘That’s democracy, sorry, get over it.’ It’s as if they actually believe that having a country vote on misinformation, lack of information and in only an advisory opinion poll, and then letting a government use that as a mandate to do what they want to do in order to keep themselves in with the powers that be (within their own cliques), was in any way democratic. But let’s not go down that discussion route. Suffice to say, the more I see of what’s happening to the country I was born in, the less I ever want to go there again, let alone go and live there again.

I don’t think we will be made to; unlike some older immigrants in other EU countries who may have to return to the yUK to benefit from their pensions that they paid into for so many years. It’s getting very hard – with Sterling in trouble Vs the Euro, and the possibility of non-reciprocal agreements, no health care etc., – for many to see a way to stay abroad where they came to live as the quality of life was better. We are lucky in that I am privately insured (and will one day have a private pension) and Neil is soon to be Irish and so stays part of the EU.

I didn’t mean to start on this topic, world calamity I mean, but I just had a flashback to one of the British ‘news’ papers reporting a ‘Surge’ in the “£ Vs €” after “Ms Mayday-mayday-mayday! We’re going down. CQD”‘ made her speech the other day. I looked it up and the pound ‘surged’ about 0.5% against a fall, since last year of 30% or something. Laughable reporting and even more laughable that some people think things are going forward for the better.

As you can see I am not in a good mood today. It started well enough but then I was working and receiving all manner of interruptions from people on Skype, questions, requests… my new mouse was driving me mad (three or four clicks to get it to actually do what it was meant to do, don’t think I’ll be buying a Logitch again for a while; I’ve gone back to the old one now)… the cat’s ears bloody again, blood on the sheets… bad news on the interweb… One of those days. But still. I have the view, Neil has offered to make lunch, giving me time to write this diatribe about a dire tribe of morning mishaps (the light in the kitchen blew so I changed that and then the light in my desk lamp blew and I had no new bulb), and, once this is posted, I am going to retreat into la-la-land. Not the new film but a state of not-being-here that I get into when I work on one of my own books, which is what I plan to do for the rest of the day in the hope that there will be no more interruption or bad news, or dreadful world events. Unlikely I know, but it’s all I can do.

And relax…

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‘The 13^th‘ at the London Greek Film Festival
What a difference a day makes. From Tuesday night’s thunder, lightning, rain and hail, we have Wednesday’s bright sunshine, calm seas and not-so-chill air. It’s so mild today that Jack is up in his favourite place, on the roof, soaking up the sunshine, I was able to put the washing out in the courtyard, free from hail, and get a couple of shots from the roof. Neil went to his aerobics class yesterday and got some shots of the new road/jetty down at Petalo on his way back and I’ll get some of those up for you ere long. I am rushing a bit today as I have someone coming to sing at one and it’s now just gone 12 and I like to get the blog out of the way before lunch.

The Blue Star came and went on Wednesday morning (at last I assume it did, it was very early) and we also had a stray catamaran come in on its way up the line of Dodecanese. I am not sure if that was a one-off, or if it’s going to be a regular thing but it is another link to Rhodes and supplies, airports, doctors, hospitals etc.

Oh, I have some film news. ‘The 13^th‘ is to be entered into the London Greek Film Festival which takes place later this year. The company as still looking for a distributor to take it on and market it and this may help generate some publicity. Whether it will win anything or even be shortlisted is another matter of course, but who knows where it may lead. Last year (or was it the year before?) I entered the script of ‘Shocking The Donkeys’ and that was shortlisted under the Best Screenplay category, though it didn’t win. But who knows, hopefully there will be some interest and it will, if nothing else, get Symi shown to attendees who are all going to be interested in Greek film and films filmed in Greece. Perhaps someone will love the location so much there will be more films made here in the future, bringing more publicity and trade. We can hope.

So, dashing through my morning to lunch and singing, here are today’s photos, taken yesterday and a here endeth today’s quick blog.

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Symi rain
There’s not a lot to talk about today apart from the Symi rain which is, let’s face it, more or less the same as the rain elsewhere. It’s been on more than off over the past couple of days. On Monday we had to go to Yialos for a few things and got caught in a downpour so took cover in Pacho’s. Sadly ,the rain stayed on, as did we, but there are worse places to be stuck. For a while it was also throwing down hail and the noise of that hitting the plastic cover on the kafeneion was so loud we had to shout at each other across the table. When that calmed, we were able to escape to the giros shop for some lunch.

Because the road was closed there were no taxis and no bus service, but luckily we avoided getting wet as we walked back up the Kali Strata, keeping one eye on the gathering dark clouds. Yesterday, the rain was with us all morning (and it might be here all day as I am writing this yesterday at lunchtime), the sterna is full, the roof is overflowing through the outlets to the lane and into the courtyard, the cat is not impressed but, so far, everything is holding up inside and we’re dry. Until I have to head out to the shops, and I am waiting for a suitable lull for that…

We went to dinner at Georgi’s on Monday night too. There was quite an extensive menu on offer considering the time of year: salads and dips, bread, wine, two kinds of bean soup, chops, chicken, pork in the oven, spaghetti and mince, and liver (no thanks). We were a table of seven and the only people eating but, as Yiannis is still away and the Rainbow closed, some of his regulars were also camped out in there, playing Uno. It was its usually friendly and fun atmosphere and the bill, when it came, was more than reasonable.

It’s not just a British thing, talking about the weather. It is, after all, the one thing that everyone has in common. Come June it will be, ‘It’s hot, isn’t it?’ as you pass locals and visitors alike. Currently you meet people in the streets or shops and are greeted with, ‘It’s wet, isn’t it?’ To which I always think, ‘Well, yes, clearly,’ as I stand there dripping onto the tins of salted fish. Actually, it’s also cloudy so if anyone says, ‘Cloudy today’ I shall reply, ‘Yes, it’s clearly cloudy’ and be an oxymoron. ‘It is raining,’ I shall say, dryly and, with only a hint of satire, shall aridly add, ‘It’s rather to the right of good weather for ducks,’ and receive some odd looks in return, and rightly so. It’s also very misty as you can see from my window, though it’s not as cold as it was. As I write, I check the forecast map and see that we are due to be dry in six minute’s time. We shall see; another site is less precise and shows the rain as staying overnight and onwards.

So, people are huddled indoors to keep dry, the children are dashing from school to home through downpours, the runoff is cascading down the steps from the mountain, through the village and all the way to the sea, the harbour water has not yet turned brown as is does sometimes when the rain brings the top soil with it, and the roof is dripping over the porch like a blacksmith’s armpit. I think it is the experience of the old house – where the rain would sometimes be as heavy inside as out – that causes me to stop every now and then and listen to a heavy drip and wonder if it’s internal, check that it’s not and then relax again.

Before I go, I just want to remind you that it’s about now that you should be thinking about your summer holiday on Symi, if you have not already booked it, as many have. You don’t want to be last in the queue for your favourite accommodation and, if it’s your fist time, you’ll want to get the bargains now, before the villas and apartments fill up with regular visitors. Maybe I’ll check out some deals over the next week or so and post about what’s available for a summer holiday. It would, at least, stop me talking about the weather for a while.

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But what goes on, on Symi, in the winter?
To answer this oft-asked question, here are a few views of what’s going on in the village this week. From these images, you might think ‘not a lot’ but actually… The bus is running up and down on its usual route and winter timetable, there is building work going on (when it’s not raining), people are at work in their shops and at their businesses, the taverna is open and hosting name day parties and other events on top of its usual service, there is live music being played at various venues, the cinema shows films on a Sunday, there are church services and festivals in the village, the harbour and all over the island, and people are also at work on their farms, smallholdings and allotments. So, I suppose there is quite a lot going on.

Fishermen are going out of a morning and bringing their catch back in the afternoon, or late morning, and selling it on the streets and the quayside. The inter-island ferry comes and goes bringing some post and supplies, the catamaran comes in four times per week with some Greek day trippers from Rhodes, and the taxis are running up and down the hill and across the island as needed. The church bells ring, the town hall makes its announcements – the main road has been closed for a couple of days for work – the new jetty is now expanding and they have started excavating for the road link (I think that’s what it is) and there are fitness classes and yoga and other classes going on, including free Greek language lessons organised by the Dimos (Town Hall).

Back up here in the village, we’re getting on with our usual day to day, I’m almost done on draft five of my next book and thinking about a cover design. It will still be a while as it has to be laid out and made ready, finally proofed (each time I go through I still find odd typos that three readers and I so far have also missed), Neil is working on his course, we are saving as much as we can for the year ahead – travel to the yUK for Niel’s exam and a wedding, and our own celebration in September. I will soon have to start arranging our annual health MOT in Rhodes, get my passport renewed (before December) and, as soon as the book arrives, start teaching myself the concertina – don’t hold your breath for sea shanties anytime soon; it’s not as easy as it looks.

So, when people ask, ‘What do you do in the winter on Symi?’ there are a few answers for you. About the only things we don’t do is sit in the sun or go swimming but then I don’t do that much in the summer either. We do spend a lot of time cleaning up the courtyard after downpours and we still have the vine and a fig tree to cut back before they start growing again. The inside of the house could do with a coat of paint and a spring clean throughout (I must remember wher I left the vacuum cleaner) and then there’s always the next story to write.

Putting your feet up for the six months of the winter season? I don’t think so.

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Sunday morning this ‘n’ that
Warning! This post contains a graphic image.

I was sitting at my desk on Sunday morning, trying to think of something interesting to write about, when it started raining. It was a warm morning and so I thought I would open up my shutters for the first time in days and see what was happening with the view. I found this:

Which just goes to show, it’s always worth opening your eyes even in bad weather. I nipped up onto the roof in my slippers and in only three layers and took a couple more shots from the roof. I say only three layers (t-shirt, thin jumper, sweatshirt, as recently I’ve been wearing four, including a woollen jumper over the top of everything else and then adding the fifth layer, a blanket, when watching television in the evenings. It was much warmer on Sunday than it had been of late. The weather is now set for cloudy, wet and warm (15 or 16) through the week ahead. But, back to the things of interest.

Cigarette packets. Even here in Greece ‘they’ (whoever the ubiquitous ‘they’ are) are putting images on cigarette packets, to deter smokers from buying them I guess. This is a bit naughty (what I am about to write, not the habit of putting shocking images on packets), but I can’t help feeling that if one collected enough of these things, one could start a game of trumps.

“I have ‘Grieving family’ and I play that against your ‘Tracheotomy.'”
“Ah-ha!” the opponent plays a triumphant hand. “I trump you with my ‘Smoking baby.’ See, it has a cigarette instead of a dummy.”
Player one considers this and decides he has the ultimate hand. He lays down the image below… “And I trump all with this image of Nigel Farage.”

And there was great rejoicing throughout the land.

I shall say no more on that subject, either Trump or Farage, suffice to say, one can always wishfully think.

I had to get that piece of satire out of my system. Please do excuse me. Normal service is now being resumed.

Irish passport? Well, the news on that front is that there is a new application form on its way back. Apparently (and this will be of interest to anyone else in the locale who is considering a new Irish passport application), the KEP office at the town hall are not included in the list of approved signatures on the application. It must be an accountant (who ran screaming when we asked him to witness and sign), a doctor, a chandler, candlestick maker or a chocolate beer specialist – or something. We’re assuming that everything else is okay, as the email from the very helpful lady in Athens didn’t suggest anything else was amiss and so, when it arrives, it will take a few minutes to fill it out and then Neil will take a trip to the doctor, or whoever else is on the list and have it witnessed again (I am sure it said something about council officials/local authority officers; perhaps this is different because this is a first-time application). Should only hold up the process by a week or so, now Christmas is over, and there’s no great rush.

And, by the way, there is such a job as a chocolate beer specialist. I found an image of one, a man named Jim Koch. If you ask me, he has the best job in the world, and a pretty fab name as well. I think I am going to be him.

My Sunday morning ramble is in danger or rambling over the hills and far away, in search of the rainbow perhaps, so I will close and head off into the week. A week that, so far, has not very much in the diary. The usual typing, aerobics for Neil, I must go down to the bank and apply pressure to the ATM to squeeze out the rent, I have ‘The Saddling’ draft five to re-check, I am hopping my ‘How to play the concertina’ book arrives and I can start on that, some singing practice (not for me, I just tinkle the plastics (no ivory on my piano, note)), perhaps a walk with new camera – and thank you for all the nice comments about my photos these days – and dinner at the taverna tonight as a treat. I’ll let you get on now and I really do apologise for the image of Farage in a hospital bed. Or do I?

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