Today’s challenge was to find 10 photos of plants and post them. So, here they are. I thought I’d end the week on a colourful note with these photos, most of which were taken in the last couple of months. Things are still looking pretty green out there, though the long grasses are dying back. There’s a slight breeze today, and the thermometer has started off at 20, so it feels a little chilly, but at least the dust has gone.

As usual, my weekend will consist of writing and not much else, though I aim to get out for a wander. Have a good weekend.

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Some points of interest arising from a walk the other morning. Lots of things are blooming, an aloe vera and an olive tree can be neighbours, and the old souvlaki shop has been tied up with string. Why? Who knows. (I suspect to stop parkage, so someone can get to the woodwork and paint it. Just a guess.)

It’ll make sense when you see the photos. Which are about all I have for you today.

I wonder what they talk about as they stand there, staring down to Pedi, in all weathers. The conversation obviously starts with, ‘’Ello, Vera!’ and the olive tree then says, ‘Oh, ’ello Olive! Didn’t see you there. What you doing today then?’ ‘Staring.’ Pause. ‘Oh.’

As for the string attached to a bedside locker, I can still only think it’s to stop people from parking there. Either that or it’s a rather ineffectual crowd-control measure.

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No, not a case of it depends on whether we watch Netflix or not. Nor is it a case of standing outside viewing passing clouds. The question is, which channel do you use to check on the Symi weather? I’ve been here a few years now, and during that time I’ve used various weather sites and seen various programs, including Petroula on the news. “Ooh, lovely Thessaloniki, my baby…” bounce, bounce, heaving breasts and perky-provocative bottom.

My favourite is the Poseidon System.

https://poseidon.hcmr.gr/

I mention that because we were talking about weather forecasts yesterday afternoon at the bar, and today, I thought others might like to know my tip on using Poseidon. It covers rain, wind, cloudiness, and other atmospheric things, including dust, as in this Saraha dust we’ve been living under for a while now. According to Poseidon, that should be gone by Thursday morning.

Here’s a random question for you. Why does the word channel have two Ns, yet rhymes with panel which only has one? That’s not the start of a joke, it just popped into my head, and I’m quite pleased about that, because I doubt much else will be popping in there today.

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I’m making a change to my financial advisors, which sounds awfully posh and first-world, but actually, it’s not. One of the things I need to provide is proof of address (POA), and this is always something of a nightmare. Here’s why, and here are a couple of shots from yesterday morning to lighten the read.

Many places don’t accept a Post Office box number, which we have, and which shows up on our tax and accountancy forms, sometimes. At other times, my tax papers read something like: Collins James Richard Sarah, which clearly, is not my name, and my address is Symi, 85600. That’s it, and that’s not good enough for non-Greece based companies.

The phone bill is in Neil’s name, and in Greek, so that’s no good. Besides, the address on it is something like ‘At the House of Maria Someone, Symi,’ and that’s it.

The Electricity bill is in my name, but again, the address of the house is put down as the name of the owner/Symi, and many places expect you to have a house number, or at the least, a street name.

Bank accounts? Again, name, island, postcode, maybe with Horio added in for Alpha Bank, or ‘PO box 12’ which isn’t accepted, and anyway, it’s number 42 now (must change that). Obviously, the Greek organisations also write your address in Greek script, and the only saving grace there is that ΣΥΜΙ looks similar enough to SYMI.

I have another bank that’s not Greece based, but all statements are now paperless and the companies that want your POA don’t accept screenshots of your statement, so that’s a right royal pain in the assets.

Health and House Insurance? I was able to get Generali to put the house insurance bill in Neil’s name and using the address we have given ourselves, and that might be okay for a company I have been with a while, but if I am switching, the new advice company may want something more than a house insurance bill. Ditto the health insurance, except that says my name, T.Θ. 12, Symi, 85600 – which is not accepted by non-Greek companies.

I usually use my pension statements which come as PDFs, but I can’t in this case, because they are who the new advisory company will be dealing with, so they can’t accept that.

Anyway, that’s today’s struggle. That and trying to find out why to renew a British passport from here comes out at nearly £300 when it should only be around £100. I think someone has pressed the wrong button somewhere. Oh, and if I am to rescue the godson’s latest modelling project, I need to find out how to get dried black acrylic water-based paint off a white plastic car kit without affecting the plastic.

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I’ve not much to report this Monday morning, as I spent most of the weekend at home working on a couple of projects and, and in the case of yesterday, doing not very much at all. You might have read we’ve had this Sahara dust hanging over us for the past few days, and it’s still misty out there, except it’s not mist. It’s a very fine collection of particles that gradually land but which are hard to see unless, for example, you sweep the courtyard floor and create a pile of it. It’s making the view look as though we have a humidity haze, but the humidity yesterday was 25% (the temperature was over 30). Here’s the view this morning.

If you want to see it on video, check out the Symi Dream short reels here. This morning’s one will be the first on the list.

As for my other projects, I have been working on ‘Where There’s a Will’ my 4th mystery in the new series, and that’s at 78,000 words. The weekend’s research included discovering the specific names for parts of a lighthouse, and I found this diagram, which isn’t very large but was still very useful. (The widow’s walk is a bit of a worry.)

Then, I was also working on a biography of my godfather. I started this back in the early 2000s, and in 2004, I spent many days interviewing him and recording his stories. Over the years, I have thought about writing it all up, turning it into a play, film, book or musical, and have transcribed the recordings (with the help of Jenine and Neil when I first started it years ago). Then, I left it alone, but now, something tells me the time is right to tidy it up, find a cover, have it proofed and set it up for publication as a short book, which I will at some point this year. His story started in Tooting, London, in 1919, and I found a photo of just the place…

So, that was my Symi weekend, that and inviting some guests for a courtyard evening on Saturday. As for this week, I am going to start it off with a walk, then work, then, later, piano and chill. There’s nothing major planned in my diary except to stay healthy, be happy and bash out words (and buy more mosquito repellent, it’s that time of year again).

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