And into November

It’s been a bumpy year so far, and Greece is about to go into another lockdown situation with two tiers of severity. Here on Symi, we’re classified into the lower level which means bars, tavernas etc., can stay open according to the current rules, but there’s a curfew for everyone from midnight to 5 a.m., and masks must be worn outside and in shops at all times.

Thank you to everyone who sent messages of concern following the earthquake last Friday near Samos. Symi wasn’t affected, though the quake was felt. I expect you’ve already read about it from the world’s press. I have to admit, I didn’t feel it. We were watching TV while having our lunch break, when Neil said, ‘can you feel that? It’s an earthquake.’ We turned the TV down, and I heard what I thought was a plane going over, but said, no, I couldn’t feel a thing. ‘In that case,’ Neil said, ‘there’s something wrong with me, and I’m going to fall over when I stand up.’ He was sitting next to me on the sofa. I’m usually sensitive to tremors but didn’t feel that one.

As for my weekend, it was partly about this…

That’s the special paint we use to coat the flat roofs to help stop water penetration. I was up on the roof on Saturday cleaning it off and filling small cracks with silicone ahead of Sam coming around on Sunday to paint it over. Our godson #1 comes once a week to earn some money by doing odd jobs and cleaning, and he’s far more adept with a paintbrush than I am (and far more thorough with the hoover). Godson #2 also comes once a week to learn the piano, and I have to say, little Mozart is doing brilliantly. We’ve been working for a year now, with a four-month break when we were away earlier in the year, and then lockdowns and so on, and he is more than halfway through grade one, so we’re very proud of him. Both of them actually, as #1, currently at technical college on the island, has been a staunch supporter of mask-wearing among his peers. Now 17, he has turned into a sensible and caring young man.

The other young man around the house is as caring as ever, but as for sensible… Well, this was Halloween at the Rainbow Bar…

And talking of the bar, we now have internet installed (it’s only taken about 17 years of persuasion). Neil continues to work there until Sunday, the festival of Panormitis weekend, though we’re not sure how much of a festival there will be. And talking of Halloween, my novel ‘The Judas Curse’ a horror-thriller set on an imaginary Greek island, not unlike Symi, is on special offer on Amazon until Saturday. You can pick up the Kindle version for £0.99 if you haven’t already. Just click here.

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Friday Photos

It’s raining again this morning, so how about a few sunny photos from earlier in the year to brighten things up? Have a good weekend.

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Before and After

We had a little rain yesterday, and I’ve got a couple of before and one after photo to share. The ‘after’ one is actually ‘during’ and not during the worst of it either, as that happened during the evening when it was dark. Nothing too bad, but worthy of a mention because it marks the first proper storm of the winter season. There was a lightening display across Turkey, which always seems to get it worse, and thunder rolling around. The plants got a good watering, and the roof is now clean at least.

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Bits and pieces

Just a few bits and pieces of news today.

The Oxi Day parades have been kind of cancelled this year – it’s Oxi Day today, btw. I heard that the parades are not taking place, but smaller memorials are. We may be treated to stirring music through the town hall speakers as we have been on other memorial days this year.

We did have a power cut yesterday, but not for long, and we’d been warned beforehand, so I had the gas burner ready. In the end, I only had the chance to use it for one cup of tea as the outage was so short. It was a reminder of possible things to come over the winter when much of the improvement and maintenance work is done to the supply. Another ‘here comes winter’ reminder came with a weather warning. Apparently, there’s a storm coming, though one weather channel shows it over us, and another doesn’t, we’re due for wind and rain tonight. That reminded me to get the old towels ready and close the shutters later today, just in case. We’ve also got to paint the bathroom roof (still not done that yet), cover the outside table and do a few other pre-winter bits and pieces.

We were out last night for a farewell meal with friends, and for a while were the only customers in the taverna, a sure sign the season is slowing. Mind you, Neil is working until November 8^th, so has another week and a half to go before he has the whole day to himself.

And an observation. I looked out of the bedroom window yesterday and thought, ‘I’m living in a farmyard.’ The window looks onto the lane, and towards the bin station which is set back from the path so out of sight. It’s home to a colony of stray cats, who were out and about, along with a tribe of nomadic chickens and their chicks. Walking through them were two goats, one the size of a pony, I swear, and the sight made me smile. So rural, pastoral even, it was a pleasant thing to see but did remind me to keep the gate shut for fear of losing our few plants to the marauding goats.

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Chitchat

Here are some photos courtesy of Neil when he was out walking.

As you can see, there’s some cloud about, but we’re still experiencing warm days, shorts weather and calm seas, though there’s a storm predicted for this week.

I’ve just finished the second draft of a new book and am doing my best to leave it alone for a week before returning to it afresh. I usually manage to last a day or two before giving in, but we’ll see how I get on.

We’re due a power cut today, a planned one, so it’s going to be a morning of reading and perhaps finally putting that washing away… I may take up my model of the Invisible Man again, dust off the pieces and carry on painting, or I may actually venture out for a walk. I get so much more done when I don’t have power and can’t write except for the life of my laptop battery. Oh, I just remembered I’ve got two laptops, so that’s about eight hours. The power cut’s only due to last for six, so I may be okay after all.

Right, ramble over, I really must go and sort the laundry…

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