And we’re back in five, four, three, two…
Well, that was a week of doing nothing but applying ice one minute, ointment the next, making tea with my left hand, and not even being allowed to wash up -which I was secretly happy about. I managed to read two books about Jack the Ripper and am now, rather appropriately, halfway through ‘The Withered Arm’ by Thomas Hardy, and those are probably the biggest achievements of the week of enforced rest. I’ve hardly been out and about, so there aren’t many photos to show you, but I’ll find something.

In case you were wondering, the week started a week ago last Thursday, when I rang for an appointment with the orthopaedic specialist in Rhodes. This is how the private system works over here: you make an appointment with a private doctor at your convenience based on when the boats are running. In my case, the following Monday suited, so that’s what I did. A leisurely boat ride, some breakfast, and then a taxi as it was a two-mile walk otherwise, and I didn’t want to arrive sweaty. An examination, chat and, this time, a cortisone injection to ease my ‘sports injury’ and, as a bonus, he wanted me to have an x-ray to check my neck. So… €40.00 paid for that appointment, I walked back the two miles to the place opposite the Plaza, wandered in, waited for five minutes, and had two x-rays taken as requested. Another five minutes for the results, and a copy emailed directly to the doctor. (€45.00.) Time for lunch.

The doc messaged me a while after explaining the results and suggesting physio might help, so I wrote back saying I’d look into it, and he replied with a heart emoji. I mean… so casually efficient, personal and cheap. It could all have been done at the hospital for a smaller fee, but would have involved more waiting around, and me taking up a place someone else could have done with, and while I can afford to be treated at my convenience, I will.

The rest of the day was given over to a lovely meal at ‘Napoleon’s’, a slow walk back to Akandia through the Old Town, ice cream and coffee at ‘Nimos’, and home on the Blue Star which came with the offer of a lift up the hill (thank you!).

That’s enough for the first day back at the desk. I have a book to continue to write, and I am still on limited typing time, so I won’t stay around any longer…

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No news, no gossip, what’s going on? Actually, for those who know Colette, she is now, finally, back in the UK and is having her operation today following a fall which occurred about two weeks ago. I know she reads this, so here’s us sending our best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery now the trauma of many days in Rhodes hospital is finally over.

Back here, the days are calm, the weather warm, we’ve had groups of visitors coming through the village, some on bicycles, and I have gone to the extreme of making an appointment by telephone, an event from which it took me an hour to recover. The point being, I shall be in Rhodes on Monday, so unless I feel creative on Sunday and write in advance, I shan’t be back here until Tuesday. What I must do before I pop off for a long weekend, though, is remind you that the Symi Dream calendar is available to buy – only from the following link. Neil’s put together 12 images from all over the island, so each month will bring you a new surprise of a perhaps familiar scene.

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That subject again? The one about helpless and hapless visitors wandering the lanes with their noses buried in a mobile phone, certain they are on the right road to somewhere that doesn’t have a street name, let alone an address. Yeah, but not quite. I was reminded of this yesterday when we saw a group of young people, clearly recently arrived by unchartered boat, lost and heading up from the Kali Strata towards the upper village. One of them asked, ‘Police?’ and we directed them downhill. Mobile phones upside down, I assume.

That was an overture to me saying I didn’t need to use the utterly useless (on this island) Google Maps for a walk I took yesterday, one which reminded me of a song from Sunset Boulevard (the music, obviously, not the film which may not have had many songs in it). Actually, a line from a song, and the line was, ‘The early morning madness.’ It came to me as I passed the junior school at 8.00, just as everyone was dropping off their children, meeting other parents, or passing by on their way to drop the younger ones off at the nipo or pronipio (preschool) up towards the Kastro.

However, I was soon out on the road where things were quieter, save for the bus which came up to Lavinia. It will do this if you ask the driver nicely. This is handy if you are staying up at Sevasti which is a fair old hike if you’re not stable on your pins.

Anyway, that was yesterday morning, and this is today morning where the sea out there is calm, there’s no wind, it looks to be a humid but warm day, and where a blank page is staring me in the face waiting to have words imprinted on it.

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My spam collection was a disappointment this morning. I use a thing called Mailwasher so I can see the emails on the servers before I download them. That means I can weed out anything I don’t like the look of and keep my computer a little more protected. But from what? This morning, it was from total strangers and stranger robots offering me various challenges with attention grabbing headlines (not) such as, DIY made easy! If I have anything DIY orientated, I use the GIAP method. In full, Get In A Professional, or at least someone who knows what they are doing. I was also offered, ‘Buffet woodworking plans.’ What do you suppose they might be?  A trestle table of planes and saws? Woodchip vol au vents? How about a joint of mortice and tenon? (Get it?) I don’t know. Here’s a photo of our chilli corner.

Also in my spam collection today, a notice from FedEx Shipping that the package I am not expecting is waiting for my next attention which it’s not going to get and can be found by opening an email which reads: 8=0=0=8=9=00=0 or something similar. This comes hot on the heels of various SEO and web service cold calls, and my all-time favourite Moses bs valves. Apparently, they are the only valves I will ever need, despite the unfortunate including of the ‘BS’ (because we all know what that stands for). I got one of these every day, always at the bottom of the list just before the spam that comes in in the Greek and then Chinese alphabets. I now read Moses bs valves as ‘Moses saves’, and now and then, just for fun, I bounce the spam back. It makes me feel better, but it clearly does no good.

And now, some more of the plant collection.

The bougainvillaea has taken off since the temperature dropped, others are coming to the end of the summer cycle, the chillies are thriving, and the vine is starting to drop back, as it does. It will soon be time to prepare for the wetter weather by cutting the vine right back and painting the flat roof to prevent leaks. That’s assuming we get some rain. These days, who knows?

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Actually, the line is ‘Somewhat over indulgent’ and if you sing it to the strains of ‘Somewhere over the rainbow…’ you have Forbidden Broadway’s interpretation of Mandy Patinkin, but that’s another story… Anyway…

I was indulging in a scrape through my past pics and came across a coincidence which allows me an opportunity to further plug a couple of books. It just so happens that on this day in my history last year, I displayed a drawing of the main character from the first book in my Delamere Files Victorian mystery series which is the third series set in my Clearwater world, and here’s that drawing…

I’m currently writing book six in this series which means I must have put out five full-length mysteries in a year, oh, and 1892, a shorter collection of five shorts set in the same world. Gosh.

Then, a little further down I came across this photograph of me with my godfather…

Which is on the back of ‘Bobby, a Life Worth Living,’ his biography which I released a couple of months ago. Oh, so that makes five full-length mysteries, one collection of shorts, and a biography in the last 12 months. No wonder my arm hurts. I started the Bobby book 20 years ago, though, and it was mostly written when I returned to it earlier this year, so it didn’t take long to finish the research and set it free.

On the Symi side of things, I also found this photo of a rather empty harbour in 2020, and we can all guess why, and with it, from, I think, nine years ago this photo of my nephew who was visiting…

Three years ago, the boys were working the bar as they still are…

For how much longer, his season, remains to be seen. Things are very much quieter now than a couple of weeks ago, and it feels much quieter than this time last year. The weather doesn’t know it’s supposed to be autumn, however, and the temperature remains around 27° to 30° on the days without a north wind. (I’ve only recently learnt how to do the ° symbol without having to search the Insert/Symbol menu. Hold down the atl key and type 0176 at the same time (in Word) and you’ll get a °. Fabul°us!)

Moving on, it’s time to get to work. While writing chapter whatever it is, I also have to go shopping and do something startling with half a pound of minced beef, and I did say I’d try getting the hoover out to see if I can manage that, but then again, it could be a difficult chapter to write, so we’ll have to see.

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