Another quiet, typical-for-me day yesterday. This year, I’ve not been getting up in the middle of the night so much and starting work at three or four, but later. No idea why. I’m usually a very early morning person but this summer, five or six has been the norm. I’m pleased to report I still get as much done, only now, I do it later. It’s strange, looking at the clock and thinking, It’s nearly eleven, I should be playing Sherlock on the tablet, or, It’s one, I should get back to the desk. Strange, because it doesn’t actually matter. I don’t run to a timetable, but I think it’s ingrained. Up at this time, into the car at that time, arrive at the office, work until this time, then a break, then the afternoon, leave dead on five, home by six… I’ve not done anything like that for 24 years or so. Even when I worked for Hastings BC writing their five-year housing strategy I was my own boss and could keep my own hours, and that was the last desk job I did until I started this one which is also at my own pace, when and if I want to do it.

No idea why I’m blathering about that. Just emptying my head of mundanities before I set about filling it with creative thoughts. Actually, today might be a research day. I need to find out how the Congregationalist movement operated in the late 19th century, how their chapels were organised, who oversaw what, and so on. This is for the next mystery book, of course, and this time one of the main venues is Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington. That’s a place I used to know well, as it was, and still is, a nice place to walk, take a book, sit and find some peace, or simply watch men try to pick up other men and take them into the bushes, but that’s another story, never mind, anyway… I’ve been looking into its background as a non-denominational cemetery, one of the famous ‘London Seven’ graveyard parks, I suppose you could call them, and my book of 1888 London maps shows a chapel opposite one of the entrances. So, that, I decided, would be my starting point for a mystery that will have something to do with the camera and early(ish) photography.

This I how my cluttered mind works, you see, but behind it all is the need to do some simple, but informative research, so this morning, I think I will be mainly trawling newspapers of the time to see if I can find articles about the Congregationalist movement – is it a movement? There, that can be my first piece of research.

In the absence of anything else to tell you or show you, have this image to keep you going.

That was a good few days ‘off.’ My piano student did me proud, returning to lessons after two months away, playing his Fur Elise flawlessly, and playing through all white note major scales before working out the relative minors and going through them, then concentrating for the rest of the hour on the next technical piece in his grade four book. I was later invited to dinner at Georgio’s taverna, which was filling as always, we saw some friends at the bar, I managed to write a couple more chapters for the next book while releasing the latest in my Victorian mystery series, did some reading, and defrosted the freezer. That’s so much easier to do in warm weather, as all you have to do is turn it off, open the doors, put down some towlels, and three cocktails later, it’s done.

I also took a walk in the grounds to inspect the chilli plantation which is coming along nicely, and admired the roses. They’re doing really well, but will probably need pruning right back later in the year, as will the hibiscus which has got too big for its roots. It produces lots of flowers that don’t open, and hardly any leaves, so it’s going to have a beheading to see whether that sorts it out.

Weatherwise we’re cooling down at last, to the extent that t-shirts might soon be required, and the fan might have to be turned off at night. A little cloud now and then, but no rain to speak of, unlike some other countries further north, and unlike northern Greece the other day. Our turn will come in due course. And that’s about all there is to catch up on as I set off into another week of typing while allegedly resting my tennis elbow, and thinking about taking a walk before work, oh, is that the time, I’ll just write this chapter, and that’s lunch. Ah well. Tomorrow.

It’s been good to hear that the village has been busy of an evening of late. At least, it’s good for me who doesn’t have to go back to work at seven-thirty and run around until midnight. September is traditionally what I call Northern European month, and follows the Southern European months of July and August. A great generalisation I know, but that’s just how it feels as the Italian, French and Greek conversations give way to English, Danish and others from further north. The temperature is settling down to around 30° and holding, which means the creepy crawlies are due to return from within walls and under rocks, and the hot water tank needs to go back on for 20 minutes per day, but the windows remain open for now, and the fan is on standby.

You might be wondering about the hot water thing. Well… Our sterna is bust and has been for some years, so we have a black plastic water tank on the bathroom roof. This sits in direct sunlight all day, turning the cold water warm. Warm enough to negate the need to add hot water to it when taking an afternoon shower. So, we turn off the hot tank and, when the cold water gets too hot to use on its own, cool it down with cold water from the hot tank, because the hot water is inside and shaded and therefore cold, while the cold water isn’t. The only time it gets a bit dodgy is if you shower directly after the mains water comes in (cold) and tops up the (warm/cold) tank. In that case, it’s still cold in the cold tank as it hasn’t had time to heat up.

I’m glad we’ve cleared that up. Here’s a photo of cats.

They were chilling out at Pavone the other morning when we called in. And talking of cats, there are some featured in next year’s Symi calendar which you can only find here:

I’m off for the weekend now, so I’ll see you back here bright and earlyish on Monday. Have a good one.

It’s starting to settle towards autumn, the heat I mean, although yesterday was very muggy. The mosquitoes were out in force at our place, and we had to put the hot water tank on for the first time since the start of June. Only 20 minutes a day to do the washing up and take showers, then after that, that’s it. I have even had to revert to wearing a shirt at times. Outrageous.

Yesterday, I forgot to mention the Secret Garden in my list of places to eat in the village. It’s on the road to Pedi, just before the left turn up to the windmills (as you’re heading downhill towards the sea). There will be live music there on a Friday night, plus food and drink and a gorgeous courtyard garden to be in. I don’t know what it was like there last night, but Neil reports the village square was very busy when he was called back to work at half nine. Here’s a shot of ‘Nelly and the Boss’ that you might enjoy.

That was in the afternoon when a newlywed couple wandered past with their photographer…

You see it all in the village if you hang around long enough.

Waking up to rain and distant thunder to the north this morning, such a change after nearly four months of heat (bar one night of showers in June, I think). The plants will appreciate it. No wind to speak of, so boats shouldn’t be affected, just distant rumbles, the odd flash over turkey, and all seen through some bleary eyes because the mosquitoes were using me for target practice at five this morning. That wouldn’t normally bother me because I like to get up early, but this morning, they must have caught me off my biorhythm, because even after seven hours sleep, I feel like I need another ten minutes.

Anyway, on with the day and another eatery recommendation. We took godson Sam to Niki’s Kitchen last week because we’d not seen him for a while, and we’d not eaten there before. This is along the lane in Horio, set out in a small ‘square’, you might call it, and it’s proving to be very popular. We were there at 19.20 and about an hour later, it was full, and people were waiting in the lane for a free table. Very nice it was too.

So, that means we now have five very good places to eat in the village: The Kali Strata Restaurant for fine Greek dining, George and Maria’s for traditional taverna food, Taverna Zoi for Greek family dining, Scena for a more bistro/bar style, and Niki’s Kitchen for freestyle Greek dining. As with all of them, you can expect good service, great food, hard-working staff and reasonable prices.

I shall now get on with the rest of my day, which, after posting this blog, will consist of working on the next in my mystery series while I wait for the current work in progress to come back from the layout guys. Hoping to have that one up and running by the weekend, and there will, no doubt, be more news about that before long.

Meanwhile, if you are inclined to start thinking about end-of-year gifts, then you might be interested in the latest Symi calendar, which you can only find here.